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Silicon is the best-known semiconductor material. However, controlled nanostructuring drastically alters the material’s properties. Using a specially developed etching apparatus, a team at HZB has now produced mesoporous silicon layers with countless tiny pores and investigated their electrical and thermal conductivity.

For the first time, the researchers elucidated the electronic transport mechanism in this mesoporous silicon. The material has great potential for applications and could also be used to thermally insulate qubits for quantum computers. The work is published in Small Structures.

Mesoporous silicon is with disordered nanometer-sized pores. The material has a huge internal surface area and is also biocompatible. This opens up a wide range of potential applications, from biosensors to battery anodes and capacitors. In addition, the material’s exceptionally low thermal conductivity suggests applications as thermal insulator.

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Researchers at the University of Bayreuth present novel electrospun nonwovens in Science Advances that exhibit an unusual combination of high electrical conductivity and extremely low thermal conductivity.

The nonwovens represent a breakthrough in : it has been possible to decouple electrical and based on a simple-to-implement material concept. The nonwovens are made of carbon and silicon-based ceramic via electrospinning process and are attractive for technological applications, for example, in and electronics. They can be manufactured and processed cost-effectively on an industrial scale.

Normally, is associated with , and goes with low electrical conductivity. However, in many high-tech industries, there is growing interest in multifunctional materials that that combine good electric with low thermal transport.

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Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have invented an entirely new field of microscopy called nuclear spin microscopy. The team can visualize magnetic signals of nuclear magnetic resonance with a microscope. Quantum sensors convert the signals into light, enabling extremely high-resolution optical imaging.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners are known for their ability to look deep into the human body and create images of organs and tissues. The new method, published in the journal Nature Communications, extends this technique to the realm of microscopic detail.

“The used make it possible to convert signals into optical signals. These signals are captured by a camera and displayed as images,” explains Dominik Bucher, Professor of Quantum Sensing and researcher at the Cluster of Excellence Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST).

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Researchers have developed a battery that can convert nuclear energy into electricity via light emission, a new study suggests.

Nuclear power plants, which generate about 20% of all electricity produced in the United States, produce almost no greenhouse gas emissions. However, these systems do create , which can be dangerous to human health and the environment. Safely disposing of this waste can be challenging.

Using a combination of scintillator crystals, high-density materials that emit light when they absorb radiation, and , the team, led by researchers from The Ohio State University, demonstrated that ambient gamma radiation could be harvested to produce a strong enough electric output to power microelectronics, like microchips.

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A team of Carnegie Mellon University researchers set out to see how accurately large language models (LLMs) can match the style of text written by humans. Their findings were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“We humans, we adapt how we write and how we speak to the situation. Sometimes we’re formal or informal, or there are different styles for different contexts,” said Alex Reinhart, lead author and associate teaching professor in the Department of Statistics & Data Science.

“What we learned is that LLMs, like ChatGPT and Llama, write a certain way, and they don’t necessarily adapt to the . The context and their style are actually very distinctive from how humans normally write or speak in different contexts. Nobody has measured or quantified this in the way we were able to do.”

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Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection in pigs is economically devastating for the global swine industry. The viral infection leads to reproductive disorder in sows and respiratory problems in infected newborn and growing pigs.

Unfortunately, high genetic variability of the virus and differing disease-causing strength or virulence hinders vaccine development and complicates disease management. Not much is known about the factors contributing to viral disease severity or the anti-viral immune responses.

Dr. Jun-Mo Kim, Associate Professor at the Department of Animal Science and Technology, Chung-Ang University, Korea, has focused his research efforts on filling this gap in understanding.

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