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Muon spin rotation (µSR) spectroscopy is a powerful technique that helps to study the behavior of materials at the atomic level. It involves using muons—subatomic particles similar to protons but with a lighter mass. When introduced into a material, muons interact with local magnetic fields, providing unique insights into the material’s structure and dynamics, especially for highly reactive species such as radicals.

In a new study, a team of researchers led by Associate Professor Shigekazu Ito, from the School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, utilized µSR spectroscopy to investigate the regioselective muoniation of peri-trifluoromethylated 12-phosphatetraphene 1. This compound is a phosphorus congener (a variant of a common chemical structure).

The process of µSR spectroscopy initially involves the formation of a muonium (Mu), which is formed when a positively charged muon (µ+) captures an electron (e–). This process continues as the reaction of a muonium (Mu = [µ+e–]) with the phosphorus-containing compound, resulting in the formation of a muoniated radical at the phosphorus site.

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This rapid rise in temperatures is linked to a growing energy imbalance in the Earth’s system, intensified by human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.

Ocean Warming Accelerates at an Alarming Rate

The rate at which the oceans are warming has more than quadrupled in the past 40 years, according to a new study.

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In recent years, technological advancements have made it possible to create synthetic diamonds that have similar physical and chemical properties to natural diamonds. While synthetic diamonds are not considered “fake” or “imitation,” they are often more affordable than their natural counterparts, making them a popular choice for those who want the beauty of a diamond without the high cost. Synthetic diamonds are also often more environmentally friendly, as they do not require the same level of mining and extraction as natural diamonds.

In its pristine state, diamond is a non-conductive material, devoid of or “holes” that can facilitate electrical conduction (Figure 1). However, by introducing into the diamond crystal lattice, its optical and electrical properties can be significantly altered. As the concentration of boron is increased, the diamond’s color shifts from its characteristic clear hue to a delicate shade of blue, while its electrical conductivity transforms from an insulator to a semiconductor.

Further increases in the boron content result in a lustrous blue shade that resembles the sheen of metallic surfaces and eventually culminates in a deep, ebony coloration. Such heavily boron-doped diamond (BDD) is also as electrically conducting as some metals, and at , exhibits superconductivity, allowing electrical conduction with no resistance.

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More than a decade ago, researchers discovered that when they added boron to the carbon structure of diamond, the combination was superconductive. Since then, growing interest has been generated in understanding these superconducting properties.

With this interest, a research group in India focused on a Fano resonance in a heavily -doped diamond (BDD) that involves the vibrational mode of diamond. The researchers, from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, report their findings this week in Applied Physics Letters.

In probing the vibrational properties of BDD films, the researchers used Raman scattering and presented a comprehensive analysis of the Fano effect as a function of boron concentration and the excitation frequency used in the Raman measurement.

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A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles.

It may sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than one percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years.

Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes.

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Researchers are paving the way for the design of bionic limbs that feel natural to users. They demonstrate the connection between hand movement patterns and motoneuron control patterns. The study, published in Science Robotics, also reports the application of these findings to a soft prosthetic hand, which was successfully tested by individuals with physical impairments.

The research study sees the collaboration of two research teams, one at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology) in Genova, Italy, led by Antonio Bicchi, and Imperial College London, UK led by Dario Farina. It is the outcome of the project “Natural BionicS” whose goal is to move beyond the model of current prosthetic limbs, which are often abandoned by patients because they do not respond in a “natural” way to their movement and control needs.

For the central nervous system to recognize the bionic limb as “natural,” it is essential for the prosthesis to interact with the environment in the same way a real limb would. For this reason, researchers believe that the prostheses should be designed based on the theory of sensorimotor synergies and soft robotics technologies, first proposed by Antonio Bicchi’s group at IIT, such as the Soft-Hand robotic hand.

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Recent technological advances have opened new possibilities for the development of assistive and medical tools, including prosthetic limbs. While these limbs used to be hard objects with the same shape as limbs, prosthetics are now softer and look more realistic, with some also integrating robotic components that considerably broaden their functions.

Despite these developments, most commercially available robotic limbs cannot be easily and intuitively controlled by users. This significantly limits their effectiveness and the extent to which they can improve people’s quality of life.

Researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Imperial College London recently developed a new soft prosthetic hand that could be easier for users to control. This system, presented in a Science Robotics paper, leverages a new control approach that integrates the coordination patterns of multiple fingers (i.e., postural synergies) with the decoding of the activity of motoneurons in people’s spinal column.

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An exploration of the idea that all true technological intelligence is inherently artificial in a sense, including the human brain. This has major implications on the Fermi Paradox and may be one of the strongest solutions of why when we search the heavens, we do not see evidence of alien life.

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