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Advanced materials, including two-dimensional or atomically thin materials just a few atoms thick, are essential for the future of microelectronics technology. Now a team at Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed a way to directly measure such materials’ thermal expansion coefficient, the rate at which the material expands as it heats. That insight can help address heat-related performance issues of materials incorporated into microelectronics, such as computer chips.

The research has been published in ACS Nano (“Direct measurement of the thermal expansion coefficient of epitaxial WSe 2 by four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy”).

“It’s well understood that heating a material usually results in expansion of the atoms arranged in the material’s structure,” said Theresa Kucinski, scientist with the Nuclear Materials Science Group at Los Alamos. “But things get weird when the material is only one to a few atoms thick.”

Concrete innovation sequesters CO2:

Engineers developed a method to store CO₂ in concrete using carbonated water, achieving 45% sequestration efficiency and enhancing strength.

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What would Brian Greene do if he could travel through time, and which future technology is he most excited about?

Continue reading “Brian Greene: The Most Important Question in Science” »

A new prototype chip from IBM Research could potentially bring energy-efficient AI to the edge.

China has released video footage of its rifle-toting robot dogs, and it’s about as scary as you were probably imagining.

Last week, Agence France-Presse reported that China had flaunted the gun-carrying robodogs in a 15-day joint military exercise with Cambodia dubbed the “Golden Dragon.”

Continue reading “Video Shows China’s Rifle-Equipped Robot Dog Opening Fire on Targets” »

For decades, inflation has been the dominant cosmological scenario, but recently the theory has been subject to competition and critique. Two renowned pioneers of inflation — Alan Guth and Andrei Linde — join Brian Greene to make their strongest case for the inflationary theory.

This program is part of the Big Ideas series, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.

Continue reading “Epic Expansion: The Case for Inflationary Cosmology” »

Second Sight’s Orion system bypasses the eyes to bring artificial vision directly to the brain. Working prototypes are being tested right now in six blind individuals.

#WhatTheFuture #ArtificialVision #MedicalTech.

Continue reading “This machine creates artificial vision for the blind” »

Emergence, a fascinating and complex concept, illuminates how intricate patterns and behaviors can spring from simple interactions. It’s akin to marveling at a symphony, where each individual note, simple in itself, contributes to a rich, complex musical experience far surpassing the sum of its parts. Although definitions of emergence vary across disciplines, they converge on a common theme: small quantitative changes in a system’s parameters can lead to significant qualitative transformations in its behavior. These qualitative shifts represent different “regimes” where the fundamental “rules of the game”-the underlying principles or equations governing the behavior-change dramatically.

To make this abstract concept more tangible, let’s explore relatable examples from various fields:

1. Physics: Phase Transitions: Emergence is vividly illustrated through phase transitions, like water turning into ice. Here, minor temperature changes (quantitative parameter) lead to a drastic change from liquid to solid (qualitative behavior). Each molecule behaves simply, but collectively, they transition into a distinctly different state with their properties.

A team of researchers led by the University of California San Diego has developed a soft, stretchy electronic device capable of simulating the feeling of pressure or vibration when worn on the skin. This device, reported in a paper published in Science Robotics (“Conductive block copolymer elastomers and psychophysical thresholding for accurate haptic effects”), represents a step towards creating haptic technologies that can reproduce a more varied and realistic range of touch sensations.

The device consists of a soft, stretchable electrode attached to a silicone patch. It can be worn like a sticker on either the fingertip or forearm. The electrode, in direct contact with the skin, is connected to an external power source via wires. By sending a mild electrical current through the skin, the device can produce sensations of either pressure or vibration depending on the signal’s frequency.

Soft, stretchable electrode recreates sensations of vibration or pressure on the skin through electrical stimulation. (Image: Liezel Labios, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering)