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Blog – Page 8,162

Graphene, a two-dimensional honeycomb structure made of carbon atoms with a thickness of only one atom, has numerous outstanding properties. These include enormous mechanical resistance and extraordinary electronic and optical properties. Last year a team led by the Empa researcher Roman Fasel was able to show that it can even be magnetic: they succeeded in synthesizing a molecule in the shape of a bowtie, which has special magnetic properties.

Now, researchers report another breakthrough. Theoretical work from 2007 predicted that graphene could exhibit if it were cut into tiny triangles. Over the last three years, several teams, including the Empa team, have succeeded in producing the so-called triangulenes, consisting of only a few dozen , by chemical synthesis under ultra-high vacuum.

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A team of researchers based in Manchester, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland and the U.S. has published a new review on a field of computer device development known as spintronics, which could see graphene used as building block for next-generation electronics.

Recent theoretical and experimental advances and phenomena in studies of electronic spin transport in and related two-dimensional (2-D) materials have emerged as a fascinating area of research and development.

Spintronics is the combination of electronics and magnetism, at the nanoscale and could lead to next generation high-speed electronics. Spintronic devices are a viable alternative for nanoelectronics beyond Moore’s law, offering higher energy efficiency and lower dissipation as compared to conventional electronics, which relies on charge currents. In principle we could have phones and tablets operating with spin-based transistors and memories.

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A Greek mathematician has found the answer to a mind boggling maths problem that has remained unanswered for 78 years – until now.

Associate Professor of Mathematics Dimitris Koukoulopoulos together with Oxford University research professor James Maynard, has solved the Duffin and Schaeffer Conjecture.

First expressed in 1941 by mathematicians R J Duffin and A C Schaeffer, the last time a mathematician showed promise in solving the problem was in 1990. But it wouldn’t be until 29 years later that it would be fully proven by Koukoulopoulos and Maynard – two relatively young mathematicians, both aged in their 30’s.

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In a paper published in the journal Thorax, a team of Australia researchers described the first instance of complete COVID-19 testing of all passengers and crew on an isolated cruise ship during the current pandemic: of the 217 passengers and crew on board, 128 tested positive for COVID-19 on reverse transcription-PCR; of the COVID-19-positive patients, only 24 (19%) were symptomatic.

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A couple of months ago I introduced you to a UK company that converts classic cars to electric propulsion. The company, named eDub Services, was founded by a young man named Kit Lacey, and since my piece on his business, he and I have been in conversation about this fascinating field of entrepreneurship. I have an old Volvo 240 in my garage that one day will need an electric drivetrain for sure, so getting acquainted with someone like Kit is a good bet.

I talked to Kit about the concrete and chronological information on his rebuilds and how we could make it accessible for all of us curious about how such projects can be carried out. This series is the result, in Kit Lacey’s own words. So let’s begin at the beginning.

It all started with a road trip. All the best ideas do, in my opinion. Driving down the A1 with my mum in the driver’s seat and my wife in the back. The year is 2013. “How hard would it be to convert a camper van to electric?” I ask my mum. “Not too hard,” she replied. … Maybe a strange question to ask, but there is some context.

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