https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. The Politecnico di Milano has created the first integrated and fully tunable device based on spin waves, opening up new possibilities for the telecommunications of the future, far beyond current 5G and 6G standards. The study, published in the journal Advanced Materials, was conducted by a research group led by Riccardo Bertacco of the Department of Physics of the Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with Philipp Pirro of Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität and Silvia Tacchi of Istituto Officina dei Materiali—CNR-IOM. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-standalone-chip-external-magnets-future.html Condensed Matter Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:59:25 EST news687538741 In an era of geopolitical tensions and fragile supply chains, firms are seeking new ways to remain competitive and resilient. One such approach is coopetition, a strategic relationship in which companies cooperate and compete at the same time to achieve mutual benefit. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-rivals-powerful-partners-global.html Economics & Business Thu, 06 Nov 2025 13:10:01 EST news681656216 Brain–computer interfaces are technologies that enable direct communication between brain activity and external devices, enabling researchers to monitor and interpret brain signals in real time. These connections often involve arrays of tiny, hair-like electrodes called "microelectrodes" which are implanted within the brain to record or stimulate electrical activity. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-hybrid-nanotube-electrodes-safer-brain.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 03 Sep 2025 10:10:04 EDT news676112998 A study nearly 10 years in the making has shed new insight into how oxides can regularly sustain themselves, using the oxygen inherent in their own structures. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-oxide-catalysts-sustain-reactors.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 11 Jun 2025 15:57:14 EDT news668876222 Men in local leadership positions are unaware of gender leadership disparities and are less likely to challenge dominant stereotypes compared to women, suggests new research by the University of South Australia. The work is published in the journal Contemporary Social Science. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-reveals-gender-bias-men-local.html Economics & Business Wed, 26 Mar 2025 08:09:04 EDT news662195342 Opportunistic tactics used by automotive dealerships could be doing damage to individual automotive brands globally, new research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has found. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-opportunistic-car-recalls-brands.html Economics & Business Mon, 17 Feb 2025 10:01:08 EST news659008866 A team of scientists from the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences–Biotechnology at Forschungszentrum Jülich worked together with the company Novonesis to develop a bacterium that "eats" individual building blocks of different types of nylon and converts them into value-added products. The results of this research will help improve nylon recycling. The study has just been published in the journal Nature Microbiology. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-bacterium-individual-blocks-nylon-added.html Cell & Microbiology Mon, 10 Feb 2025 10:53:04 EST news658407181 CO2 emissions from road transport could peak worldwide this year thanks to rapid growth in electric vehicles and stricter new regulations, a German think tank said Tuesday. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-global-road-emissions-peak.html Environment Tue, 14 Jan 2025 10:07:41 EST news656071657 The future of technology has an age-old problem: rust. When iron-containing metal reacts with oxygen and moisture, the resulting corrosion greatly impedes the longevity and use of parts in the automotive industry. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-free-approach-advance-2d-electronics.html Nanophysics Mon, 23 Sep 2024 12:00:46 EDT news646311641 The president of SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly), Dr. Winston "Wole" Soboyejo, and postdoctoral researcher Dr. Tabiri Kwayie Asumadu have published a paper titled, "Robust Macroscale Superlubricity on Carbon-Coated Metallic Surfaces." This paper explores an innovative approach to reducing friction on metallic surfaces—a significant advancement that could have major real-world impacts. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-superlubricity-frictionless-state-macroscale.html Analytical Chemistry Mon, 15 Jul 2024 15:01:57 EDT news640274511 Involving workers and others in society is essential to ensure Brazilian industrial policies serve the country's development goals and the public interest, a new study shows. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-involving-workers-essential-industrial-policies.html Economics & Business Wed, 26 Jun 2024 11:19:12 EDT news638619550 Corals feed on plankton that they catch from the seawater. Due to the increasing pollution of the oceans, they also ingest tiny plastic particles. Sometimes, the corals are unable to expel the microplastics from their bodies. Instead, they store it in their calcareous skeleton, which can be bad for some species: they grow more slowly and develop coral bleaching or necrosis. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-synthetic-fibers-abrasion-strongest-impact.html Plants & Animals Wed, 14 Feb 2024 11:12:04 EST news627131521 Quantum magnetometers are able to detect and visualize the tiniest damage in ferromagnetic materials. In aerospace technology or the automotive industry, they can help to significantly increase the resilience and safety of systems and materials. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-quantum-magnetometers-smallest-material-defects.html Condensed Matter Tue, 23 Jan 2024 14:37:03 EST news625243021 The so-called three-way catalytic converter in the exhaust system of a car consists of expensive materials and only works correctly when the exhaust gases have a temperature that is several hundred degrees Celsius. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-cleaner-air-cold-catalytic.html Analytical Chemistry Thu, 15 Jun 2023 14:00:06 EDT news606039412 Interruptions are an inevitable part of working life. Some last a short time—a phone call, an urgent task, or a colleague stopping by for a chat. While these can take a brief toll on productivity, extended interruptions such as supply-chain issues, extreme weather or machinery breakdowns, can have a more significant impact. But what if there were a silver lining? https://phys.org/news/2023-05-bad-unleash-creativity.html Social Sciences Thu, 25 May 2023 14:00:01 EDT news604241078 With the impact of industrial robots on the U.S. labor markets in the past two decades, and an ever-increasing presence of machine-driven technology (such as artificial intelligence and ChatGPT), many employees have feared that one day robots will take their jobs. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-robot-job-view-overly-pessimistic.html Economics & Business Wed, 29 Mar 2023 17:09:03 EDT news599328535 UBC Okanagan researchers have adapted a technique—originally designed to embalm human remains—to strengthen the properties of biocomposites and make them stronger. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-unique-ingredient-bamboo.html Materials Science Fri, 18 Mar 2022 13:31:16 EDT news566829069 Extrusion using a gear pump is useful in production processes where temperatures must remain low, for example in the automotive industry to produce car tires. At too high temperatures, material properties change, becoming rigid and less fluid and therefore block the pump. Ph.D. candidate Vincent de Bie has developed a numerical simulation to better understand and predict the effect of fluid properties. This makes it easier to experiment with such manufacturing processes via a computer, reducing the amount of material that needs to be processed to achieve an airtight tire. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-production-materials-analysis-gear-polymer.html Soft Matter Fri, 18 Mar 2022 11:33:13 EDT news566821990 Scientists have created a new generation of low-cost, high-energy supercapacitors to power electric vehicles. https://phys.org/news/2021-06-supercapacitors-electrify-green.html Nanophysics Tue, 08 Jun 2021 10:25:56 EDT news542366751 Trillions of plastic debris fragments are afloat at sea, creating the 'perfect storm' for microbial colonization. Introduced more than 50 years ago, plastic substrates are a novel microbial habitat in the world's oceans. This 'plastisphere' consists of a complex community comprised of bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic microorganisms and microscopic animals. https://phys.org/news/2020-10-tally-biomass-oceanic-plastic-debris.html Ecology Tue, 13 Oct 2020 11:02:38 EDT news521805752 Roughly 1 billion cars and trucks zoom about the world's roadways. Only a few run on hydrogen. This could change after a breakthrough achieved by researchers at the University of Copenhagen. The breakthrough? A new catalyst that can be used to produce cheaper and far more sustainable hydrogen powered vehicles. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-fuel-cells-hydrogen-vehicles-longer.html Materials Science Mon, 24 Aug 2020 14:30:39 EDT news517498233 A project by Spanish researchers and other collaborators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) suggests the use of chitin from shrimp shells to produce electrodes for vanadium flow batteries. The results of the work have recently been published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. https://phys.org/news/2020-07-shrimp-shells-electrodes-large-storage.html Materials Science Wed, 01 Jul 2020 08:59:32 EDT news512812769 A team of Purdue University innovators hopes its new technology provides a more business-friendly option to utilize sustainable cellulose nanomaterials for use in vehicles, food packaging and other manufactured items. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-technique-polymer-solvents-aimed-vehicle.html Materials Science Tue, 16 Jun 2020 09:39:28 EDT news511519166 How can mass production methods be applied to individualized products? One answer is to use a combination of digital manufacturing technologies, for example by integrating digital printing and laser processing into traditional manufacturing processes. This paves the way for in-line product customization. Six Fraunhofer institutes have pooled their expertise to take the new process to the next level. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-mass-production-individualized-products.html Materials Science Tue, 02 Jun 2020 11:20:01 EDT news510315135 Dresden scientists have developed a self-cleaning metallic surface. A project team of Technische Universität Dresden and the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS structured an aluminium plate with a laser process in such a way that water droplets no longer adhere and dirt particles can be removed from the surface—completely without chemical cleaning agents or additional effort. The scientific evidence of the self-cleaning effect has been published in the journal Applied Surface Science. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-chemicals-scientists-self-cleaning-aluminium-surface.html Materials Science Wed, 27 May 2020 11:21:14 EDT news509797271 Researchers from Erasmus University Rotterdam and IESE Business School published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that empirically demonstrates the effects of collective layoff announcements on sales, advertising effectiveness, and consumers' price sensitivity. https://phys.org/news/2020-04-commercial-consequences-layoffs.html Economics & Business Thu, 30 Apr 2020 03:24:18 EDT news507435854 Within seconds the new material can be completely transformed. Initially, the material is transparent and either in liquid or paste form; then, when any part of it is irradiated with the appropriate light, the entire resin begins to solidify and takes on a dark colour. The special epoxy resin formula that makes this possible has been patented by TU Wien. Now, researchers have even successfully carried out the process underwater. This means that the new epoxy resin can be used for jobs that, up until now, had been very difficult to carry out, such as filling underwater cracks in bridge pillars or dams, or repairing pipes during ongoing operation. https://phys.org/news/2020-03-epoxy-resins-hardening-button.html Materials Science Mon, 02 Mar 2020 12:30:56 EST news502374650 Modern cars rely on catalytic converters to remove carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and other harmful chemicals from exhaust emissions. https://phys.org/news/2019-08-catalytic-cars-bad.html Analytical Chemistry Wed, 14 Aug 2019 08:32:33 EDT news484990334 An advanced manufacturing process to produce nano structured rods and tubes directly from high-performance aluminum alloy powder—in a single step—was recently demonstrated by researchers from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. https://phys.org/news/2019-06-aluminum-alloys.html Engineering Tue, 18 Jun 2019 14:48:37 EDT news480088106 Ford has opened a research center in Israel, joining a legion of major automakers racing to develop new technologies for the world of driverless cars. https://phys.org/news/2019-06-ford-israel-tech-lab-driverless.html Automotive Thu, 13 Jun 2019 13:47:23 EDT news479652437