http://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. High-performance thermoelectric materials that convert waste heat to electricity could one day be a source of more sustainable power. But they need to be a lot more efficient before they could be effective on a broad scale in places like power plants or military bases, researchers say. http://phys.org/news289130665.html Nanotechnology Thu, 30 May 2013 11:04:34 EST news289130665 An injection-molding method that can reduce costs and increase the use of titanium and other durable, lightweight and corrosion-resistant metals has earned a 2013 TechConnect National Innovation Award. http://phys.org/news288520666.html Technology Thu, 23 May 2013 09:40:39 EST news288520666 (Phys.org) —Drivers who have ever noticed a residue on their windshields after going through a car wash will sympathize with nanoscientist Seth Darling's pain. http://phys.org/news287040940.html Nanotechnology Mon, 06 May 2013 06:35:59 EST news287040940 (Phys.org) —Topological insulators (TIs) are an exciting new type of material that on their surface carry electric current, but within their bulk, act as insulators. Since the discovery of TIs about a decade ago, their unique characteristics (which point to potential applications in quantum computing) have been explored theoretically, and in the last five years, experimentally. http://phys.org/news284833756.html Physics Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:29:56 EST news284833756 (Phys.org) —At very low temperatures, near absolute zero, multiple particles called bosons can form an unusual state of matter in which a large fraction of the bosons in a gas occupy the same quantum state—the lowest one—to form a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). In a sense, the bosons lose their individual identities and behave like a single, very large atom. But while previously BECs have only existed below a critical temperature, scientists in a new study have shown that BECs can exist above this critical temperature for more than a minute when different components of the gas evolve at different rates. http://phys.org/news284792079.html Physics Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:00:01 EST news284792079 (Phys.org) —While scientists know that information is represented in the brain by the electrical activity of neurons, the details of this representation, called "neural coding," remain mysterious. How exactly do pulses of electricity get translated into thoughts and ideas? http://phys.org/news284098429.html Physics Tue, 02 Apr 2013 06:30:01 EST news284098429 (Phys.org)—Cornell researchers have resolved a longstanding theoretical debate about the electronic structure of iron-based superconductors by directly observing it at the atomic scale. The work is reported in the Feb. 24 online edition of the journal Nature Physics. http://phys.org/news280657672.html Physics Thu, 21 Feb 2013 08:28:06 EST news280657672 AIST researchers have confirmed the operation of an ultra-miniaturized transistor with a channel length of 3 nm. The developed transistor was fabricated employing a V-shaped groove created by anisotropic dissolution of silicon crystal in an alkaline solution. By controlling the conditions of dissolution, a groove with a sharp tip measures 3 nm was prepared and the groove tip was used as the channel. Junctions were formed by a new technique whereby impurities are uniformly distributed on the entire silicon crystal. In terms of electrical characteristics, the current-regulating performance was maximized when the thickness of the channel (whose length is 3 nm) was thinned down to 1 nm. The velocity of electrons in the transistor was also investigated; it was verified that scattering effects are repressed inside the 3 nm-long channel, resulting in a quasi-ballistic flow of electrons. This suggests that an electric current can flow without energy loss. Consequently, reduction in power consumption of integrated circuits is expected. http://phys.org/news280485801.html Technology Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:43:45 EST news280485801 Spintronics is a form of signal processing similar to that used in traditional electronics, but it takes advantage of a property of electrons known as spin. Spin is often visualized as an arrow about which the electron rotates, much like a top spinning around its axis. Generating a stream of electrons in which these 'arrows' are all parallel—a so-called spin-polarized current (see image)—is the foundation upon which spintronics is based. Imperfections in a material, however, can easily destroy polarization. Simply applying an oscillating voltage across the device could help to maintain a spin-polarized current even in the presence of impurities, according to theoretical research by Seng Ghee Tan at the A*STAR Data Storage Institute, Singapore, and co‐workers. http://phys.org/news278749622.html Physics Wed, 30 Jan 2013 06:40:01 EST news278749622 During accretion and differentiation of the Earth, chemical interactions in a silicate magma ocean and liquid iron drove silicon and oxygen impurities into what went on to become the liquid outer core. Contrasting with previous research, which suggested that silicon and oxygen would only appear in very low concentrations (less than 1 percent by weight) in the liquid iron, Tsuno et al. find that at the base of a magma ocean 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) deep, these light elements could reach concentrations as high as 5 percent oxygen and 8 percent silicon by weight, simultaneously. Such impurity levels would decrease the density of the outer core, accounting for the so-called "density deficit" identified in previous research, whereby the outer core is roughly 10 percent less dense than a pure iron-nickel alloy. http://phys.org/news278660305.html Space & Earth Tue, 29 Jan 2013 07:40:01 EST news278660305 When a piece of metal is cooled down, it becomes easier for electrons to move through the material. Therefore, the electrical resistance of a metal normally decreases with lower temperatures. However, in the presence of magnetic impurities—tiny imperfections in the material—the resistance increases again below a certain temperature. This phenomenon has to do with how electrons scatter from the impurity and is generally known as 'the Kondo effect'. It can come in many forms—one of which has now been discovered by Emi Minamitani of the RIKEN Surface and Interface Science Laboratory, Wako and co-workers at the University of Tokyo and Osaka University. They have shown that in the case of magnetic molecules deposited on a metal surface, a Kondo effect appears that reflects the local symmetry of the molecule at the adsorption site. http://phys.org/news278324128.html Physics Fri, 25 Jan 2013 08:40:01 EST news278324128 (Phys.org)—By doping a bismuth-based layered material with silver, Chinese scientists demonstrated that superconductivity is intrinsic to the new material rather than stemming from its impurities. http://phys.org/news275224294.html Physics Thu, 20 Dec 2012 11:11:41 EST news275224294 (Phys.org)—Electron microscopy at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory is providing unprecedented views of the individual atoms in graphene, offering scientists a chance to unlock the material's full potential for uses from engine combustion to consumer electronics. http://phys.org/news272221556.html Nanotechnology Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:06:06 EST news272221556 (Phys.org)—If quantum computers are ever going to perform all those expected feats of code-breaking and number crunching, then their component qubits—-tiny ephemeral quantum cells held in a superposition of internal states—-will have to be protected from intervention by the outside world. In other words, decoherence, the loss of the qubits' quantum integrity, has to be postponed. Now theoretical physicists at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) and the University of Maryland have done an important step forward to understand qubits in a real-world setup. In a new study they show, for the first time, that qubits can successfully exist in a so called topological superconductor material even in the presence of impurities in the material and strong interactions among participating electrons. http://phys.org/news268989579.html Physics Tue, 09 Oct 2012 08:20:15 EST news268989579 The presence of carbon monoxide (CO) impurities in hydrogen gas (H2) can have a detrimental impact on the performance of fuel cells. Recent studies have shown that gold nanoparticles—particles less than five nanometers wide—can catalytically remove CO impurities from H2 under mild temperature and pressure conditions. This breakthrough understanding has helped facilitate the development of fuel-cell vehicles that use 'onboard' fuel processing technology. Unfortunately, gold nanoparticles tend to lose their catalytic activity after a few hours of use—and scientists need to overcome this problem if gold nanoparticles are to be used. http://phys.org/news265447369.html Nanotechnology Wed, 29 Aug 2012 08:50:03 EST news265447369 Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are some of the strongest materials on Earth and are used to strengthen composite materials, such as those used in high-performance tennis rackets. CNTs have potential uses in everything from medicine to electronics to construction. However, CNTs are not without risks. A joint study by the University of Missouri and United States Geological Survey found that they can be toxic to aquatic animals. The researchers urge that care be taken to prevent the release of CNTs into the environment as the materials enter mass production. http://phys.org/news264860175.html Nanotechnology Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:16:29 EST news264860175 Fuel cells are inefficient because the catalyst most commonly used to convert chemical energy to electricity is made of the wrong material, a researcher at Case Western Reserve University argues. Rather than continue the futile effort to tweak that material - platinum - to make it work better, Chemistry Professor Alfred Anderson urges his colleagues to start anew. http://phys.org/news261310365.html Chemistry Thu, 12 Jul 2012 11:13:09 EST news261310365 Multi-walled carbon nanotubes riddled with defects and impurities on the outside could replace some of the expensive platinum catalysts used in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, according to scientists at Stanford University. Their findings are published in the May 27 online edition of the journal Nature Nanotechnology. http://phys.org/news257319327.html Nanotechnology Sun, 27 May 2012 13:03:24 EST news257319327 What holds the surface area of several football fields in the mass equivalent of a paper clip? The answer to this question has many names and performs duties ranging from catalysis to gas storage: the metal organic framework, or MOF, called Cu-BTC and also known as HKUST-1 or Basolite. http://phys.org/news254563917.html Chemistry Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:30:01 EST news254563917 The technique builds on previous research in which microbubbles were used to improve the way algae is cultivated. http://phys.org/news246774024.html Biology Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:20:49 EST news246774024 (PhysOrg.com) -- If graphene is to live up to its promise as a revolutionary component of future electronics, the interactions between graphene and the surrounding materials in a device must be understood and controlled. http://phys.org/news244961488.html Nanotechnology Thu, 05 Jan 2012 05:10:01 EST news244961488 Scientists are reporting development of a first-of-its-kind technology that could help law enforcement officials trace the residues from terrorist attacks involving nerve gas and other chemical agents back to the companies or other sources where the perpetrators obtained ingredients for the agent. A report on the technique, which could eventually help track down perpetrators of chemical attacks, appears in ACS' journal Analytical Chemistry. http://phys.org/news243081235.html Chemistry Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:50:04 EST news243081235 A fusion reactor operates best when the hot plasma inside it consists only of fusion fuel (hydrogen's heavy isotopes, deuterium and tritium), much as a car runs best with a clean engine. But fusion fuel reactions at the heart of magnetic fusion reactors also create leftovers—helium "ash." The buildup of this helium ash and other impurities can cool the hot plasma and reduce fusion power. Research at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center is providing new insight into the transport of these impurities in fusion plasmas in an effort to improve on the natural impurity exhaust process, producing cleaner plasmas and higher fusion power. http://phys.org/news240166952.html Physics Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:02:38 EST news240166952 Nanoscale clustering of metal impurities at intragranular dislocations within industrial mc-Si solar cells have been observed by users from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology working with the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) X-Ray Microscopy Group, in collaboration with scientists at the Advanced Photon Source (APS). http://phys.org/news237699159.html Nanotechnology Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:33:03 EST news237699159 The soot particle filters found on diesel vehicles are designed to ensure that no harmful particles make their way through the exhaust pipe. Often, though, the exhaust from newer-model engines is not hot enough to free the filters from soot particles on a regular basis. A new method removes impurities even at low exhaust temperatures. http://phys.org/news237018786.html Technology Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:34:28 EST news237018786 Conductors of electrical current, including copper, heat up and limit the ability to increase circuit densities. Unusual materials that exhibit the so-called ‘quantum spin Hall effect’, in which current can flow without dissipating heat, could provide an alternative to conventional metals. However, internal imperfections, such as magnetic impurities, were assumed to disrupt current flow. Now, using theoretical calculations, a research team from Japan and the US has shown that devices built from these alternative materials are surprisingly immune to the presence of magnetic impurities. http://phys.org/news236596062.html Physics Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:20:02 EST news236596062 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers developing key new technology electronics like quantum computing or advanced detectors, as well as those studying basic material science and metal surface properties, often find their experiments plagued by excess electrical noise arising from the surfaces of metals in their equipment, a kind of distracting surface glitter. http://phys.org/news236512036.html Physics Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:47:28 EST news236512036 National Physical Laboratory has developed a suite of analytical methods to detect trace-level impurities in hydrogen fuel that can affect the performance of hydrogen fuel cells – a potentially carbon-free power source for vehicles. http://phys.org/news236333414.html Technology Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:10:25 EST news236333414 A team of Penn State University scientists has invented a new system that uses magnetism to purify hybrid nanoparticles -- structures that are composed of two or more kinds of materials in an extremely small particle that is visible only with an electron microscope. Team leaders Mary Beth Williams, an associate professor of chemistry, and Raymond Schaak, a professor of chemistry, explained that the never-before-tried method will not only help scientists to remove impurities from such particles, it also will help researchers to distinguish between hybrid nanoparticles that appear to be identical when viewed under an electron microscope, but that have different magnetism -- a great challenge in recent nanoparticle research. The system holds the promise of helping to improve drug-delivery systems, drug-targeting technologies, medical-imaging technologies, and electronic information-storage devices. The paper will be published in the journal Agewandte Chemie and is available on the journal's early-online website. http://phys.org/news234538966.html Nanotechnology Tue, 06 Sep 2011 14:43:00 EST news234538966 Scientists often find strange and unexpected things when they look at materials at the nanoscale -- the level of single atoms and molecules. This holds true even for the most common materials, such as water. http://phys.org/news232349761.html Nanotechnology Fri, 12 Aug 2011 06:38:03 EST news232349761