Crack propagation is asymmetric in polar materials

The ICN2 Oxide Nanophysics Group, led by ICREA Prof. Gustau Catalán, has published in Physical Review Letters how, due to flexoelectricity, cracks in ferroelectrics (switchable polar materials) propagate more easily in the ...

Predicting electricity demands

Research published in the International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy shows how a neural network can be trained with a genetic algorithm to forecasting short-term demands on electricity load. Chawalit Jeenanunta ...

Scientists simulate a black hole in a water tank

Certain phenomena that occur in black holes but cannot be directly observed in astronomic investigations can be studied by means of a laboratory simulation. This is possible due to a peculiar analogy between processes that ...

Scientists unlock structural secrets of whale baleen

Chinese scientists working with other researchers have for the first time uncovered the underlying mechanisms of the hierarchical structure of whale baleen, with an eye toward developing advanced engineered materials. In ...

New device for symmetry-breaking-induced optical nonlinearity

Second-order nonlinear optical processes play a pivotal role in both classical and quantum applications, ranging from extension of the accessible frequencies to generation of quantum entangled photon pairs and squeezed states. ...

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