Lead-free piezoelectric materials of the future

Piezoelectric materials have fantastic properties: squeeze them and they generate an electrical field. And vice-versa, they contract or expand when jolted with an electrical pulse. With a name derived from the Greek word ...

Getting a big look at tiny particles

At the turn of the 20th century, scientists discovered that atoms were composed of smaller particles. They found that inside each atom, negatively charged electrons orbit a nucleus made of positively charged protons and neutral ...

How water gets its exceptional properties

Water is liquid at room temperature – astounding for such a small molecule. Insights into the causes are provided by a new simulation method, which has its origins in brain research. Using artificial neural networks, researchers ...

Simplified calculations reproduce complex plasma flows

Accurate and fast calculation of heat flow (heat transport) due to fluctuations and turbulence in plasmas is an important issue in elucidating the physical mechanisms of fusion reactors and in predicting and controlling their ...

Milestone: A methane-metal marriage

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Arizona scientists have inserted metal atoms into methane gas molecules and obtained a detailed structure of the resulting molecule. The discovery could be a key step in making hydrocarbons ...

Physicists discover mechanisms of wrinkle and crumple formation

Smooth wrinkles and sharply crumpled regions are familiar motifs in biological and synthetic sheets, such as plant leaves and crushed foils, say physicists Benny Davidovitch, Narayanan Menon and colleagues at the University ...

Lightwave electronics at sharp metal tips

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics control for the first time the emission of electrons from metal tips with femtosecond lasers alone.

Researcher unravels one of geology's great mysteries

Danish researcher has solved one of the great mysteries of our geological past: Why the Earth's surface was not one big lump of ice four billion years ago when sun radiation was much weaker than today. Scientists have presumed ...

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