Category Physics

Novel Smart Solar-Powered Freezer Truck Unveiled in Hong Kong

A research team led by Prof. Eric Cheng, Professor of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at PolyU has developed a novel freezer truck that supports a solar-powered freezer system and features vehicle-connected power storage and sharing technology.

The transport sector is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Hong Kong, accounting for 19% of total emissions. Supporting the development of green transport can help reduce air pollutant emissions. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is committed to promoting research into green technologies to support Hong Kong’s goal of reducing the City’s total carbon emissions from the 2005 level by half before 2035 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2050.

A research team led by Prof...

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‘World Record’ for Data Transmission Speed

Aston University researchers break ‘world record’ again for data transmission speed
ini Pratiwi, Mingming Tan, Ian Phillips, Aleksandr Donodin, Ruben Luis, Wladek Forysiak, Ben Puttnam

Aston University researchers are part of a team that has sent data at a record rate of 402 terabits per second using commercially available optical fibre.

This beats their previous record, announced in March 2024, of 301 terabits or 301,000,000 megabits per second, using a single, standard optical fibre.

“If compared to the internet connection speed recommendations of Netflix, of 3 Mbit/s or higher, for a watching a HD movie, this speed is over 100 million times faster.

The speed was achieved by using a wider spectrum, using six bands rather than the previous four, which increased capacity for data sharing. Normally just one or two bands are used.

The international research ...

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Wireless Receiver Blocks Interference for Better Mobile Device Performance

A cellphone has a blue shield which blocks red interference.
Caption: A new receiver can block up to four times more interference than some similar devices.
Credits:Image: MIT News; iStock

The growing prevalence of high-speed wireless communication devices, from 5G mobile phones to sensors for autonomous vehicles, is leading to increasingly crowded airwaves. This makes the ability to block interfering signals that can hamper device performance an even more important — and more challenging — problem.

With these and other emerging applications in mind, MIT researchers demonstrated a new millimeter-wave multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless receiver architecture that can handle stronger spatial interference than previous designs. MIMO systems have multiple antennas, enabling them to transmit and receive signals from different directions...

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A Possible World Record: Studying Thin Films Under Extreme Temperatures with Reflectometry

A possible world record: Studying thin films under extreme temperatures with reflectometry
Schematic of the Ni/Cu catalytic alloy-mediated EG synthesis on 3C–SiC on silicon. Credit: RSC Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1039/D3RA08289J

A team of researchers from ANSTO and University of Technology Sydney have set a record by conducting thin film experiments at 1,100 degrees Celsius, using the Spatz reflectometer equipped with a vacuum furnace.

The unique combination of neutron reflectometry with high temperature apparatus enables atomic-scale insights into thin film growth and diffusion processes. This is of relevance to a wide range of thin film technology and devices which undergo a range of processing and heat treatment conditions to optimize performance.

The UTS group, led by Francesca Iacopi and Aiswarya Pradeepkumar, has been studying the growth of thin carbon sheets (...

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