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    Category Physics

    Magnetic ‘hedgehogs’ could Store Big Data in a Small Space

    December 21, 2021, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Magnetic patterns that are similar to a hedgehog’s spikes could lead to more efficient — and larger-scale — data storage, a new study has found.
    Image credit: Getty Images

    New study reveals a zoo of magnetic patterns at the atomic scale. Atomic-scale magnetic patterns resembling a hedgehog’s spikes could result in hard disks with massively larger capacities than today’s devices, a new study suggests. The finding could help data centers keep up with the exponentially increasing demand for video and cloud data storage.

    In a study published today in the journal Science, researchers at The Ohio State University used a magnetic microscope to visualize the patterns, formed in thin films of an unusual magnetic material, manganese germanide...

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    Soft Semiconductors that Stretch Like Human Skin Can Detect UltraLow Light Levels

    December 20, 2021, Categories  Physics, Health/Medical

    Three engineering labs at Georgia Tech collaborated to demonstrate a new level of stretchability of a photodetector. Pictured above is first author Youngrak Park (right) with the lab leads (L to R) Bernard Kippelen,  Samuel Graham, and Olivier Pierron. (Photo credit: Ben Wright, Georgia Tech)

    Flexible electronics breakthrough could enhance biosensor technology, from wearables to soft-robotic implantable systems. Semiconductors are moving away from rigid substrates, which are cut or formed into thin discs or wafers, to more flexible plastic material and even paper thanks to new material and fabrication discoveries. The trend toward more flexible substrates has led to fabrication of numerous devices, from light-emitting diodes to solar cells and transistors.

    Georgia Tech researchers h...

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    New Smart-Roof Coating enables Year-Round Energy Savings

    December 17, 2021, Categories  Physics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Samples of an all-season smart-roof coating designed to keep homes warm during the winter and cool during the summer – without consuming natural gas or electricity. The device looks like Scotch tape, and can be affixed to solid surfaces such as a rooftop. Research findings by scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory point to a groundbreaking technology that outperforms commercial cool-roof systems in energy savings. Credit: Junqiao Wu, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

    Scientists have developed an all-season smart-roof coating that keeps homes warm during the winter and cool during the summer—without consuming natural gas or electricity. Research findings reported in the Dec...

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    A New Untethered and Insect-Sized Aerial Vehicle

    December 16, 2021, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Credit: Ozaki et al.

    Researchers at Toyota Central R&D Labs have recently created an insect-scale aerial robot with flapping wings, powered using wireless radiofrequency technology. This robot, presented in a paper published in Nature Electronics, is based on a radiofrequency power receiver with a remarkable power-to-weight density of 4,900 W kg-1.

    “Small drones typically have a very limited operating time due to their power source,” Takashi Ozaki, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told TechXplore. “The purpose of our recent research was to overcome this limitation. Currently, no-contact power supply using electromagnetic waves has been put to practical use in various products, but it was unknown how far it could be applied to small flying robots.”

    The main object...

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