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    Category Physics

    A Miniature Robot that could check Colons for Early Signs of Disease

    June 20, 2019, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Health/Medical

    Engineers have shown it is technically possible to guide a tiny robotic capsule inside the colon to take micro-ultrasound images. Known as a Sonopill, the device could one day replace the need for patients to undergo an endoscopic examination, where a semi-rigid scope is passed into the bowel – an invasive procedure that can be painful.
    The Sonopill is a small capsule – with a diameter of 21mm and length of 39mm, which the engineers say can be scaled down. The capsule houses a micro ultrasound transducer, an LED light, camera and magnet.

    Engineers have shown it is technically possible to guide a tiny robotic capsule inside the colon to take micro-ultrasound images. Known as a Sonopill, the device could one day replace the need for patients to undergo an endoscopic examination, where a semi-rigid scope is passed into the bowel – an invasive procedure that can be painful.

    Micro-ultrasound images also have the advantage of being better able to identify some types of cell change associated with cancer...

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    Breathing new Life into Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

    June 16, 2019, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Abstract Image
    Renaissance of Fused Porphyrins: Substituted Methylene-Bridged Thiophene-Fused Strategy for High-Performance Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

    Researchers have made a popular type of dye-sensitized solar cell (aromatic-fused porphyrin) more efficient by adjusting and updating their structure. The team report a series of adaptations with a power conversion efficiency of 10.7%, the highest yet for this kind of dye-sensitized solar cell, the most efficient solar technology available at present.

    Current dye-sensitized solar cells are made up of a porous layer of titanium dioxide covered with a molecular dye. As sunlight is taken in, electrons are excited as they pass through, and are collected for power, before being ‘recycled’, reintroduced into the electrolyte and back to the dye molecule...

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    Physicists can predict the jumps of Schrödinger’s cat (and finally save it)

    June 4, 2019, Categories  Physics

    Illustration of a cat sitting on a railling and its shadow leaping through the air.
    . To catch and reverse a quantum jump mid-flight. Nature, 2019; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1287-z

    Yale researchers have figured out how to catch and save Schrödinger’s famous cat, the symbol of quantum superposition and unpredictability, by anticipating its jumps and acting in real time to save it from proverbial doom. In the process, they overturn years of cornerstone dogma in quantum physics.

    The discovery enables researchers to set up an early warning system for imminent jumps of artificial atoms containing quantum information. A study announcing the discovery appears in the June 3 online edition of the journal Nature.

    Schrödinger’s cat is a well-known paradox used to illustrate the concept of superposition – the ability for two opposite states to exist simultaneously – and un...

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    Flexible Generators turn Movement into Energy

    June 2, 2019, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Rice University postdoctoral researcher Michael Stanford holds a flip-flop with a triboelectric nanogenerator, based on laser-induced graphene, attached to the heel. Walking with the flip-flop generates electricity with repeated contact between the generator and the wearer's skin. Stanford wired the device to store energy on a capacitor. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)
    Rice University postdoctoral researcher Michael Stanford holds a flip-flop with a triboelectric nanogenerator, based on laser-induced graphene, attached to the heel. Walking with the flip-flop generates electricity with repeated contact between the generator and the wearer’s skin. Stanford wired the device to store energy on a capacitor. Photo by Jeff Fitlow

    Laser-induced graphene nanogenerators could power future wearables. Researchers have produced triboelectric nanogenerators with laser-induced graphene. The flexible devices turn movement into electrical energy and could enable wearable, self-powered sensors and devices.

    The Rice lab of chemist James Tour has adapted laser-induced graphene (LIG) into small, metal-free devices that generate electricity...

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