Category Physics

A team of physicists has developed a new method of storing information in fully transparent plastic foils. Prof. Reineke and his LEXOS team work with simple plastic foils with a thickness of less than 50 micrometer, which is thinner than a human hair. In these transparent plastic foils, they introduce organic luminescent molecules. In the beginning, these molecules are in an inactive, dark state. By locally using ultraviolet irradiation, it is possible to turn this dark state into an active, luminescent one...

A strategy inspired by the process responsible for muscle growth could lead to the development of stronger, longer-lasting materials. Hokkaido University researchers have developed a strategy to fabricate materials that become stronger in response to mechanical stress – mimicking skeletal muscle growth. Their findings, published in the journal Science, could pave the way for long-lasting materials that can adapt and strengthen based on surrounding conditions.

The strategy was inspired by the process that makes ...

The technology has potential to transform how products from prosthetics to eyeglass lenses are designed and manufactured. A new 3D printer uses light to transform gooey liquids into complex solid objects in only a matter of minutes. Nicknamed the “replicator” by the inventors – after the Star Trek device that can materialize any object on demand – the 3D-printer can create objects that are smoother, more flexible and more complex than what is possible with traditional 3D-printers...

High-performance golf clubs and airplane wings are made out of titanium, which is as strong as steel but about twice as light. These properties depend on the way a metal’s atoms are stacked, but random defects that arise in the manufacturing process mean that these materials are only a fraction as strong as they could theoretically be. An architect, working on the scale of individual atoms, could design and build new materials that have even better strength-to-weight ratios.

In a new study published in Nature Scientific Reports, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Enginee...