Category Physics

This is an artist view of the shape of an electron in a high-temperature superconductor, which was measured in the work by Dalla Torre et al. The blue and red spheres represent Copper and Oxygen atoms, and the colored surface the positive (blue) and negative (red) parts of the wave describing the electron. Credit: Mario Sermoneta

A recent discovery provides an innovative technique for calculating the shapes of electrons. This finding will help scientists gain a better, faster understanding of the properties of complex materials. Dr. Emanuele Dalla Torre et al used holographic logic to compile an algorithm for visualizing the shape of an electron in a superconducting material...

MIT researchers outfitted their cube robot with shock-absorbing “skins” (left) that transfer less than half of the energy that would normally be transferred to the ground. Credit: Image courtesy of Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Anyone who’s watched drone videos or “BattleBots” knows that robots can break – often because they don’t have the proper padding. But this week MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) will present 3D printing soft materials that make robots safer and more precise in their movements – and that could be used to improve the durability of drones, phones, shoes, helmets, and more...

An illustration of refraction through a normal optical medium versus what it would look like for a medium capable of negative refraction. —Photo courtesy of Cory Dean

Engineers have directly observed for the first time negative refraction for electrons passing across a boundary between 2 regions in a conducting material. First predicted in 2007, this effect has been difficult to confirm experimentally. The electrons in the atomically thin material behave like light rays, which can be manipulated by such optical devices as lenses and prisms. The findings could lead to the development of new types of electron switches, based on principles of optics rather than electronics.

“The ability to manipulate electrons in a conducting material like light rays opens up entirely new ways of thinking a...

A top view of GrBP5 nanowires on a 2-D surface of graphene. Credit: Mehmet Sarikaya/Scientific Reports

A solution lies in bridging this gap where artificial meets biological – harnessing biological rules to exchange information between the biochemistry of our bodies and the chemistry of our devices. Engineers at the University of Washington unveil peptides that can provide just such a link. The team, led by UW professor Mehmet Sarikaya in the Departments of Materials Science & Engineering, shows how a genetically engineered peptide can assemble into nanowires atop 2D, solid surfaces that are just a single layer of atoms thick...