Category Physics

On your car windshield, ice is a nuisance. But on an airplane, a wind turbine, an oil rig or power line, it can be downright dangerous. And removing it with the methods that are available today – usually chemical melting agents or labor-intensive scrapers and hammers – is difficult and expensive work.

That could soon change thanks to a durable, inexpensive ice-repellent coating developed by University of Michigan researchers. Thin, clear and slightly rubbery to the touch, the spray-on formula could make ice slide off equipment, airplanes and car windshields with only the force of gravity or a gentle breeze. This could have major implications in industries like energy, shipping and transportation, where ice is a constant problem in cold climates.

The new coating could also lead to big ener...

Larry Lu (left), and Jiong Yang with the lens shown on screen. Credit: Image Stuart Hay, ANU

Scientists have created the world’s thinnest lens, 1/2000 the thickness of a human hair, opening the door to flexible computer displays and a revolution in miniature cameras. Dr Yuerui (Larry) Lu from The Australian National University (ANU) said the discovery hinged on the remarkable potential of the molybdenum disulphide crystal. “This type of material is the perfect candidate for future flexible displays,” said Dr Lu. “We will also be able to use arrays of micro lenses to mimic the compound eyes of insects.”

The 6.3-nanometre lens outshines previous ultra-thin flat lenses, made from 50-nanometre thick gold nano-bar arrays, known as a metamaterial.
“Molybdenum disulphide is an amazing crystal,” s...

Storing heat as electricity. Credit: Image courtesy of Linköping Universitet

A supercondenser has been developed that can be charged by the sun. It contains no expensive or hazardous materials, has patents pending, and it should be fully possible to manufacture it on an industrial scale. In the future we could have a completely new type of energy storage, charged by heat energy – eg during the day when the sun shines, or by waste heat from an industrial process. The heat is converted to electricity, which can be stored until it is needed.

Simply put, a supercondenser is energy storage: a type of battery that consists of an electrolyte of ions between two electrodes. The charge is stored next to the electrodes, most often in carbon nanotubes...

Three-dimensional image using scanning tunneling electron microscopy of electrons on the surface of a Weyl semi-metal, a kind of crystal with unusual conducting and insulating properties. Credit: Yazdani et al., Princeton University.

Princeton Uni researchers have observed a bizarre behavior in a strange new topological crystal material that could hold the key for faster electronics. Unlike most materials in which electrons travel on the surface, in these new materials the electrons sink into the depths of the crystal through special conductive channels. “It is like these electrons go down a rabbit hole and show up on the opposite surface,” said Prof. Ali Yazdani, . “You don’t find anything else like this in other materials.”

Yazdani and his colleagues discovered the odd behavior while stu...