Category Technology/Electronics

Chunks of this sodium-based compound (Na2B12H12) (left) would function well in a battery only at elevated temperatures, but when they are milled into far smaller pieces (right), they can potentially perform even in extreme cold, making them even more promising as the basis for safer, cheaper rechargeables. Credit: Tohoku University, Japan

By chemically modifying and pulverizing a promising group of compounds, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have potentially brought safer, solid-state rechargeable batteries 2 steps closer to reality. These compounds are stable solid materials that would not pose the risks of leaking or catching fire typical of traditional liquid battery ingredients and are made from commonly available substances.

The first advance cam...

3D Images of Representative Biological Cells Taken with the HT-1. Credit: Copyright KAIST

Researchers at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a revolutionary bio-medical imaging tool, the holotomography HT-1, to view and analyze cells, which is commercially available. Professor Park collaborated with TomoCube’s R&D team to develop a state-of-the-art, 2D/3D/4D holographic microscope that would allow a real-time label-free visualization of biological cells and tissues.

The HT is an optical analogy of X-ray computed tomography (CT). Both X-ray CT and HT share the same physical principle — the inverse of wave scattering. The difference is that HT uses laser illumination whereas X-ray CT uses X-ray beams...

Gurpreet Singh, Kansas State University associate professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering, and his research team have developed a paperlike battery electrode using silicon oxycarbide glass and graphene. Credit: Kansas State University

It may improve tools for space exploration or unmanned aerial vehicles. A/Prof Gurpreet Singh of mechanical and nuclear engineering, and his research team created the battery electrode using silicon oxycarbide-glass and graphene.

The battery electrode has all the right characteristics. It is >10% lighter than other battery electrodes. It has close to 100% cycling efficiency for >1000 charge discharge cycles. It is made of low-cost materials that are byproducts of the silicone industry...

Artist’s impression of a high critical temperature superconductor immersed in a magnetic field. The magnetic field generates whirls of current called vortices. These allow to better perceive an ordered electronic structure that coexists with the superconducting state. Credit: © UNIGE – Xavier Ravinet

New research shows electronic densities measured in these superconductors are a combination of 2 separate effects. As a result, a new model suggests the existence of 2 coexisting states, rather than competing ones as was postulated for the past 30 years. A small revolution in the world of superconductivity.

A superconducting material is a material that, below a certain temperature, loses all electrical resistance...