To demonstrate their new technology, researchers fabricated a novel 1mm device (aka Robot Man) made of yellow photonic-crystal-enhanced QDs. Every region of the device has thousands of quantum dots, each measuring about six nanometers. Credit: Gloria See, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

A new method to extract more efficient and polarized light from quantum dots (QDs) over a large-scale area has been developed by researchers. Their method, which combines QD and photonic crystal technology, could lead to brighter and more efficient mobile phone, tablet, and computer displays, as well as enhanced LED lighting.

The team embedded QDs in novel polymer materials that retain strong quantum efficiency...

Researcher holds flexible dielectric material. Pull out shows boron nitride nanosheets. Credit: Qing Wang, Penn State

It may be the solution to energy storage & power conversion in electric vehicles and other high temperature applications. “Ceramics are usually the choice for energy storage dielectrics for high temperature applications, but they are heavy, weight is a consideration and they are often also brittle,” said Prof Qing Wang, Penn State. “Polymers have a low working temperature and so you need to add a cooling system, increasing the volume so system efficiency decreases and so does reliability.”

Dielectrics are materials that do not conduct electricity, but when exposed to an electric field, store electricity...

Walking on water might sound supernatural, but in fact it is a quite natural phenomenon. Many small creatures use water’s surface tension to maneuver around. One of the most complex maneuvers, jumping on water, is achieved by a species of semi-aquatic insects called water striders that not only skim along water’s surface but also generate enough upward thrust with their legs to launch themselves airborne from it.

Now, emulating this natural form of water-based locomotion, an international team of scientists from Seoul National University (SNU), Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, has unveiled a novel robotic insect that can jump off of water’s surface...