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    Atomically thin Magnetic device could lead to new Memory technologies

    May 7, 2018, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    A depiction of the crystal structure of chromium triiodide (CrI3), with chromium atoms shown in purple and iodine atoms in yellow. The black arrows represent the electron "spins," which are analogous to tiny bar magnets.

    A depiction of the crystal structure of chromium triiodide (CrI3), with chromium atoms shown in purple and iodine atoms in yellow. The black arrows represent the electron “spins,” which are analogous to tiny bar magnets.Tiancheng Song

    Scientists have discovered a method to encode information using magnets that are just a few layers of atoms in thickness. This breakthrough may revolutionize both cloud computing technologies and consumer electronics by enabling data storage at a greater density and improved energy efficiency.

    In a study published online May 3 in the journal Science, the researchers report that they used stacks of ultrathin materials to exert unprecedented control over the flow of electrons based on the direction of their spins – where the electron “spins” are analogous t...

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    May the forest be with you: GEDI moves toward Launch to Space station

    May 7, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Gedi mission

    The Jedi knights may help protect a galaxy far, far away, but our GEDI will help us study and understand forest changes right here on Earth. Credits: NASA

    A first-of-its-kind laser instrument designed to map the world’s forests in 3D is moving toward an earlier launch to the International Space Station than previously expected. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation – or GEDI, pronounced like “Jedi,” of Star Wars fame – instrument is undergoing final integration and testing this spring and summer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The instrument is expected to launch aboard SpaceX’s 16th commercial resupply services mission, targeted for late 2018. GEDI is being led by the University of Maryland, College Park; the instrument is being built at NASA Goddard.

    “...

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    Making new Layered Superconductors using High Entropy Alloys

    May 5, 2018, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    This is a schematic image of the crystal structure of high-entropy-alloy-type REO0.5F0.5BiS2. Credit: Yoshikazu Mizuguchi

    This is a schematic image of the crystal structure of high-entropy-alloy-type REO0.5F0.5BiS2. Credit: Yoshikazu Mizuguchi

    Promising strategy for creating state-of-the-art layered superconductors. Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have created new superconductors made of layers of bismuth sulfide (BiS2) and a high entropy rare earth alloy oxyfluoride, containing 5 different rare earth (RE) elements at the same crystallographic site. The new material retains superconducting properties over a wider range of lattice parameters than materials without high-entropy-alloy states. Their work promises an exciting new strategy for designing new layered superconductors, a potentially key development in the search for high-temperature superconductors.

    Superconductors are key to a range of ...

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    Microbeads to Combat Infection show promise in Burn Wound simulations

    May 4, 2018, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Diagrams showing the burn wound geometry (left) and a cartoon representation of the mathematical model (right). Host cells are covered by a liquid layer known as the exudate, which is itself covered by dead (necrotic) tissue, except in the region of the excision where the exudate is exposed to the air. Bacteria and inhibitors exist in one of two states: free in the exudate or bound to the host cells, and can transition between these states by binding to and unbinding from the host cells. Both free and bound bacteria can divide; daughters of free bacteria enter the exudate, whereas some of the bound bacterial daughters remain bound to the surface, the rest entering the exudate. Bound bacteria may be consumed and destroyed (phagocytosed) by immune cells called neutrophils, while free bacteria and inhibitors may leak out of the wound (clearance) in the first twenty-four hours after the excision is made and before a scab forms over the exposed exudate. Credit: Image created by Dr. Paul A. Roberts. CC-BY

    Diagrams showing the burn wound geometry (left) and a cartoon representation of the mathematical model (right). Host cells are covered by a liquid layer known as the exudate, which is itself covered by dead (necrotic) tissue, except in the region of the excision where the exudate is exposed to the air. Bacteria and inhibitors exist in one of two states: free in the exudate or bound to the host cells, and can transition between these states by binding to and unbinding from the host cells. Both free and bound bacteria can divide; daughters of free bacteria enter the exudate, whereas some of the bound bacterial daughters remain bound to the surface, the rest entering the exudate...

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