Copper’s biggest rival yet? New carbon nanotube fibers could reshape wiring for EVs, drones and aircraft

IMDEA Materials researchers develop, for the first time, CNT fibres rivalling the electrical conductivity of copper
Conceptual view of an intercalated CNT fibre cable, showing how the intercalant occupies the interstitial spaces between highly aligned nanotubes within the fibre, yielding conductivity comparable to that of commercial metal cables. Credit: IMDEA Materials Institute

Spanish researchers have demonstrated a scalable manufacturing process for carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers with electrical conductivity comparable to that of copper and aluminum. The result, published in Science, is a breakthrough for the future of electrification in aerospace, electric vehicles (EVs), drones and related applications, which require lightweight and high-strength electrical wiring.

CNTs have long been considered as ideal building blocks for electrical conductors, owing to their unique combination of low densi...

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Black hole jets measured in real time, revealing 10,000-sun power

Astronomers measure the mind-blowing power and speed of black hole jets for the first time
This image provided by International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) shows the strong stellar wind from the supergiant star pushes the jets launched by the black hole away from the star. Credit: International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) via AP

For the first time, scientists have measured the instantaneous mind-blowing power of jets blasting from a black hole.

The jet power from this relatively close black hole-star system is equivalent to 10,000 suns, an international research team reported Thursday. They also tracked the jet speed: roughly 355 million mph (540 million kph)—half the speed of light.

Located 7,200 light-years away, Cygnus X-1 features not only a black hole—the first one ever identified more than a half-century ago—but a blue supergiant...

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Good vibrations for quantum communications: Engineers couple single phonon to single atomic spin

A photo of a 5 mm x 5 mm diamond chip on a room-temperature measurement setup, with arrays of mechanical resonators visible.

Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have demonstrated, for the first time, a single quantum of vibrational energy interacting with a single atomic spin, seeding a pathway to quantum technologies that use sound as an information carrier, instead of light or electricity. The results are published in Nature.

Led by Marko Lončar, the Tiantsai Lin Professor of Electrical Engineering, the researchers engineered a nanometer-scale mechanical resonator around a single color-center spin qubit in diamond...

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Asteroid Apophis will skim past Earth in 2029, and a new joint mission plans to watch every change

ESA and JAXA team up on planetary defense, Ramses mission to asteroid Apophis
Credit: European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to deepen collaboration in planetary defense, alongside a dedicated agreement for collaboration on the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses) to the near-Earth asteroid Apophis.

The agreements were signed on 7 May by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa at the Embassy of Italy in Berlin, Germany, in the presence of European and Japanese institutional and industrial leadership. The event was hosted in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), in light of ESA’s selection of OHB Italia as prime contractor for the Ramses mission.

The move builds on a joint statement from November ...

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