Shock-Absorbing Material could lead to Stronger, Lighter and Safer Helmets and Vehicles

Johns Hopkins researchers studied energy-absorbing capability of liquid crystal elastomers. Credit: Johns Hopkins University

A team of Johns Hopkins University researchers created shock-absorbing material that protects like a metal, but is lighter, stronger, reusable. The new foam-like material could be a game-changer for helmets, body armor, and automobile and aerospace parts.

“We are excited about our findings on the extreme energy absorption capability of the new material,” said senior author Sung Hoon Kang, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. “The material offers more protection from a wide range of impacts, but being lighter could reduce fuel consumption and the environmental impact of vehicles while being more comfortable for protective gear wearers.”

Kang, wh...

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Wormholes help Resolve Black Hole Information Paradox

Figure 1: As depicted in science fiction, a wormhole is a shortcut connecting two points in spacetime. A RIKEN physicist and two collaborators have used a new spacetime geometry with a wormhole-like structure to show that information is not necessarily irretrievably lost from black holes as they evaporate. © MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

A RIKEN physicist and two colleagues have found that a wormhole—a bridge connecting distant regions of the Universe—helps to shed light on the mystery of what happens to information about matter consumed by black holes.

Einstein’s theory of general relativity predicts that nothing that falls into a black hole can escape its clutches...

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Novel Treatment makes Pancreatic Cancer Susceptible to Immunotherapy, mouse study shows

New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that blocking a major inflammatory pathway in pancreatic cancer makes the tumors sensitive to chemotherapy and a type of immunotherapy that helps the immune system’s T cells to attack cancer cells. Above, pancreatic cancer cells are shown in green. T cells are in red.

Washington University to lead national clinical trial investigating therapy. A new study – in mice – suggests that blocking a major inflammatory pathway that is activated in pancreatic cancer makes the tumors sensitive to chemotherapy and a type of immunotherapy that prompts the immune system’s T cells to attack the cancer cells. The therapy more than doubled survival in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most...

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Engineering 2D Semiconductors with Built-in Memory Functions

A team of researchers at The University of Manchester’s National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has demonstrated that slightly twisted 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) display room-temperature ferroelectricity.

This characteristic, combined with TMDs’ outstanding optical properties, can be used to build multi-functional optoelectronic devices such as transistors and LEDs with built-in memory functions on nanometre length scale.

Ferroelectrics are materials with two or more electrically polarisable states that can be reversibly switched with the application of an external electric field. This material property is ideal for applications such as non-volatile memory, microwave devices, sensors and transistors...

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