Researchers at Princeton found that a material known as a topological insulator, made from the elements bismuth and bromine, exhibit specialized quantum behaviors normally seen only under extreme experimental conditions of high pressures and temperatures near absolute zero. Credit: Shafayat Hossain and M. Zahid Hasan of Princeton University A new discovery For the first time, physicists...
Scientists showed how MnBi6Te10, shown here in purple (tellurium), blue (bismuth) and green (manganese), can act as a magnetic topological insulator, conducting electrical current (blue) along a “quantum highway” without losing energy. The study revealed that a concerted action of different material defects is key to the quantum electronic properties. Credit: University of Chicago Quantum...
Texas A&M University researchers are using 3D printing and salt to create environmentally friendly polymers that will degrade over time. Credit: Texas A&M Engineering. Dr. Emily Pentzer, an associate educator in the Division of Materials Science and Engineering and the Division of Chemistry at Texas A&M College, makes 3D printed polymers more environmentally friendly with a...
Magnetic bacteria (gray) can squeeze through narrow intercellular spaces to cross the blood vessel wall and infiltrate tumors. Credit: Yimo Yan / ETH Zurich Scientists worldwide are investigating how anti-cancer drugs can most efficiently reach the tumours they target. One probability is to use modified bacteria as "ferries" to bring the medications with the blood...
A close up of Spectre's front dash display. Credit: Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce, the British luxury car maker, has unveiled its first fully-electric car, the Spectre. All the features that have established Rolls-Royce as a legend in the automotive market can be found in the Spectre. This electrifying vehicle, developed from scratch, is silent and powerful and demonstrates...
An artist's impression of the "burping" black hole. Credit: DESY / Science Communication Lab 3 years earlier, in October 2018, astronomers saw a black hole consuming and ripping one star apart in a galaxy 665 million light yrs away from Earth. Currently, just recently, the same astronomers observed the same black hole lighting the sky, despite the...
The Arecibo Observatory’s 305-metre-wide telescope dish partially collapsed in late 2020, after some supporting cables had snapped. Credit: Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty After one world-famous radio telescope at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico collapsed 2 years back, many scientists hoped that the United States National Science Foundation (NSF), which runs the facility, would eventually build...
An artist's impression of the LOFTID aeroshell. Credit: NASA just recently turned one sci-fi technology into reality by crashing a spacecraft into one asteroid with its Dual Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. Now, the space company aims to test a large inflatable aeroshell that can one day be used to deploy massive payloads on Mars...
Planet Mars stock photo. Credit: iStock Ancient microbes on Mars likely triggered a climate change that led to their own demise, a report from Space.com explains. The study was published in Nature Astronomy, and it details how simple microbes that fed on hydrogen and excreted methane were likely abundant on Mars approximately 3.7 billion years back....
A close-up of the untethered exoskeleton. Credit: Stanford University. A new robotic, boot-like exoskeleton utilizes wearable sensors to adapt to each individual that wears it, marking a considerable progression for robotics. The device, explained in a study released yesterday, helps address one of the major obstacles in developing systems that aid people to walk:...
