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Categories: Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry, Offbeat: Computers and Math
Published Bio-inspired materials' potential for efficient mass transfer boosted by a new twist on a century-old theory



The natural vein structure found within leaves -- which has inspired the structural design of porous materials that can maximize mass transfer -- could unlock improvements in energy storage, catalysis, and sensing thanks to a new twist on a century-old biophysical law.
Published Caterbot? Robatapillar? It crawls with ease through loops and bends



Engineers created a catapillar-shaped robot that splits into segments and reassembles, hauls cargo, and crawls through twisting courses.
Published The Clues for Cleaner Water



By using experimental electrochemical analyses, mass spectrometry, and computational quantum chemistry modeling, the researchers created an 'atomic-scale storyline' to explain how ozone is generated on NATO electrocatalysts. They identified that some of the nickel in NATO is probably leaching out of the electrodes via corrosion, and these nickel atoms, now floating in the solution near the catalyst, can promote chemical reactions that eventually generate ozone.
Published High-pressure spectroscopy: Why 3,000 bars are needed to take a comprehensive look at a protein



Why 3,000 bars are needed to take a comprehensive look at a protein: Researchers present a new high-pressure spectroscopy method to unravel the properties of proteins' native structures.
Published Stretchable e-skin could give robots human-level touch sensitivity



A stretchy electronic skin could equip robots and other devices with the same softness and touch sensitivity as human skin, opening up new possibilities to perform tasks that require a great deal of precision and control of force.
Published New eco-friendly lubricant additives protect turbine equipment, waterways



Scientists have developed lubricant additives that protect both water turbine equipment and the surrounding environment.
Published Path to easier recycling of solar modules



The use of femtosecond lasers to form glass-to-glass welds for solar modules would make the panels easier to recycle, according to a proof-of-concept study.
Published Sugar-based catalyst upcycles carbon dioxide



New catalyst is made from an inexpensive, abundant metal and table sugar. Catalyst converts carbon dioxide (CO2) into carbon monoxide, a building block for producing a variety of useful chemicals including syngas. With recent advances in carbon capture technologies, post-combustion carbon capture is becoming a plausible option to help tackle the global climate change crisis. But how to handle the captured carbon remains an open-ended question. The new catalyst potentially could provide one solution for disposing the potent greenhouse gas by converting it into a more valuable product.
Published Random robots are more reliable



New algorithm encourages robots to move more randomly to collect more diverse data for learning. In tests, robots started with no knowledge and then learned and correctly performed tasks within a single attempt. New model could improve safety and practicality of self-driving cars, delivery drones and more.
Published Significant new discovery in teleportation research -- Noise can improve the quality of quantum teleportation



Researchers succeeded in conducting an almost perfect quantum teleportation despite the presence of noise that usually disrupts the transfer of quantum state.
Published New approach in the synthesis of complex natural substances



Many natural substances possess interesting characteristics, and can form the basis of new active compounds in medicine. Terpenes, for example, are a group of substances, some of which are already used in therapies against cancer, malaria or epilepsy. They are found as fragrances in cosmetics or as flavorings in food, and form the basis of new medications: Terpenes are natural substances that occur in plants, insects and sea sponges. They are difficult to produce synthetically. However, chemists are now introducing a new method of synthesis.
Published Researchers create new chemical compound to solve 120-year-old problem



Chemists have created a highly reactive chemical compound that has eluded scientists for more than 120 years. The discovery could lead to new drug treatments, safer agricultural products, and better electronics.
Published This highly reflective black paint makes objects more visible to autonomous cars



Driving at night might be a scary challenge for a new driver, but with hours of practice it soon becomes second nature. For self-driving cars, however, practice may not be enough because the lidar sensors that often act as these vehicles' 'eyes' have difficulty detecting dark-colored objects. New research describes a highly reflective black paint that could help these cars see dark objects and make autonomous driving safer.
Published Scientists solve chemical mystery at the interface of biology and technology



Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) allow current to flow in devices like implantable biosensors. But scientists long knew about a quirk of OECTs that no one could explain: When an OECT is switched on, there is a lag before current reaches the desired operational level. When switched off, there is no lag. Current drops immediately. Researchers report that they have discovered the reason for this activation lag, and in the process are paving the way to custom-tailored OECTs for a growing list of applications in biosensing, brain-inspired computation and beyond.
Published Trotting robots reveal emergence of animal gait transitions



A four-legged robot trained with machine learning has learned to avoid falls by spontaneously switching between walking, trotting, and pronking -- a milestone for roboticists as well as biologists interested in animal locomotion.
Published When does a conductor not conduct?



A new study uncovers a switchable, atomically-thin metal-organic material that could be used in future low-energy electronic technologies. The study shows that electron interactions in this material create an unusual electrically-insulating phase in which electrons are 'frozen'. By reducing the population of electrons, the authors are able to unfreeze the remaining electrons, allowing for controlled transitions between insulating and electrically-conductive phases: the key to the on-off binary operations of classical computing.
Published Scientists develop strong yet reusable adhesive from smart materials



Scientists have developed a smart, reusable adhesive more than ten times stronger than a gecko's feet adhesion, pointing the way for development of reusable superglue and grippers capable of holding heavy weights across rough and smooth surfaces. The research team found a way to maximize the adhesion of the smart adhesives by using shape-memory polymers, which can stick and detach easily when needed simply by heating them. This smart adhesive can support extremely heavy weights, opening new possibilities for robotic grippers that allow humans to scale walls effortlessly, or climbing robots that can cling onto ceilings for survey or repair applications.
Published Physicists show that light can generate electricity even in translucent materials



Some materials are transparent to light of a certain frequency. When such light is shone on them, electrical currents can still be generated, contrary to previous assumptions. Scientists have managed to prove this.
Published The end of the quantum tunnel



Quantum mechanical effects such as radioactive decay, or more generally: 'tunneling', display intriguing mathematical patterns. Researchers now show that a 40-year-old mathematical discovery can be used to fully encode and understand this structure.
Published Imaging technique shows new details of peptide structures



Researchers outline how they used a chemical probe to light up interlocking peptides. Their technique will help scientists differentiate synthetic peptides from toxic types found in Alzheimer's disease.