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Categories: Engineering: Nanotechnology, Paleontology: Climate
Published The heat is on: Scientists discover southern Africa's temps will rise past the rhinos' tolerance
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Southern Africa contains the vast majority of the world's remaining populations of both black and white rhinoceroses (80% and 92%, respectively). The region's climate is changing rapidly as a result global warming. Traditional conservation efforts aimed at protecting rhinos have focused on poaching, but until now, there has been no analysis of the impact that climate change may have on the animals. A research team has recently reported that, though the area will be affected by both higher temperatures and changing precipitation, the rhinos are more sensitive to rising temperatures, which will quickly increase above the animals' acceptable maximum threshold.
Published The metalens meets the stars
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a 10-centimeter-diameter glass metalens that can image the sun, the moon and distant nebulae with high resolution. It is the first all-glass, large-scale metalens in the visible wavelength that can be mass produced using conventional CMOS fabrication technology.
Published Researchers optimize 3D printing of optically active nanostructures
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The shape, size and optical properties of 3-dimensional nanostructures can now be simulated in advance before they are produced directly with high precision on a wide variety of surfaces. Nanoprobes or optical tweezers with sizes in the nanometre range are now within reach.
Published Stalagmites as climate archive
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source When combined with data from tree-ring records, stalagmites can open up a unique archive to study natural climate fluctuations, a research team has demonstrated. The researchers analyzed the isotopic composition of oxygen in a stalagmite formed from calcareous water in a cave in southern Germany. In conjunction with the data acquired from tree rings, they were able to reconstruct short-term climate fluctuations over centuries and correlate them with historically documented environmental events.
Published New insight into frictionless surfaces is slippery slope to energy-efficient technology
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have made an insight into superlubricity, where surfaces experience extremely low levels of friction. This could benefit future technologies by reducing energy lost to friction by moving parts.
Published Cryo-microscopy reveals nano-sized copy machine implicated in origin of life
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source RNA is thought to have sparked the origin of life by self-copying. Researchers have now revealed the atomic structure of an 'RNA copy machine' through cryo-EM. This breakthrough sheds light on a primordial RNA world and fuels advancements in RNA nanotechnology and medicine.
Published Key moment in the evolution of life on Earth captured in fossils
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has precisely dated some of the oldest fossils of complex multicellular life in the world, helping to track a pivotal moment in the history of Earth when the seas began teeming with new lifeforms -- after four billion years of containing only single-celled microbes.
Published Innovative graphene-based implantable technology paves the way for high-precision therapeutic applications
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study presents an innovative graphene-based neurotechnology with the potential for a transformative impact in neuroscience and medical applications.
Published Light-matter interaction: Broken symmetry drives polaritons
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team of scientists provide an overview of the latest research on light-matter interactions. In a new paper, they provide an overview of the latest research on polaritons, tiny particles that arise when light and material interact in a special way.
Published The first assessment of toxic heavy metal pollution in the Southern Hemisphere over the last 2,000 years
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Human activity, from burning fossil fuels and fireplaces to the contaminated dust produced by mining, alters Earth's atmosphere in countless ways. Records of these impacts over time are preserved in everlasting polar ice that serves as a sort of time capsule, allowing scientists and historians to link Earth's history with that of human societies. In a new study, ice cores from Antartica show that lead and other toxic heavy metals linked to mining activities polluted the Southern Hemisphere as early as the 13th century.
Published Bridging light and electrons
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have merged nonlinear optics with electron microscopy, unlocking new capabilities in material studies and the control of electron beams.
Published Catalytic combo converts CO2 to solid carbon nanofibers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have developed a way to convert carbon dioxide (CO2), a potent greenhouse gas, into carbon nanofibers, materials with a wide range of unique properties and many potential long-term uses. Their strategy uses tandem electrochemical and thermochemical reactions run at relatively low temperatures and ambient pressure and could successfully lock carbon away to offset or even achieve negative carbon emissions.
Published Ancient cities provide key datasets for urban planning, policy and predictions in the Anthropocene
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study shows how state-of-the-art methods and perspectives from archaeology, history, and palaeoecology are shedding new light on 5,500 years of urban life.
Published How black silicon, a prized material used in solar cells, gets its dark, rough edge
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a new theoretical model explaining one way to make black silicon. The new etching model precisely explains how fluorine gas breaks certain bonds in the silicon more often than others, depending on the orientation of the bond at the surface. Black silicon is an important material used in solar cells, light sensors, antibacterial surfaces and many other applications.
Published The first domino falls for redox reactions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Transmitting an effect known as a domino reaction using redox chemistry has been achieved for the first time.
Published New study uses machine learning to bridge the reality gap in quantum devices
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study has used the power of machine learning to overcome a key challenge affecting quantum devices. For the first time, the findings reveal a way to close the 'reality gap': the difference between predicted and observed behavior from quantum devices.
Published Bottled water can contain hundreds of thousands of previously uncounted tiny plastic bits
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In recent years, there has been rising concern that tiny particles known as microplastics are showing up basically everywhere on Earth, from polar ice to soil, drinking water and food. Formed when plastics break down into progressively smaller bits, these particles are being consumed by humans and other creatures, with unknown potential health and ecosystem effects. One big focus of research: bottled water, which has been shown to contain tens of thousands of identifiable fragments in each container. Now, using newly refined technology, researchers have entered a whole new plastic world: the poorly known realm of nanoplastics, the spawn of microplastics that have broken down even further. For the first time, they counted and identified these minute particles in bottled water. They found that on average, a liter contained some 240,000 detectable plastic fragments -- 10 to 100 times greater than previous estimates, which were based mainly on larger sizes.
Published Revolutionizing stable and efficient catalysts with Turing structures for hydrogen production
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Hydrogen energy has emerged as a promising alternative to fossil fuels, offering a clean and sustainable energy source. However, the development of low-cost and efficient catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction remains a crucial challenge. Scientists have recently developed a novel strategy to engineer stable and efficient ultrathin nanosheet catalysts by forming Turing structures with multiple nanotwin crystals. This innovative discovery paves the way for enhanced catalyst performance for green hydrogen production.
Published Springs aboard -- gently feeling the way to grasp the microcosmos
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The integration of mechanical memory in the form of springs has for hundreds of years proven to be a key enabling technology for mechanical devices (like clocks), achieving advanced functionality through complex autonomous movements. In our times, the integration of springs in silicon-based microtechnology has opened the world of planar mass-producible mechatronic devices from which we all benefit, via air-bag sensors for example.
Published Functional semiconductor made from graphene
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have created the first functional semiconductor made from graphene, a single sheet of carbon atoms held together by the strongest bonds known. The breakthrough throws open the door to a new way of doing electronics.