Recreating the chameleon: Material mimics color changes of living organisms
Researchers created a material containing photochromic dyes, crystals providing structural coloration, and a colored background that mimics the color changes that animals such as frogs, chameleons, and octopuses can display. This material could display different patterns and images depending on whether it was exposed to visible or ultraviolet light, or had a white or black background, which suggests its potential application in a range of next-generation display technologies.Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180627075611.htm
Graphene forms electrically charged crinkles
Gently compressed stacks of graphene form sharp crinkles that carry an electric charge, which could be useful in nanoscale self-assembly and other applications.Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180627003058.htm
Engineer creates new design for ultra-thin capacitive sensors
As part of ongoing acoustic research scientists have created a workable sensor with the least possible resistance to motion.Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180626113435.htm
Twisted meta-molecules as they really are
Physicists have devised a new and highly sensitive method to truly test the chirality of a material, eliminating the risk of false positives from competing effects.Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180626113354.htm
Polymer professor develops safer component for lithium batteries
What would happen if a lithium battery failed in an electric car or a much-needed biomedical device? Polymer scientists are trying to prevent such failures with a new way involving polymer to make lithium batteries safer and perform better.Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180626112950.htm
New tech improves ability to reflect sound back to its source
Researchers have developed a device that reflects sound in the direction it came from, rather than deflecting it at an angle. The 'retroreflector' can reflect sound across an operating range of 70 degrees in either direction -- more than doubling the effective range of previous technologies.Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180626112947.htm
'Electrogeochemistry' captures carbon, produces fuel, offsets ocean acidification
Limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius will require not only reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, but also active removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This has prompted heightened interest in 'negative emissions technologies.' A new study evaluates the potential for recently described methods that capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through an 'electrogeochemical' process that also generates hydrogen gas for use as fuel and creates by-products that can help counteract ocean acidification.Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192825.htm
Closing the loop for robotic grasping
Roboticists have developed a faster and more accurate way for robots to grasp objects, including in cluttered and changing environments, which has the potential to improve their usefulness in both industrial and domestic settings.Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192819.htm
Staying coherent while spinning
Scientists have shown that photo-excited polyatomic molecules maintain their coherence in motion while undergoing spin changes within ultrashort timescales.Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192816.htm
Control of quantum state of optical phonon in diamond induced by ultrashort light pulses
Ultrashort Light-pulse-induced vibrations of atoms in a lattice, called optical coherent phonons, have been controlled in various materials. However, different experiments demonstrating such control have been explained differently through empirical theories, and a unified theory based on quantum mechanics is lacking. Scientists have now successfully formulated a unified theory for this phenomenon and experimentally verified it in diamond, the optical phonons of which have great potential for application in quantum information technologySource: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180625192758.htm
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/top/technology/