Shifting to a new food freezing method could make for safer and better quality frozen foods while saving energy and reducing carbon emissions, according to a new study. A complete change over to this new method of food freezing worldwide could cut energy use by as much as 6.5 billion kilowatt-hours each year while reducing…

Scientists have discovered that the mass and size of nano-particles can be simultaneously measured by passing the nanoparticles, in their native solution, through an inexpensive and simple mechanical tube. Now scientists from the University of Melbourne and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered that this measurement feat can be performed by passing the nanoparticles,…

A new study has shown that the airborne transmission of COVID-19 is highly random and suggests that the two-metre rule was a number chosen from a risk ‘continuum’, rather than any concrete measurement of safety. A team of engineers from the University of Cambridge used computer modelling to quantify how droplets spread when people cough.…

Researchers modeled what happens to respiratory droplets when they come in contact with wet masks. Their results show that damp masks are still effective at stopping these droplets from escaping the mask and being atomized into smaller, easier-to-spread aerosolized particles. This study only investigated the effects of wet masks on droplet penetration; the researchers note…

A research group presents a new simulation method for describing the attachment of a liquid to a surface. Despite their key role in physics, chemistry and biology, the behavior of ionic or dipolar liquids near surfaces — such as a porous material — remains puzzling in many respects. One of the greatest challenges in the…

Researchers show models driving how respiratory droplets fell from a mannequin inside a water tunnel, which was inclined at different angles to mimic a person going up and down stairs. Using glass microspheres and lasers, they could visualize the flow motion behind the mannequins. Researchers describe the dispersion of cough-generated droplets that come from people…

An international research team has used the X-ray laser European XFEL to gain new insights into how radiation damage occurs in biological tissue. The study reveals in detail how water molecules are broken apart by high-energy radiation, creating potentially hazardous radicals and electrically charged ions, which can go on to trigger harmful reactions in the…

Atom-level simulations reveal the reason iron rusts in supposedly ‘inert’ supercritical carbon dioxide fluid. Trace amounts of water can cause a reaction at the interface between iron and the fluid, prompting the formation of corrosive chemicals. The reason has eluded materials scientists to now, but a team at Rice University has a theory that could…

An influenza vaccine that is made of nanoparticles and administered through the nose enhances the body’s immune response to influenza virus infection and offers broad protection against different viral strains, according to new research. Recurring seasonal flu epidemics and potential pandemics are among the most severe threats to public health. Current seasonal influenza vaccines induce…

In extreme heat or in the vacuum of space: a novel nanomaterial delivers top performance in extreme situations. The material class of MXenes (pronounced «maxene») has caused quite a stir in recent years in connection with novel battery technologies. But it now turns out that they are also an excellent solid lubricant that is extremely…