Advanced simulations have solved a problem in turbulent fluid flow that could lead to more efficient turbines and engines. When a fluid, such as water or air, flows fast enough, it will experience turbulence — seemingly random changes in velocity and pressure within the fluid. Turbulence is extremely difficult to study but is important for…

The electric vehicle market’s biggest hurdles today are improving and cost reducing battery technology. A new fabrication technique could allow solid-state automotive lithium-ion batteries to adopt nonflammable ceramic electrolytes using the same production processes as in batteries made with conventional liquid electrolytes. These conventional Li-ion manufacturing tools are driving better fabrication options to enable battery…

Chemists have solved a problem in the field of organic synthesis that had been considered a challenge for years. To do so, they employed what is known as ternary catalysis. Unactivated (inert) alkenes are known as starting materials for reaction processes because of their ready availability. By means of arylation, i.e. the insertion of an…

By improving the calibration of a conventional optical microscope, researchers have for the first time measured the volume of individual droplets smaller than 100 trillionths of a liter with an uncertainty of less than 1%. That is a tenfold improvement over previous measurements. Measuring the volume, motion and contents of microscopic droplets is important for…

The latest generation of personal alcohol breath testing devices pair with smartphones. While some of these devices were found to be relatively accurate, others may mislead users into thinking that they are fit to drive, according to a new study. The latest generation of personal alcohol breath testing devices pair with smartphones. While some of…

Researchers take advantage of quantum entanglement to generate an incredibly large bandwidth using a thin-film nanophotonic device that could lead to advances in metrology, sensing and quantum networks for information processing and communications. Researchers at the University of Rochester have taken advantage of this phenomenon to generate an incredibly large bandwidth by using a thin-film…

Monitoring a person’s blood pressure on a regular basis can help health care professionals with early detection of various health problems such as high blood pressure, which has no warning signs or symptoms. However, many things can alter an accurate blood pressure reading, including a patient’s nervousness about having their blood pressure taken at a…

The human brain holds the secret to our unique personalities. But did you know that it can also form the basis of highly efficient computing devices? Researchers recently showed how to do this, through graphene-diamond junctions that mimic some of the human brain’s functions. But, why would scientists try to emulate the human brain? Today,…

Researchers have recently discovered a breakthrough in magnetic reconnection that could ultimately help predict space weather. Peiyun Shi’s research is the first-of-its-kind in the laboratory setting and is part of the PHASMAproject, a complex experiment composed of advanced diagnostics, electromagnets and lab-created plasma to reveal new details about how the universe functions. For his experiment,…

In a surprising discovery, an international team of scientists found that deformations in quantum materials that cause imperfections in the crystal structure can actually improve the material’s superconducting and electrical properties. The groundbreaking findings could provide new insight for developing the next generation of quantum-based computing and electronic devices. The research just appeared in Nature…