Article archives

Nonequilibrium effects in hybrids of electron systems with spontaneously broken symmetries

Nonequilibrium effects in hybrids of electron systems with spontaneously broken symmetries

Condensed matterMaterialsNanotechnologyQuantum physics

By DIPC

Imagine a military regiment in formation. That we will call symmetry. Now imagine the same regiment when it is dismissed by the commanding officer: at once the soldiers disperse and tend to form domains (groups) or pairs. Hence, we can say that the symmetry is spontaneously broken. Both superconductors and ferromagnets are examples of electron […]

The convergence of neuroscience and artificial intelligence

The convergence of neuroscience and artificial intelligence

Computer scienceNeuroscienceRobotics

By Julián Estévez

Several researchers in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) are warning about an AI winter, which means that scientists might lose the interest on the discipline, institutions reduce drastically the funding towards its research and lose presence in the public debate. It wouldn’t be the first AI winter though. The last two decades have been […]

MI weekly selection #305

MI weekly selection #305

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Astronomers identify star with clues to early days of universe A nearby star may have been around since shortly after the Big Bang and could help astronomers learn more about what the universe was like back then. The star, 2MASS J18082002-5104378 B, is thought to be approximately 13.5 billion years old. Space.com Bodies burn more […]

Open-sea experiments on a spar floating support for offshore wind turbines

Open-sea experiments on a spar floating support for offshore wind turbines

MathematicsMechanical Engineering

By BCAM

Floating structures are becoming increasingly popular. They are used by several industries, some have been in business for decades, like those dedicated to oil and gas, some are newer, like renewables (wind, wave, tidal), and there are still some other uses, like ports, while there is a constant flow of new ideas that imply their […]

Unlocking graphene’s spintronic potential through spin-valley coupling

Unlocking graphene’s spintronic potential through spin-valley coupling

Condensed matterMaterialsNanotechnologyQuantum physics

By Invited Researcher

Few materials have drawn as much attention as graphene, it fascinating attributes such as one-atom thickness and relativistic electrons, and its technological properties like transparency, large mechanical strength, and ultra-high electron’s mobility, position it as one of the more promising materials in the present. Recently, simultaneous experimental and theoretical studies have confirmed that combining graphene […]

MI weekly selection #304

MI weekly selection #304

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

A plan to decode every complex species on Earth The Earth BioGenome Project aims to sequence 1.5 million genomes. Nature News Rainy, green Arabia may have greeted hominids at least 300K years ago Stone tools and animal fossils found in Saudi Arabia that date back between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago hint that hominids travelled […]

Avoiding geological timescales to access low energies in bulk glasses

Avoiding geological timescales to access low energies in bulk glasses

ChemistryCondensed matterMaterialsPhysics

By DIPC

Common glass, used in windows or bottles, for example, is made by heating a mixture of calcium oxide (lime), sodium carbonate (soda), and silicon (IV) oxide (sand), resulting in a calcium silicate. This silicate is not a crystal but a solid in which atoms are positioned at random and have no long-range ordered pattern. These […]

Bio-inpired self-healing materials

Bio-inpired self-healing materials

Materials

By Silvia Román

Plants and animals are provided with startling self-healing and defence mechanisms. Think of how trees achieve wound closure after losing a limb through callus formation, or the ability of the chameleon to adapt the colour of the skin according to its surroundings through reversible muscle control. These are very well-known examples where living nature teaches […]