The discovery of superconductivity in 2D films dates back over 80 years. Initially, these were 2D metallic films deposited on inert substrates, but in recent times more exotic 2D systems have exhibited superconducting properties, such as the surface of topological insulators or twisted bilayer graphene. Superconductivity is caused by the interactions between atomic vibrations (phonons) […]
Photo: Gary Bendig / Unsplash We have developed four-winged bird-like robots , called ornithopters, that can take off and fly with the agility of swifts, hummingbirds and insects. We did this by reverse engineering the aerodynamics and biomechanics of these creatures. Our ornithopters have the potential to outperform and outmanoeuvre existing drone configurations with static […]
An electric current can be visualized as a flow of electrons through a conducting piece of material. The less the resistance the material structure opposes to the flow of electrons the better a conductor it is. Part of this resistance appears at the surface, where electrons first encounter the material; as with electromagnetic radiation – […]
Future information and communication technologies will rely on the manipulation of not only electrons but also of light at the nanometer-scale. Squeezing light to such a small size has been a major goal in nanophotonics for many years. Particularly strong light squeezing can be achieved with polaritons, quasiparticles resulting from the strong coupling of photons […]
It seems that the genetic risk of an APOE4 variant in the APOE gene would not only increase risk for Alzheimer’s but also would increase the chances of getting infected by the COVID-19 virus. The APO protein is involved in cholesterol metabolism and the immune system. However, its precise role in Alzheimer’s disease is as […]
The magnitude of many of the exotic phenomena predicted for topological semimetals is directly proportional to something called the Chern number. Given the importance of the Chern number magnitude for these phenomena, it is just natural to wonder whether there is an upper limit for it and whether there are real materials in which this […]
“Eat all your food, it can’t be wasted”. How many times have you heard that phrase from your parents? We did not know it, but they were right. Nowadays, a third of the food we generate is wasted. This generates both economic losses (~ $940 billion USD per year) and environmental problems (4.4 Gt of […]
Gene therapy was a 90s hit. The most promising medical advance of the decade was almost forgotten after some really serious side effects occurred in one clinical trial, but after nearly 3 decades a small trial in Germany has shown gene therapy not only to be safe for use in humans but also to have […]
A new fluorescent bicolour indicator, an organic molecule, could help detect the daughter atom of a neutrinoless double beta decay. If this is achieved, there would be an explanation to the matter-anti matter asymmetry in the universe. Experiments performed in 1909 by Geiger and Marsden, also called Rutherford gold foil experiment because Rutherford was their […]
In science we try to be very precise with the wording of our texts. One of the consequences of this is that we are not afraid of repeating some words in a paragraph, or even in a sentence, if that contributes to avoid possible misunderstandings, even though it may be not recommended stylistically. Another feature […]
