Some metals, alloys and transition-element salts exhibit a form of magnetism called antiferromagnetism. This occurs below a certain temperature, named after Louis Néel, when an ordered array of atomic magnetic moments spontaneously forms in which alternate moments have opposite directions. There is therefore no net resultant magnetic moment in the absence of an applied field […]
Human activities impact significantly on the environment we live. The human society has been experiencing extreme weather conditions frequently that indicate a systematic climate shift. Almost every place in the world has set records of extreme temperatures. This trend of extreme weather has been warned by scientists to be possibly a result of excessive human […]
Chemistry • DIPC Computational and Theoretical Chemistry • Materials
Nanothreads are one-dimensional nanomaterials composed of a primarily sp 3 hydrocarbon backbone, typically formed through the compression of small molecules to high pressures. In 2015, it was found that the slow room-temperature compression of benzene produced crystalline , one-dimensional polymers composed of diamond-like bonds. These diamondoid materials that border nanotubes and polymers are predicted to […]
Twistology could be the study of unexpected changes or developments in stories or situations, from coups d’état to the fatherhood of Darth Vader. In condensed matter physics there is something similar, although the preferred name is twistronics (from twist and electronics). It is understood as the study of how the angle (the twist) between layers […]
Two years of battling COVID-19 has been bad news for tuberculosis (TB) programmes. Respiratory clinicians and researchers have had their time and focus directed elsewhere. And TB has taken advantage. In 2021, the number of TB deaths rose for the first time in over a decade. The barriers caused by lockdowns and overstretched healthcare systems […]
C ardiovascular diseases currently form the most important class of non-contagious diseases and a leading cause of mortality in industrialized nations . Specifically, coronary heart disease is the first cause of death among the cardiovascular diseases . The myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a “heart attack”, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops in […]
Inorganic and organic light-emitting diodes (ILEDs and OLEDs, respectively) are quickly replacing incandescent light bulbs and compact fluorescent lamps. The reasons for the success are easy to understand. For instance, ILEDs’ performance has met the market requirements for in-/out-door applications with single-point sources. However, ILEDs cannot be considered a sustainable solution as of today. One […]
While waiting to board a plane on a recent trip out of town, an airline staff member asked me to momentarily take off my face mask to allow the facial recognition technology to check me in to expedite my boarding process. I was taken aback by the bluntness of the request — I did not […]
A cement is any of various substances used for bonding or setting to a hard material. A popular one, Portland cement, is a mixture of calcium silicates and aluminates made by heating limestone (CaCO3) with clay (that contains aluminosilicates) in a kiln. The product is then ground to a fine powder. When Portland cement is […]
Since humans are not very good at predicting the future, even if the help of a magic ball, scientists have developed a new system based on artificial intelligence to help us predict the future risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease by analysing certain parameters in brain scans. The research, recently published in the journal Diagnostics […]