Condensed Matter news
Scientists turn dents into smart bumps
Aug 23, 2006 |
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Due to a phenomenon called the shape memory effect (SME), certain "memory metals" can be distorted and then brought back to their original shape by a simple temperature change. While a one-way memory effect ...
Protein-Nanoparticle Material Mimics Human Brain Tissue
Jul 21, 2006 |
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A composite material consisting of a horse protein and metallic nanoparticles displays magnetic properties very similar to those of human brain tissue, scientists have found. The work, published in the June 20 online edition ...
Why Does Water Expand When it Cools? A New Explanation
Jul 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Most of us, when we take our first science classes, learn that when things cool down, they shrink. (When they heat up, we learn, they usually expand.) However, water seems to be the exception ...
Single-Molecule Magnets Open New Door for Information Technology
Mar 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Recent research by scientists in Italy and France shows that that single molecules have the ability to store information via their magnetic state. Their work is a first step toward a new generation ...
Scientists Discover Material Harder Than Diamond
Feb 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Currently, diamond is regarded to be the hardest known material in the world. But by considering large compressive pressures under indenters, scientists have calculated that a material called ...
New Smart Material Bends Under Internal Heat Source
Feb 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have developed a new smart material that can bend under the influence of an internal heat source. The material could be used as an aerodynamic flap in cars, in order to stabilize ...
New, Unusual Semiconductor is a Switch-Hitter
Jan 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A research group in Germany has discovered a semiconducting material that can switch its semiconducting properties -- turning from one type of semiconductor to another -- via a simple change in temperature. ...
A Promising Catalyst for Solar-Based Hydrogen Energy Production
Dec 02, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have found that a polymer material is an excellent catalyst in a process to produce hydrogen fuel using sunlight and water. The material meets the basic requirements for an ideal catalyst -- including ...
Could Graphene Replace Semiconductors?
Sep 08, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- “People want a faster computer chip,” Philip Kim tells PhysOrg.com. “And it needs to be smaller. But in order to increase the speed of the chip, or to get it smaller, we are approaching a point where you ne ...
Butterfly wings may help scientists better understand photonic crystals
Sep 04, 2008 |
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As technology moves forward, many scientists are looking to nature to find inspiration for the development of advanced materials that can have a variety of practical applications.
Atomic-Level Mechanisms of Phase-Change Memory Materials Revealed
Apr 15, 2008 |
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Scientists from the University of Cambridge in the UK have uncovered the atomic-level interactions that occur when a class of “phase-change” memory materials stores information. Their work, reported in the ...
An Invisible Cloak for Magnetism
Mar 31, 2008 |
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The subject of metamaterials is mad science at its finest – researchers trying to create materials with properties that don’t exist in nature, and that cannot be made with ordinary atoms.
Sticky Tape Inspired by Insect Feet
Nov 05, 2007 |
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Scientists have designed an extremely sticky patterned adhesive, which is twice as sticky as flat tapes used for similar purposes. The new glue-free adhesive can also stick to dusty surfaces better, can be ...
Flat, Flexible, Wireless Power Source Can Go Anywhere
May 23, 2007 |
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A team of Japanese researchers has created a novel wireless power-transmission device that is thin, flat, and flexible. Based on a sheet of plastic, the device can be put on desks, floors, walls, and almost ...
Manipulating Magnetism for Future Data-Storage Devices
Apr 30, 2007 |
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In an important step toward future data-storage technologies based on magnetism, a research group has determined how to control the magnetization of a “magnetic vortex,” a curling nanometer-sized magnetic ...
