Compact speaker systems direct sound efficiently

As electronic devices decrease in size, their component parts, like speakers, need to shrink as well.

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Voices of reason? Study links acoustic correlations, gender to vocal appeal

What makes a voice attractive? The question is the subject of broad interest, with far-reaching implications in our personal lives, the workplace, and society.

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Protruding eyes, mouth make stingrays more hydrodynamically efficient

With their compressed bodies and flexible pectoral fins, stingrays evolved to be among nature's most efficient swimmers. Scientists have long wondered about the role played by their protruding eyes and mouth, which one might expect to be hydrodynamic disadvantages.

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Physicists use a new absorbing-state model to investigate random close packing

Sphere packing, a mathematical problem in which non-overlapping spheres are arranged within a given space, has been widely investigated in the past. It has been proven that the densest possible packing is a face-centered cubic (FCC) crystal with a space-filling fraction of ϕFCC=π/√18≈0.74.

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Fundamental mechanics help increase battery storage capacity and lifespan

Batteries are widely used in everyday applications like powering electric vehicles, electronic gadgets and are promising candidates for sustainable energy storage. However, as you've likely noticed with daily charging of batteries, their functionality drops off over time. Eventually, we need to replace these batteries, which is not only expensive but also depletes the rare earth elements used in making them.

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Researchers develop novel analog processor for high performance computing

Analog photonic solutions offer unique opportunities to address complex computational tasks with unprecedented performance in terms of energy dissipation and speeds, overcoming current limitations of modern computing architectures based on electron flows and digital approaches.

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The physics behind a water bear's lumbering gait

Plump and ponderous, tardigrades earned the nickname "water bears" when scientists first observed the 0.02-inch-long animals' distinctive lumbering gaits in the 18th century. Their dumpy plod, however, raises the question of why tardigrades evolved to walk at all.

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The LIGO/Virgo Collaboration sets new constraints on cosmic strings

The LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA Collaboration, a large group of researchers at different institutes worldwide, has recently set the strongest constraints on cosmic strings to date, using the Advanced LIGO/Virgo full O3 dataset. This dataset contains the latest gravitational waves data detected by a network of three interferometers located in United States and in Italy.

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Friction and wear behavior of tungsten alloy balls revealed

Researchers at the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have recently revealed the collective friction and wear behavior of tungsten alloy balls, the important candidate target material for the Accelerator Driven Subcritical System (ADS). Results were published in Tribology International.

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Hexagonal boron nitride as a tunnel barrier for ferromagnetic tunnel junctions

Tohoku University's Center for Innovative Integrated Electronic Systems (CIES) has been working collaboratively with the University of Cambridge under the core-to-core project (PL: Prof. Endoh). JSPS has announced an analysis using two-dimensional (2D) materials (hexagonal boron nitride; h-BN) as a tunnel barrier for ferromagnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ), which can expect a tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of up to 1,000% and interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (IPMA).

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Visualizing microscopic 3D displacements over large areas

A team of researchers from PSL University, Harvard University and Central University of Punjab, has developed a way to visualize microscopic 3D displacements of moving objects or events over large areas. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group outlines their technique and suggest possible uses for it.

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Discovery of fastest ever magnetic wave propagation

Like light waves, magnetic waves move through materials at a fixed maximum velocity. However, at the smallest possible length scale (nanometres) and the shortest possible time scale (femtoseconds), magnetism behaves differently. Physicists at Radboud University have discovered that magnetic waves with very short wavelengths can propagate up to 40% faster than previously thought. This supermagnonic propagation offers opportunities for even faster, smaller and more energy-efficient ways of data processing in future computers. The research will be published in Physical Review Letters on 25 August.

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The boiling crisis and how to avoid it

It's rare for a pre-teen to become enamored with thermodynamics, but those consumed by such a passion may consider themselves lucky to end up at a place like MIT. Madhumitha Ravichandran certainly does. A Ph.D. student in Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE), Ravichandran first encountered the laws of thermodynamics as a middle school student in Chennai, India. "They made complete sense to me," she says. "While looking at the refrigerator at home, I wondered if I might someday build energy systems that utilized these same principles. That's how it started, and I've sustained that interest ever since."

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Study demonstrates the quantum speed up of supervised machine learning on a new classification task

In recent years, several computer scientists and physicists have been exploring the potential of quantum-enhanced machine learning algorithms. As their name suggests, quantum machine learning approaches combine quantum algorithms with machine learning techniques.

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Eliminating annoying loops and blisters in adhesives

Blisters (tiny air pockets) or loops in Band-Aids or tapes can be quite annoying and difficult to remove. What's more, they can also affect the materials used to make flexible electronics and soft robotics. Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology and University of Twente have studied the unpeeling of looped adhesive tape and developed a new model to explain how best to remove troublesome loops. The new research is published in European Physics Letters.

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World-first detector designed by dark matter researchers records rare events

A ground-breaking detector that aims to use quartz to capture high frequency gravitational waves has been built by researchers at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics (CDM) and the University of Western Australia.

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Energy harvesting technology based on ferromagnetic resonance

Researchers from the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka City University have succeeded in storing electricity with the voltage generated from the conversion phenomenon of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) using an ultra-thin magnetic film of several tens of nanometers. 

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Mathematicians build an algorithm to 'do the twist'

Mathematicians at the Center for Advanced Mathematics for Energy Research Applications (CAMERA) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a mathematical algorithm to decipher the rotational dynamics of twisting particles in large complex systems from the X-ray scattering patterns observed in highly sophisticated X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) experiments.

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An interactive science exhibit based on a real-life gravitational-wave detector

Gravitational wave scientists have designed and built an interactive science exhibit modeled on a real-life gravitational-wave detector to explain gravitational-wave science. It was developed by an international team, which includes researchers now at the OzGrav ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav).

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How schools of 'microswimmers' can increase their cargo capacity

A new study published in Physical Review Letters describes a way to increase the cargo capacity of microscopic, self-propelled droplets known as "microswimmers." Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organisation found that when a school of microswimmers move in the same direction inside a narrow channel, they can increase the number of particles they can carry by 10-fold. Their findings have implications for applications ranging from drug delivery systems to materials with active coatings.  

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Study: Widespread use of better masks can help curb COVID-19 indoors

A new study is highlighting a need for widespread use of better face masks and the importance of good ventilation to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 indoors.

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Home-grown semiconductors for faster, smaller electronics

"Growing" electronic components directly onto a semiconductor block avoids messy, noisy oxidation scattering that slows and impedes electronic operation.

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'Triangle singularity' is responsible for transformation in the particle zoo

An international study led by the University of Bonn has found evidence of a long-sought effect in accelerator data. The so-called "triangle singularity" describes how particles can change their identities by exchanging quarks, thereby mimicking a new particle. The mechanism also provides new insights into a mystery that has long puzzled particle physicists: Protons, neutrons and many other particles are much heavier than one would expect. This is due to peculiarities of the strong interaction that holds the quarks together. The triangle singularity could help to better understand these properties. The publication is now available in Physical Review Letters.

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An emberometer could gauge the threat of wildfire-spreading embers

As wildfire fronts advance through landscapes or communities on the ground, they also attack from above, launching volleys of glowing embers into the air. Also known as firebrands, these specks of burning debris can glide for up to 40 kilometers (approximately 24 miles) before landing and can cause up to 90% of home and business fires during wildfires.

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'Shadow waveguide' casts complex acoustic patterns to control particles

Engineers at Duke University have devised a new approach to using sound waves to manipulate tiny particles suspended in liquid in complex ways. Dubbed a "shadow waveguide," the technique uses only two sound sources to create a tightly confined, spatially complex acoustic field inside a chamber without requiring any interior structure. The technology offers a new suite of features to the fast-developing platform of acoustic tweezers that has applications in fields such as chemical reaction control, micro-robotics, drug delivery, and cell and tissue engineering.

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Experimental confirmation of wave-particle duality

The 21st century has undoubtedly been the era of quantum science. Quantum mechanics was born in the early 20th century and has been used to develop unprecedented technologies which include quantum information, quantum communication, quantum metrology, quantum imaging, and quantum sensing. However, in quantum science, there are still unresolved and even inapprehensible issues like wave-particle duality and complementarity, superposition of wave functions, wave function collapse after quantum measurement, wave function entanglement of the composite wave function, etc.

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CERN to provide second DUNE cryostat

Neutrinos are tricky beasts. Alone among known fundamental particles, they suffer from an identity crisis—if it were possible to put them on a weighing scale, you would unpredictably measure one of three possible masses. As a result, the three neutrino "flavors" merge into each other as they race through space and matter, opening up the potential for matter-antimatter asymmetries relevant to open questions in cosmology. Neutrinos are today the subject of a vibrant worldwide research program in particle physics, astrophysics and multi-messenger astronomy.

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Leak-detecting quantum camera cuts oil and gas industry emissions

A new a quantum-enabled gas imaging camera will help dramatically cut environmentally damaging methane leaks from the oil and gas industry.

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On the road to faster and more efficient data storage

How do magnetic waves behave in antiferromagnets and how do they spread? What role do "domain walls" play in the process? And what could this mean for the future of data storage? These questions are the focus of a recent publication in the journal Physical Review Letters from an international research team led by Konstanz physicist Dr. Davide Bossini. The team reports on magnetic phenomena in antiferromagnets that can be induced by ultrafast (femtosecond) laser pulses and with the potential to endow the materials with new functionalities for energy-efficient and ultrafast data storage applications.

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Demonstrating 'vectorial' polaritons by levitating a nanosphere inside an optical cavity

A team of researchers from the European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, INFN, Sezione di Firenze and Università di Firenze has demonstrated a form of "vectorial" polariton by levitating a nanosphere inside of an optical cavity. In their paper published in the journal Nature Physics, the group describes their work and possible uses for their results. Tania Monteiro with University College London has published a News & Views piece in the same journal issue outlining prior work involved in gaining quantum control using polarizable nanoparticles and the work done by the team on this new effort.

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How ions get their electrons back

What happens when ions are passing through solid materials? It is nearly impossible to observe this directly, but scientists at TU Wien found a way to overcome this problem.

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'Fingerprints' of extreme weather revealed by new statistical approach

Determining if particular extreme hot or cold spells were caused by climate change could be made easier by a new mathematical method.

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Metasurfaces control polarized light at will

For years, researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have engineered metasurfaces to manipulate light based on its polarization state. That research has contributed to advances in polarization technology—but metasurface technology has proven more powerful than even the researchers themselves realized.

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Neutrons help measure cell membrane viscosity—and reveal its basis

We now have a clearer picture of the lightning-fast molecular dance occurring within the membrane that encloses each cell in our body, revealed in part by neutron beams at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The findings may have applications in drug development, and they also address long-standing fundamental mysteries about why cell membranes move as they do.

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Why boiling droplets can race across hot oily surfaces

When you're frying something in a skillet and some droplets of water fall into the pan, you may have noticed those droplets skittering around on top of the film of hot oil. Now, that seemingly trivial phenomenon has been analyzed and understood for the first time by researchers at MIT—and may have important implications for microfluidic devices, heat transfer systems, and other useful functions.

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Effective temperatures connect equilibrium and nonequilibrium systems

What is temperature? A direct understanding of temperature is the specific number shown on thermometers. A much more scientific definition of temperature is a statistical concept in equilibrium systems. However, what about nonequilibrium systems?

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A personal dosimeter is in your first aid kit

When proper precautions are taken, radioactive substances are extremely safe to use. But what if they leak into the environment in an uncontrolled manner? Then it becomes crucial to find out the dose of radiation people may have absorbed. Unfortunately, the average person does not possess a radiation dosimeter. The Institute of Nuclear Physics PAS has a new solution to this problem—and it can be found in your first aid kit.

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Physics researchers discover new electronic phenomenon

Physics researchers at the University of North Florida's Atomic LEGO Lab discovered a new electronic phenomenon they call "asymmetric ferroelectricity." The research led by Dr. Maitri Warusawithana, UNF physics assistant professor, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Illinois and the Arizona State University, demonstrated this phenomenon for the first time in engineered two-dimensional crystals.

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New technique illuminates DNA helix

Cornell researchers have identified a new way to measure DNA torsional stiffness—how much resistance the helix offers when twisted—information that can potentially shed light on how cells work.

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First magnets for FAIR tested at CERN

The very first superconducting magnets have been tested at CERN for NUSTAR (Nuclear Structure Astrophysics and Reactions), one of the experiments at the future international Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), currently under construction at the GSI laboratory (the Helmholtz Centre for Heavy-Ion Research in Darmstadt, Germany).

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Atomic nuclei and leptons: Milestone reached in the calculation of cross sections

A team in the PRISMA+ cluster of excellence at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz succeeded in computing how atomic nuclei of the Calcium element behave in collisions with electrons. Results agree very well with available experimental data. For the first time, a calculation based on a fundamental theory is capable of correctly describing experiments for a nucleus as heavy as Calcium. Of particular relevance is the potential that such calculations could have in the future to interpret neutrino experiments. The renowned journal Physical Review Letters reports on the achieved milestone in its current volume.

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Releasing the heat: A new model to streamline the design of thermally efficient electrical contacts

When we think of modern technology in our daily lives, phones, tablets, and laptops, immediately come to mind. Using these electronic devices for extended periods of time leads to a familiar problem–overheating. As electronics have gotten smaller, getting rid of heat has become more challenging and more necessary.

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Understanding the ionisation of proton-impacted helium

Advanced mathematical analysis of the ionization of a helium atom by an impacting proton has revealed where discrepancies arise between experiments and existing theoretical calculations of the process

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This quantum crystal could be a new dark matter sensor

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have linked together, or "entangled," the mechanical motion and electronic properties of a tiny blue crystal, giving it a quantum edge in measuring electric fields with record sensitivity that may enhance understanding of the universe.

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Exotic property of 'ambidextrous' crystals points to new magnetic phenomena

Researchers from Skoltech, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Uppsala University have predicted the existence of antichiral ferromagnetism, a nontrivial property of some magnetic crystals that opens the door to a variety of new magnetic phenomena. The paper was published in the journal Physical Review B.

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Indoor lighting creates power for rechargeable devices, sensors

As more of our devices require recharging of their batteries, researchers are looking to ambient lighting as a potential source of generating small amounts of power for indoor devices.

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Built-in vibration control may help soundproof spaces

A different kind of design for absorbing vibrations could help better soundproof walls and make vehicles more streamlined, a new study shows.

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Finding the cause of a fatal problem in rocket engine combustors

Rocket engines contain confined combustion systems, which are essentially combustion chambers. In these chambers, nonlinear interactions among turbulent fuel and oxidizer flows, sound waves, and heat produced from chemical reactions cause an unstable phenomenon called "combustion oscillations." The force of these oscillations on the body of the combustion chamber—the mechanical stress on the chamber— is high enough to threaten catastrophic failure of the engine. What causes these oscillations? The answer remains to be found.

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