All posts tagged: materials

Quantum entanglement can be measured in solids for the first time

Quantum entanglement can be measured in solids for the first time

Published by skeptic

The behaviour of two distinct particles can be linked by quantum entanglement Science Photo Library / Alamy We finally have a way to measure quantum entanglement of solids, which could lead to advances in both quantum technology and fundamental physics. When it comes to quantum entanglement – an inextricable link between quantum particles that keeps their behaviours correlated, even when they are extremely far apart – researchers have limited experimental tools. They can determine if two particles are entangled by using a procedure called the Bell test, for example, and purposely create entanglement between several objects within quantum computers. But finding out whether a piece of some material is full of entangled particles is more challenging. This is especially important for developing new and better devices for quantum computing and quantum communication, which require entanglement. Allen Scheie at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and his colleagues have spent more than half a decade developing a technique to do just that – and now it works. “We’ve established that it works, 100 per cent, …

New discovery reinvents how lightning is formed

New discovery reinvents how lightning is formed

Published by Jenni Sidey

In a small lab at Penn State University, lightning may be happening on a scale smaller than a deck of cards. Victor Pasko, a professor of electrical engineering, and his team have shown that under certain conditions, everyday solid materials like acrylic, quartz, and bismuth germanate can host lightning-like electrical discharges. The discovery challenges long-standing ideas that lightning only forms in massive storm clouds and opens the door to studying extreme electrical phenomena in a tabletop setting. “Using a high-powered electron source, lightning can be triggered in everyday insulating materials,” Pasko explained. The study applies models traditionally used to study thunderstorms to much denser, compact materials. The result is what the researchers describe as “mini-lightning,” a rapid, intense electrical discharge inside solids. Electrons accelerated to relativistic speeds in a dielectric material can produce bursts of x rays, similar to a phenomenon found in thunderstorms. (CREDIT: APS) Shrinking a Storm Thunderstorms produce electric potentials of about 100 million volts across kilometers of cloud. In contrast, the Penn State team found that blocks of acrylic, quartz, and …

3,500-year-old loom tells a revolutionary tale

3,500-year-old loom tells a revolutionary tale

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Clothes make the man, and have helped keep humans from freezing for thousands of years. But how exactly did Bronze Age people make their clothes? Using the remains of a  warp-weighted loom uncovered at the Cabezo Redondo archeological site in Spain, a team of  archeologists is learning more. The loom dating back to 3500 BCE is detailed in the journal Antiquity and indicates that the region may have been a potential player in the Bronze Age’s textile revolution.  Warp-weighted looms are weaving devices used throughout prehistoric Europe and the Mediterranean to make textiles for clothing and blankets.  Stone or clay loom weights attach to the bottoms of free-hanging threads to keep them taut. . Since they are made from wood and organic fibers, warp-weighted looms rarely survive the ravages of time. Archaeologists typically rely on the stone or clay weights to better understand how prehistoric peoples manufactured textiles using the looms.  Based on wood beams recovered from under ancient …

UK establishes first advanced materials process for defence

UK establishes first advanced materials process for defence

Published by skeptic

The UK has established its first sovereign manufacturing capability for ultrahigh-temperature advanced materials, which is vital for space, hypersonic, and propulsion systems. Cross Manufacturing Ltd has built the UK’s first pilot-scale end-to-end manufacturing process for advanced materials known as ceramic matrix composites (CMCs). “These advanced materials will underpin future defence systems, space technologies and high‑temperature applications,” explained Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Materials Engineer Chris Hawkins. “Just as importantly, this investment strengthens UK manufacturing, supports skilled jobs and helps ensure we retain control over critical technologies. As the nation marks British Science Week, this achievement is both scientific and strategic, reducing reliance on overseas supply chains and strengthening the UK’s freedom to operate in space and hypersonics – in step with the ambitions of the Defence Industrial Strategy. What are ceramic matrix composites? Ceramic matrix composites are lightweight yet as strong as metal and can withstand temperatures exceeding 1,000°C. Unlike conventional metals, they hold their strength and shape under extreme heat and stress. These properties make them essential for: Space: Protecting spacecraft and satellite components …

Cambridge scientists capture electrons leaping across solar materials in 18 femtoseconds

Cambridge scientists capture electrons leaping across solar materials in 18 femtoseconds

Published by Jenni Sidey

A tiny burst of motion inside a molecule may be enough to shove an electron across a solar material almost as fast as nature permits. That is the striking result from a University of Cambridge-led study that tracked charge transfer in just 18 femtoseconds, a span so short that it unfolds within a single molecular vibration. The work challenges a long-standing assumption in solar energy research: that electrons move this quickly only when materials have a large energy gap between them or are very strongly linked. “We deliberately designed a system that should not have transferred charge this fast,” said Dr Pratyush Ghosh, Research Fellow at St John’s College, Cambridge, and first author of the study. “By conventional design rules, this system should have been slow and that’s what makes the result so striking.” The finding matters because charge transfer sits at the heart of devices that turn light into something useful. In organic solar cells, photocatalytic systems and photodetectors, light first creates an exciton, a tightly bound electron-hole pair. To make electricity or drive …

Elephants are smart. So are their whiskers.

Elephants are smart. So are their whiskers.

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. An elephant’s trunk is a wonder of evolution. Gentle, yet dextrous, it can pick up solid items, help them communicate, and be a helpful showering tool. Inside, 1,000 whiskers give the large animals a very strong sense of touch to compensate for poor eyesight and thick skin. They are also more like a cat’s whiskers and have a design that engineers consider to be “intelligent,” according to a study published today in the journal Science. To examine how the elephant trunk whiskers work, engineers from Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, neuroscientists from Humboldt University of Berlin, and materials scientists at the University of Stuttgart in Germany joined forces. They hoped to understand how the whiskers are shaped (or their geometry), how porous they are (porosity), and how soft they are (material stiffness). Initially, the team expected that the whiskers would be more similar to the tapered whiskers of mice and rats. These rodent whiskers have a circular cross-section, …

Advanced materials made in space could benefit UK industries

Advanced materials made in space could benefit UK industries

Published by skeptic

Life-saving medicines, optical fibres and semiconductors are among the advanced materials that could be manufactured in space to benefit people and businesses across the UK. The UK Space Agency has awarded contracts to three UK companies to investigate producing these advanced materials in Low Earth Orbit, where the conditions – including microgravity, natural vacuum, and extreme temperatures – can create products that are difficult, expensive, or impossible to manufacture on Earth. The research supports in-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM), which the government identifies as a priority capability area for UK leadership, growth, and national security. “These pioneering studies show how British ingenuity is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible – leveraging space conditions to innovate the development of life-saving medicines and advanced materials that will power future technologies,” explained Space Minister Liz Lloyd. “By investing in in-orbit advanced manufacturing, we’re backing the jobs and industries of tomorrow while cementing the UK’s position as a global leader in the space economy.” Assessing the feasibility of in-orbit advanced materials Each study will assess technical feasibility, mature …

Physicists can now take control of ‘hidden’ friction in devices

Physicists can now take control of ‘hidden’ friction in devices

Published by skeptic

Objects are full of electrons that can interact to cause friction Quality Stock/Alamy Parts of devices that are perfectly smooth can still experience friction because of the electrons within them, but a new method may enable researchers to turn it down or fully turn it off. Controlling this electronic friction could help build more efficient and long-lasting devices. The force of friction opposes motion, dissipates energy and exists everywhere around us, enabling us to walk without slipping, for instance, and to light matches. Within machines such as engines, friction wastes energy and causes wear, so it must be fought with lubricants and surface engineering. Yet, some friction can persist regardless of those methods because objects are full of electrons, which interact with each other. Now, Zhiping Xu at Tsinghua University in China and his colleagues have devised a way to control this “electronic friction”. They made a device composed of two layers: a piece of graphite and a semiconductor made from either molybdenum and sulphur or from boron and nitrogen. All three materials are good …

Judge orders Fulton County Georgia election case materials unsealed

Judge orders Fulton County Georgia election case materials unsealed

Published by Sam Flores

The Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center a day after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a search warrant in relation to the 2020 election in Union City, Georgia, U.S. January 29, 2026. Elijah Nouvelage | Reuters A federal judge in Georgia ordered documents related to a Federal Bureau of Investigation raid on an election facility in Fulton County to be unsealed by Tuesday. The FBI raid that took place late last month was executed under a judicial warrant and resulted in troves of ballots from the 2020 election being taken into federal custody. Information related to the warrant including the affidavit must be unsealed by Tuesday, which could provide new details into the government’s interest in obtaining the ballots. Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chair Robb Pitts and the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections are suing the federal government over the seizure of the ballots, seeking their return. “Although Petitioners originally filed this case under seal, both parties have now indicated to the Court that they do not oppose unsealing …

Scientists can now 3D print one of the world’s hardest tool materials

Scientists can now 3D print one of the world’s hardest tool materials

Published by Jenni Sidey

Hard materials keep modern life moving, from drill bits to cutting tools. One of the toughest is tungsten carbide with cobalt, often shortened to WC–Co. It lasts a long time and resists wear, but shaping it has always been costly and wasteful. That problem may finally have a practical answer. Researchers at Hiroshima University in Japan report a new way to shape these carbides using additive manufacturing, often called 3D printing. The work was led by Keita Marumoto, an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering. Their study was published online in the International Journal of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials and will appear in the April 2026 print issue. The team focused on a laser-based process that builds carbide only where it is needed. The goal was to keep the same strength and hardness as traditional parts while cutting waste and cost. (a) SEM image of a sintered cemented carbide rod. (b) WC particle size distribution in the sintered cemented carbide rod. (CREDIT: International Journal of Refractory Metals and Hard …