For nuclear physicists, ‘doubly magic’ describes atomic nuclei that have greater stability than their neighbors thanks to having shells that are full occupied by both protons and neutrons. Theoretical physicists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently used Titan, America’s most powerful supercomputer, to compute the nuclear structure of nickel-78, consisting of …
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have demonstrated that permanent magnets produced by additive manufacturing can outperform bonded magnets made using traditional techniques while conserving critical materials. Scientists fabricated isotropic, near-net-shape, neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) bonded magnets at DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL using the Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) machine. The …
Establishing a lunar base is probably a wise first first step to colonizing Mars, and colonizing Mars will be a giant leap forward for humankind to travel to the stars. We begin our discussion by noting that the bare minimum for sustaining life on the Moon exists in the water brought by comets to the …
Semiconductor chips combined with actuators will make transformational devices. Actuators will enable machines to simplify our world by converting digital information and systems into some form of force, such as light or magnetic waves, or even physical pressure that can push objects. The actuator, like the sensor before it, is part of technology’s relentless quest …
Take some metal scraps from the junkyard; put them in a glass jar with a common household chemical; and, voilà, you have a high-performance battery. “Imagine that the tons of metal waste discarded every year could be used to provide energy storage for the renewable energy grid of the future, instead of becoming a burden …
Queensland University of Technology Dr Haifei Zhan is leading a global effort to work out how many ways humanity can use a newly-invented material with enormous potential – diamond nanothread (DNT). First created by Pennsylvania State University last year, one-dimensional DNT is similar to carbon nanotubes, hollow cylindrical tubes 10,000 times smaller than human hair, …
Embryonic neural stem cells transplanted into damaged areas of the visual cortex of adult mice were able to differentiate into pyramidal cells — forming normal synaptic connections, responding to visual stimuli, and integrating into neural networks — researchers at LMU Munich, the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology in Martinsried and the Helmholtz Zentrum München have …
China’s economy will face “a difficult three to five years” but the slowdown will be good for its long-term development, Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma told the South China Morning Post in an interview just before the e-commerce giant’s takeover of the 113-year-old newspaper. Ma said the Chinese economy was indeed grappling with structural problems …
One of the world’s biggest telescope projects might be forced to move its location to a different continent. The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) was due to be built in Hawaii, but ran into opposition with indigenous groups which consider its proposed site sacred. Now the TMT’s board says a site in the Canary Islands, Spain, …
The United Kingdom’s first aircraft carrier in more than 30 years is just months from sea trials. HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to be fully operational by 2020, with her sister ship Prince of Wales following in 2023. The two ships will give the United Kingdom a powerful capability to fight at sea and attack …
China’s first indigenous carrier is coming into being. Laid down in 2015 with an expected launch date in 2017 or 2018, China’s second aircraft carrier may enter full service sometime around 2020. The hull of China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier has been assembled, according to the nation’s Ministry of National Defense. Design work has …