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Created as an analogy for Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) — which describes the interactions due to the electromagnetic force carried by photons — Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is the theory of physics that explains the interactions mediated by the strong force — one of the four fundamental forces of nature.

A new collection of papers published in The European Physical Journal Special Topics and edited by Diogo Boito, Instituto de Fisica de Sao Carlos, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Irinel Caprini, Horia Hulubei National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Bucharest, Romania, brings together recent developments in the investigation of QCD.

The editors explain in a special introduction to the collection that due to a much stronger coupling in the strong force — carried by gluons between quarks, forming the fundamental building blocks of matter — described by QCD, than the electromagnetic force, the divergence of perturbation expansions in the mathematical descriptions of a system can have important physical consequences. The editors point out that this has become increasingly relevant with recent high-precision calculations in QCD, due to advances in the so-called higher-order loop computations.

Researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology show that strain on ventricular walls explains where lesions develop in the aging brain.

As our brains age, small lesions begin to pop up in the bundles of white matter that carry messages between our neurons. The lesions can damage this white matter and lead to cognitive deficits. Now, researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology and colleagues not only provide an explanation for the location of these lesions but also how they develop in the first place.

Continue reading “Wear and Tear in Vulnerable Brain Areas Lead to Lesions Linked to Cognitive Decline in Aging” »

Researchers have discovered that using a thin-film coating of copper or copper compounds on surfaces could enhance copper’s ability to inactivate or destroy the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for COVID-19.

In a study that began soon after the pandemic hit in March 2020, University of Waterloo engineering graduate students investigated how six different thin metal and oxide coatings interacted with HCov-229E, a coronavirus that is genetically like SARS-CoV-2 but safer to work with.

“While there was already some data out there on the lifetime of the virus on common-touch surfaces like stainless steel, plastics and copper, the lifetime of the virus on engineered coatings was less understood,” said Kevin Mussleman, the Waterloo mechanical and mechatronics engineering professor who led the study.

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A levitating vehicle might someday explore the moon, asteroids, and other airless planetary surfaces.

Aerospace engineers at MIT

Continue reading “Electrostatic Levitation: MIT Engineers Test an Idea for a New Hovering Moon Rover” »

And it’s a hybrid mix of hydrogen and electric power.

Global mining company Anglo American is experimenting with hydrogen to power the giant mining trucks.

Mining trucks consume 35.3 gallons (134 liters) of diesel per hour with their enormous weight of around 220 metric tonnes and therefore emitting vast amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Continue reading “A Mining Company Is Using Hydrogen Power in Its Trucks, Cutting CO2 Emissions” »

Occasionally, there are things that Google Maps can’t find but a B-2 stealth bomber is not among them, according to a Redditor.

Interesting Engineering is a cutting edge, leading community designed for all lovers of engineering, technology and science.

Thyme and oregano possess an anti-cancer compound that suppresses tumor development, but adding more to your tomato sauce isn’t enough to gain significant benefit. The key to unlocking the power of these plants is in amplifying the amount of the compound created or synthesizing the compound for drug development.

Researchers at Purdue University achieved the first step toward using the compound in pharmaceuticals by mapping its biosynthetic pathway, a sort of molecular recipe of the ingredients and steps needed.

“These plants contain important compounds, but the amount is very low and extraction won’t be enough,” said Natalia Dudareva, a Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry in Purdue’s College of Agriculture, who co-led the project. “By understanding how these compounds are formed, we open a path to engineering plants with higher levels of them or to synthesizing the compounds in microorganisms for medical use.

The world is an intricate web of interrelations, such that objects no longer have their own individual existence independent from other objects — like an endless game of quantum mirrors.

Interesting Engineering is a cutting edge, leading community designed for all lovers of engineering, technology and science.

The Wright brothers had designed the world’s first successful, heavier-than-air, powered airplane.

Find U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-funded research about the Wright brothers’ innovative approach to development on OSTI.GOV:
• Accelerating Learning with Set-Based Concurrent Engineering: https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1605517
• Control Co-Design: An engineering game changer: https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1615248
• Engineering a Better Future: Interplay between Engineering Social Sciences and Innovation: https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1530161