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Strain-induced crystallization can strengthen, toughen, and facilitate an elastocaloric effect in elastomers. The resulting crystallinity can be induced by mechanical stretching in common elastomers that are typically below 20%, with a stretchability plateau.

In a new report now published in Science Advances, Chase M. Hartquist and a team of scientists in mechanical engineering and materials sciences at MIT and Duke University in the U.S. used a class of elastomers formed by end-linking to achieve a percentage of strain-induced crystallinity.

The deswollen and end-linked star elastomer abbreviated as DELSE reached an ultrahigh stretchability to scale, beyond the saturated limit of common elastomers, to promote a high elastocaloric effect with an adiabatic temperature change.

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A research team led by Professor Jong-min Choi of the Department of Energy Engineering has developed a technology that can significantly improve the efficiency of quantum dot photovoltaic cells by introducing organic solvent dispersible MXene.

The findings were published in Advanced Energy Materials (“Organic solvent dispersible MXene integrated colloidal quantum dot photovoltaics”).

Comparison of the dispersibility of quantum dot solar cell ink organic solvent according to surface modification of MXene. (Image: DGIST)

Quantum computing is often hailed as the next frontier of technology, promising to solve some of the most complex and challenging problems in science, engineering, and business. But how close are we to achieving this quantum dream, and what are the limitations of this emerging field?

As IEEE Spectrum shares in its detailed report, some of the leading voices in quantum computing have recently expressed doubts and concerns about the technology’s current state and prospects. They argue that quantum computers are far from being ready for practical use and that their applications are more restricted than commonly assumed.

The Paulding Light, a perplexing glow in the Michigan sky, has fueled folklore with its eerie nightly appearances since the 1960s. What was once thought to be a ghostly signal has turned into a case study for scientific inquiry. A team of Michigan Tech students, led by Jeremy Bos, a PhD candidate in electrical engineering, undertook a methodical investigation to expose the truth behind the spectral luminance that intrigued both locals and visitors in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Their rigorous scientific approach involved telescopes, spectrographs, and atmospheric modeling, which demystified the paranormal claims. By observing the phenomenon through a telescope, the researchers identified the lights as nothing more than the headlights and taillights of vehicles on a distant stretch of US Highway 45. This was further supported by spectral analysis, confirming the automotive origin of the lights. The team’s findings pointed to atmospheric conditions and the geography of the Paulding area, which caused the vehicle lights to refract and create the illusion of the unexplained Paulding Light.

Despite the logical explanations provided by these dedicated students, the Paulding Light’s allure remains undiminished. The legend continues to attract those drawn to the supernatural, demonstrating the human fascination with mystery over the mundane. The Paulding Light stands as a symbol of our enduring attraction to the unexplained, a reminder that sometimes, even when the truth is revealed, the legend never dies.

Researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME), Argonne National Laboratory, and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia have developed a new computational tool to describe how the atoms within quantum materials behave when they absorb and emit light.

The tool will be released as part of the open-source software package WEST, developed within the Midwest Integrated Center for Computational Materials (MICCoM) by a team led by Prof. Marco Govoni, and it helps scientists better understand and engineer new materials for quantum technologies.

“What we’ve done is broaden the ability of scientists to study these materials for quantum technologies,” said Giulia Galli, Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering and senior author of the paper, published in Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation. “We can now study systems and properties that were really not accessible, on a large scale, in the past.”

When it comes to delivering drugs to the body, a major challenge is ensuring that they remain in the area they’re treating and continuing to deliver their payload accurately. While major strides have been made in delivering drugs, monitoring them is a challenge that often requires invasive procedures like biopsies.

Researchers at NYU Tandon led by Jin Kim Montclare, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, have developed proteins that can assemble themselves into fibers to be used as therapeutic agents for the potential treatments of multiple diseases.

These biomaterials can encapsulate and deliver therapeutics for a host of diseases. But while Montclare’s lab has long worked on producing these materials, there was once a challenge that was hard to overcome—how to make sure that these proteins continued to deliver their therapeutics at the correct location in the body for the necessary amount of time.

Superconductors have intrigued physicists for decades. But these materials, which allow the perfect, lossless flow of electrons, usually only exhibit this quantum-mechanical peculiarity at temperatures so low—a few degrees above absolute zero—as to render them impractical.

A research team led by Harvard Professor of Physics and Applied Physics Philip Kim has demonstrated a new strategy for making and manipulating a widely studied class of higher-temperature superconductors called cuprates, clearing a path to engineering new, unusual forms of superconductivity in previously unattainable materials.

Using a uniquely low-temperature device fabrication method, Kim and his team report in the journal Science a promising candidate for the world’s first high-temperature, superconducting diode—essentially, a switch that makes current flow in one direction—made out of thin cuprate crystals.

In this very special episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, Jay is once again joined by Tesla’s Head of Design, Franz von Holzhausen who along with Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravy, bring with them this very special 2024 Tesla Cybertruck Foundation Series, aka, the CYBERBEAST!