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Theory has become practice as new work from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering taps diamond defects’ remarkable ability to concentrate optical energy.

Researchers have developed atomic antennas using germanium vacancy centers in diamonds, achieving a million-fold optical energy enhancement. This advancement allows the study of fundamental physics and opens new research avenues. The collaboration between theoretical and experimental teams was essential to this breakthrough.

Atomic antennas: harnessing light for powerful signals.

When placed at the tip of a turbine blade, the c-shaped “winglet” inspired by the condor reduces drag, potentially increasing the turbine’s efficiency by up to 10% in optimal conditions, according to a study published in the journal Energy.

The wings of soaring birds have also been adapted for use in commercial and military aircraft around the world to increase their lift, says co-author Brian Fleck, a professor of mechanical engineering and expert in fluid dynamics.

Continue reading “World’s heaviest soaring bird inspires wind power design” »

Demonstration of RAF jackal drone firing missiles.

This footage shows a demonstration where a new RAF ‘Jackal’ drone fires missile at a target. The missile can be seen launching out the new drone as it flies above the ground.

Continue reading “New RAF ‘Jackal’ drone fires missiles in demonstration” »

I found this on NewsBreak: Space Engine Systems Successful in UK MoD Hypersonic Technology Challenge #Engineering

EDMONTON, Alberta—(BUSINESS WIRE)—May 29, 2024—

Space Engine Systems (SES), through its UK operations based out of Spaceport Cornwall (SES Ltd), has applied its aerospace technology expertise to a £1 Billion GBP ($1.27 Billion USD) challenge issued by the UK MoD linked to Hypersonic Technologies and was very recently notified that it had secured a place in the Hypersonic Technology and Capability Development Framework (HTCDF). DE&S to award contracts on £1 billion framework to develop UK’s first hypersonic missile — Defence Equipment & Support (mod.uk). This framework will enable the rapid development of advanced hypersonic missile capabilities, and related technology, over the next 7 years.

Continue reading “Space Engine Systems Successful in UK MoD Hypersonic Technology Challenge” »

It seems like over the past few years, Quantum is being talked about more and more. We’re hearing words like qubits, entanglement, super position, and quantum computing. But what does that mean … and is quantum science really that big of a deal? Yeah, it is.

It’s because Quantum science has the potential to revolutionize our world. From processing data to predicting weather, to picking stocks or even discovering new medical drugs. Quantum, specifically quantum computers, could solve countless problems.

Continue reading “Unlocking the Power of Quantum Computing” »

Calcium oxide is a cheap, chalky chemical compound commonly used in the manufacturing of cement, plaster, paper, and steel. But the material may soon have a more high-tech application.

UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering researchers and their collaborator in Sweden have used theoretical and computational approaches to discover how tiny, lone atoms of bismuth embedded within solid calcium oxide can act as qubits — the building blocks of quantum computers and quantum communication devices.

These qubits are described in Nature Communications (“Discovery of atomic clock-like spin defects in simple oxides from first principles”).

Lockheed Martin has opened a new engineering facility, laboratory, and demonstration center in Huntsville, Alabama, to advance US security capabilities.

The $18-million, 122,000-square-foot (11,334 square meters) site will house 500 employees who will take on upgrade, readiness, and sustainment works for the US Army’s Black Hawk helicopters, as well as the Missile Defense Agency’s Command and Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) system.

It will also be responsible for the modeling and simulation framework for the Ballistic Missile Defense System.

Move over, graphene. There’s a new, improved two-dimensional material in the lab. Borophene, the atomically thin version of boron first synthesized in 2015, is more conductive, thinner, lighter, stronger, and more flexible than graphene, the 2D version of carbon. Now, researchers at Penn State have made the material potentially more useful by imparting chirality — or handedness — on it, which could make for advanced sensors and implantable medical devices. The chirality, induced via a method never before used on borophene, enables the material to interact in unique ways with different biological units such as cells and protein precursors.

The team, led by Dipanjan Pan, Dorothy Foehr Huck & J. Lloyd Huck Chair Professor in Nanomedicine and professor of materials science and engineering and of nuclear engineering, published their work — the first of its kind, they said — in ACS Nano.

“Borophene is a very interesting material, as it resembles carbon very closely including its atomic weight and electron structure but with more remarkable properties. Researchers are only starting to explore its applications,” Pan said. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to understand the biological interactions of borophene and the first report of imparting chirality on borophene structures.”

Imaging the hot turbulence of aircraft propulsion systems may now be possible with sturdy sheets of composite materials that twist light beams, according to research led by the University of Michigan and Air Force Research Laboratory.