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Category: materials – Page 52

We Finally Know Where Most Meteorites on Earth Actually Came From

Until now, only a small fraction of meteorites that land on Earth had been firmly linked back to their parent body out in space – but a set of new studies has just given us compelling origin stories for more than 90 percent of meteorites today.

Past analyses of meteorites striking our planet today suggest some kind of shared origin; they’re made from very similar materials and have been baked by cosmic radiation for a suspiciously short amount of time, hinting at a relatively recent break-up from shared parent bodies.

The teams behind three new published papers used a combination of super-detailed telescope observations and computer modeling simulations to compare asteroids out in space with meteorites recovered on Earth, matching up rock types and orbital paths between the two.

Flexible circuits made with silk and graphene

After thousands of years as a highly valuable commodity, silk continues to surprise. Now it may help usher in a whole new direction for microelectronics and computing.

While silk protein has been deployed in designer electronics, its use is currently limited in part because silk fibers are a messy tangle of spaghetti-like strands.

Now, a research team led by scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has tamed the tangle. They report in the journal Science Advances (“Two-dimensional silk”) that they have achieved a uniform two-dimensional (2D) layer of silk protein fragments, or “fibroins,” on graphene, a carbon-based material useful for its excellent electrical conductivity.

US tests materials for neutrino targets to endure proton bombardment

Fermilab is tackling the extreme conditions generated in neutrino experiments to ensure the success of future research.

“Researchers need to overcome three challenges to make a lasting target: radiation damage, high temperatures and stress from thermal expansion,” remarked the press release.

Nanofibers, incredibly thin threads with exceptional strength and flexibility, are being investigated for their ability to better absorb the shock of the proton beam.

“A nanofiber developed by Fermilab engineer Sujit Bidhar is being researched as a potential target material due to its ability to mitigate thermal shock and be more resistant to radiation damage,” highlighted the press release.

Beyond Tungsten: Scientists Unveil Game-Changing Materials for Fusion Reactors

Can theory and computation methods help the search for the best divertor material and thus contribute to making fusion energy a reality?

Exploring nuclear fusion as a clean energy source reveals a critical need for advanced plasma-facing materials. MARVEL lab researchers identified materials that might withstand fusion’s extreme conditions and proposed alternatives to tungsten, the current choice.

Nuclear fusion and the material challenge.

Quantum Breakthrough: Time Reversal Symmetry Broken at Record High Temperatures

Researchers at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), using muon spin rotation at the Swiss Muon Source (SmS), have discovered that a quantum phenomenon called time-reversal symmetry breaking takes place at the surface of the Kagome superconductor RbV₃Sb₅, occurring at temperatures up to 175 K.

This sets a new record for the temperature at which time-reversal symmetry breaking is observed among Kagome systems.