November 24, 2020: Blending is a powerful strategy for improving the performance of electronics, coatings, separation membranes and other functional materials. A new platform for rapidly creating and characterizing blends of polymers, nanoparticles and other materials could significantly accelerate material development.
November 30, 2020: A recent two-part study at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a method to create 3D models of the fibers within composite materials then used that information to predict the thermal conductivity of the material.
December 2, 2020: An international team of scientists used high-energy X-rays to analyze 12 fragments from ancient Egyptian papyri and found lead compounds in both red and black inks used. Painters in 15th-century Europe used a similar technique when developing oil paints, but the study suggests ancient Egyptians discovered it 1,400 years earlier.
December 3, 2020: The future of mobility is electric cars, trucks and airplanes, but there is no way a single battery design can power that future. A new method could be the key to designing more efficient batteries for specific uses, like electric cars and airplanes.
December 7, 2020: Researchers have made two discoveries that can expand additive manufacturing in aerospace and other industries that rely on strong metal parts. They discovered why structural defects occur during the additive manufacture of parts made from a high-strength, light-weight titanium alloy widely used in aerospace applications and present a process map to help manufacturers avoid generating defects during a common additive manufacturing technique called laser powder bed fusion.
December 7, 2020: Security officials are tasked with preventing criminals from smuggling dangerous materials into a country, and detecting nuclear substances has been difficult and costly. Now Northwestern University researchers have developed new devices based on a low-cost material to aid in the detection and identification of radioactive isotopes.
December 9, 2020: The amount of concrete, asphalt, metal and plastic on Earth is growing fast. This year may mark the point when artificial stuff outweighs living things. A study by a team of scientists from the Weizman Institute in Israel has found that all things human-made, known as anthropogenic mass, now weigh the same as all of Earth's living biomass.
December 9, 2020: Particulate emissions from cooking stay in the atmosphere for longer than previously thought, according to a new study employing simultaneous small and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) and Raman microscopy. Researchers at the University of Birmingham succeeded in demonstrating how cooking emissions are able to survive in the atmosphere over several days, rather than being broken up and dispersed.
December 9, 2020: In a recent study, scientists from Japan demonstrate how the Yb to Si ratio in the ytterbium silicide (Yb-Si)—a promising coating material for the high-temperature sections of aircraft gas turbine engines—and the surrounding atmosphere, affect the oxidation processes, opening doors to more energy efficient gas turbines.
December 10, 2020: Researchers used powerful X-rays to see the preserved remains of an ancient Egyptian girl without disturbing the linen wrappings. The results of those tests point to a new way to study mummified specimens.
December 12, 2020: If we're going to get better at powering the planet with renewable energy, we need to get better at finding ways of efficiently storing that energy until it's needed—and scientists have identified a particular material that could give us exactly that.
December 14, 2020: A multi-institutional research team led by materials scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has designed a highly active and durable catalyst that doesn’t rely on costly platinum to spur the necessary chemical reaction.
December 15, 2020: A team of researchers from Russia, the United States and China led by Skoltech Professor Artem R. Oganov have discovered an unexpected very complex europium hydride, Eu8H46. The paper detailing the discovery has been published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.
December 15, 2020: Scientists find crumbly samples of the asteroid Ryugu in capsule, secure first sample of extraterrestrial gases.
