Extra-hard coatings made from diamond-like carbon (DLC) extend the operating lifetime of tools and components. In artificial joints, however, these coatings often fail because they detach. Swiss researchers found out why – and developed methods to both make the interface between the DLC layer and the metal underneath corrosion-resistant and to predict the lifetime of the implants.
Superconductors are more than 150 times more efficient at carrying electricity than copper wires. But these materials have to be cooled below an extremely low, so-called transition temperature for electrical resistance to disappear. Researchers have unexpectedly found that the transition temperature can be induced under two different intense pressures in a three-layered bismuth oxide crystal. They believe this unusual two-step phenomena comes from competition of electronic behavior in different layers.
Less noise, less exhaust, less refuse - air travel of the future is expected to be quieter, cleaner and more environmentally friendly. To achieve this goal, new structural concepts and aerodynamic profiles have to be engineered, along with better drive concepts as well as adapted logistical designs, and then put to use. In the European project Clean Sky, researchers want to make their contribution to solving this Herculean task.
Scientists in the UK are developing technology that may enable people to power MP3 players and other devices through their clothes and the carpets they walk on.
It's the Clark Kent of oxide compounds, and -- on its own -- it is pretty boring. But slice europium titanate nanometers thin and physically stretch it, and then it takes on super hero-like properties that could revolutionize electronics, according to new research.
The basis for solar energy is absorbing light and then effectively disassociating electrical charges. Researchers report that conjugated polymers are excellent materials for such a system, thanks to their light absorption and conduction properties.
Decays of B mesons in recent experiments at Fermilab result in excess matter over antimatter that exceeds expectations, based on the Standard Model of particle physics.
