Hacker News with Generative AI: Materials Science

Electron band structure in germanium, my ass (2001) (cs.wisc.edu)
The exponential dependence of resistivity on temperature in germanium is found to be a great big lie.

Semiconductors, Materials Science, Physics

897 points by tux3 3 days ago | 400 comments

Plastic-like materials that dissolve in the sea (riken.jp)
Microplastics—small fragments of plastics less than 5mm across—now infiltrate every corner of our planet, from remote regions of the deep ocean and the Arctic, to the very air we breathe.

Environmental Science, Microplastics, Pollution, Materials Science

5 points by geox 6 days ago | 0 comments

Japanese scientists create new plastic that dissolves in saltwater overnight (newatlas.com)
Scientists at RIKEN in Japan have developed a new type of plastic that’s just as stable in everyday use but dissolves quickly in saltwater, leaving behind safe compounds.

Science, Materials Science, Environmental Technology, Chemistry, Japan

194 points by bentobean 7 days ago | 121 comments

Physicists discover a copper-free high-temperature superconducting oxide (phys.org)
Professor Ariando and Dr. Stephen Lin Er Chow from the National University of Singapore (NUS) Department of Physics have designed and synthesized a groundbreaking new material—a copper-free superconducting oxide—capable of superconducting at approximately 40 Kelvin (K), or about minus 233°C, under ambient pressure.

Physics, Superconductivity, Materials Science

7 points by bookofjoe 7 days ago | 2 comments

Thinner Films Conduct Better Than Copper (ieee.org)
Future chips need something better than copper. Are topological semimetals the answer?

Materials Science, Nanotechnology, Semiconductors, Computing

66 points by rbanffy 8 days ago | 23 comments

Plasmonic Modulators Break Wireless Terahertz Barrier (ieee.org)
A new plasmonic modulator [in gold] transfers signal information from an electrical wave to an optical wave at higher speeds than other modulator technologies.

Plasmonics, Terahertz Technology, Wireless Communication, Materials Science, Optics

25 points by rbanffy 10 days ago | 7 comments

Artificial muscle flexes in multiple directions, offering a path to soft robots (news.mit.edu)
MIT engineers have developed a method to grow artificial muscle tissue that twitches and flexes in multiple, coordinated directions.

Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Materials Science, Engineering

3 points by gmays 10 days ago | 0 comments

AI Reveals Secrets of Dendritic Growth in Thin Films (tus.ac.jp)
Researchers have developed a new AI model that predicts dendritic growth in thin films, helping optimize thin-film growth processes

Artificial Intelligence, Materials Science, Thin Films, Dendritic Growth

44 points by rustoo 10 days ago | 14 comments

Moiré Than Meets the Eye: Uncovering the Quantum Potential of Phasons (newscenter.lbl.gov)
Researchers have discovered that phasons, low-temperature quasiparticles found in crystal lattices, enable interlayer excitons to move at very low temperatures, when motion should stop.

Quantum Mechanics, Physics, Materials Science, Cryogenics

24 points by gnabgib 10 days ago | 2 comments

Perovskite Solar Cells Can Be Completely Recycled (physicsworld.com)
A research team headed up at Linköping University in Sweden and Cornell University in the US has succeeded in recycling almost all of the components of perovskite solar cells using simple, non-toxic, water-based solvents.

Solar Cells, Recycling, Materials Science, Energy

6 points by EA-3167 11 days ago | 2 comments

McLaren invented new carbon fiber tape to build even more complex parts (thedrive.com)
It's not cheap, but this process offers better strength-to-weight properties than what you'll find in more "pedestrian" performance cars.

Materials Science, Automotive, Engineering, Innovation, Technology

140 points by PaulHoule 18 days ago | 90 comments

Chewing gum is plastic pollution, not a litter problem (theconversation.com)
Thousands of tonnes of plastic pollution could be escaping into the environment every year … from our mouths. Most chewing gum on sale is made from a variety of oil-based synthetic rubbers – similar to the plastic material used in car tyres.

Pollution, Environment, Materials Science

47 points by zeristor 18 days ago | 37 comments

Three-dimensional flexible thermoelectric fabrics for smart wearables (nature.com)
Wearable thermoelectric devices, capable of converting body heat into electrical energy, provide the potential driving power for the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and soft robotics.

Smart Wearables, Thermoelectrics, Materials Science

3 points by bookofjoe 19 days ago | 1 comments

The Asbestos Times (2023) (worksinprogress.co)
Asbestos was a miracle material, virtually impervious to fire. But as we fixed city fires in other ways, we came to learn about its horrific downsides.

History, Environmentalism, Materials Science

4 points by Tomte 19 days ago | 0 comments

Nanoscale tweaks help alloy withstand high-speed impacts (techxplore.com)
A Cornell-led collaboration devised a new method for designing metals and alloys that can withstand extreme impacts: introducing nanometer-scale speed bumps that suppress a fundamental transition that controls how metallic materials deform.

Materials Science, Nanotechnology, Engineering, Metallurgy

4 points by PaulHoule 20 days ago | 0 comments

Chinese Bismuth Transistor Breakthrough (tomshardware.com)

Electronics, Materials Science, China, Semiconductors

11 points by Blueskytech 22 days ago | 1 comments

Ceramic powders with Archimedean shapes resist extreme heat and oxidation (phys.org)
A research team led by Prof. Hu Xiaoye from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has synthesized high-quality boride ceramic powders with an Archimedean shape.

Materials Science, Ceramics, Nanotechnology, Heat Resistance

23 points by PaulHoule 24 days ago | 0 comments

Nickel superconductor works above -233°C threshold at normal pressure (phys.org)
A team of engineers and physicists at Southern University of Science and Technology, in China, has created a nickel-based material that behaves as a superconductor above the -233°C (40 K) threshold under ambient pressure.

Superconductivity, Materials Science, Physics

125 points by PaulHoule 25 days ago | 24 comments

Open source software for modeling soft materials (now.tufts.edu)
Tufts scientists develop Morpho software, which can model anything from cardiovascular stents to pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing

Software, Materials Science, Open Source, Bioengineering

87 points by nill0 25 days ago | 15 comments

Mimicking shark skin to create clean cutting boards (morningagclips.com)
Instead of constantly battling to prevent bacteria buildup, researchers created surfaces that stop bacteria from attaching in the first place.

Science, Innovation, Materials Science, Biology

11 points by HR01 28 days ago | 1 comments

Room-temperature superconductors: Fundamental constants suggest they could exist (phys.org)
In a new development that could help redefine the future of technology, a team of physicists has uncovered a fundamental insight into the upper limit of superconducting temperature.

Physics, Superconductivity, Materials Science

8 points by bilsbie 29 days ago | 3 comments

Chemists find greener path to making ethylene oxide, a key industrial chemical (phys.org)
Scientists have discovered a potentially greener way to produce a crucial industrial chemical used to make many everyday products, from plastics and textiles to antifreeze and disinfectants, according to a study published in Science and co-authored by Tulane University chemical engineer Matthew Montemore.

Chemistry, Sustainability, Industrial Chemicals, Materials Science

7 points by PaulHoule 30 days ago | 1 comments

Ultrasonic deep drawing cuts friction by 20%, extends tool lifespan (techxplore.com)
Ultrasonic deep drawing makes the difference: with a drawing ratio of 2.3 and vibration support, the deep-drawn bowl.

Manufacturing, Engineering, Materials Science, Ultrasonic Technology

109 points by PaulHoule 30 days ago | 29 comments

Formation of organic glass from a human brain (nature.com)
Glass forms when a liquid is fast cooled preventing crystallization, across a reversible process known as the glass transition.

Science, Materials Science, Biology, Neuroscience

14 points by thund 34 days ago | 3 comments

MIT physicists find unexpected crystals of electrons in new ultrathin material (news.mit.edu)
MIT physicists report the unexpected discovery of electrons forming crystalline structures in a material only billionths of a meter thick.

Physics, Materials Science, Nanotechnology

7 points by gnabgib 36 days ago | 0 comments

Failure Theory for Materials Science and Engineering (failurecriteria.com)
Three dimensional failure criteria are given for various materials classes. These include both isotropic and anisotropic material symmetries, and are applicable for macroscopic homogeneity. In the isotropic materials form, the properly calibrated failure criteria can distinguish ductile from brittle failure for specific stress states. Although most of the results are relevant to quasi-static failure, some are for time dependent failure conditions as well as for fatigue conditions.

Materials Science, Engineering, Failure Analysis, Material Properties, Anisotropy

47 points by nill0 38 days ago | 12 comments

Modern Synthesis is making compostable materials that last a lifetime (techcrunch.com)
Jen Keane’s claim to fame is that she grew a shoe using bacteria, coaxing the microbes to deposit their nanocellulose materials in the shape of a sneaker. But she’s kind of over that.

Biotechnology, Sustainability, Materials Science, Composting

7 points by PaulHoule 40 days ago | 1 comments

Porous plastic sheets can cool buildings by radiating light to space (techxplore.com)
Traditional cooling systems for buildings use refrigerants and electricity, which contribute to the atmospheric greenhouse effect that exacerbates more extreme weather events.

Sustainable Architecture, Climate Change, Building Technology, Materials Science

8 points by PaulHoule 40 days ago | 5 comments

Vialess heterogeneous skin patch for multimodal monitoring and stimulation (nature.com)
System-level wearable electronics require to be flexible to ensure conformal contact with the skin, but they also need to integrate rigid and bulky functional components to achieve system-level functionality.

Wearable Technology, Bioelectronics, Health Tech, Materials Science

10 points by PaulHoule 40 days ago | 0 comments

Waste-based perovskite solar cell achieves 21.39% energy efficiency (techxplore.com)
A team of materials scientists and solar engineers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, working with a colleague from Polytechnique Hauts-de-France, has developed a perovskite solar cell using a biomass-based polymer.

Solar Cells, Materials Science, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy

50 points by wglb 41 days ago | 34 comments