These electronics-free robots can walk right off the 3D-printer

This a robot can walk, without electronics, and only with the addition of a cartridge of compressed gas, right off the 3D-printer. It can also be printed in one go, from one material.

Quantum heat dynamics toggled by magnetic fields

The ability to conduct heat is one of the most fundamental properties of matter, crucial for engineering applications. Scientists know well how conventional materials, such as metals and insulators, conduct heat. However, things are not as straightforward under extreme conditions such as temperatures close to absolute zero combined with strong magnetic fields, where strange quantum effects begin to dominate. This is particularly true in the realm of quantum materials.

New platform lets anyone rapidly prototype large, sturdy interactive structures

A rapid prototyping platform called VIK (Voxel Invention Kit) enables makers without engineering expertise to create large-scale interactive devices using a series of reconfigurable electromechanical building blocks. These user-friendly components can be assembled using only a soldering iron and a pair of pliers.

Lords of the molecular rings: An innovative shortcut to high-performance organic materials

Scientists have unveiled an innovative approach for synthesizing azaparacyclophanes (APCs), a class of highly advanced ring-shaped molecular structures with immense potential in material science. Their innovative Catalyst-Transfer Macrocyclization (CTM) method streamlines the production of these complex macrocycles, paving the way for more efficient and scalable applications in organic electronics, optoelectronics, and supramolecular chemistry -- such as displays, flexible solar cells and transistors.

Scientists tune in to rhombohedral graphene's potential

Scientists are investigating how structures made from several layers of graphene stack up in terms of their fundamental physics and their potential as reconfigurable semiconductors for advanced electronics.

Spinning, twisted light could power next-generation electronics

Researchers have advanced a decades-old challenge in the field of organic semiconductors, opening new possibilities for the future of electronics. The researchers have created an organic semiconductor that forces electrons to move in a spiral pattern, which could improve the efficiency of OLED displays in television and smartphone screens, or power next-generation computing technologies such as spintronics and quantum computing.

Exciting moments on the edge

Researchers have demonstrated that phosphorene nanoribbons (PNRs) exhibit both magnetic and semiconducting properties at room temperature. The research establishes PNRs as a unique class of low-dimensional materials that challenges conventional views on magnetic semiconductors, and could provide a stepping stone to unlocking new quantum technologies.