Smart textiles and surfaces: How lightweight elastomer films are bringing tech to life

Clothes that can mimic the feeling of being touched, touch displays that provide haptic feedback to users, or even ultralight loudspeakers. These are just some of the devices made possible using thin silicone films that can be precisely controlled so that they vibrate, flex, press or pull exactly as desired. And all done simply by applying an electrical voltage.

Physicists discover a copper-free high-temperature superconducting oxide

Engineers have designed and synthesized a groundbreaking new material -- a copper-free superconducting oxide -- capable of superconducting at approximately 40 Kelvin, or about minus 233 degrees Celsius, under ambient pressure.

A lighter, smarter magnetoreceptive electronic skin

Imagine navigating a virtual reality with contact lenses or operating your smartphone under water: This and more could soon be a reality thanks to innovative e-skins. A research team has developed an electronic skin that detects and precisely tracks magnetic fields with a single global sensor. This artificial skin is not only light, transparent and permeable, but also mimics the interactions of real skin and the brain.

Listen to quantum atoms talk together thanks to acoustics

To get around the constraints of quantum physics, researchers have built a new acoustic system to study the way the minuscule atoms of condensed matter talk together. They hope to one day build an acoustic version of a quantum computer.

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.

New 'one-pot' technique a breakthrough for material synthesis

A new technique builds inorganic and polymer battery electrolytes at the same time, in the same vessel. This 'one-pot' in-situ method creates a controlled, homogeneous blend, pairing the conductivity of the inorganic solids with the flexibility of the polymers.

Touchless tech: Control fabrics with a wave of your finger

Researchers have created washable and durable magnetic field sensing electronic textiles -- thought to be the first of their kind -- which they say paves the way to transform use in clothing. This technology will allow users to interact with everyday textiles or specialized clothing by simply pointing their finger above a sensor.

Single-qubit sensing puts new spin on quantum materials discovery

Working at nanoscale dimensions, billionths of a meter in size, a team of scientists revealed a new way to measure high-speed fluctuations in magnetic materials. Knowledge obtained by these new measurements could be used to advance technologies ranging from traditional computing to the emerging field of quantum computing.

Unraveling how a 'magnetic twist' induces one-way electric flow

A twist you'll never see coming: a breakthrough in understanding the relationship between chirality and electric flow at a microscopic level may help us develop chiral information technology.