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Magazine
In the Aug. 4 SN: Money’s murky origins, computer programs expose fake news, one neutrino’s journey, early Texas toolmakers, electric fields cue spider flight, pregnant male sharks, baby planet pics and more.
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News in Brief
A filter that turns saltwater into freshwater just got an upgrade
08/16/2018 - 14:00 Materials, Chemistry, SustainabilitySmoothing out the rough patches of a material widely used to filter saltwater could make producing freshwater more affordable, researchers report in the Aug. 17 Science.
Desalination plants around the world typically strain salt out of seawater by pumping it through films made of polyamide — a synthetic polymer riddled with tiny pores that allow water molecules to squeeze through, but...
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News
Strange metals are even weirder than scientists thought
08/06/2018 - 06:00 Condensed Matter, Materials, PhysicsCuriouser and curiouser: Strange metals are getting a little stranger.
Normal metals such as copper and aluminum are old hat — physicists have a strong grasp on the behavior of the electrons within. But strange metals behave in mysterious ways, and researchers have now uncovered an additional oddity. A type of strange metal called a cuprate behaves unexpectedly when inside a strong...
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News
A new kind of spray is loaded with microscopic electronic sensors
07/23/2018 - 11:00 Technology, Chemistry, MaterialsTalk about cloud-connected devices.
Using tiny 2-D materials, researchers have built microscopic chemical sensors that can be sprayed in an aerosol mist. Spritzes of such minuscule electronic chips, described online July 23 in Nature Nanotechnology, could one day help monitor environmental pollution or diagnose diseases.
Each sensor comprises a polymer chip about 1 micrometer thick...
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News
Designer diamonds could one day help build a quantum internet
07/06/2018 - 11:43 Materials, Quantum Physics, TechnologyA new kind of artificial diamond is a cut above the rest for quantum memory.
Unlike other synthetic diamonds, which could either store quantum information for a long time or transmit it clearly, the new diamond can do both. This designer crystal, described in the July 6 Science, could be a key building block in a quantum internet. Such a futuristic communications network would allow...
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News in Brief
A new 3-D printer builds temporary electronics on your skin
06/06/2018 - 14:30 Technology, MaterialsA new 3-D printer draws precise patterns of electrically conductive material directly on a person’s skin, creating temporary, tattoolike electronic devices.
Unlike other 3-D printers designed to layer material on stiff, motionless objects, the new system uses computer vision to compensate for a moving printing surface — say, the back of a fidgety hand, researchers report in the June 6...
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Feature
Future smart clothes could pack serious gadgetry
06/01/2018 - 10:57 Technology, MaterialsIn the future, leaving your phone charger at home will mean only one thing: You forgot to put on pants.
Just as smartphones untethered users from their desktop computers, smart clothing is poised to bring personal electronics out of our pockets and onto our sleeves.
The current generation of wearable technology that includes smart glasses and watches is still more marginal than...
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News
This plastic can be recycled over and over and over again
04/26/2018 - 15:40 Pollution, Chemistry, MaterialsThere’s a great future in plastics.
A new kind of plastic can, when exposed to the right chemicals, break down into the same basic building blocks that it came from and be rebuilt again and again. The recyclable material is more durable than previous attempts to create reusable plastics, researchers report inthe April 27 Science.
Designing plastics that can be easily reused is one...
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Teaser
A new plastic film glows to flag food contaminated with dangerous microbes
04/17/2018 - 07:00 Materials, Microbes, HealthPathogen detectors built into plastic patches could someday spare you food poisoning.
Carlos Filipe, a chemical engineer at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and colleagues have developed a new kind of flexible film that’s coated in molecules that glow when they touch E. coli cells. This type of sensor also glows in the presence of molecules secreted by E. coli, so the material...
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News in Brief
This material uses energy from ambient light to kill hospital superbugs
04/10/2018 - 07:00 Microbes, Materials, TechnologyPHOENIX — A new material that harnesses the power of ambient light to produce bacteria-killing molecules could help stem the spread of hospital infections, including those with drug-resistant bacteria.
About 1 in 10 patients worldwide get an infection while receiving treatment at a hospital or other health care facility, according to the World Health Organization. “Contaminated hospital...
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News in Brief
Toxic chemicals turn a new material from porous to protective
04/05/2018 - 08:00 Materials, ChemistryPHOENIX — A new, breathable material that can also block biological or chemical threats could offer comfortable protection for people working in contaminated environments or dangerous military zones.
The bottom layer of the material, described April 3 at the Materials Research Society spring meeting, features carbon nanotube pores embedded within a flexible synthetic polymer film. These...