new Self-driving laboratories (SDLs) combine automated hardware and artificial intelligence experimental planners to accelerate materials discovery. The cornerstone of an SDL is the orchestration manager, a pivotal software component responsible for facilitating communication and administration among diverse laboratory components. To address these challenges, we have recently presented ChemOS 2.0, an architecture design for orchestration that facilitates the combination of chemical experiments and simulations to rapidly explore chemical spaces. To demonstrate the capabilities of our design, we have used ChemOS 2.0 to automate the synthesis and characterization of organic laser molecules. Additionally, it has also been used to orchestrate electrochemical experiments performed on cheap open-source automated platforms built from scratch. As such, we demonstrate the capabilities of SDL in improving the speed of chemical research. — iciq.org, 6h ago

new Sunlight-driven H2 generation is a central technology to tackle our impending carbon-based energy collapse. Colloidal photocatalysts consisting of plasmonic and catalytic nanoparticles are promising for H2 production at solar irradiances, but their performance is hindered by absorption and multiscattering events. Here we present a two-dimensional bimetallic catalyst by incorporating platinum nanoparticles into a well-defined supercrystal of gold nanoparticles. The bimetallic supercrystal exhibited an H2 generation rate of 139mmolgcat−1h−1 via formic acid dehydrogenation under visible light illumination and solar irradiance. This configuration makes it possible to study the interaction between the two metallic materials and the influence of this in catalysis. We observe a correlation between the intensity of the electric field in the hotspots and the boosted catalytic activity of platinum nanoparticles, while identifying a minor role of heat and gold-to-platinum charge transfer in the enhancement. Our results demonstrate the benefits of two-dimensional configurations with optimized architecture for liquid-phase photocatalysis. — interestingengineering.com, 17h ago

new This work on tensor networks will complement and supercharge SandboxAQ’s existing efforts to leverage AI and Simulation towards impact in pharmaceutical development, materials science, and beyond. Specific applications of SandboxAQ AI and Simulation include protein-ligand binding computations for large-scale undruggable targets in neurodegenerative disease, novel solutions for pose and toxicity prediction, and new AI methods to predict lifecycles for next-generation batteries composed of novel materials. — HPCwire, 19h ago

new The design disciplines have undergone a remarkable evolution, shifting from using materials to data as the fundamental building blocks of architecture and cities. This evolution can be traced through the digital revolution experienced in the last three decades. The 90s marked the creation of the internet, connecting people and information globally. The 00s witnessed the development of major platforms, facilitating online interactions and services, while the 10s experienced the proliferation of apps and programs revolutionizing user experiences and access to information. As we enter this new decade, content creation takes center stage, with AI playing a significant role in generating, analyzing, and optimizing content across various domains. — Bustler, 19h ago

new Particle accelerators hold great potential for semiconductor applications, medical imaging and therapy, and research in materials, energy, and medicine. But conventional accelerators require plenty of elbow room — kilometers — making them expensive and limiting their presence to a handful of national labs and universities. — SciTechDaily, 1d ago

new The significance of design techniques in architecture transcends mere aesthetics; they encompass an amalgamation of creativity, functionality, sustainability, and social relevance. Architects and designers harness these techniques to craft spaces that inspire, evoke emotions, foster communities, and respond to the evolving needs of inhabitants and the environment. From the meticulous consideration of proportion, scale, and materials to the integration of cutting-edge technology and sustainable practices, design techniques encapsulate the very essence of architectural innovation and evolution. Join us in this exploration as we uncover the intricacies, evolution, and impact of design techniques in architecture, charting a course through the history, principles, contemporary advancements, and future trends that continue to shape the architectural landscape. — siliconindia.com, 1d ago

new Researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Google DeepMind have published two papers in Nature demonstrating the potential of our AI predictions for autonomous material synthesis. The study shows a finding of 2.2 million more crystals, the same as approximately 800 years’ worth of information. Their new deep learning tool, Graph Networks for Materials Exploration (GNoME), predicts the stability of novel materials, greatly improving the speed and efficiency of discovery. GNoME exemplifies the promise of AI in the large-scale discovery and development of novel materials. Separate yet contemporaneous efforts by scientists in different laboratories across the globe have produced 736 of these novel structures. — MarkTechPost, 1d ago

new At W.L. Gore, the Delaware-based materials science company, employees routinely rotate projects and positions to allow employees to explore and grow individually. Giving employees choice over what they’ll work on day to day fundamentally alters employee experience. The organizational learning that accrues from job rotation, however that might be managed, grows a company’s culture. Adaptive systems are successful because they produce energy and capabilities that enable organizations to outcompete others in their competitive environment. — CEOWORLD magazine, 1d ago

new Now researchers from China and Singapore report in Science Robotics ("Octopus-inspired sensorized soft arm for environmental interaction") on their bioinspired soft robot that points to one solution. Dubbed the electronics-integrated soft octopus arm mimic (E-SOAM), their creation advances soft robotics on multiple fronts. It combines innovation in materials and design to replicate octopus functionality using liquid metal electronics. The results showcase dexterous performance previously difficult to achieve without rigid components. — nanowerk.com, 1d ago

new In exploring the realms of materials science and biochemistry, researchers are particularly interested in protein and peptide nanostructures found in nature, known for their potential as bioelectronic materials. The creation of synthetic analogs, capable of forming one-dimensional nanostructures, is a significant stride in understanding natural systems and developing new materials. — nanowerk.com, 2d ago

new Approximately 20,000 crystals, experimentally catalogued in the ICSD database, have been verified as computationally stable. This number has been augmented to 48,000 stable crystals through the application of computational methods, utilising resources such as the Materials Project, the Open Quantum Materials Database, and the WBM database. The AI tool GNoME represents a significant leap in this field, expanding the total number of known stable materials to an impressive 421,000. This advancement marks a considerable increase in the range of materials available for technological development and research, showcasing the profound impact of computational approaches in material science. — electronicspecifier.com, 2d ago

new The eastern bluebird is a special bird. The blue of its feathers is unique. However, this colour is not based on pigments but on the special structure of the feather. Viewed under the microscope, the feathers are traversed by a network of channels with a diameter of just a few hundred nanometres. By way of classification, a nanometre is a billionth of a metre. The blue of the bluebird came to the attention of ETH researchers from the Laboratory of Soft and Living Materials led by former ETH Professor Eric Dufresne. So much so that they decided to replicate this material in the laboratory. They have now succeeded with a new method: they have developed a material that exhibits the same structural design of the bluebird feathers, while additionally offering potential for practical applications thanks to its nanonetworks. — ScienceDaily, 1d ago

new ...deTour 2023 is presented by PMQ and sponsored by Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This 10-day grand design festival will present various programmes for the art and design communities both in and outside Hong Kong. These programmes include creative installations and exhibitions, workshops, design dialogues, movie screenings, guided tours, and many more. 10 years of deTour at PMQ Started in 2014, PMQ's deTour celebrates the 10th anniversary this year. A unique theme has been assigned to each edition of deTour to explore how design could solve social problems and improve our lives. To commemorate this journey, a 10-year retrospect exhibition will be featured in this year's deign festival to look back on the highlighted exhibits and behind-the-scenes of the past decade of PMQ's deTour. This part of the exhibition will be held during the same period as deTour 2023 Design Festival at PMQ and admission is free, as everyone is invited to witness the road to success of deTour, as the contribution of PMQ and deTour in pushing forward the development of the local design industry. The theme of deTour 2023 – "New Know How" – the Interweaving of "Craft", "Design" and "Technology" Working around "New Know How" as the theme, deTour 2023 aims to pave the road to craft design future which takes off with appreciation of traditional craftsmanship. When working, craftsmen are laser focused, highly precise and people oriented, and these qualities are collectively deemed as the "spirit of craftsmanship", which are also regarded as "Know How". Curators of deTour 2023 stated that "this valuable artisanship ought to be applied to different industries. It, together with design thinking and advanced technology, will help take each industry to a new level. By achieving this, problems can be solved more effectively, and through analysing obstacles from a new angle and perhaps trying solutions with new materials and techniques, new creations that are more thoughtful might be possible – this is what we meant by 'New Know How'." Through this design festival, curators hope to bring the industries to re-appreciate traditional crafts from a new angle and make good use of "New Know How" in different sectors. Three Exhibition Areas with 20 International and Local Works The exhibition of deTour 2023 Design Festival is divided into three parts: International Collaboration, Feature Exhibitions and Selected Entries, which are curated under the five specific directions of New Value, Storytelling, Craft Enhancement, Innovation and Heritage. Scattered all over the PMQ premises, 20 design works from the Nethelands, Japan and local designers are open to the public for free appreciation. . In addition, over the 10 days of the design festival, there will be a fruitful programme of a total of 40 workshops, 12 design dialogues and sessions of documentary screening of "Food and Design". International Collaboration: Craft by Nature by Biobased Creations (The Netherlands) deTour 2023's International Collaboration has invited Biobased Creations from the Netherlands, which is a creative studio formed by a group of designers, researchers and artists who aim to encourage the use of biomaterials - also known as renewable eco resources - in daily lives, so as to evolve our world into a regenerative and circular one. Biobased Creations presents Craft by Nature which is an exhibit specially designed for deTour 2023. Shaped like a house, the exhibit allows visitors to find multiple designs made from biobased materials such as furniture, clothes, shoes and socks, and household items. All of these designs are eco-friendly, light in weight and with a minimalistic design, created by designers from Hong Kong and the Netherlands. Outside the house in the garden, visitors can see the "originals" of the materials used in the designs, including common reed, silvergrass and shells, something that we are familiar with. Other than that, Biobased Creations will also display 40 biomaterials that can be applied in architecture and heat insulation, and visitors are welcome to hold and feel these materials and scan the QR code to instantly learn how these biomaterials are made. Craft by Nature is an innovative installation demonstrating how materials that are ignored or abandoned can be transformed into chic designs, and this allows us to rethink our relationship with the nature and invites us to take one more step forward to make our world better. Feature Exhibitions: Exploring traditional crafts with a fresh eye... — SME Business Daily Media, 1d ago

new The playbook highlights the three unique, and most crucial abilities, that AI possesses for overcoming bottlenecks that exist on the path to net zero. This includes the ability to discern patterns, predict outcomes, and optimize performances in complex systems; the ability to accelerate the discovery and development of solutions like low-carbon materials, and climate-resilient crops; and finally the ability empower the sustainability workforce of the future. — mid-east.info, 1d ago

new JEC Composites Magazine: You claim that you can manufacture wood without cutting trees, could you explain? What technology/process is at the heart of your strategy?Mohamad El-Kafafy: Agrona’s R&D team invented a new thermoset biobased resin compatible with various lignocellulosic materials, in particular many types of agri-residues that are abundant in the Middle East and Africa and form very good alternatives to wood materials. Hence, this technology completely avoids the use of formaldehyde without compromising the panel’s mechanical properties. This will help us get in tune with global endeavours toward sustainability goals. For every ton of wood panels produced out of agri-residues and bio-based resins, Agrona can save three trees from being cut down to manufacture the same product. This also helps end harmful practices in rural societies to burn agricultural waste, which can generate 500 m3 of CO2 emissions per ton of agri-residues. — JEC, 1d ago

new Fields in materials and biochemistry research explore protein and peptide nanostructures found in nature. These nanostructures show great promise as bioelectronic materials. The development of a synthetic analog capable of forming one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures would greatly improve scientists’ understanding of the natural system and provide a platform for developing new materials. Researchers in the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory investigated a series of peptides that self-assemble into 1D layered nanostructures. The peptides PA-(Kx)n are denoted simply as PA-Kxn, where PA is c16-AH with c16-A being modified alanine (A) and H is histidine, K is lysine, n is the sequence repeat length (1-4), and x is the amino acid leucine (L), isoleucine (I), or phenylalanine (F). — newswise.com, 2d ago

new Prof. Schlichter outlined the historical development of the ITA, which has been dedicated to sustainability in the field of textile materials since 2014. He presented the three central research fields of ITA: Web Based Composites (sustainable fibre composite concepts), Recycling Atelier (recycling of apparel textiles) and Artificial Intelligence (AI to support textile production chains). The initial objective of the ITA was the reuse of carbon fibres and CFRP components produced with high energy consumption in new textile structures. The research work, which has been ongoing for almost 10 years, has been crowned with success and has led, among other things, to the establishment of this class of materials in industry and research. The increasing relevance of the textile circular economy led to the founding of the “Recycling Atelier” in 2022. The model workshop was presented as an important industrial research project that covers all process steps of textile recycling and is supported and used by industry-leading companies. The close interlinking of digitalization, artificial intelligence and sustainable process design plays an increasingly relevant role, which led to the establishment of the third research field “Artificial Intelligence”. — JEC, 2d ago

new Liquid-crystal (LC) phase modulators are widely used in optical systems because of their advantages of low power consumption, light weight, flexible bandwidth adjustment, and non-mechanical movements. However, most LC phase modulators are polarization-sensitive, meaning that they affect the phase of light differently depending on its polarization. This can limit their performance and functionality in some applications.There are two main approaches to realizing polarization-independent LC phase modulators. The first approach is to use polarization-independent LC materials, such as polymer-stabilized blue-phase liquid crystals (PS-BPLCs). However, PS-BPLCs require high driving voltages, which can make them impractical for some applications.The second approach is to change the alignment of the LC directors. One way to do this is to use a double-layer LC cell, which consists of two LC cells stacked on top of each other with their LC directors oriented orthogonally. This allows light to be decomposed into two orthogonal components, each of which experiences the same phase modulation. However, double-layer LC cells are complex and difficult to manufacture.Another way to achieve polarization-independent LC phase modulation is to use orthogonal photoalignment. This involves using a special photoalignment layer that creates orthogonal alignment domains in the LC. However, it is difficult to achieve precise alignment using this method.In a new paper published in Light: Advanced Manufacturing, a team of scientists led by Professor Jiangang Lu have developed a new approach to polarization-independent LC phase modulation.Polarization-independent LC phase modulation is based on a light-controlled azimuth angle (LCAA) process. The LCAA process uses the optical rotatory effect of cholesteric liquid crystals (CLC) to create single-layer, multi-microdomain, orthogonally twisted (MMOT) structures.MMOT structures are composed of multiple microdomains with orthogonally aligned LC directors. The LCAA process uses a patterned light beam to control the alignment of the LC directors in each microdomain. This allows the researchers to create MMOT structures with precise alignment.LC phase modulators with a single-layer MMOT structure have the potential to be both polarization-independent and have a large phase depth. This makes them ideal for a wide range of applications, including optical communications, wearable devices, and displays.A light-controlled azimuth angle (LCAA) process can be used to fabricate a multi-microdomain orthogonally twisted (MMOT) device with low polarization dependence, high phase retardation, and a simple structure. The alignment angle between the top and bottom substrates in the LCAA process and the mask grid size of the MMOT structure can be tailored to meet the requirements of different applications.This device has the potential to revolutionize the way we use light in a variety of applications. For example, it could be used to create new types of optical communications systems that are more efficient and reliable. It could also be used to develop new types of wearable devices that can display information in a more clear and concise way. — newswise.com, 2d ago

new Education actions included reaching wider and different audiences such as landscapers, farmers, and project managers on the benefits of using compost for large, public and private commercial projects. For individuals to better understand why compost can replace fertilizers we need to "be able to demonstrate to end users the value… of using commercial compost." The groups discussed actions to develop new delivery models (train the trainer and individual) and that a regional panel of experts could be established to review and develop new materials. Some discussion was had about who should provide the education with at least one group coalescing around the idea that Illinois Extension could train community-based organizations who in turn could train community members. There were also ideas on how compost education could be improved for both teachers and students by hiring school sustainability specialists, encouraging/incorporating composting practices in schools, connecting composting to other subjects such as biology and environmental sciences, making sure teachers were experienced home composters, and in general figuring out how to get composting added to school curriculum either by contacting... — extension.org, 2d ago

new The symposium serves as a convergence point for students, post-doctoral fellows, engineers, and scientists, fostering an exchange of information and connections within and beyond the NNCI community. This year's theme is "Advances in Micro- & Nanoscale Patterning of Strategic and Emerging Materials for Electronic, Photonic, Quantum, & MEMS Device."... — gatech.edu, 2d ago

new Ekin Dogus Cubuk, the leader of Google DeepMind's materials discovery team, highlights this venture as a significant leap in utilizing AI for scientific discovery. The research, published in Nature, showcases the AI system's capability to ideate and synthesize new materials autonomously. The AI tool, termed GNoME (graph networks for materials exploration), trained on extensive data from the Materials Project and related databases, has expanded the horizons of material science by proposing 2.2 million potential compounds and ultimately identifying 381,000 new inorganic materials. — blockchain.news, 2d ago

new How do you create strong, yet quick-release connections between living and non-living tissues? This is a question that continues to puzzle bioengineers who aim to create materials that bond together for advanced biomedical applications. Looking to nature for inspiration, this research zeroed in on the marine mussel byssus, a fibrous holdfast, which these bivalve mollusks use to anchor themselves in seashore habitats. — ScienceDaily, 2d ago

new Founded in 2001 and listed in Shenzhen in 2009, EVE Energy has developed into a global player in the market, providing core technologies and comprehensive solutions for both consumer and power batteries, especially in the Internet of Things and the Energy Internet. Currently, EVE Energy has set up a research institute with 60 doctors and over 5,300 interdisciplinary R&D engineers in materials, electrochemistry, structure design, and electronic circuit design, obtained over 6,700 patents in China. The company launched a carbon reduction roadmap with a series of low-carbon reduction efforts in energy use, the manufacturing process, the supply chain, and resource management, and was named a “National Green Factory.”... — TNGlobal, 2d ago

new The blue of the bluebird came to the attention of ETH Zurich researchers from the Laboratory of Soft and Living Materials led by former ETH Professor Eric Dufresne. So much so that they decided to replicate this material in the laboratory. They have now succeeded with a new method: they have developed a material that exhibits the same structural design of the bluebird feathers while additionally offering the potential for practical applications thanks to its nanonetworks. — techxplore.com, 2d ago

new The chip is built using an emerging technology in silicon photonics that allows the integration of diverse systems on semiconductors less than 5 millimeters wide. Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Ben Eggleton, who guides the research team, likened it to fitting together Lego building blocks, where new materials are integrated through advanced packaging of components, using electronic "chiplets."... — phys.org, 2d ago