Lifeboat Foundation

Can theory and computation methods help the search for the best divertor material and thus contribute to making fusion energy a reality?

Exploring nuclear fusion as a clean energy source reveals a critical need for advanced plasma-facing materials. MARVEL lab researchers identified materials that might withstand fusion’s extreme conditions and proposed alternatives to tungsten, the current choice.

Nuclear fusion and the material challenge.

Researchers at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), using muon spin rotation at the Swiss Muon Source (SmS), have discovered that a quantum phenomenon called time-reversal symmetry breaking takes place at the surface of the Kagome superconductor RbV₃Sb₅, occurring at temperatures up to 175 K.

This sets a new record for the temperature at which time-reversal symmetry breaking is observed among Kagome systems.

Researchers have unveiled a new photonic in-memory computing method that promises to advance optical computing significantly.

This technology, using magneto-optical materials, achieves high-speed, low-energy, and durable memory solutions suitable for integration with existing computing technologies.

Photonic In-Memory Computing

Graphene is a simple material containing only a single layer of carbon atoms, but when two sheets of it are stacked together and offset at a slight angle, this twisted bilayer material produces numerous intriguing effects, notably superconductivity.

Nuclear fusion could be an ideal solution to mankind’s energy problem, guaranteeing a virtually limitless source of power without greenhouse gas emissions. But there are still huge technological challenges to overcome before getting there, and some of them have to do with materials.

Science can be difficult to explain to the public. In fact, any subfield of science can be difficult to explain to another scientist who studies in a different area. Explaining a theoretical science concept to high school students requires a new way of thinking altogether.

New materials designed by a University of Illinois Chicago graduate student may help scientists meet one of today’s biggest challenges: building superconductors that operate at normal temperatures and pressures.

A new hydrogel semiconductor from the University of Chicago offers a groundbreaking solution for bioelectronics, blending tissue-like properties with high electronic functionality, enhancing medical device integration and effectiveness.

The perfect material for interfacing electronics with living tissue is soft, stretchable, and as water-loving as the tissue itself, making hydrogels an ideal choice. In contrast, semiconductors, the key materials for bioelectronics such as pacemakers, biosensors, and drug delivery devices, are rigid, brittle, and hydrophobic, making them impossible to dissolve in the way hydrogels have traditionally been built.

Continue reading “Revolutionary Bioelectronic Gel Brings Living Tissue and Technology Closer Than Ever” »

Using muon spin rotation at the Swiss Muon Source SmS, researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have discovered that a quantum phenomenon known as time-reversal symmetry breaking occurs at the surface of the Kagome superconductor RbV3Sb5 at temperatures as high as 175 K. This sets a new record for the temperature at which time-reversal symmetry breaking is observed among Kagome systems.