ScienceDaily: Matter & Energy News

Engineers created a new type of battery that weaves two promising battery sub-fields into a single battery. The battery uses both a solid state electrolyte and an all-silicon anode, making it a silicon all-solid-state battery. The initial rounds of tests show that the new battery is safe, long lasting, and energy dense. It holds promise for a wide range of applications from grid storage to electric vehicles.

While the range of colors your eyes may perceive extends beyond the words language provides, languages around the globe are remarkably similar in how they partition the space of colors into a vocabulary. Yet differences exist. In a study examining 130 diverse languages around the world, researchers developed an algorithm to infer the communicative needs that different linguistic communities place on colors.

Engineers have come up with a revolutionary new method for tackling plastic pollution by harnessing the inner workings of proteins. The result? A whole new way of looking at plastic recycling.

Particle accelerators are essential tools in research areas such as biology, materials science and particle physics. Researchers are always looking for more powerful ways of accelerating particles to improve existing equipment and increase capacities for experiments. One such powerful technology is dielectric laser acceleration (DLA). In this approach, particles are accelerated in the optical near-field which is created when ultra-short laser pulses are focused on a nanophotonic structure. Using this method, researchers have succeeded in guiding electrons through a vacuum channel, an essential component of particle accelerators.

Among the traditional five human senses, touch is perhaps the least studied. Yet, it is solicited everywhere, all the time, and even more so in recent years with the widespread daily use of electronic devices that emit vibrations. Indeed, any moving object transmits oscillatory signals that propagate through solid substrates. Our body detects them by means of mechanoreceptors located below the skin and transmits the information to the brain similarly to auditory, olfactory or visual stimuli. By studying how mice and humans perceive tactile vibrations, researchers discovered that the brain does not reliably perceive the frequency of a vibration when its amplitude varies. An illusory phenomenon is thereby created, which highlights how far our perception of the world around us can deviate from its physical reality.

A research team proposes an efficient experimental platform for non-Hermitian physics research.

Engineers designed a relatively low-cost, energy-efficient approach to treating water contaminated with heavy metals such as lead.

We can learn a lot by studying microscopic and macroscopic changes in a material as it crosses from one phase to another, for example from ice to water to steam. A new study examines systems transitioning from 'normal' fluid to a quantum state known as a superfluid, which can flow with zero friction, with a view to future, superfluid-based, quantum technologies, such as ultra-low energy electronics.

Researchers have found a way to mimic the natural processes that create complex shapes and landscapes with the help of a vibrating plate and resulting energy fields.

A new study details how an established physics theory governing bubble and droplet formation led to a new understanding of the principles organizing the contents of living cells. The work marks a seismic shift in researchers' ability both to understand and control the complex soft materials within our cells.

Researchers created flexible integrated circuits precisely tuned by illuminating an organic polymer with ultraviolet light. This work may allow for inexpensive electronics to be incorporated into wearable sensors or computers.