Explore

U.S. Materials Science Research Heavily Funded by Federal Agencies and Industry

U.S. Materials Science Research Heavily Funded by Federal Agencies and Industry

Materials science, an interdisciplinary field combining physics, chemistry, and engineering, is primarily supported in the United States by federal agencies and industry partners. Key federal funders include the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), and defense-related agencies. The NSF's Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences oversees programs such as Biomaterials, Ceramics, Condensed Matter and Materials Theory, and Electronic and Photonic Materials. It also backs the cross-agency Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer Our Future (DMREF) program and Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC). The DOE's Office of Science, through its Basic Energy Sciences program, supports fundamental research in materials discovery and design, funding Energy Frontier Research Centers and operating national scientific user facilities. Defense agencies focus on structural, electronic, and protective materials, while NASA, NIST, and NIH also contribute to m...

Wake Forest University Opens ISO Class 5 Cleanroom for Quantum Chip Research

Wake Forest University Opens ISO Class 5 Cleanroom for Quantum Chip Research

Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has inaugurated its new Nano and Quantum Technologies Laboratory (NanoteQ), featuring the university's first ISO Class 5 cleanroom. This state-of-the-art facility is designed to support advanced research into silicon-based qubits, quantum materials, and room-temperature quantum processors. The cleanroom provides a highly controlled environment to minimize environmental contamination, which is crucial for the precise fabrication and characterization of nanoscale materials and quantum circuits where even minute impurities can affect reproducibility. Led by Professor of Physics David Carroll, NanoteQ also houses advanced microscopy and spectroscopy equipment, enabling researchers to investigate material properties alongside cleanroom work. The laboratory will serve undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, guest scientists, and corporate partners.

UC Riverside Physicist Yongtao Cui Receives $1.35 Million Moore Foundation Grant for Quantum Research

UC Riverside Physicist Yongtao Cui Receives $1.35 Million Moore Foundation Grant for Quantum Research

Yongtao Cui, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), has been awarded a $1.35 million grant over five years from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. This funding designates Cui as a new Experimental Physics Investigator, a recognition extended to 21 mid-career researchers. The grant aims to provide flexible and sustained support, a type of funding often difficult to secure through federal grants, according to Theodore Hodapp, program director for the initiative. Cui's research focuses on excitonic phases, which are states where energy moves through semiconductors without electrical charge. His work leverages recent advancements in 2D materials device engineering, allowing electron interactions to dominate, a critical development for his studies. The project, titled 'Nanoscale microwave spectroscopy of collective modes in two-dimensional many-body electronic and excitonic systems,' will employ advanced techniques to investigate how electrons organ...

Researchers Develop New Detector CHICOX to Study Exotic Nuclear Shapes

Researchers Develop New Detector CHICOX to Study Exotic Nuclear Shapes

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed a new detector called CHICOX (Compact Heavy Ion Counter version X) to conduct highly sensitive studies of nuclear shapes. This detector is designed to work in conjunction with the Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking Array (GRETA). While conventional diagrams often depict atomic nuclei as spherical, they can actually deform into various exotic shapes, such as pears, footballs, or Frisbees. Understanding the reasons and conditions for these nuclear distortions is crucial for developing comprehensive and predictive models of nuclear behavior. CHICOX measures the trajectory of scattered particles when a beam of particles strikes a stationary target material, while GRETA detects the gamma rays emitted as the excited projectile nucleus returns to a more stable state. This combined measurement technique, known as a coincidence measurement, allows for a sharper image of the nucleus by using the scattering information from CHICOX to refine the blurry ...

Shivon Zilis says she was 'let go' from relationship with Elon Musk

Shivon Zilis says she was 'let go' from relationship with Elon Musk

Shivon Zilis, the mother of four of Elon Musk's children, said in an Oct. 2 X post that the tech mogul ended their relationship 'with no warning.'

Analysis-AI's race to transform the world before the money runs out

Analysis-AI's race to transform the world before the money runs out

By Stephen Eisenhammer LONDON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Never has so much cash flowed into a new technology as is pouring into AI, eclipsing the sums splurged on railways or the internet when those technological revolutions sucked in capital.

Twin Cities to see mild weather with rain possible Saturday night

Twin Cities to see mild weather with rain possible Saturday night

The Twin Cities are experiencing a mild weather pattern, with Friday being a #Top10WxDay featuring sunshine and highs in the low-to-mid 60s°F (approximately 16-18°C). Saturday will bring warmer conditions, with some areas in western Minnesota reaching the 70s°F (21-23°C). However, a weak system may bring light rain showers to the Twin Cities on Saturday evening. Sunday is expected to be dry and comfortable, with seasonable temperatures and plenty of sunshine.

Luca Guadagnino Is ‘Not Afraid’ of Sam Altman Backlash to ‘Artificial’: ‘People That Have a Lot of Power’ Should Be ‘Aware That You Must Be Respons...

Luca Guadagnino Is ‘Not Afraid’ of Sam Altman Backlash to ‘Artificial’: ‘People That Have a Lot of Power’ Should Be ‘Aware That You Must Be Respons...

Luca Guadagnino’s “Artificial” takes on some of the most powerful leaders in artificial intelligence, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — but he’s “not afraid” of any potential backlash. Premiering at New York Film Festival on Monday, Guadagnino’s timely movie stars Andrew Garfield as Altman and centers on the time in 2023 when he was ousted […]

NASA Strengthens Research Security Enforcement Following Committee Report, Suspends $40 Million in Awards

NASA Strengthens Research Security Enforcement Following Committee Report, Suspends $40 Million in Awards

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has implemented significant measures to enhance its enforcement of the Wolf Amendment and address research security vulnerabilities. These actions follow a report from the Select Committee on China titled 'Research Security for America’s Future in Space: NASA’s Enforcement of the Wolf Amendment.' As a direct result, NASA has suspended over $40 million across 40 active research awards. These suspensions are pending a review of potential compliance issues related to bilateral research collaborations with Chinese institutions. Furthermore, NASA has initiated administrative enforcement actions and established a coordinated process between its research security office and the NASA Office of Inspector General. This process aims to refer confirmed violations for further investigation and potential referral to the Department of Justice for enforcement. To proactively identify potential issues, NASA has also developed and implemented an automated process to f...

Portable 5 MW Nuclear Microreactor Successfully Transported by Air to Utah

Portable 5 MW Nuclear Microreactor Successfully Transported by Air to Utah

A minivan-sized 5 MW nuclear microreactor, named Ward250, was successfully transported in eight modules by three C-17 Globemaster jets from March Air Reserve Base in Southern California to Hill Air Force Base in Utah. This operation, dubbed Windlord, marks the first time a nuclear reactor of this kind has been moved by air. The Ward250 is a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor designed to use helium instead of water, which simplifies its sectioning and bolting onto standard cargo pallets for transport. The reactor did not carry nuclear fuel during the flight, which streamlined regulatory procedures. The successful airlift demonstrates the logistical feasibility of disassembling, moving, and reassembling a nuclear reactor over nearly 700 miles without requiring specialized infrastructure at either end. Following its arrival at Hill Air Force Base, the reactor modules are slated for road transport to the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Orangeville for fueling and comprehensive testing. The Ward250 is capable of...

BofA splits software into winners and losers as AI agents arrive

BofA splits software into winners and losers as AI agents arrive

CoreWeave, Datadog, and Oracle land on one side. Intuit, Paycom, and eight others land on the other.

Anthropic vs. the pope

Anthropic vs. the pope

Claude’s creators are worried the LLM could be conscious. The Catholic Church disagrees.