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[Image above] Credit: NIST

 

NASA seeks ultra-lightweight materials to help enable journey to Mars

NASA is seeking proposals to develop and manufacture ultra-lightweight materials for aerospace vehicles and structures of the future. Proposals will demonstrate lower-mass alternatives to honeycomb or foam cores currently used in composite sandwich structures.

Through the looking glass with switchable mirrors

Scientists in South Korea have developed a reversible electrochemical mirror that can switch between a transparent and reflective state and remain reflective for up to two hours without external electrical power.

Sea otter teeth more than twice as tough as ours

Sea otters have unusually chip-resistant teeth, a new study suggests. Lab tests show that the enamel coating the teeth of sea otters is up to two-and-a-half times tougher than human tooth enamel, thanks largely to the enamel’s microstructure.

Fiber optics in Antarctica will monitor ice sheet melting

Fiber optics has arrived in Antarctica to measure ice sheet temperatures rather than carry telecommunication signals. A team of scientists using an innovative fiber-optic cable–based technology has measured temperature changes within and below the ice over 14 months.

A brighter design emerges for low-cost, ‘greener’ LED light bulbs

Scientists have designed household LED bulbs that don’t require rare earth elements but instead use abundant copper iodide. They tuned them to glow a warm white shade or various other colors using a low-cost solution process.

Energy storage of the future with graphene aerogel

Lawrence Livermore researchers have found that graphene aerogel-based supercapacitor electrodes could be particularly useful in the electric vehicle sector because they feature high surface area, good electrical conductivity, chemical inertness, and long-term cycling stability.

Magnetic mirrors enable new technologies by reflecting light in uncanny ways

Scientists have demonstrated a new type of mirror that forgoes a familiar shiny metallic surface and instead reflects infrared light by using an unusual magnetic property of a non-metallic metamaterial.

Record data transmission over a specially fabricated fiber

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands and the University of Central Florida in the USA report the successful transmission of a record high 255 Terabits/s over a new type of fibre allowing 21 times more bandwidth than currently available in communication networks.

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