New Atlas

Materials Audio available

Newly-discovered blue phosphorus could be the next 2D wonder material

Michael Irving October 16, 2018

For a few years scientists have predicted a fifth kind of phosphorus should be possible, but it had yet to be confirmed. Now, researchers in Germany have managed to show that blue phosphorus does exist, and mapped out its different properties.

In blue phosphorus, the atoms arrange themselves in a honeycomb pattern like graphene, but buckled, thanks ...

Electronics Audio available

Sprayable antennas turn surfaces into ultra-thin, transparent transmitters

Michael Irving September 23, 2018

As crucial as antennas are, the rigid metals they’re made of can limit what devices they can be built into. To help with that, researchers at Drexel University have developed a new kind of antenna that can be sprayed onto just about any surface.

The sprayable antenna is made of MXene, a 2D titanium carbide material, which is extremely conductive ...

Children

Electronics kit lets kids build wirelessly powered wheel lights

Paul Ridden September 18, 2018

London-based Tech Will Save Us has introduced two new educational toys today – a badge-making craft kit called Sew + Glow and a bike light kit dubbed Light Racer that makes use of wireless power to get your spokes glowing.

Young electrical engineers can learn about electromagnetic wireless power by building Light Racer bike lights

Materials

Midas touch virus builds gold nanobeads on demand

Michael Irving August 26, 2018

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have found a way to use viruses to build gold nanobeads, which can then be used to purify water and could eventually help cut the cost and time required to produce electronic components.

Left, an electron microscope image of a gold nanobead made by the M13 virus, with an ...

Electronics

Electronic stickers to step up Internet of Things expansion

Matt Kennedy July 19, 2018

Limiting the expansion, and ultimate ubiquity, of the Internet of Things has been the cost, power and size of the enabling electronics – all things that have been addressed by a new fabrication method for tiny, thin-film electronic circuits.

Electronics

"World's smallest computer" is a sensor smaller than a grain of sand

Michael Irving June 24, 2018

"World’s smallest computer” is a contentious title, not just because scientists are racing to shrink devices, but because the very definition of a computer could be up for debate. The latest claim to the title is a tiny device that communicates through light and makes a grain of rice look gigantic.

The so-called "world's smallest computer" sitting next to a grain of rice

Electronics

Nanofilm recycles electronic waste heat as electricity

Michael Irving April 16, 2018

Waste heat generated by electronics can damage components, and represents a large amount of energy going to waste. Now scientists at the UCB have developed a thin film that could be built into computers, cars or factories to capture and recycle the energy from waste heat.

An illustration of how the new UCB thin film works to generate electricity from waste heat

Materials

Meet gallenene: Gallium joins graphene in the second dimension

Michael Irving March 12, 2018

Graphene hogs all the headlines about two-dimensional materials, but it might just be the beginning. Researchers have now isolated a 2D form of the soft metal gallium, dubbed "gallenene," which could make for efficient, thin metal contacts in electronic devices.

"Gallenene" is a new, two-dimensional version of gallium

Electronics

Transistor breakthrough brings liquid computers closer to reality

David Szondy November 6, 2017

In a step towards creating a new class of electronics that look and feel like soft, natural organisms, mechanical engineers at Carnegie Mellon University are developing a fluidic transistor out of a metal alloy of indium and gallium that is liquid at room temperature.

Liquid at room temperature, an indium gallium alloy can be used to create stretchable circuit wiring ...

Electronics

Stay warm: These electronics will self-destruct at room temperature

David Szondy July 10, 2017

The machine used to spin up cotton candy may also be the answer to a new generation of self-destructing electronics. A new form of electrical circuitry made of a spinable polymer must be kept above a temperature of 32° C (89.6° F) or it dissolves in water.

The polymer nanowires dissolve in water as they cool