news 2015

How disposable Lithium batteries degrade during normal use has been tracked in real-time by a UCL-led team using sophisticated 3D imaging, giving a new way to non-invasively monitor performance loss and guide the development of more effective commercial battery designs. The team recently used the same technique to show how rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries fail when they are exposed to extreme levels of heat, but this is the first time the extent of day-to-day damage of disposable Lithium batteries has been shown.

Researchers from the University of Glasgow have found a way to make swallowable cameras more effective at detecting cancers of the throat and gut. In recent years, tiny sensing systems small enough for patients to swallow have proven to be a valuable clinical alternative to more intrusive imaging methods such as endoscopes.

Graphene has been hailed as a wonder material since it was first isolated from graphite in 2004. Graphene is just a single atom thick but it is flexible, stronger than steel, and capable of efficiently conducting heat and electricity. However, widespread industrial adoption of graphene has so far been limited by the expense of producing it.

A team of researchers including physicists at the University of Bath have magnetised gold in a process that could lead to a new generation of electronics and make computers faster, smaller and more powerful. The scientists investigated what happens in a device where a very thin layer of a superconductor, a material that carries electrical current without generating any heat, is sandwiched between a layer of a magnetic material and a layer of gold.

A scanning electron microscope image of the device. The GST phase-change material, highlighted in yellow, sits on top of the silicon nitride waveguide, highlighted in red. The world's first entirely light-based memory chip to store data permanently has been developed by material scientists at Oxford University and University of Münster in collaboration with scientists at Karlsruhe and Exeter.

Children will be given the chance to meet the original robot scientist in a series of demonstrations at London's Science Museum this week. Professor Ross D. King, from the University of Manchester's School of Computer Science, will join academic colleagues to demonstrate just what ADAM, a machine who thinks and does experiments like a human scientist, is capable of.

Dozens of new two-dimensional materials similar to graphene are now available, thanks to research from University of Manchester scientists. These 2D crystals are capable of delivering designer materials with revolutionary new properties. The problem has been that the vast majority of these atomically thin 2D crystals are unstable in air, so react and decompose before their properties can be determined and their potential applications investigated.

Researchers have observed the process of evolution by natural selection at work in robots, by constructing a 'mother' robot that can design, build and test its own 'children', and then use the results to improve the performance of the next generation, without relying on computer simulation or human intervention.

Scientists are developing a 'bionic eye' that could be used by manufacturers to improve monitoring of industrial assembly lines. At the back of the human eye is a specialised layer of cells called the retina, which captures light information. This information is then converted into electrical signals and sent via the optic nerve to the brain, where a visual image is produced.

Using unique mechanical experiments and close-up video, Cambridge researchers have shown how ants use microscopic 'combs' and 'brushes' to keep their antennae clean, which could have applications for developing cleaners for nanotechnology. Insects have developed ingenious ways of cleaning very small, sensitive structures, which could have fascinating applications for nanotechnology - where contamination of small things is a big problem Alexander Hackmann For an insect, grooming is a serious business.

Researchers have identified a material that behaves as a conductor and an insulator at the same time, challenging current understanding of how materials behave, and pointing to a new type of insulating state. The discovery of dual metal-insulator behaviour in a single material has the potential to overturn decades of conventional wisdom regarding the fundamental dichotomy between metals and insulators Suchitra Sebastian A new study has discovered mysterious behaviour of a material that acts like an insulator in certain measurements, but simultaneously acts like a conductor in others.

Researchers from the University of Bristol have shown it is possible to create artificial skin that can be transformed at the flick of a switch to mimic one of nature's masters of camouflage, the squid. The research team, from the University's Department of Engineering Mathematics, have designed a smart materials system, inspired by biological chromatophores, which creates patterns that change and morph over time and mimic biological patterning.

The most detailed study to date showing how electrical stimulation accelerates wound healing has been carried out in 40 volunteers by University of Manchester scientists. Skin wounds that are slow to heal are a clinical challenge to physicians all over the world. Every year, the NHS alone spends £1 billion on treating chronic wounds such as lower limb venous and diabetic ulcers.

A Cardiff University scientist will star on one of Canada's top science TV shows to explain what happens when inflight aircraft are struck by lightning. Dr Daniel Mitchard, a senior researcher at the Morgan-Botti Lightning Laboratory, met with Jennifer Gardy, one of the hosts of the long-running CBC science show 'The Nature of Things' during two days of filming.

New understanding of the nature of electromagnetism could lead to antennas small enough to fit on computer chips - the 'last frontier' of semiconductor design - and could help identify the points where theories of classical electromagnetism and quantum mechanics overlap. This is the missing piece of the puzzle of electromagnetic theory Gehan Amaratunga A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge have unravelled one of the mysteries of electromagnetism, which could enable the design of antennas small enough to be integrated into an electronic chip.

A new £1.4 million research project led by the University of Bristol will use engineering and science in the design of radically new approaches and solutions to vision-based technology. Researchers from the University's Bristol Vision Institute (BVI) have been awarded an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Platform Grant for their project ' Vision for the future '.

The causes of a hitherto mysterious process that could enhance the power of solar cells have been explained in a new study. If we want to implement this in a solar cell, we need to understand more about why and how singlet exciton fission occurs in the first place. Andrew Musser The underlying mechanism behind an enigmatic process called "singlet exciton fission", which could enable the development of significantly more powerful solar cells, has been identified by scientists in a new study.

A new way to process fibre optic signals has been demonstrated by UCL researchers, which could double the distance at which data travels error-free through transoceanic sub-marine cables. The new method has the potential to reduce the costs of long-distance optical fibre as signals wouldn't need to be electronically boosted on their journey, which is important when the cables are buried underground or at the bottom of the ocean.

Semi-transparent, flexible electronics are no longer just science-fiction thanks to graphene's unique properties, University of Sheffield researchers have found. Published in the scientific , University of Sheffield and University of Manchester researchers show that new 2D 'designer materials' can be produced to create flexible, see-through and more efficient electronic devices.

Semi-transparent, flexible electronics are no longer just science-fiction thanks to graphene's unique properties, University of Manchester researchers have found. Published in the scientific , University of Manchester and University of Sheffield researchers show that new 2D 'designer materials' can be produced to create flexible, see-through and more efficient electronic devices.