Lightning is one of the most powerful sources of energy in the natural environment. As anyone who has spent time in Johannesburg during the South African summer will attest, there is nothing as spectacular as a Highveld thunderstorm ...
As robotic devices such as artificial prosthetics and human-computer interfaces are increasingly integrated into society, researchers have been looking more deeply into the sensitivity of the devices that serve the same function ...
When a magician suddenly pulls a tablecloth off a table laden with plates and glasses, there is a moment of suspense as the audience wonders if the stage will soon be littered with broken glass. Until now, an analogous dilemma ...
Strain-mediated magnetic coupling in ferroelectric and ferromagnetic heterostructures can offer a unique opportunity for scientific research in low-power multifunctional devices. Ferroelectrics are materials that can maintain ...
For years, researchers believed that the smaller the domain size in a ferroelectric crystal, the greater the piezoelectric properties of the material. However, recent findings by Penn State researchers have raised questions ...
The exact angular alignment of sample materials for the determination of their physical properties under extreme conditions is often difficult. Engineer Stefan Findeisen and physicist Dr. Hannes Kühne from the Helmholtz-Zentrum ...
Some people are born with hearing loss, while others acquire it with age, infections or long-term noise exposures. In many instances, the tiny hairs in the inner ear's cochlea that allow the brain to recognize electrical ...
When most people think of wearable devices, they think of smart watches, smart glasses, fitness trackers, even smart clothing. These devices, part of a fast-growing market, have two things in common: They all need an external ...
Integrated photonics allow us to build compact, portable, low-power chip-scale optical systems used in commercial products, revolutionizing today's optical datacenters and communications. But integrating on-chip optical gain ...
With an increasing global energy demands and environmental pollution, the development of alternative clean energy technologies has aroused widespread research interest. Harvesting and converting natural energy from the environment, ...
