Physical sciences
The Next Generation Of Anticorrosion Technology – Jianguo Wang, AnCatt
Original Article Reference: https://doi.org/10.33548/SCIENTIA387 Share Episode About this episodeCorrosion, the gradual destruction of metals, is a significant physical and economic problem worldwide. Traditional heavy metal-based coatings used to protect...
Unravelling The Mysteries Of Quantum Cosmology – Dr Peter Evans, University Of Queensland
Original article reference: https://doi.org/10.33548/SCIENTIA401 Share Episode About this episode Despite many years of research aiming to unite quantum mechanics with cosmological theories, researchers in fields across physics and philosophy remain in...
A New Technique for Targeted Prostate Cancer Biopsies – Dr Baowei Fei, UT Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center
Original Article Reference https://doi.org/10.33548/SCIENTIA367 Share Episode About this episodeTwo-dimensional transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided biopsy is the standard method for prostate cancer diagnosis. However, the technique is limited in one respect...
Traditional Equilibrium Models Lead to Inaccurate Predictions – Dr Yousef Haseli, Central Michigan University
Original Article Reference https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.01.130 Share Episode About this episodeEquilibrium is the cornerstone of industrial chemical processes, especially when optimising chemical production. But what if the equilibrium models that...
Investigating the Evolution of Star Formation with Millimetre Wave Astronomy – Dr Reinhard Genzel, Dr Linda Jean Tacconi, Dr Karl-Friedrich Schuster
Original Article Reference https://doi.org/10.33548/SCIENTIA317 Share Episode About this episodeAstronomers have much to learn from the giant clouds of gas and dust that occupy the vast spaces between stars. These conglomerates of dense, cool interstellar...
OPT IN! – Generating Experts In The Field Of Optics – Dr Alexis Vogt, State University Of New York
Original Article Reference https://doi.org/10.26320/SCIENTIA315 Share Episode About this episodeOptics is an intrinsic part of many powerful and developing technologies in areas such as biotechnology, national security and manufacturing. However, there is a...
Analysing Earth’s Magnetospheric System A Web of Interconnections – Dr Joseph E. Borovsky, Space Science Institute
Original Article Reference https://doi.org/10.26320/SCIENTIA302 Share Episode About this episodeThe behaviours of physical systems are often decided by complex webs of connections between properties, where a small change in just one variable could cause...
A Short Interdisciplinary Summer Course in Sustainable Development – Pankaj Sharma, PhD, MBA, Purdue University
Original Article Reference https://doi.org/10.26320/SCIENTIA304 Share Episode About this episodeThe survival of humanity relies upon the sustainable use of natural systems that provide food, energy, and water. However, the growth in the world’s population...
Inspiring Students at The Duke Energy Academy at Purdue – Pankaj Sharma, PhD, MBA
Original Article Reference https://doi.org/10.26320/SCIENTIA307 Share Episode About this episodeA secure and sustainable energy supply for the future depends upon communities and industries working together. To facilitate this, a skilled STEM workforce is...
Improving Electrode Microstructural Dynamics & Battery Performance – Dr Partha P. Mukherjee, Purdue University
Original Article Reference https://doi.org/10.26320/SCIENTIA259 Share Episode About this episodeWhether it be enabling renewable technologies, mobilising electric vehicles, or powering the electronic devices we carry, batteries are essential to modern life....
A Flickering in the Darkness- Professor Gilles Gerbier, Queen’s University
Original Article Reference https://doi.org/10.26320/SCIENTIA234 Share Episode About this episodeDeep, deep underground, surrounded by kilometres of solid rock, a team of scientists led by Professor Gilles Gerbier of Queen’s University, Canada, watches for a...
Changing the Landscape of Geology, Forecasting Earthquakes – Professor Friedemann T. Freund, NASA Ames Research Center
Original Article Reference https://doi.org/10.26320/SCIENTIA217 Share Episode About this episodeImagine a world where we knew about earthquakes before they strike – days before a potentially lethal event. A world with an early warning system that would give...
The Shape of Rational Choices in Game Theory – Dr Tarun Sabarwal, University of Kansas
Original Article Reference https://doi.org/10.26320/SCIENTIA212 Share Episode About this episodeThe choices we make in various situations have collective effects on the patterns of overall movement in conflict and cooperation. Dr Tarun Sabarwal at the...
Collaborating to Study Interfaces in Miniaturised Materials – SFB 1083
Original Article Reference https://doi.org/10.33548/SCIENTIA452 Share Episode About this episodeCreating technologies from multiple materials with different physical properties can be hugely beneficial, but the process doesn’t come without its challenges. As...
A New Generation of Chemical Sensors – Dr Simon Humphrey & Sam Dunning, University of Texas
Dr Simon Humphrey and Sam Dunning at the University of Texas at Austin have created a new lanthanide-based chemical sensor that can identify trace levels of water in many different solvents, and can even distinguish between normal water and ‘heavy water’. The team’s...
Negative Ion Formation in Complex Heavy Systems – Dr Alfred Msezane, Clark Atlanta University
When an electron is absorbed by a heavy atom or molecule, a heavy, negatively-charged ion is formed. These negative ions can be used for a wide array of useful applications, from organic solar cells to water purification. However, the electron absorption process for...
Investigating Cosmic Snowballs – Professor David Jewitt, University of California, Los Angeles
Professor David Jewitt and his team at UCLA explore the nature of comets. These fleeting visitors to our cosmic shore are important sources of information, and can help to reveal the origin and evolution of the solar system. Most recently, Professor Jewitt’s team have...
Modelling Shock Waves and Particle Interactions in High-Speed Flows – Professor Gustaaf Jacobs, San Diego State University
Understanding how shock waves, flow dynamics and turbulence all interact and affect the distribution of particles has applications ranging from high-speed vehicles to explosions and even ocean sediment dynamics. Professor Gustaaf Jacobs at San Diego State University...
Cell Physics, Understanding How Biological Matter Self-Organises – The Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1027 at the Saarland University
The Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1027 at the Saarland University in Saarbrücken and Homburg is an interdisciplinary research team that aims to achieve a quantitative understanding of the physical mechanisms at work when biological matter self-organises into...
Metal Transport Unlocks Routes to New Antibiotics – Dr Albert Guskov, University of Groningen
Metals have been improving our lives since the bronze age, but they also play a key role in keeping us healthy. We rely on numerous metals, such as cobalt, zinc and magnesium (among others), to perform essential roles in our bodies. Many bacteria also require these...
Supernova-accelerated Electrons to Dark Matter – Professor Dr Uli Klein, University of Bonn
Considering we didn’t know of their existence just a century ago, our current knowledge of the structures and dynamics of galaxies is extraordinarily impressive. Among those who have enhanced our understanding of these building blocks of the Universe is Dr Uli Klein,...
A Rare Universe? The Multiverse Debate Through the Lens of Philosophy – Dr Simon Friederich, University of Groningen
How did we get here? How could a universe with such simple physical laws have created something as complex as us? These questions are so fundamental that even after millennia, neither scientists nor philosophers have reached a universally satisfying answer. Dr Simon...
Tensor Networks Untangling the Mysteries of Quantum Systems – Dr Román Orús, Johannes Guttenberg Universität
For decades, physicists have struggled endlessly with the problem of quantum many-body systems – systems containing multiple quantum particles. Because of quantum properties, the ways in which these systems behave are unpredictable when using conventional mathematics,...
Collaborating for a Cleaner Future – Dr Justyna Widera-Kalinowska, Adelphi University
The greatest challenges facing humanity over the next decades involve finding renewable sources of energy and finding ways to restore natural resources such as clean water that have been polluted by industrialisation. Dr Justyna Widera-Kalinowska of Adelphi University...
A Bright Family of Quantum Defects – Dr YuHuang Wang, University of Maryland
Carbon nanotubes are a remarkable material – more conductive than copper and stronger than steel, yet just a billionth of a metre wide. Their application has already proven invaluable across science and engineering, but only recently have scientists looked into...
Saving the World through Fertiliser and Fuel – Professors Colin A. Wolden and J. Douglas Way, Colorado School of Mines
At the turn of the century, two unassuming chemists collaborated on the seemingly mundane task of converting nitrogen and hydrogen into ammonia. At the end of their collaboration, they had changed the course of our civilisation forever. At the Colorado School of...
Software for Realistic Simulations of Quantum Systems – Professor Hans De Raedt, University of Groningen
The potential capabilities of universal quantum computers have many of us excited, but there’s one problem – we aren’t close to building complex, functional quantum computers just yet. In the meantime, scientists need to test the capabilities of quantum computing...
Working in Space The Challenge for Mars and Beyond – Karen Feigh, Matthew J. Miller and Cameron Pittman
Professor Karen Feigh and Dr Matthew Miller from the Georgia Institute of Technology examine what support will be required when astronauts need to work outside in deep space, where communication with Earth takes tens of minutes. Software engineer, Cameron Pittman,...
Cuckoo Search Using Evolutionary Algorithms to Optimise Materials – Dr Ganesh Balasubramanian, Lehigh University
From the metal in our cars to the circuits in our phones, the materials we use in our everyday lives can be meticulously engineered on a molecular scale to suit our requirements. However, there are so many possible arrangements of atoms and molecules at this scale...
The Coolest Job on Earth Exploring Ultracold Chemical Reactions – Dr Timur Tscherbul, University of Nevada, Reno
Algorithms are everywhere. From the targeted ads that flood your Facebook feed, to the split-second decision making of self-driving cars, they can be surprisingly simple or considerably complicated. At the University of Nevada, Dr Tscherbul and his research team are...