PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Unbroken: New soft electronics don't break, even when punctured

'We're excited about our progress and envision these materials as key components for emerging soft technologies'

Unbroken: New soft electronics don't break, even when punctured
2021-06-25
(Press-News.org) Want a smartphone that stretches, takes damage, and still doesn't miss a call?

A team of Virginia Tech researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Macromolecules Innovation Institute has created a new type of soft electronics, paving the way for devices that are self-healing, reconfigurable, and recyclable. These skin-like circuits are soft and stretchy, sustain numerous damage events under load without losing electrical conductivity, and can be recycled to generate new circuits at the end of a product's life.

Led by Assistant Professor Michael Bartlett, the team recently published its findings in END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Unbroken: New soft electronics don't break, even when punctured

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

NUST MISIS scientists create unique alloy for air, rail transports

NUST MISIS scientists create unique alloy for air, rail transports
2021-06-25
Scientists from the National University of Science and Technology "MISIS" (NUST MISIS) in cooperation with their colleagues from the Siberian Federal University and the Research and Production Centre of Magnetic Hydrodynamics (Krasnoyarsk) have developed a technology for producing a unique heat-resistant aluminium alloy with improved durability. According to the researchers, this new alloy could replace more expensive and heavier copper conductors in aircraft and high-speed rail transport. The study results were published in an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal, the Materials Letters. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167577X2100896X) Researchers have created a method for producing ...

More intense predation in the tropics can limit marine invasions

2021-06-25
Night and day, oil tankers, yachts and cargo ships stacked with shipping containers ply the 80-kilometer (50-mile) waterway through the jungles of Panama between the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean: about 40 ships every 24 hours. But even though the Canal is fed by freshwater rivers that empty through the locks on each end, a system that generally prevents fish and smaller marine invertebrates from hopping from ocean to ocean, some still manage to get through, clinging to the hulls of ships. Other invading species arrive from far-flung ports, dumped with ballast water as ships prepare for transit. "Panama is a major shipping hub that provides amazing opportunities to test key ideas about marine invasions by studying ...

Inflatable, shape-changing spinal implants could help treat severe pain

2021-06-25
A team of engineers and clinicians has developed an ultra-thin, inflatable device that can be used to treat the most severe forms of pain without the need for invasive surgery. The device, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, uses a combination of soft robotic fabrication techniques, ultra-thin electronics and microfluidics. The device is so thin - about the width of a human hair - that it can be rolled up into a tiny cylinder, inserted into a needle, and implanted into the epidural space of the spinal column, the same area ...

Nanotech OLED electrode liberates 20% more light, could slash display power consumption

2021-06-25
A new electrode that could free up 20% more light from organic light-emitting diodes has been developed at the University of Michigan. It could help extend the battery life of smartphones and laptops, or make next-gen televisions and displays much more energy efficient. The approach prevents light from being trapped in the light-emitting part of an OLED, enabling OLEDs to maintain brightness while using less power. In addition, the electrode is easy to fit into existing processes for making OLED displays and light fixtures. "With our approach, you can do it all in ...

Researchers give yeast a boost to make biofuels from discarded plant matter

Researchers give yeast a boost to make biofuels from discarded plant matter
2021-06-25
More corn is grown in the United States than any other crop, but we only use a small part of the plant for food and fuel production; once people have harvested the kernels, the inedible leaves, stalks and cobs are left over. If this plant matter, called corn stover, could be efficiently fermented into ethanol the way corn kernels are, stover could be a large-scale, renewable source of fuel. "Stover is produced in huge amounts, on the scale of petroleum," said Whitehead Institute Member and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) biology professor Gerald Fink. "But there are enormous technical challenges to using them cheaply to create biofuels and other important chemicals." And so, year after year, most of the woody corn material is left in the fields to rot. Now, a ...

Test distinguishes SARS-CoV-2 from other coronaviruses with 100% accuracy

Test distinguishes SARS-CoV-2 from other coronaviruses with 100% accuracy
2021-06-25
DURHAM, N.C. - Biomedical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated a tablet-sized device that can reliably detect multiple COVID-19 antibodies and biomarkers simultaneously. Initial results show the test can distinguish between antibodies produced in response to SARS-CoV-2 and four other coronaviruses with 100% accuracy. The researchers are now working to see if the easy-to-use, energy-independent, point-of-care device can be used to predict the severity of a COVID-19 infection or a person's immunity against variants of the virus. Having also recently shown the same "D4 assay" platform can detect Ebola infections a day earlier than the gold standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, the researchers say the results show how flexible the technology can be to adapt to other ...

Engineered yeast could expand biofuels' reach

2021-06-25
CAMBRIDGE, MA - Boosting production of biofuels such as ethanol could be an important step toward reducing global consumption of fossil fuels. However, ethanol production is limited in large part by its reliance on corn, which isn't grown in large enough quantities to make up a significant portion of U.S. fuel needs. To try to expand biofuels' potential impact, a team of MIT engineers has now found a way to expand the use of a wider range of nonfood feedstocks to produce such fuels. At the moment, feedstocks such as straw and woody plants are difficult to use for biofuel production because they first need to be broken down to fermentable sugars, a process that releases numerous byproducts that are toxic to yeast, the microbes most commonly used to produce biofuels. The ...

Structural biology reveals new opportunities to combat tuberculosis

Structural biology reveals new opportunities to combat tuberculosis
2021-06-25
Tuberculosis is one of the top ten causes of death worldwide, infecting about one-quarter of the world's population. Although it is treatable, the rise of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis poses a major threat to global health security, and has been declared by the World Health Organization as a global health emergency. Reduced access to diagnosis and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to dramatically increase the number of tuberculosis infections. This will set global efforts to tackle the disease back several years. Tuberculosis is caused by infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis: a bacterium that infects human lungs and other organs by using complex molecular ...

Texan voters unsure if state can tackle power grid issues

2021-06-25
When Winter Storm Uri hit, many Texans lost power from February 14-20, resulting in losses of lives and economic activity, and damages to their homes that for some are still not completely repaired. Now, four months later as demand for electricity has increased at the start of the summer amid tight supply, Texans continue to prioritize improvements to the power grid, albeit with doubt as to whether the Texas Legislature and Governor can get the job done. In a survey by the Hobby School of Public Affairs and UH Energy at the University of Houston fielded between May 13-24, 1,500 individuals in Texas aged 18 and older responded to a series of questions regarding their experience during Winter Storm Uri and their evaluation ...

Further hope for BCG vaccine in stemming type 1 diabetes

2021-06-25
BOSTON - At the recent 2021 Annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) presented positive updates on their trials of the bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine to safely and significantly lower blood sugars. In type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease which currently has no cure, T cells attack the pancreas and destroy its ability to create insulin, a hormone vital in allowing glucose to enter cells to produce energy. In prior work, Denise Faustman, MD, PhD, director ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’

Powerful new software platform could reshape biomedical research by making data analysis more accessible

Revealing capillaries and cells in living organs with ultrasound

American College of Physicians awards $260,000 in grants to address equity challenges in obesity care

Researchers from MARE ULisboa discover that the European catfish, an invasive species in Portugal, has a prolonged breeding season, enhancing its invasive potential

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, honored with the 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research

Solar cells made of moon dust could power future space exploration

Deporting immigrants may further shrink the health care workforce

Border region emergency medical services in migrant emergency care

Resident physician intentions regarding unionization

[Press-News.org] Unbroken: New soft electronics don't break, even when punctured
'We're excited about our progress and envision these materials as key components for emerging soft technologies'