{"667463":{"#nid":"667463","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Physics to Host Climate Talk with Former U.S. Secretary of Energy, Nobel Laureate ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EOn April 26, 2023, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech will welcome Stanford University physicist \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESteven Chu\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E to speak on climate change and innovative paths towards a more sustainable future. Chu is the 1997 co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics, and in his former role as U.S. Secretary of Energy, became the first scientist to hold a U.S. Cabinet position. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAbout the Talk\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/calendar.gatech.edu\/event\/2023\/04\/26\/school-physics-public-lecture-professor-steven-chu-climate-change-and-innovative\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe event\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E is part of the School of Physics \u201cInquiring Minds\u201d public lecture series, and will be held at the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arts.gatech.edu\/contact\/driving-directions\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFerst Center for the Arts\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E. \u003Cstrong\u003EThe talk is free and open to campus and the Atlanta community, and no RSVP is required. Refreshments begin at 4:30, and the lecture will start at 5 p.m. ET.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThe multiple industrial and agricultural revolutions have transformed the world,\u201d Chu recently shared in an abstract for the lecture. \u201cHowever, an unintended consequence of this progress is that we are changing the climate of our planet. In addition to the climate risks, we will need to provide enough clean energy, water, and food for a more prosperous world that may grow to 11 billion by 2100.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe talk will discuss the significant technical challenges and potential solutions that could provide better paths to a more sustainable future. \u201cHow we transition from where we are now to where we need to be within 50 years is arguably the most pressing set of issues that science, innovation, and public policy have to address,\u201d Chu added.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe event\u2019s faculty host is \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, Dunn Family Professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAbout Steven Chu\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.stanford.edu\/people\/steven-chu\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESteven Chu\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Physics and a professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology in the Medical School at Stanford University.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EChu served as the 12\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eth\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E U.S. Secretary of Energy from January 2009 until the end of April 2013. As the first scientist to hold a U.S. Cabinet position and the longest serving Energy Secretary, Chu led several initiatives including ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency \u2013 Energy), the Energy Innovation Hubs, and was personally tasked by President Obama to assist in the Deepwater Horizon oil leak.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIn the spring of 2010, Chu was the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/news\/2023\/03\/steven-chu-visits-ece-solar-power-research-center-georgia-tech\u0022\u003Ekeynote speaker\u003C\/a\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003Efor the Georgia Tech Ph.D. and Master\u0027s Commencement Ceremony.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPrior to his cabinet post, Chu was director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he was active in pursuit of alternative and renewable energy technologies, and a professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Stanford, where he helped launch Bio-X, a multi-disciplinary institute combining the physical and biological sciences with medicine and engineering. Previously he also served as head of the Quantum Electronics Research Department at AT\u0026amp;T Bell Laboratories.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EHe is the co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to laser cooling and atom trapping. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Pontifical Academy Sciences, and of seven foreign academies. He formerly served as president, and then chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EChu earned an A.B. degree in mathematics and a B.S. degree in physics from the University of Rochester, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as 35 honorary degrees.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EHe has published over 280 papers in atomic and polymer physics, biophysics, biology, bio-imaging, batteries, and other energy technologies. He holds 15 patents, and an additional 15 patent disclosures or filings since 2015.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPhysicist Steven Chu was the first person appointed to the U.S. Cabinet after having won a Nobel Prize \u2014 and the first scientist to hold a Cabinet position. On April 26, he will deliver a public lecture at Georgia Tech on climate change and innovative paths towards a more sustainable future.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Physicist Steven Chu was the first person appointed to the U.S. Cabinet after having won a Nobel Prize. On April 26, he will deliver a public lecture at Georgia Tech on climate change and innovative paths towards a more sustainable future."}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2023-04-20 22:46:44","changed_gmt":"2024-02-01 15:13:32","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-04-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-04-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"670596":{"id":"670596","type":"image","title":"Steven Chu (Credit: Imke Lass\/Redux)","body":null,"created":"1682031580","gmt_created":"2023-04-20 22:59:40","changed":"1682031580","gmt_changed":"2023-04-20 22:59:40","alt":"Steven Chu (Credit: Imke Lass\/Redux)","file":{"fid":"253482","name":"Steven Chu - credit Imke Lass - Redux.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/20\/Steven%20Chu%20-%20credit%20Imke%20Lass%20-%20Redux.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/20\/Steven%20Chu%20-%20credit%20Imke%20Lass%20-%20Redux.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":835401,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/04\/20\/Steven%20Chu%20-%20credit%20Imke%20Lass%20-%20Redux.jpg?itok=2c-vMVec"}},"670597":{"id":"670597","type":"image","title":"Steven Chu (Credit: Larry Downing\/Reuters)","body":null,"created":"1682031622","gmt_created":"2023-04-20 23:00:22","changed":"1682031622","gmt_changed":"2023-04-20 23:00:22","alt":"Steven Chu (Credit: Larry Downing\/Reuters)","file":{"fid":"253483","name":"Steven Chu - Photo by Larry Downing - Reuters.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/20\/Steven%20Chu%20-%20Photo%20by%20Larry%20Downing%20-%20Reuters.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/20\/Steven%20Chu%20-%20Photo%20by%20Larry%20Downing%20-%20Reuters.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":876097,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/04\/20\/Steven%20Chu%20-%20Photo%20by%20Larry%20Downing%20-%20Reuters.jpg?itok=TMMPKmOg"}}},"media_ids":["670596","670597"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"EAS"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"85951","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"id":"1279","name":"School of Mathematics"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"443951","name":"School of Psychology"},{"id":"1316","name":"Green Buzz"}],"categories":[{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"192254","name":"cos-climate"},{"id":"192249","name":"cos-community"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"668138":{"#nid":"668138","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Scientists Unearth 20 Million Years of \u2018Hot Spot\u2019 Magmatism Under Cocos Plate","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETen years ago, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/naif-dr-samer\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESamer Naif\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E made an unexpected discovery in Earth\u2019s mantle: a narrow pocket, proposed to be filled with magma, hidden some 60 kilometers beneath the seafloor of the Cocos Plate. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMantle melts are buoyant and typically float toward the surface \u2014 think underwater volcanoes that erupt to form strings of islands. But Naif\u2019s imaging instead showed a clear slice of semi-molten rock: \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Elow-degree partial melts\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, still sandwiched at the base of the plate some 37 miles beneath the ocean floor. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThen, the observation \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physicsworld.com\/a\/deep-sea-imaging-reveals-how-tectonic-plates-slide\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eprovided an explanation\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E for how tectonic plates can gradually slide, lubricated by partial melting. The study also \u201craised several questions about \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ewhy\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E magma is stored in a thin channel \u2014 and where the magma originated from,\u201d says Naif, an assistant professor in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E at \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFellow researchers went on to share competing interpretations for the cause of the channel \u2014 including studies that argued against magma being needed to explain the observation.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESo Naif went straight to the source.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cI basically went on a multiyear hunt, akin to a Sherlock Holmes detective story, looking for clues of mantle magmas that we first observed in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/nature11939\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E2013 \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENature \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Estudy\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E,\u201d he says. \u201cThis involved piecing together evidence from several independent sources, including geophysical, geochemical, and geological (direct seafloor sampling) data.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENow, the results of that search are detailed in a new \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EScience Advances\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E article, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/sciadv.add3761\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cEpisodic intraplate magmatism fed by a long-lived melt channel of distal plume origin\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, authored by Naif and researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey at Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Northern Arizona University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and GNS Science of Lower Hutt, New Zealand.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EZeroing in\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EA relatively young oceanic plate \u2014\u0026nbsp;some 23 million years old \u2014 the Cocos Plate traces down the western coast of Central America, veering west to the Pacific Plate, then north to meet the North American Plate off the Pacific coast of Mexico. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESliding between these two plates caused the devastating 1985 Mexico City earthquake and the 2017 Chiapas earthquake, while similar subduction between the Cocos and Caribbean plates resulted in the 1992 Nicaragua tsunami and earthquake, and the 2001 El Salvador earthquakes.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EScientists study the edges of these oceanic plates to understand the history and formation of volcanic chains \u2014 and to help researchers and agencies better prepare for future earthquakes and volcanic activity.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIt\u2019s in this active area that Naif and fellow researchers recently set out to document a series of magmatic intrusions just beneath the seafloor, in the same area that the team first detected the channel of magma back in 2013. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPlumbing the depths\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFor the new study, the team combined geophysical, geochemical, and seafloor drilling results with seismic reflection data, a technique used to image layers of sediments and rocks below the surface. \u201cIt helps us to see the geology where we cannot see it with our own eyes,\u201d Naif explains.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFirst, the researchers observed an abundance of widespread intraplate magmatism. \u201cVolcanism where it is not expected,\u201d Naif says, \u201cbasically away from plate boundaries: subduction zones and mid-ocean ridges.\u201d \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThink Hawaii, where \u201ca mantle plume of hot, rising material melts during its ascent, and then forms the Hawaii volcanic chain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean,\u201d just as with the Cocos Plate, where the team imaged the volcanism fed by magma at the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary \u2014 the base of the sliding tectonic plates. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cBelow it is the convecting mantle,\u201d Naif adds. \u201cThe tectonic plates are moving around on Earth\u0027s surface because they are sliding on the asthenosphere below them.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe researchers also found that this channel below the lithosphere is regionally extensive \u2014 over 100,000 square kilometers \u2014 and is a \u201clong-lived feature that originated from the Gal\u00e1pagos Plume,\u201d a mantle plume that formed the volcanic Gal\u00e1pagos islands, supplying melt for a series of volcanic events across the past 20 million years, and persisting today. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EImportantly, the new study also suggests that these plume-fed melt channels may be widespread and long-lived sources for intraplate magmatism itself \u2014 as well as for \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Emantle metasomatism\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, which happens when Earth\u2019s mantle reacts with fluids to form a suite of minerals from the original rocks.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EConnecting the (hot spot) dots\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThis confirms that magma was there in the past \u2014 and some of it leaked through the mantle and erupted near the seafloor,\u201d Naif says, \u201cin the form of sill intrusions and seamounts: basically volcanoes located on the seafloor.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe work also provides compelling supporting evidence that magma could still be stored in the channel. \u201cMore surprising is that the erupted magma has a chemical fingerprint that links its source to the Gal\u00e1pagos mantle plume.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cWe learned that the magma channel has been around for at least 20 million years, and on occasion some of that magma leaks to the seafloor where it erupts volcanically,\u201d Naif adds.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe team\u2019s identified source of the magma, the Gal\u00e1pagos Plume, \u201cis more than 1,000 kilometers away from where we detected this volcanism. It is not clear how magma can stay around in the mantle for such a long time, only to leak out episodically.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPlume hunters wanted\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe evidence that the team compiled is \u201creally quite subtle and requires a detailed and careful study of a suite of seafloor observations to connect the dots,\u201d Naif says. \u201cBasically, the signs of such volcanism, while they are quite clear here, also require high resolution data and several different types of data to be able to detect such subtle seafloor features.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESo, \u201cif we can see such subtle clues of volcanism here,\u201d Naif explains, \u201cit means a similar, careful analysis of high resolution data in other parts of the seafloor may lead to similar discoveries of volcanism elsewhere, caused by other mantle plumes.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThere are numerous mantle plumes dotted across the planet. There are also numerous seamounts \u2014 at least 100,000 of them! \u2014 covering the seafloor, and it is anyone\u2019s guess how many of them formed in the middle of the tectonic plates because of magma sourced from distant mantle plumes that leaked to the surface.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENaif looks forward to continuing that search, from seafloor to asthenosphere. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E###\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFunding:\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.13039\/100000001\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENational Science Foundation\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E: OCE-0625178, U.S. Science Support Program\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ECitation: \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/sciadv.add3761\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDOI: 10.1126\/sciadv.add3761\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAbout Georgia Tech\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eor \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Tech,\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E is one of the top public research universities in the U.S., developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe Institute offers\u202f\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ebusiness, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts,\u202fand\u202fsciences \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Edegrees. Its more than 45,000 undergraduate and graduate students, representing 50 states and more than 148 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAs a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Situated 60 kilometers beneath the Pacific Ocean floor, the magma channel covers more than 100,000 square kilometers, and originated from the Gal\u00e1pagos Plume more than 20 million years ago."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EA team of scientists led by Georgia Tech have observed past \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eepisodic intraplate magmatism\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E and corroborated the existence of a partial melt channel at the base of the Cocos Plate. Situated 60 kilometers beneath the Pacific Ocean floor, the magma channel covers more than 100,000 square kilometers, and originated from the Gal\u00e1pagos Plume more than 20 million years ago, supplying melt for multiple magmatic events \u2014 and persisting today. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A team of scientists led by Georgia Tech have observed past episodic intraplate magmatism and corroborated the existence of a partial melt channel at the base of the Cocos Plate. "}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2023-06-16 19:53:40","changed_gmt":"2024-02-01 15:12:54","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-06-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-06-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"670990":{"id":"670990","type":"image","title":"Mantle plumes, shown in red, have been identified around the world. (Ingo W\u00f6lbern, via Wikimedia Commons)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EMantle plumes, shown in red, have been identified around the world. (Ingo W\u00f6lbern, via Wikimedia Commons)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1686945795","gmt_created":"2023-06-16 20:03:15","changed":"1686945795","gmt_changed":"2023-06-16 20:03:15","alt":"A global map of mantle plumes.","file":{"fid":"253977","name":"Global-hotspots.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/06\/16\/Global-hotspots.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/06\/16\/Global-hotspots.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1698036,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/06\/16\/Global-hotspots.jpg?itok=IC1-JNzu"}},"670992":{"id":"670992","type":"image","title":"Samer Naif, left, with fellow researchers in the field (offshore New Zealand, for a separate research study). ","body":"\u003Cp\u003ESamer Naif, left, with fellow researchers in the field (offshore New Zealand, for a separate research study).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1686946709","gmt_created":"2023-06-16 20:18:29","changed":"1686946709","gmt_changed":"2023-06-16 20:18:29","alt":"Researchers in the field","file":{"fid":"253979","name":"Naif.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/06\/16\/Naif.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/06\/16\/Naif.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":752084,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/06\/16\/Naif.jpg?itok=tj_56wlm"}},"670991":{"id":"670991","type":"image","title":"Regional topographic relief map. (Naif et al)","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFrom the study: \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe Cocos and Nazca plates are formed at the EPR and the GSC. The Gal\u00e1pagos Triple Junction (GTJ) trace marks the boundary between EPR- and GSC-derived oceanic crusts. The Gal\u00e1pagos Plume is currently centered beneath the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands 200 km south of the GSC and generates two hot spot tracks, the Cocos Ridge and the Carnegie Ridge. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1686946437","gmt_created":"2023-06-16 20:13:57","changed":"1686946437","gmt_changed":"2023-06-16 20:13:57","alt":"Regional topographic relief map. ","file":{"fid":"253978","name":"sciadv.add3761-f1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/06\/16\/sciadv.add3761-f1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/06\/16\/sciadv.add3761-f1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3610537,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/06\/16\/sciadv.add3761-f1.jpg?itok=l-ZDQOMi"}},"670989":{"id":"670989","type":"image","title":"A figure showing the Earth relief around the Galapagos islands, which shows the effects of the mantle plume. (Wikimedia Commons)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EA figure showing the Earth relief around the Galapagos islands, which shows the effects of the mantle plume. The data are from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and this figure was produced in PyGMT. (Wikimedia Commons)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1686945657","gmt_created":"2023-06-16 20:00:57","changed":"1686945657","gmt_changed":"2023-06-16 20:00:57","alt":"A figure showing the Earth relief around the Galapagos islands.","file":{"fid":"253976","name":"GP.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/06\/16\/GP_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/06\/16\/GP_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1695259,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/06\/16\/GP_1.jpg?itok=8keGqNtz"}}},"media_ids":["670990","670992","670991","670989"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/plumes-hot-material-near-earths-core-grease-way-moving-slabs-earth","title":"Plumes of Hot Material Near Earth\u0027s Core Grease Way for Moving Slabs of Earth"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/surfacing-new-clues-waters-impact-undersea-earthquakes","title":"Surfacing New Clues: Water\u2019s Impact in Undersea Earthquakes"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"EAS"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"565971","name":"Ocean Science and Engineering (OSE)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1316","name":"Green Buzz"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192254","name":"cos-climate"},{"id":"192258","name":"cos-data"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"188051","name":"Samer Naif"},{"id":"192769","name":"Cocos Plate"},{"id":"192770","name":"volcanoes"},{"id":"12120","name":"earthquakes"},{"id":"192771","name":"Galapagos Plume"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"670904":{"#nid":"670904","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Digging Into Greenland Ice: Unraveling Mysteries in Earth\u0027s Harshest Environments","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cYou\u0027re in the middle of an ice sheet, and it\u2019s one of the most desolate places on Earth. There are no living animals there. There are no plants there. The only animals you see are birds. They might be lost.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThat\u2019s how \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERachel Moore\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E describes the view from the top of the Greenland Ice Sheet. \u201cIt\u0027s a really challenging environment, but it was really, really interesting to be there. I was there for nearly 50 days.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMoore is an expert at collecting data in difficult research environments, traveling to some of the most extreme places on Earth in order to research microbes, and what hints they might give regarding astrobiology.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cIt all started in grad school, when I joined a microbial ecology lab,\u201d Moore recalls. \u201cI pretty quickly learned that I love to do really difficult, challenging projects. I got interested in working around fire, biomass burning and forests, and I started collecting bacteria from the air. That was a challenge in and of itself, just trying to collect these really tiny things while standing in the smoke from the forest fires. But from that I learned that I loved to go out into the environment and collect things and try to understand everything around me.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cI have a lot of different projects, but they all connect through astrobiology,\u201d Moore says. \u201cI\u2019m interested in anything that hasn\u0027t been answered yet.\u201d Moore is also leading a project called EXO Methane, which is investigating if different Archaea could survive in Martian and Enceladus-like environments. She\u2019s also collaborating on a project that will send a probe to Venus next year.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMoore started her postdoctoral research at Georgia Tech, and is now continuing her work as a Research Scientist \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pxl.earth\/\u0022\u003Ein the same laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cThe first project I started in this lab focused around how microbes can survive a really, really dry environment,\u201d she adds. To study this, Moore traveled to the Atacama desert in Chile \u2014 the driest place on Earth, and also one of the best analogs to the surface of Mars. \u201cWhat we were interested in there is how organisms survive intense radiation and intense desiccation. And how does that change as you look at different sites in the Atacama?\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThen, this past summer, Moore traveled to another extreme environment \u2014 Greenland. \u201cInstead of being hot and dry, Greenland is extremely cold and dry,\u201d Moore explains. \u201cSo it was similar in some aspects, but completely different in terms of logistics and sampling methods. Because we were there in the summer, the sun never set. We were also at high elevation \u2014 10,530 feet above sea level.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EBeneath the ice\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe project was started by \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.dri.edu\/directory\/nathan-chellman\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENathan Chellman\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E and \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.dri.edu\/directory\/joe-mcconnell\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EJoe McConnell\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.dri.edu\/\u0022\u003EDesert Research Institute (DRI)\u003C\/a\u003E, and Moore\u2019s role this year was to investigate the microbiology component of the research. \u201cThey had been seeing some anomalies in methane and carbon monoxide in ice samples,\u201d Moore says. \u201cWe were curious if microbes might be producing some of this, either in the ice core after it\u2019s been sampled, or while it\u2019s still in the glacier.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThe microbes would not be swimming around or anything\u201d in the ice cores, Moore explains, \u201cbut it\u2019s possible that their metabolism is still active, and they\u2019re potentially able to make some of the gases, like methane, in this frozen environment. Our goal was to measure these things in the environment.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGathering samples wasn\u2019t easy. \u201cWe set up a lab on the glacier, and we set it up in a trench to try to keep any of the ice cores that we pulled out roughly at the same temperature as the glacier itself,\u201d Moore says. Because of that, \u201cweather was a huge, huge thing. Anytime it would get stormy, the wind would blow all of the snow around, and it would fill the entrance to our trench. We had to dig ourselves out several times. People would put out flags so that you could see your way back to the main house or back to your dorms.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe team hopes that this research will give a more defined record of the past from the Greenland Ice Sheet, improving climate change predictions. Moore also notes applications in astrobiology, adding that \u201cthere are a lot of icy worlds like Mars, Enceladus, and Europa, with either an icy crust over the ocean or glaciers on the northern and southern poles.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMoore was also able to test new technology in the field, using a tool built by Georgia Tech undergraduates alongside her advisor \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cecarr.com\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EChristopher Carr\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, assistant professor in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/carr-dr-christopher\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E. An ice melter that can be used to take and clean ice samples, the tool is a miniaturized prototype that may be able to help take measurements on Mars, or in similar remote environments in the future.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cBeing able to take a tool that Georgia Tech undergraduates made to Greenland and test it on 600-year-old ice in the field was a really cool experience,\u201d Moore adds. \u201cWe brought Starlink with us, and so I was able to video call the undergraduate team while I was testing their tool, which was really special.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe team is now lab-analyzing ice cores that they brought back from Greenland, unraveling which microbes might be present and potentially active. \u201cIt\u0027s really interesting to see: Is this all chemistry? Is it biology based? Or is there some intersection of the two?\u201d Moore says. \u201cMaybe there\u0027s some chemistry or photochemistry happening, plus some biology happening. Whatever it is, we\u0027ll have to wait and see.\u201d \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERachel Moore is an expert at collecting data in difficult research environments, traveling to some of the most extreme places on Earth to research microbes and better understand astrobiology.\u0026nbsp;This summer, she traveled to Greenland to collect ice cores, spending nearly 50 days on top of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The research could improve climate change predictions, while also helping astrobiologists better search for signs of life on icy worlds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Rachel Moore spent nearly 50 days in one of the most remote places on Earth, collecting ice cores; the research has implications for climate change predictions and searching for signs of life on icy worlds."}],"uid":"35599","created_gmt":"2023-11-06 16:09:29","changed_gmt":"2024-02-01 15:03:32","author":"sperrin6","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-11-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2023-11-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"672274":{"id":"672274","type":"image","title":"The team snowmobiling to a remote field site.","body":null,"created":"1699287040","gmt_created":"2023-11-06 16:10:40","changed":"1699287040","gmt_changed":"2023-11-06 16:10:40","alt":"The team snowmobiling to a 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and Faculty"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"61541","name":"Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"},{"id":"722","name":"Astrobiology"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"192254","name":"cos-climate"},{"id":"192250","name":"cos-microbial"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWritten by Selena Langner\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nEditor: Jess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess.hunt@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"672263":{"#nid":"672263","#data":{"type":"news","title":"M87* One Year Later: Proof of a Persistent Black Hole Shadow","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThis press release is \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eventhorizontelescope.org\/M87-one-year-later-proof-of-a-persistent-black-hole-shadow\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eshared jointly\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E with the Event Horizon Telescope newsroom. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration has released new images of M87*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87, using data from observations taken in April 2018. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EWith the participation of the newly commissioned Greenland Telescope and a dramatically improved recording rate across the array, the 2018 observations give researchers a view of the source independent from the first observations in 2017.\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThis persistence is a remarkable confirmation of our earlier interpretation that the EHT images do reveal the shadow of the black hole \u2014 and strengthens the tests of Einstein\u2019s theories that we have performed,\u201d says \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/dmitrios-psaltis\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDimitrios Psaltis\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, professor in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E at the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E who served as EHT project scientist at the time of the 2019 announcement.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPsaltis and Georgia Tech School of Physics Chair \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/expert\/feryal-ozel\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFeryal \u00d6zel\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E are members of the EHT collaboration, and are the scientists who developed many of the theoretical tools to analyze and interpret the images.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cModeling the image features of this black hole across observations that span many years \u2014 and comparing them to the images of the black hole in the center of our Milky Way \u2014 already provide powerful checks on our plasma models\u201d says \u00d6zel, who led the 2022 announcement of the image of the Milky Way black hole.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENew era of black hole imaging\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EA \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.aanda.org\/articles\/aa\/abs\/2024\/01\/aa47932-23\/aa47932-23.html\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Erecent paper\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E published in the journal \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAstronomy \u0026amp; Astrophysics\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E presents the team\u2019s new images from the 2018 data that reveal a familiar ring the same size as the one observed in 2017. This bright ring surrounds a deep central depression, \u201cthe shadow of the black hole,\u201d as predicted by general relativity. Excitingly, the brightness peak of the ring has shifted by about 30\u00ba compared to the images from 2017, which is consistent with our theoretical understanding of variability from turbulent material around black holes.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cA fundamental requirement of science is to be able to reproduce results,\u201d says \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EKeiichi Asada\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, an associate research fellow at Academia Sinica Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan. \u201cConfirmation of the ring in a completely new data set is a huge milestone for our collaboration and a strong indication that we\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eare looking at a black hole shadow and the material orbiting around it.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIn 2017, the EHT took the first image of a black hole. This object, M87*, is the beating heart of the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87 and lives 55 million light years away from Earth. The image of the black hole revealed a bright circular ring, brighter in the southern part of the ring. Further analysis of the data also revealed the structure of M87* in polarized light, giving us greater insight into the geometry of the magnetic field and the nature of the plasma around the black hole. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe new era of black hole direct imaging, spearheaded by the extensive analysis of the 2017 observations of M87*, opened a new window that let researchers investigate black hole astrophysics and allow them to test the theory of general relativity at a fundamental level. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cOur theoretical models tell us that the state of the material around M87* should be uncorrelated between 2017 and 2018,\u201d EHT researchers \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eventhorizontelescope.org\/M87-one-year-later-proof-of-a-persistent-black-hole-shadow\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eexplain\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E. \u201cThus, multiple observations of M87* will help us place independent constraints on the plasma and magnetic field structure around the black hole and help us disentangle the complicated astrophysics from the effects of general relativity.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGreenland Telescope \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETo help accomplish new and exciting science, the EHT is under continuous development. The Greenland Telescope joined the EHT for the first time in 2018, just five months after its construction was completed far above the Arctic Circle. This new telescope significantly improved the image fidelity of the EHT array, improving the coverage, particularly in the North-South direction. The Large Millimeter Telescope also participated for the first time with its full 50 m surface, greatly improving its sensitivity. The EHT array was also upgraded to observe in four frequency bands around 230 GHz, compared to only two bands in 2017. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERepeated observations with an improved array are essential to demonstrate the robustness of our findings and strengthen our confidence in our results.\u0026nbsp; In addition to the groundbreaking science, the EHT also serves as a technology testbed for cutting-edge developments in high-frequency radio interferometry.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u0022Advancing scientific endeavors requires continuous enhancement in data quality and analysis techniques,\u0022 says \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERohan Dahale\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, a Ph.D. candidate at the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EInstituto de Astrof\u00edsica de Andaluc\u00eda\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E (IAA-CSIC) in Spain. \u0022The inclusion of the Greenland Telescope in our array filled critical gaps in our earth-sized telescope. The 2021, 2022, and the forthcoming 2024 observations witness improvements to the array, fueling our enthusiasm to push the frontiers of black hole astrophysics.\u0022\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERemarkably similar\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe analysis of the 2018 data features eight independent imaging and modeling techniques, including methods used in the previous 2017 analysis of M87* and new ones developed from the collaboration\u2019s experience analyzing Sgr A*.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe EHT team explains that the image of M87* taken in 2018 is remarkably similar to what they saw in 2017. \u201cWe see a bright ring of the same size, with a dark central region and one side of the ring brighter than the other. The mass and distance of M87* will not appreciably increase throughout a human lifetime, so general relativity predicts that the ring diameter should stay the same from year to year. The stability of the measured diameter in the images from 2017 to 2018 robustly supports the conclusion that M87* is well described by general relativity.\u201d \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMass matters, brightness peak\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cOne of the remarkable properties of a black hole is that its radius is strongly dependent on only one quantity: its mass,\u201d says \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENitika Yadlapalli Yurk\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, a former graduate student at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), now a postdoctoral fellow at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. \u201cSince M87* is not accreting material (which would increase its mass) at a rapid rate, general relativity tells us that its radius will remain fairly unchanged over human history. It\u2019s pretty exciting to see that our data confirm this prediction.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EWhile the size of the black hole shadow did not change between 2017 and 2018, the location of the brightest region around the ring did change significantly, the team adds. The bright region rotated about 30\u00ba counterclockwise to settle in the bottom right part of the ring at about the 5 o\u2019clock position. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EHistorical observations of M87* with a less sensitive array and fewer telescopes also indicated that the shadow structure changes yearly (Wielgus 2020, ApJ, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E901\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E,\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E 67\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E) but with less precision. While the 2018 EHT array still cannot observe the jet emerging from M87*, the black hole spin axis predicted from the location of the brightest region around the ring is more consistent with the jet axis seen at other wavelengths.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThe biggest change, that the brightness peak shifted around the ring, is actually something we predicted when we published the first results in 2019,\u201d says \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EBritt Jeter\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, a postdoctoral fellow at Academia Sinica Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan. \u201cWhile general relativity says the ring size should stay pretty fixed, the emission from the turbulent, messy accretion disk around the black hole will cause the brightest part of the ring to wobble around a common center. The amount of wobble we see over time is something we can use to test our theories for the magnetic field and plasma environment around the black hole.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E2024 and beyond\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cWhile all the EHT papers published so far have featured an analysis of our first observations in 2017,\u201d the research team adds, \u201cthis result represents the first efforts to explore the many additional years of data the EHT collaboration has collected.\u201d In addition to 2017 and 2018, the EHT conducted successful observations in 2021 and 2022 and is scheduled to observe in the first half of 2024. Each year, the EHT array has improved in some way, either through the addition of new telescopes, better hardware, or additional observing frequencies. \u201cWithin the collaboration, we are working very hard to analyze all this data and are excited to show you more results in the future.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E###\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDOI:\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1051%2F0004-6361%2F202347932\u0026amp;data=05%7C02%7Crichard.anantua%40utsa.edu%7C374673ff1075433105ab08dc183f5da8%7C3a228dfbc64744cb88357b20617fc906%7C0%7C0%7C638411907647620313%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C\u0026amp;sdata=q13xkekIuyOY9%2FmO1WUZLPxzVM4poDXXypr%2FJCi8mTU%3D\u0026amp;reserved=0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1051\/0004-6361\/202347932\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EABOUT EHT \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe EHT collaboration involves more than 300 researchers from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America. The international collaboration is working to capture the most detailed black hole images ever obtained by creating a virtual Earth-sized telescope. Supported by considerable international investment, the EHT links existing telescopes using novel systems, creating a fundamentally new instrument with the highest angular resolving power that has yet been achieved.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe individual telescopes involved are ALMA, APEX, the IRAM 30-meter Telescope, the IRAM NOEMA Observatory, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT), the Submillimeter Array (SMA), the Submillimeter Telescope (SMT), the South Pole Telescope (SPT), the Kitt Peak Telescope, and the Greenland Telescope (GLT).\u0026nbsp; Data were correlated at the Max-Planck-Institut f\u00fcr Radioastronomie (MPIfR) and MIT Haystack Observatory.\u0026nbsp; The postprocessing was done within the collaboration by an international team at different institutions.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe EHT consortium consists of 13 stakeholder institutes: the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, the University of Arizona, the University of Chicago, the East Asian Observatory, Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt, Institut de Radioastronomie Millim\u00e9trique, Large Millimeter Telescope, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, MIT Haystack Observatory, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Radboud University, and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EABOUT GEORGIA TECH\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eor \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Tech,\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E is one of the top public research universities in the U.S., developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe Institute offers\u202f\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ebusiness, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts,\u202fand\u202fsciences \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Edegrees. Its more than 45,000 undergraduate and graduate students, representing 50 states and more than 148 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAs a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIMAGE:\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration has released new images of M87* from observations taken in April 2018, one year after the first observations in April 2017. The new observations in 2018, which feature the first participation of the Greenland Telescope, reveal a familiar, bright ring of emission of the same size as we found in 2017.\u0026nbsp; This bright ring surrounds a dark central shadow, and the brightest part of the ring in 2018 has shifted by about 30\u00ba relative from 2017 to now lie in the 5 o\u2019clock position. (Credit: EHT Collaboration)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration has released new images of M87*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87, using data from observations taken in April 2018.\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration has released new images of M87*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87, using data from observations taken in April 2018.  "}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2024-01-18 17:09:32","changed_gmt":"2024-01-18 17:14:53","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-01-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2024-01-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"672791":{"id":"672791","type":"image","title":"(Credit: EHT Collaboration) ","body":null,"created":"1705597905","gmt_created":"2024-01-18 17:11:45","changed":"1705597905","gmt_changed":"2024-01-18 17:11:45","alt":"(Credit: EHT Collaboration) ","file":{"fid":"256109","name":"2018m87_pr_normtrue_afmhot_us_datetrue_label_none.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/01\/18\/2018m87_pr_normtrue_afmhot_us_datetrue_label_none.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/01\/18\/2018m87_pr_normtrue_afmhot_us_datetrue_label_none.png","mime":"image\/png","size":624917,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/01\/18\/2018m87_pr_normtrue_afmhot_us_datetrue_label_none.png?itok=3mTWCXgR"}},"661822":{"id":"661822","type":"image","title":"Feryal \u00d6zel Headshot","body":null,"created":"1664904045","gmt_created":"2022-10-04 17:20:45","changed":"1664904205","gmt_changed":"2022-10-04 17:23:25","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250686","name":"Ozel2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ozel2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ozel2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":289489,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Ozel2.jpg?itok=l2XqM2zQ"}},"658926":{"id":"658926","type":"image","title":"Dimitrios Psaltis, professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.","body":null,"created":"1655327108","gmt_created":"2022-06-15 21:05:08","changed":"1681392301","gmt_changed":"2023-04-13 13:25:01","alt":"Dimitrios Psaltis, professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.","file":{"fid":"249772","name":"2022 05 12 Dimitrios Psaltis - headshot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Dimitrios%20Psaltis%20-%20headshot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Dimitrios%20Psaltis%20-%20headshot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":452646,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Dimitrios%20Psaltis%20-%20headshot.jpg?itok=mp840_hW"}}},"media_ids":["672791","661822","658926"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/sharper-look-m87-black-hole","title":"A Sharper Look at the M87 Black Hole "}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"192387","name":"M87"},{"id":"10881","name":"black holes"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eventhorizontelescope.org\/M87-one-year-later-proof-of-a-persistent-black-hole-shadow\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EEHT Contacts\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"668366":{"#nid":"668366","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Balancing Act of Hurricane Season Sways With Climate Change","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:start\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:medium\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family:Calibri, sans-serif\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#000000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-style:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight:400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022white-space:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022text-decoration:none\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003EHurricane season is underway and runs through Nov. 30. While the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting a \u201cnear-normal\u201d 2023, experts say that climate change paints a more unpredictable picture for the future. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:start\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:medium\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family:Calibri, sans-serif\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#000000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-style:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight:400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022white-space:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022text-decoration:none\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003EBehind the 2023 projections is a balancing act of rising oceanic temperatures and the onset of the climate phenomenon El Ni\u00f1o, explains Susan Lozier, dean and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair in the College of Sciences. The waters of the tropical Atlantic Ocean are currently 1 \u2013 3\u00b0C above average, which would typically signify the potential for more intense activity, but the wind shear associated with El Ni\u00f1o acts as a deterrent for hurricane formation.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3 style=\u0022text-align:start\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:medium\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family:Calibri, sans-serif\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#000000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-style:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight:400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022white-space:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022text-decoration:none\u0022\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003EIncreasing Intensity\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:start\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:medium\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family:Calibri, sans-serif\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#000000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-style:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight:400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022white-space:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022text-decoration:none\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003EBut what could happen when the shield of El Ni\u00f1o isn\u0027t present to counteract the rising temperatures in the tropical Atlantic? \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:start\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:medium\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family:Calibri, sans-serif\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#000000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-style:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight:400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022white-space:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022text-decoration:none\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003E\u0022Climate change is leading to warmer surface temperatures. We know that will lead to more intense hurricanes, but we don\u0027t know if it will necessarily lead to more hurricanes. As climate change progresses, we are interested in understanding how weather patterns will be disrupted, including those related to hurricane formation and pathways,\u0022 said Lozier, who recently served as president of \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003Ethe American Geophysical Union\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003E. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:start\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:medium\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family:Calibri, sans-serif\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#000000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-style:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight:400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022white-space:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022text-decoration:none\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003EShe further explained that the increased intensity is a result of the warm waters releasing additional energy into the storm as it forms. This consequence of climate change could present problems for the Tech campus and the city of Atlanta due to the risk of torrential rainfall. According to the National Weather Service, flooding \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003Ehas proven to be the deadliest hazard associated with hurricanes over the past decade. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:start\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:medium\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family:Calibri, sans-serif\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#000000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-style:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight:400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022white-space:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022text-decoration:none\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003E\u0022When people think about hurricanes, they generally think about damaging winds. Winds are damaging, but increasingly, the most damaging part of a hurricane is the immense amount of moisture they carry,\u0022 Lozier said, reflecting on the 2017 landfall of Hurricane Harvey. \u0022An area like Atlanta could be affected by heavy rainfall associated with the path of a hurricane. The winds will have mostly died down by the time a storm reaches Atlanta, but as the climate warms, warmer air holds more moisture, and because of that, the expectation is that there will be more rainfall associated with hurricanes and tropical storms.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3 style=\u0022text-align:start\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:medium\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family:Calibri, sans-serif\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#000000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-style:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight:400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022white-space:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022text-decoration:none\u0022\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003EBeyond Reducing Carbon Emissions\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:start\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:medium\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family:Calibri, sans-serif\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#000000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-style:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight:400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022white-space:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022text-decoration:none\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003EFueling the rising temperatures in the world\u0027s oceans is an increase in carbon emissions, and simply curtailing them may not be a solution. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:start\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:medium\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family:Calibri, sans-serif\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#000000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-style:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight:400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022white-space:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022text-decoration:none\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003E\u0022The private and public sectors are increasingly looking at actively removing carbon from the atmosphere because we are unlikely to limit global warming simply by curtailing emissions. Active carbon drawdown from the atmosphere and the ocean are active areas of research right now,\u201d Lozier said. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:start\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:medium\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family:Calibri, sans-serif\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#000000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-style:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight:400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022white-space:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022text-decoration:none\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003ETech researchers are at the forefront of this effort, highlighted by a partnership between the Institute, the Georgia Aquarium, and Ocean Visions\u00ad\u00ad \u2014 \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/news\/2022\/10\/12\/new-international-center-will-support-collaborative-solutions-improve-health-worlds\u0022 style=\u0022color:#954f72; text-decoration:underline\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003Ethe Center for Ocean-Climate Solutions\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003E. Lozier represents the Institute as a partnership lead at the center, where the primary focus is the design and delivery of scalable and equitable ocean-based solutions to reduce the effects of climate change and build climate-resilient marine ecosystems and coastal communities.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:start\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:medium\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family:Calibri, sans-serif\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#000000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-style:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight:400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022white-space:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022text-decoration:none\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003EAssociate Professor \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/reinhard-dr-chris\u0022 style=\u0022color:#954f72; text-decoration:underline\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003EChris Reinhard\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003E is exploring how \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/mitigating-climate-change-through-restoration-coastal-ecosystems\u0022 style=\u0022color:#954f72; text-decoration:underline\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003Ecoastal ecosystem restoration\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003E can permanently capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it becomes buried in sediments on the seafloor. The overall process of removing carbon from the air can be costly. To combat that, a team of researchers in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003Cb\u003E \u003C\/b\u003Eis \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2023\/06\/inside-out-heating-and-ambient-wind-could-make-direct-air-capture-cheaper-and-more\u0022 style=\u0022color:#954f72; text-decoration:underline\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003Edeveloping\u003Cb\u003E \u003C\/b\u003Ea\u003Cb\u003E \u003C\/b\u003Etraditional direct air capture system\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003E that is cheaper to operate and more efficient. Helping to craft policy and research climate solutions, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/marilyn-a-brown\u0022 style=\u0022color:#954f72; text-decoration:underline\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003EMarilyn Brown\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003E, Regents\u2019 Professor and the Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy, serves on the leadership council of \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.drawdownga.org\/\u0022 style=\u0022color:#954f72; text-decoration:underline\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003EDrawdown Georgia\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp style=\u0022text-align:start\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:medium\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-family:Calibri, sans-serif\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#000000\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-style:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-weight:400\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022white-space:normal\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022text-decoration:none\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022color:#262626\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:white\u0022\u003EA certain level of unpredictability will always exist when dealing with natural disasters, but understanding humans\u2019 role in controlling climate change could be a key factor in our ability to accurately assess the threat of developing storms.\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"full_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Forecasts call for a near-normal hurricane season, but climate change could make future seasons more unpredictable than ever before. "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EForecasts call for a near-normal hurricane season, but climate change could make future seasons more unpredictable than ever before. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"full_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Forecasts call for a near-normal hurricane season, but climate change could make future seasons more unpredictable than ever before. "}],"uid":"36418","created_gmt":"2023-07-06 14:13:55","changed_gmt":"2024-01-04 14:39:22","author":"sgagliano3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-07-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-07-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"672670":{"id":"672670","type":"image","title":"3D Render of Category 4 Major Hurricane Fiona east of Florida. Getty Images.","body":null,"created":"1704379105","gmt_created":"2024-01-04 14:38:25","changed":"1704379105","gmt_changed":"2024-01-04 14:38:25","alt":"Hurricane Radar. ","file":{"fid":"255950","name":"Screenshot 2024-01-04 at 9.37.43 AM.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/01\/04\/Screenshot%202024-01-04%20at%209.37.43%20AM.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/01\/04\/Screenshot%202024-01-04%20at%209.37.43%20AM.png","mime":"image\/png","size":4403816,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/01\/04\/Screenshot%202024-01-04%20at%209.37.43%20AM.png?itok=3XKDmVx-"}}},"media_ids":["672670"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"EAS"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"175728","name":"hurricane season"},{"id":"189478","name":"Atlantic hurricane season"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"831","name":"climate change"},{"id":"192254","name":"cos-climate"},{"id":"192252","name":"cos-planetary"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESteven Gagliano - Communications Officer\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Steven.gagliano@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"670819":{"#nid":"670819","#data":{"type":"news","title":"AI\/ML Conference Helps School of Physics Launch New Research Initiative","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019 new initiative to catalyze research using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) began October 16 with a conference at the Global Learning Center titled \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/aiml2023.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERevolutionizing Physics \u2014 Exploring Connections Between Physics and Machine Learning\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAI and ML have the spotlight right now in science\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, and the conference promises to be the first of many, says \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/expert\/feryal-ozel\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFeryal \u00d6zel\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, Professor and Chair of the School of Physics.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u0022We were delighted to host the AI\/ML in Physics conference and see the exciting rapid developments in this field,\u201d \u00d6zel says. \u201cThe conference was a prominent launching point for the new AI\/ML initiative we are starting in the School of Physics.\u0022\u200b\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThat initiative includes \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/multiple-open-rank-faculty-positions-aiml-physics-research-job-id-263230\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ehiring two tenure-track faculty members\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, who will benefit from substantial expertise and resources in artificial intelligence and machine learning that already exist in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EColleges of Sciences, Engineering\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, and \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EComputing.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe conference attendees heard from colleagues about how the technologies were helping with research involving exoplanet searches, plasma physics experiments, and culling through terabytes of data. They also learned that a rough search of keyword titles by \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/staff\/staff_bio.jsp?lan=aberlind\u0026amp;org=NSF\u0026amp;from_org=\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAndreas Berlind\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, director of the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENational Science Foundation\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019s \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/div\/index.jsp?div=AST\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDivision of Astronomical Sciences\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, showed that about a fifth of all current NSF\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Egrant proposals include components around artificial intelligence and machine learning.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThat\u2019s a lot,\u201d Berlind told the audience. \u201cIt\u2019s doubled in the last four years. It\u2019s rapidly increasing.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EBerlind was one of three program officers from the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENSF\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eand\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENASA\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E invited to the conference to give presentations on the funding landscape for AI\/ML research in the physical sciences.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s tool development, the oldest story in human history,\u201d said \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/staff\/staff_bio.jsp?lan=giannacc\u0026amp;org=DMR\u0026amp;from_org=DMR\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGermano Iannacchione\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, director of the NSF\u2019s \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/div\/index.jsp?div=DMR\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDivision of Materials Research\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, who added that AI\/ML tools \u201chelp us navigate very complex spaces \u2014 to augment and enhance our reasoning capabilities, and our pattern recognition capabilities.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThat sentiment was echoed by \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/dmitrios-psaltis\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EDimitrios Psaltis\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, School of Physics professor and a co-organizer of the conference.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThey usually say if you have a hammer, you see everything as a nail,\u201d Psaltis said. \u201cJust because we have a tool doesn\u0027t mean we\u0027re going to solve all the problems. So we\u0027re in the exploratory phase because we don\u0027t know yet which problems in physics machine learning will help us solve. Clearly it will help us solve some problems, because it\u0027s a brand new tool, and there are other instances when it will make zero contribution. And until we find out what those problems are, we\u0027re going to just explore everything.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThat means trying to find out if there is a place for the technologies in classical and modern physics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, optics, geophysics, cosmology, particle physics, and astrophysics, to name just a few branches of study.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sanaz-vahidinia-ab802037\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESanaz Vahidinia\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E of NASA\u2019s \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/new.nsf.gov\/funding\/opportunities\/astronomy-astrophysics-research-grants-aag-0\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAstronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E told the attendees that her division was an early and enthusiastic adopter of AI and machine learning. She listed examples of the technologies assisting with gamma-ray astronomy and analyzing data from the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/hubble\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EHubble\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E and \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/kepler\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EKepler\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E space telescopes. \u201cAI and deep learning were very good at identifying patterns in Kepler data,\u201d Vahidinia said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESome of the physicist presentations at the conference showed pattern recognition capabilities and other features for AI and ML:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physast.uga.edu\/directory\/people\/cassandra-hall\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ECassandra Hall\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, assistant professor of Computational Astrophysics at the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.uga.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EUniversity of Georgia\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, illustrated how machine learning helped in the search for hidden forming exoplanets.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/directory\/christopher-john-rozell\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EChristopher J. Rozell\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, Julian T. Hightower Chair and Professor in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, spoke of his experiments using \u201cexplainable AI\u201d (AI that conveys in human terms how it reaches its decisions) to track depression recovery with deep brain stimulation.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.space.ucla.edu\/paulo-alves\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPaulo Alves\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eassistant professor of physics at \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.space.ucla.edu\/home\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EUCLA College of Physical Sciences Space Institute,\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E presented on AI\/ML as tools of scientific discovery in plasma physics.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAlves\u2019s presentation inspired another physicist attending the conference, Psaltis said. \u201cOne of our local colleagues, who\u0027s doing magnetic materials research, said, \u2018Hey, I can apply the exact same thing in my field,\u2019 which he had never thought about before. So we not only have cross-fertilization (of ideas) at the conference, but we\u2019re also learning what works and what doesn\u0027t.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMore information on funding and grants at the National Science Foundation can be found \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/new.nsf.gov\/funding\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ehere\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E. Information on NASA grants is found \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers-and-facilities\/grants-2\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ehere\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Physicists from Georgia Tech and around the country shared their AI and ML research successes, and heard presentations from NSF and NASA officials on the funding landscape for proposals that include the technologies."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPhysicists from Georgia Tech and around the country shared their AI and ML research successes, and heard presentations from NSF and NASA officials on the funding landscape for proposals that include the technologies.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Physicists from Georgia Tech and around the country shared their AI and ML research successes, and heard presentations from NSF and NASA officials on the funding landscape for proposals that include the technologies."}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2023-11-01 14:16:23","changed_gmt":"2023-12-14 17:11:20","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-11-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-11-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"672238":{"id":"672238","type":"image","title":"Physicists from around the country come to Georgia Tech for a recent machine learning conference. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EPhysicists from around the country come to Georgia Tech for a recent machine learning conference. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1698849174","gmt_created":"2023-11-01 14:32:54","changed":"1698849174","gmt_changed":"2023-11-01 14:32:54","alt":"Physicists from around the country come to Georgia Tech for a recent machine learning conference. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)","file":{"fid":"255445","name":"Physicists from around the country come to Georgia Tech for a recent machine learning conference. 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(Photo Benjamin Zhao)","body":"\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Physics Professor Tamara Bogdanovic prepares to ask a question at the recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1698849064","gmt_created":"2023-11-01 14:31:04","changed":"1698849064","gmt_changed":"2023-11-01 14:31:04","alt":"School of Physics Professor Tamara Bogdanovic prepares to ask a question at the recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)","file":{"fid":"255444","name":"School of Physics Professor Tamara Bogdanovic prepares to ask a question at the recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/01\/School%20of%20Physics%20Professor%20Tamara%20Bogdanovic%20prepares%20to%20ask%20a%20question%20at%20the%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference%20at%20Georgia%20Tech.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/01\/School%20of%20Physics%20Professor%20Tamara%20Bogdanovic%20prepares%20to%20ask%20a%20question%20at%20the%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference%20at%20Georgia%20Tech.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":436888,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/11\/01\/School%20of%20Physics%20Professor%20Tamara%20Bogdanovic%20prepares%20to%20ask%20a%20question%20at%20the%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference%20at%20Georgia%20Tech.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg?itok=RxFzWAIv"}},"672236":{"id":"672236","type":"image","title":"Matthew Golden, graduate student researcher in the School of Physics, presents at a recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EMatthew Golden, graduate student researcher in the School of Physics, presents at a recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1698848931","gmt_created":"2023-11-01 14:28:51","changed":"1698848931","gmt_changed":"2023-11-01 14:28:51","alt":"Matthew Golden, graduate student researcher in the School of Physics, presents at a recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao)","file":{"fid":"255443","name":"Matthew Golden, graduate student researcher in the School of Physics, presents at a recent machine learning conference at Georgia Tech. (Photo Benjamin Zhao).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/01\/Matthew%20Golden%2C%20graduate%20student%20researcher%20in%20the%20School%20of%20Physics%2C%20presents%20at%20a%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference%20at%20Georgia%20Tech.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/01\/Matthew%20Golden%2C%20graduate%20student%20researcher%20in%20the%20School%20of%20Physics%2C%20presents%20at%20a%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference%20at%20Georgia%20Tech.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":298146,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/11\/01\/Matthew%20Golden%2C%20graduate%20student%20researcher%20in%20the%20School%20of%20Physics%2C%20presents%20at%20a%20recent%20machine%20learning%20conference%20at%20Georgia%20Tech.%20%28Photo%20Benjamin%20Zhao%29.jpg?itok=AYlNC-Ve"}}},"media_ids":["672238","672237","672236"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"190811","name":"Feryal \u00d6zel"},{"id":"190812","name":"Dimitrios Psaltis"},{"id":"187812","name":"artificial intelligence (AI)"},{"id":"9167","name":"machine learning"},{"id":"191934","name":"National Science Foundation (NSF)"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"14207","name":"plasma"},{"id":"4079","name":"astrophysics"},{"id":"4188","name":"astronomy"},{"id":"192252","name":"cos-planetary"},{"id":"192251","name":"cos-quantum"},{"id":"192863","name":"go-ai"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter: Renay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEditor: Jess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"668253":{"#nid":"668253","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Gauging Glaciers: Alex Robel Awarded NSF CAREER Grant for New Ice Melt Modeling Tool","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/robel-dr-alexander\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAlex Robel\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E is improving how computer models of melting ice sheets incorporate data from field expeditions and satellites by creating a new open-access software package \u2014 complete with state-of-the-art tools and paired with ice sheet models that anyone can use, even on a laptop or home computer.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EImproving these models is critical: while melting ice sheets and glaciers are top contributors to sea level rise, there are still large uncertainties in sea level projections at 2100 and beyond.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cPart of the problem is that the way that many models have been coded in the past has not been conducive to using these kinds of tools,\u201d Robel, an assistant professor in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, explains. \u201cIt\u0027s just very labor-intensive to set up these data assimilation tools \u2014 it usually involves someone refactoring the code over several years.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cOur goal is to provide a tool that anyone in the field can use very easily without a lot of labor at the front end,\u201d Robel says. \u201cThis project is really focused around developing the computational tools to make it easier for people who use ice sheet models to incorporate or inform them with the widest possible range of measurements from the ground, aircraft and satellites.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENow, a $780,000 NSF CAREER grant will help him to do so.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award is a five-year funding mechanism designed to help promising researchers establish a personal foundation for a lifetime of leadership in their field. Known as CAREER awards, the grants are NSF\u2019s most prestigious funding for untenured assistant professors.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cUltimately,\u201d Robel says, \u201cthis project will empower more people in the community to use these models and to use these models together with the observations that they\u0027re taking.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIce sheets remember\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cLargely, what models do right now is they look at one point in time, and they try their best \u2014 at that one point in time \u2014 to get the model to match some types of observations as closely as possible,\u201d Robel explains. \u201cFrom there, they let the computer model simulate what it thinks that ice sheet will do in the future.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIn doing so, the models often assume that the ice sheet starts in a state of balance, and that it is neither gaining nor losing ice at the start of the simulation. The problem with this approach is that ice sheets dynamically change, responding to past events \u2014 even ones that have happened centuries ago. \u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EW\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ee know from models and from decades of theory that the natural response time scale of thick ice sheets is hundreds to thousands of years,\u201d Robel adds.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EBy informing models with historical records, observations, and measurements, Robel hopes to improve their accuracy. \u201cWe have observations being made by satellites, aircraft, and field expeditions,\u201d says Robel. \u201cWe also have historical accounts, and can go even further back in time by looking at geological observations or ice cores. These can tell us about the long history of ice sheets and how they\u0027ve changed over hundreds or thousands of years.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERobel\u2019s team plans to use a set of techniques called data assimilation to adjust, or \u2018nudge\u2019, models. \u201cThese data assimilation techniques have been around for a really long time,\u201d Robel explains. \u201cFor example, they\u2019re critical to weather forecasting: every weather forecast that you see on your phone was ultimately the product of a weather model that used data assimilation to take many observations and apply them to a model simulation.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThe next part of the project is going to be incorporating this data assimilation capability into a cloud-based computational ice sheet model,\u201d Robel says. \u201cWe are planning to build an open source software package in Python that can use this sort of data assimilation method with any kind of ice sheet model.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERobel hopes it will expand accessibility. \u201cCurrently, it\u0027s very labor-intensive to set up these data assimilation tools, and while groups have done it, it usually involves someone re-coding and refactoring the code over several years.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EBuilding software for accessibility\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERobel\u2019s team will then apply their software package to a widely used model, which now has an online, browser-based version. \u201cThe reason why that is particularly useful is because the place where this model is running is also one of the largest community repositories for data in our field,\u201d Robel says.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ECalled \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theghub.org\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGhub\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, this relatively new repository is designed to be a community-wide place for sharing data on glaciers and ice sheets. \u201cSince this is also a place where the model is living, by adding this capability to this cloud-based model, we\u0027ll be able to directly use the data that\u0027s already living in the same place that the model is,\u201d Robel explains.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EUsers won\u2019t need to download data, or have a high-speed computer to access and use the data or model. Researchers collecting data will be able to upload their data to the repository, and immediately see the impact of their observations on future ice sheet melt simulations. Field researchers could use the model to optimize their long-term research plans by seeing where collecting new data might be most critical for refining predictions.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cWe really think that it is critical for everyone who\u0027s doing modeling of ice sheets to be doing this transient data simulation to make sure that our simulations across the field are all doing the best possible job to reproduce and match observations,\u201d Robel says. While in the past, the time and labor involved in setting up the tools has been a barrier, \u201cdeveloping this particular tool will allow us to bring transient data assimilation to essentially the whole field.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EBringing Real Data to Georgia\u2019s K-12 Classrooms\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe broad applications and user-base expands beyond the scientific community, and Robel is already developing a K-12 curriculum on sea level rise, in partnership with \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ceismc.gatech.edu\/about\/staffdirectory\/jayma-koval\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Tech CEISMC Researcher Jayma Koval\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E. \u201cThe students analyze data from real tide gauges and use them to learn about statistics, while also learning about sea level rise using real data,\u201d he explains.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EBecause the curriculum matches with state standards, teachers can download the curriculum, which is available for free online in partnership with the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/secoora.org\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESoutheast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E (SECOORA), and incorporate it into their preexisting lesson plans. \u201cWe worked with SECOORA to pilot a \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/secoora.org\/education-outreach\/sea-level-rise-curriculum\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Emiddle school curriculum\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E in Atlanta and Savannah, and \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eo\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ene of the things that we saw was that there are a lot of teachers outside of middle school who are requesting and downloading the curriculum because they want to teach their students about sea level rise, in particular in coastal areas,\u201d Robel adds.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIn Georgia, there is a data science class that exists in many high schools that is part of the computer science standards for the state. \u201cNow, we are partnering with a high school teacher to develop a second standards-aligned curriculum that is meant to be taught ideally in a data science class, computer class or statistics class,\u201d Robel says. \u201cIt can be taught as a module within that class and it will be the more advanced version of the middle school sea level curriculum.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe curriculum will guide students through using data analysis tools and coding in order to analyze real sea level data sets, while learning the science behind what causes variations and sea level, what causes sea level rise, and how to predict sea level changes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThat gets students to think about computational modeling and how computational modeling is an important part of their lives, whether it\u0027s to get a weather forecast or play a computer game,\u201d Robel adds. \u201cOur goal is to get students to imagine how all these things are combined, while thinking about the way that we project future sea level rise.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAlex Robel\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E, \u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eassistant professor in the \u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E,\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u0026nbsp;has been awarded a $780,000 NSF CAREER grant to improve how computer models of melting ice sheets incorporate data from field expeditions and satellites. Robel will create a new open-access software package \u2014 complete with state-of-the-art tools and paired with ice sheet models that anyone can use, even on a laptop or home computer.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Robel will create a new open-access software package \u2014 complete with state-of-the-art tools and paired with ice sheet models that anyone can use, even on a laptop or home computer."}],"uid":"35599","created_gmt":"2023-06-28 17:39:13","changed_gmt":"2023-12-14 17:07:17","author":"sperrin6","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-06-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-06-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"671064":{"id":"671064","type":"image","title":"Robel\u0027s open-access software package will pair state-of-the-art tools with ice sheet models that anyone can use","body":null,"created":"1687972518","gmt_created":"2023-06-28 17:15:18","changed":"1687974626","gmt_changed":"2023-06-28 17:50:26","alt":"A stylized glacier (Selena Langner)","file":{"fid":"254062","name":"Mosaic_Glacier_1.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/06\/28\/Mosaic_Glacier_1.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/06\/28\/Mosaic_Glacier_1.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1737059,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/06\/28\/Mosaic_Glacier_1.png?itok=ZaxA84g3"}},"658812":{"id":"658812","type":"image","title":"Alex Robel (Credit: Allison Carter)","body":null,"created":"1654895880","gmt_created":"2022-06-10 21:18:00","changed":"1687974677","gmt_changed":"2023-06-28 17:51:17","alt":"Alex Robel (Credit: Allison Carter)","file":{"fid":"249724","name":"robel headshot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robel%20headshot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robel%20headshot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":902540,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robel%20headshot.jpg?itok=-7x0d1Om"}}},"media_ids":["671064","658812"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/chemistry-chaos-peptides-and-infinite-problems-georgia-tech-researchers-pioneer-new-frontiers","title":"Chemistry, Chaos, Peptides, and (Infinite) Problems: Georgia Tech Researchers Pioneer New Frontiers with NSF CAREER Grants"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"EAS"},{"id":"565971","name":"Ocean Science and Engineering (OSE)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"61541","name":"Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"},{"id":"166926","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"},{"id":"192254","name":"cos-climate"},{"id":"192258","name":"cos-data"},{"id":"192863","name":"go-ai"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWritten by Selena Langner\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EContact: \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess.hunt@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"671540":{"#nid":"671540","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Smart Solids: Zeb Rocklin Awarded NSF CAREER for Flexible Metamaterials Research","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EImagine materials that respond to their environment: winter jackets that become thicker as temperatures drop, shoes that return energy with each stride, and robots that adapt to better accomplish their task as they aid in space exploration. All of these ideas could be made into a reality through \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Emechanical metamaterials, a group of flexible solids that blur the traditional definition of what a solid is.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EUnderstanding these metamaterials is key to \u201cprogramming\u201d them correctly, maximizing their utility. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u201cOne of the paradigms of this research is that the material is the machine,\u201d \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/d-rocklin\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EZeb Rocklin\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, explains. \u201cWe\u0027re creating a material that performs the mechanical tasks that we want it to, and the processes, forces and displacements in the ways we want it to.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EA new \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/awardsearch\/showAward?AWD_ID=2338492\u0026amp;HistoricalAwards=false\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E$630,000 NSF CAREER grant\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E will help Rocklin continue that research.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award is a five-year grant designed to help promising researchers establish a foundation for a lifetime of leadership in their field. Known as CAREER awards, the grants are NSF\u2019s most prestigious funding for untenured assistant professors.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe aw\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eard, for \u201cGeometric and topological mechanics of flexible structures,\u201d w\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eill help Rocklin continue developing a new, unified theory for \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Emechanical metamaterials \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u2014\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E a group of structures that can flex and move, while having traditional solid components that make it easier to model. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe theory could then be applied by other scientists and engineers to create responsive objects with smart fabrics that could respond to changes in environment \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u2014\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E like novel knee replacements, responsive airplane wings, and better robots.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMaterials as machines\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cA solid is defined by the fact that it has a shape, and if I try to change the shape it might generate patterns of stress, or if I hit it, you might hear noise, because it\u0027s vibrating,\u201d says\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERocklin. \u201cWhile we often think about things in terms of solids, liquids, and gasses, a lot of the things that are very important to us are not what we think of as a conventional solid.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFlexible solids, like clothing, robots, and even our own bodies permeate our world, and are often some of the most useful materials we encounter. \u201cThis creates this huge challenge,\u201d Rocklin says, \u201cbecause flexible solids can\u0027t always be understood using current techniques of physics. We can write down the equations, but the equations are often too hard for anyone to solve.\u201d For example, imagine trying to predict or replicate the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/news\/2022\/02\/04\/researchers-develop-methodology-streamlined-control-material-deformation\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Einfinite ways a piece of paper can crumple\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E. As a result, flexible solids are often expensive and time consuming to model.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThat\u2019s where Rocklin\u2019s new theory comes in.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMechanical metamaterials\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EBy combining well-known solids with flexible properties, Rocklin hopes to create a mathematically simple theory. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThere are philosophical differences and limitations here,\u201d he says, \u201cbut as a physicist, I\u2019m looking for universal principles that can apply to a variety of things. Our technique is meant to complement the existing simulations, and it\u0027s meant to provide us more insight into these systems so that we can understand how to control them better.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EBy building a theory around materials made of repeating solids connected by flexible hinges, Rocklin hopes to make a computationally inexpensive technique to predict and control the deformation of flexible structures. One example of this type of structure consists of\u0026nbsp; solid square pieces connected by their corners in a checkerboard pattern. The pieces pivot against each other at these hinged corners, allowing the structure to easily expand and contract. \u201cThese materials find a sweet spot in between simple solids that were well-characterized in the nineteenth century and the flexible objects that are just too complicated for us to fully describe,\u201d Rocklin adds.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EWhile the material can only deform via one method, (by flexing at the hinges) this does not mean that there is only one way the material deforms. Rather, through this one method of deformation, there are an infinite number of modes or computations that the fabric can assume, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eillustrating Rocklin\u0027s key insight \u2013 that a single flexible mode inevitably gives rise to a whole host of complex deformations.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThere\u0027s very simple universal math to describe how this type of material operates,\u201d Rocklin adds. \u201cAnd, when people actually make this material, it turns out that it actually looks like this, and it actually deforms in this way.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EBroad applications\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAs a theoretical physicist, Rocklin is focused on developing a unified theory that can be applied by experts across many fields. For example, collapsable biomedical devices like stents, which should be small when inserted, but need to expand when inside the body. Inspired by the ever-adapting wings of birds, adaptable airplane wings are also an intriguing frontier.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERather than minute adjustments via circuitry, airplane wings could be built from these flexible solids, which could be designed to automatically adapt when given a signal from the wind. Building an antenna from materials that respond to certain \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eelectromagnetic frequencies, to optimize signal reception, is another of many possible applications for the work.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new $630,000 NSF CAREER grant will help Zeb Rocklin, assistant professor in the School of Physics, continue his research into developing a new universal theory around mechanical metamaterials: a group of flexible solids that blur the traditional definition of what a solid is.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A $630,000 NSF CAREER grant will help Rocklin\u00a0continue his research into developing a new universal theory for\u00a0a group of flexible solids that blur the traditional definition of what a solid is."}],"uid":"35599","created_gmt":"2023-12-12 13:57:27","changed_gmt":"2023-12-12 19:30:16","author":"sperrin6","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-12-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2023-12-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"672552":{"id":"672552","type":"image","title":"A model of a mechanical metamaterial.","body":null,"created":"1702389457","gmt_created":"2023-12-12 13:57:37","changed":"1702389457","gmt_changed":"2023-12-12 13:57:37","alt":"A mechanical metamaterial: a series of squares connected at their corners, which can move by flexing at the hinges where the corners are connected.","file":{"fid":"255806","name":"conf1.gif","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/12\/12\/conf1.gif","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/12\/12\/conf1.gif","mime":"image\/gif","size":8500447,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/12\/12\/conf1.gif?itok=nJ2rxLSu"}},"672553":{"id":"672553","type":"image","title":"Zeb Rocklin","body":null,"created":"1702389614","gmt_created":"2023-12-12 14:00:14","changed":"1702389614","gmt_changed":"2023-12-12 14:00:14","alt":"A headshot of Zeb Rocklin","file":{"fid":"255807","name":"Rocklin_Headshot.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/12\/12\/Rocklin_Headshot.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/12\/12\/Rocklin_Headshot.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":49419,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/12\/12\/Rocklin_Headshot.jpeg?itok=hdNKTtM2"}}},"media_ids":["672552","672553"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"192251","name":"cos-quantum"},{"id":"192258","name":"cos-data"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWritten by Selena Langner\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EContact: Jess Hunt- Ralston\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess.hunt@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"671105":{"#nid":"671105","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Physicists Focus on Neutrinos With New Telescope","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Tech scientists will soon have another way to search for neutrinos, those hard-to-detect, high-energy particles speeding through the cosmos that hold clues to massive particle accelerators in the universe \u2014 if researchers can find them.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThe detection of a neutrino source or even a single neutrino at the highest energies is like finding a holy grail,\u201d says Professor \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/a.-nepomuk-otte\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENepomuk Otte\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, the principal investigator for the Trinity Demonstrator telescope that was recently built by his group and collaborators, and was designed to detect neutrinos after they get stopped within the Earth.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENational Science Foundation\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E (NSF)-funded effort will eventually create \u201cthe world\u2019s most sensitive ultra-high energy neutrino telescope.\u201d The Trinity Demonstrator is the first step toward an array of 18 telescopes located at three sites, each on top of a high mountain.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EEarlier in the year, Otte\u2019s group flew a neutrino telescope tethered to a massive NASA-funded balloon \u2014 though a leak brought the telescope down earlier than planned. The effort was part of the EUSO-SPB2 collaboration, which wants to study cosmic-particle accelerators with detectors in space.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThis was the first time our group had built an instrument for a balloon mission,\u201d Otte says. \u201cAnd the big question was if it would work at the boundary to space at -40F and in a vacuum. Even though we only flew 37 hours (of a 50-hour mission), we could show that our instrument worked as expected. We even accomplished some key measurements, like making a measurement of the background light, which no one has done before.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe search for neutrinos\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EOtte is the second Georgia Tech physicist to lead a search for neutrinos. Professor \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/ignacio-taboada\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIgnacio Taboada\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E is the spokesperson for \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/icecube.wisc.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIceCube, an NSF neutrino observatory\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E located at the South Pole. IceCube uses thousands of sensors buried in the ice to detect neutrinos.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMeanwhile, Trinity telescopes will be especially sensitive to higher-energy neutrinos. \u201cWith Trinity, we can potentially open a new, entirely unexplored window in astronomy,\u201d Otte says. \u201cIceCube gives us a couple of good pointers on what to observe. That is also why we modified the building of the Trinity Demonstrator to point toward the only two high-energy neutrino sources\u201d already identified by IceCube scientists.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u2018Cherenkov lights\u2019 illuminate \u2018air showers\u2019\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe Trinity Demonstrator telescope is not your typical astronomy telescope. Instead of looking into the sky, it is looking at the horizon, waiting for a flash of light to happen that only lasts tens of billionths of a second.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThat flash is at the end of a chain of events that happens when a high-energy neutrino enters the Earth under a shallow angle. Upon penetrating Earth and traveling along a straight line for a hundred miles, the neutrino eventually interacts inside the Earth, producing a tau particle, which is like a short-lived massive electron.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe tau continues to travel through the Earth, and when it bounces out of the ground, it decays into millions of electrons and positrons, which zip through the air. Because the electrons and positrons travel faster than the speed of light in the air, they emit Cherenkov light, the short flash of light the Trinity Demonstrator telescope detects. Using computer algorithms, the recorded Cherenkov flashes are analyzed to reconstruct the energy and arrival direction of the neutrino.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EOtte and his team of Georgia Tech postdoctoral and graduate scholars developed and built the Trinity Demonstrator. Undergraduate students have also had significant responsibilities in designing its optics. \u201cIt is good for the students because they are involved in all aspects of the experiment. In big collaborations, you are an expert on one aspect only,\u201d Otte says.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe largest collaboration Otte is currently involved with is the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cta-observatory.org\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ECherenkov Telescope Array\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, which involves more than 2,000 researchers. That planned international project will involve 60 next-generation gamma-ray telescopes in Chile and on the Canary Island of La Palma.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENext year, Otte says he and his researchers will apply for funding to build a much bigger telescope, which will be the foundation for the NSF 18-telescope array. For now, the team is busy observing with the Trinity Demonstrator atop Frisco Peak in Utah.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cWith a bit of luck, we will detect the first neutrino source at these energies,\u201d Otte said.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFunding: \u003C\/strong\u003ENational Science Foundation (NSF)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Physics Professor Nepomuk Otte and students have developed the Trinity Demonstrator to search for sources of high-energy neutrinos that contain clues to the early universe."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EPhysics Professor Nepomuk Otte and students have developed the Trinity Demonstrator to search for sources of high-energy neutrinos that contain clues to the early universe.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Physics Professor Nepomuk Otte and students have developed the Trinity Demonstrator to search for sources of high-energy neutrinos that contain clues to the early universe."}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2023-11-16 15:58:35","changed_gmt":"2023-11-17 14:10:36","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-11-16T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2023-11-16T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"672397":{"id":"672397","type":"image","title":"The Trinity Demonstrator telescope. (Photo Nepomuk Otte)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Trinity Demonstrator telescope. (Photo Nepomuk Otte)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1700150445","gmt_created":"2023-11-16 16:00:45","changed":"1700150445","gmt_changed":"2023-11-16 16:00:45","alt":"The Trinity Demonstrator telescope. (Photo Nepomuk Otte)","file":{"fid":"255628","name":"The Trinity Demonstrator telescope. (Photo Nepomuk Otte).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/16\/The%20Trinity%20Demonstrator%20telescope.%20%28Photo%20Nepomuk%20Otte%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/16\/The%20Trinity%20Demonstrator%20telescope.%20%28Photo%20Nepomuk%20Otte%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2758740,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/11\/16\/The%20Trinity%20Demonstrator%20telescope.%20%28Photo%20Nepomuk%20Otte%29.jpg?itok=PlZDu0fx"}},"672398":{"id":"672398","type":"image","title":"The Trinity Demonstrator team, graduate scholar Jordan Bogdan, postdoctoral scholar Mariia Fedkevych, graduate scholar Sofia Stepanoff, and Professor Nepomuk Otte.","body":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Trinity Demonstrator team, graduate scholar Jordan Bogdan, postdoctoral scholar Mariia Fedkevych, graduate scholar Sofia Stepanoff, and Professor Nepomuk Otte.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1700150553","gmt_created":"2023-11-16 16:02:33","changed":"1700150553","gmt_changed":"2023-11-16 16:02:33","alt":"The Trinity Demonstrator team, graduate scholar Jordan Bogdan, postdoctoral scholar Mariia Fedkevych, graduate scholar Sofia Stepanoff, and Professor Nepomuk Otte.","file":{"fid":"255629","name":"The Trinity Demonstrator team, graduate scholar Jordan Bogdan, postdoctoral scholar Mariia Fedkevych, graduate scholar Sofia Stepanoff, and Professor Nepomuk Otte..jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/16\/The%20Trinity%20Demonstrator%20team%2C%20graduate%20scholar%20Jordan%20Bogdan%2C%20postdoctoral%20scholar%20Mariia%20Fedkevych%2C%20graduate%20scholar%20Sofia%20Stepanoff%2C%20and%20Professor%20Nepomuk%20Otte..jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/16\/The%20Trinity%20Demonstrator%20team%2C%20graduate%20scholar%20Jordan%20Bogdan%2C%20postdoctoral%20scholar%20Mariia%20Fedkevych%2C%20graduate%20scholar%20Sofia%20Stepanoff%2C%20and%20Professor%20Nepomuk%20Otte..jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3059659,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/11\/16\/The%20Trinity%20Demonstrator%20team%2C%20graduate%20scholar%20Jordan%20Bogdan%2C%20postdoctoral%20scholar%20Mariia%20Fedkevych%2C%20graduate%20scholar%20Sofia%20Stepanoff%2C%20and%20Professor%20Nepomuk%20Otte..jpg?itok=TXIQY-gn"}}},"media_ids":["672397","672398"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/icecube-neutrinos-give-us-first-glimpse-inner-depths-active-galaxy","title":"IceCube Neutrinos Give Us First Glimpse Into the Inner Depths of an Active Galaxy"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/icecube-detects-high-energy-neutrino-emission-milky-way","title":"IceCube Detects High-Energy Neutrino Emission from Milky Way"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/ignacio-taboada-elected-spokesperson-icecube-south-pole-neutrino-observatory","title":"Ignacio Taboada Elected Spokesperson for IceCube South Pole Neutrino Observatory"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/john-wise-named-director-center-relativistic-astrophysics-georgia-tech","title":"John Wise Named Director of the Center for Relativistic Astrophysics at Georgia Tech"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"176918","name":"Nepomuk Otte"},{"id":"11442","name":"neutrinos"},{"id":"168192","name":"Tau Neutrinos"},{"id":"30781","name":"Ignacio Taboada"},{"id":"178529","name":"IceCube Neutrino Observatory"},{"id":"193266","name":"cos-research"},{"id":"192252","name":"cos-planetary"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter: Renay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEditor: Jess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"667312":{"#nid":"667312","#data":{"type":"news","title":"A Sharper Look at the M87 Black Hole ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis press release is shared jointly with the \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ias.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EInstitute for Advanced Study\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E (IAS) and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.noirlab.edu\/public\/news\/noirlab2310\/\u0022\u003ENSF\u2019s NOIRLab\u003C\/a\u003E. It first appeared in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ias.edu\/news\/sharper-look-m87\u0022\u003EIAS newsroom\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EA team of researchers, including astrophysicists from Georgia Tech, the Institute for Advanced Study, and NSF\u2019s NOIRLab, has developed a new machine-learning technique to enhance the fidelity and sharpness of radio interferometric images. To demonstrate the power of their new approach, which is called PRIMO, the team created a new, high-fidelity version of the iconic Event Horizon Telescope\u0027s image of the supermassive black hole at the center of Messier 87, a giant elliptical galaxy located 55 million light-years from Earth.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe iconic image of the supermassive black hole at the center of M87\u2014sometimes referred to as the \u201cfuzzy, orange donut\u201d\u2014has gotten its first official makeover with the help of machine learning. The new image further exposes a central region that is larger and darker, surrounded by the bright accreting gas shaped like a \u201cskinny donut.\u201d The team used the data obtained by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration in 2017 and achieved, for the first time, the full resolution of the array.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe new image of the M87 black hole showcases the remarkable power of the highest-resolution telescope on Earth working in tandem with modern machine learning algorithms; it demonstrates how technology continues to push the boundaries of our understanding of the universe,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/feryal-%C3%B6zel\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFeryal \u00d6zel\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and chair of the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2017, the EHT collaboration used a network of seven pre-existing telescopes around the world to gather data on M87, creating an \u201cEarth-sized telescope.\u201d However, since it is infeasible to cover the Earth\u2019s entire surface with telescopes, gaps arise in the data\u2014like missing pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWith our new machine learning technique, PRIMO, we were able to achieve the maximum resolution of the current array,\u201d says lead author Lia Medeiros of the Institute for Advanced Study. \u201cSince we cannot study black holes up-close, the detail of an image plays a critical role in our ability to understand its behavior. The width of the ring in the image is now smaller by about a factor of two, which will be a powerful constraint for our theoretical models and tests of gravity.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPRIMO, which stands for principal-component interferometric modeling, was developed by EHT members Lia Medeiros (Institute for Advanced Study), \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/dmitrios-psaltis\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDimitrios Psaltis\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E (Georgia Tech), Tod Lauer (NOIRLab), and Feryal \u00d6zel (Georgia Tech). Their publication, \u201cThe Image of the M87 Black Hole Reconstructed with PRIMO,\u201d is now available in \u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/2041-8213\/acc32d\u0022\u003EThe Astrophysical Journal Letters\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPRIMO is a new approach to the difficult task of constructing images from EHT observations,\u201d said Lauer. \u201cIt provides a way to compensate for the missing information about the object being observed, which is required to generate the image that would have been seen using a single gigantic radio telescope the size of the Earth.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPRIMO relies on dictionary learning, a branch of machine learning which enables computers to generate rules based on large sets of training material. For example, if a computer is fed a series of different banana images\u2014with sufficient training\u2014it may be able to determine if an unknown image is or is not a banana. Beyond this simple case, the versatility of machine learning has been demonstrated in numerous ways: from creating Renaissance-style works of art to completing the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/innovation\/how-artificial-intelligence-completed-beethovens-unfinished-10th-symphony-180978753\/\u0022\u003Eunfinished work of Beethoven\u003C\/a\u003E. So how might machines help scientists to render a black hole image? The research team has answered this very question.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith PRIMO, computers analyzed over 30,000 high-fidelity simulated images of black holes accreting gas. The ensemble of simulations covered a wide range of models for how the black hole accretes matter, looking for common patterns in the structure of the images. The various patterns of structure were sorted by how commonly they occured in the simulations, and were then blended to provide a highly accurate representation of the EHT observations, simultaneously providing a high fidelity estimate of the missing structure of the images. A paper pertaining to the algorithm itself was published in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/1538-4357\/acaa9a\/meta\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Astrophysical Journal\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E on February 3, 2023.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are using physics to fill in regions of missing data in a way that has never been done before by using machine learning,\u201d added Medeiros. \u201cThis could have important implications for interferometry, which plays a role in fields from exo-planets to medicine.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team confirmed that the newly rendered image is consistent with the EHT data and with theoretical expectations, including the bright ring of emission expected to be produced by hot gas falling into the black hole. Generating an image required assuming an appropriate form of the missing information, and PRIMO did this by building on the 2019 discovery that the M87 black hole in broad detail looked as predicted.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cApproximately four years after the first horizon-scale image of a black hole was unveiled by EHT in 2019, we have marked another milestone, producing an image that utilizes the full resolution of the array for the first time,\u201d stated Psaltis. \u201cThe new machine learning techniques that we have developed provide a golden opportunity for our collective work to understand black hole physics.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new image should lead to more accurate determinations of the mass of the M87 black hole and the physical parameters that determine its present appearance. The data also provides an opportunity for researchers to place greater constraints on alternatives to the event horizon (based on the darker central brightness depression) and perform more robust tests of gravity (based on the narrower ring size). PRIMO can also be applied to additional EHT observations, including those of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eventhorizontelescope.org\/blog\/astronomers-reveal-first-image-black-hole-heart-our-galaxy\u0022\u003ESgr A*\u003C\/a\u003E, the central black hole in our own Milky Way galaxy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EM87 is a massive, relatively nearby, galaxy in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Over a century ago, a mysterious jet of hot plasma was observed to emanate from its center. Beginning in the 1950s, the then new technique of radio astronomy showed the galaxy to have a compact bright radio source at its center. During the 1960s, M87 had been suspected to have a massive black hole at its center powering this activity. Measurements made from ground-based telescopes starting in the 1970s, and later the Hubble Space Telescope starting in the 1990s, provided strong support that M87 indeed harbored a black hole weighing several billion times the mass of the Sun based on observations of the high velocities of stars and gas orbiting its center. The 2017 EHT observations of M87 were obtained over several days from several different radio telescopes linked together at the same time to obtain the highest possible resolution. The now iconic \u201corange donut\u201d picture of the M87 black hole, released in 2019, reflected the first attempt to produce an image from these observations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe 2019 image was just the beginning,\u201d stated Medeiros. \u201cIf a picture is worth a thousand words, the data underlying that image have many more stories to tell. PRIMO will continue to be a critical tool in extracting such insights.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDevelopment of the PRIMO algorithm was enabled through the support of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/beta.nsf.gov\/funding\/opportunities\/nsf-astronomy-astrophysics-postdoctoral\u0022\u003ENational Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Georgia Institute of Technology \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech,\u202fis one of the top public research universities in the U.S., with more than 45,000 undergraduate and graduate students who study in person at the main campus in Atlanta, at Georgia Tech-Europe in France, at Georgia Tech-Shenzhen in China, as well as through distance and online learning. Students represent 50 states and more than 148 countries.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s\u202fengineering\u202fand\u202fcomputing\u202fColleges are the largest and among the highest-ranked in the nation, and the Institute also offers outstanding programs in\u202fbusiness,\u202fdesign,\u202fliberal arts, and\u202fsciences.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EWith more than $1 billion annually in research awards across all six Colleges and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), Georgia Tech is among the nation\u2019s most research-intensive universities. It is an engine of economic development for the state of Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s mission is to develop leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. Its mission and strategic plan are focused on making a positive impact in the lives of people everywhere. Since 1885, the people of Georgia Tech have dared to imagine and then create solutions for a better future. The innovative culture and leadership continue \u2014 Progress and Service\u202ffor all.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the Institute for Advanced Study\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Institute for Advanced Study has served the world as one of the leading independent centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry since its establishment in 1930, advancing the frontiers of knowledge across the sciences and humanities. From the work of founding IAS faculty such as Albert Einstein and John von Neumann to that of the foremost thinkers of the present, the IAS is dedicated to enabling curiosity-driven exploration and fundamental discovery.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEach year, the Institute welcomes more than 200 of the world\u2019s most promising post-doctoral researchers and scholars who are selected and mentored by a permanent Faculty, each of whom are preeminent leaders in their fields. Among present and past Faculty and Members there have been 35 Nobel Laureates, 44 of the 62 Fields Medalists, and 23 of the 26 Abel Prize Laureates, as well as many MacArthur Fellows and Wolf Prize winners.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Machine Learning Reconstructs New Image from EHT Data"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA team of researchers, including astrophysicists from Georgia Tech, the Institute for Advanced Study, and NSF\u2019s NOIRLab, has developed a new machine-learning technique to enhance the fidelity and sharpness of radio interferometric images. To demonstrate the power of their new approach, which is called PRIMO, the team created a new, high-fidelity version of the iconic Event Horizon Telescope\u0027s image of the supermassive black hole at the center of Messier 87, a giant elliptical galaxy located 55 million light-years from Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A team of researchers, including astrophysicists from Georgia Tech, has created a new, high-fidelity version of the iconic Event Horizon Telescope\u0027s image of the supermassive black hole at the center of Messier 87."}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2023-04-13 13:27:19","changed_gmt":"2023-04-14 15:46:14","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-04-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-04-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"670554":{"id":"670554","type":"image","title":"The new image generated by the PRIMO algorithm (EHT \/ Medeiros et al. 2023)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EThe new image generated by the PRIMO algorithm (EHT \/ Medeiros et al. 2023)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1681487141","gmt_created":"2023-04-14 15:45:41","changed":"1681487141","gmt_changed":"2023-04-14 15:45:41","alt":"The new image generated by the PRIMO algorithm (EHT \/ Medeiros et al. 2023)","file":{"fid":"253437","name":"M87_PRIMO_single_BW8_no_scale_5000px.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/14\/M87_PRIMO_single_BW8_no_scale_5000px_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/14\/M87_PRIMO_single_BW8_no_scale_5000px_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":354046,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/04\/14\/M87_PRIMO_single_BW8_no_scale_5000px_1.jpg?itok=Mgv57lEL"}},"670516":{"id":"670516","type":"image","title":"At left, EHT 2019, the original image of the black hole published in 2019 \u2014 and at right, PRIMO: the improved version that uses the researchers\u2019 machine learning algorithm. (Image: Event Horizon Telescope)","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAt left, EHT 2019, the original image of the black hole published in 2019 \u2014 and at right, PRIMO: the improved version that uses the researchers\u2019 machine learning algorithm. (Image: Event Horizon Telescope)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1681392060","gmt_created":"2023-04-13 13:21:00","changed":"1681392060","gmt_changed":"2023-04-13 13:21:00","alt":"At left, EHT 2019, the original image of the black hole published in 2019 \u2014 and at right, PRIMO: the improved version that uses the researchers\u2019 machine learning algorithm. (Image: Event Horizon Telescope)At left, EHT 2019, the original image of the black hole published in 2019 \u2014 and at right, PRIMO: the improved version that uses the researchers\u2019 machine learning algorithm. (Image: Event Horizon Telescope)","file":{"fid":"253388","name":"EHT 2023.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/13\/EHT%202023.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/13\/EHT%202023.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":165858,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/04\/13\/EHT%202023.jpg?itok=pUoQlDFj"}},"670553":{"id":"670553","type":"image","title":"Overview of simulations that were generated for the training set of the PRIMO algorithm (EHT \/ Medeiros et al. 2023)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EOverview of simulations that were generated for the training set of the PRIMO algorithm (EHT \/ Medeiros et al. 2023)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1681485961","gmt_created":"2023-04-14 15:26:01","changed":"1681485961","gmt_changed":"2023-04-14 15:26:01","alt":"Overview of simulations that were generated for the training set of the PRIMO algorithm (EHT \/ Medeiros et al. 2023)","file":{"fid":"253434","name":"Simulations.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/14\/Simulations.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/14\/Simulations.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":946265,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/04\/14\/Simulations.jpg?itok=lwQgWRtN"}},"658925":{"id":"658925","type":"image","title":"Feryal \u00d6zel, professor and chair of the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.","body":null,"created":"1655326554","gmt_created":"2022-06-15 20:55:54","changed":"1681392226","gmt_changed":"2023-04-13 13:23:46","alt":"Feryal \u00d6zel, professor and chair of the School of Physics.","file":{"fid":"249771","name":"2022 05 12 Feryal Ozel - headshot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Feryal%20Ozel%20-%20headshot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Feryal%20Ozel%20-%20headshot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":444816,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Feryal%20Ozel%20-%20headshot.jpg?itok=wK1uR0sk"}},"658926":{"id":"658926","type":"image","title":"Dimitrios Psaltis, professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.","body":null,"created":"1655327108","gmt_created":"2022-06-15 21:05:08","changed":"1681392301","gmt_changed":"2023-04-13 13:25:01","alt":"Dimitrios Psaltis, professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.","file":{"fid":"249772","name":"2022 05 12 Dimitrios Psaltis - headshot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Dimitrios%20Psaltis%20-%20headshot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Dimitrios%20Psaltis%20-%20headshot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":452646,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Dimitrios%20Psaltis%20-%20headshot.jpg?itok=mp840_hW"}},"670445":{"id":"670445","type":"image","title":"Dimitrios Psaltis (left) and Feryal \u00d6zel (right) recently hosted an EHT workshop on campus. (Photo: CK Chan)","body":null,"created":"1680639771","gmt_created":"2023-04-04 20:22:51","changed":"1680639771","gmt_changed":"2023-04-04 20:22:51","alt":"Dimitrios Psaltis and Feryal \u00d6zel recently hosted an EHT workshop on campus","file":{"fid":"253302","name":"2023 EHT Workshop at GT - CK Chan - 1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/04\/2023%20EHT%20Workshop%20at%20GT%20-%20CK%20Chan%20-%201.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/04\/04\/2023%20EHT%20Workshop%20at%20GT%20-%20CK%20Chan%20-%201.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":620901,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/04\/04\/2023%20EHT%20Workshop%20at%20GT%20-%20CK%20Chan%20-%201.jpg?itok=FtwzVU4f"}}},"media_ids":["670554","670516","670553","658925","658926","670445"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/event-horizon-telescope-team-leverages-machine-learning-optimizing-worldwide-astronomical","title":"Event Horizon Telescope Team Leverages Machine Learning for \u0027Optimizing Worldwide Astronomical Observations\u0027 "},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/feryal-ozel-named-school-physics-chair","title":"Feryal \u00d6zel Named School of Physics Chair"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192252","name":"cos-planetary"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\njess@cos.gatech.edu\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n(404) 385-5207\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELee Sandberg\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nInstitute for Advanced Study\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nlsandberg@ias.edu\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n(609) 455-4398\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETod Lauer\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nNSF\u2019s NOIRLab\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\ntod.lauer@noirlab.ed\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"666840":{"#nid":"666840","#data":{"type":"news","title":"TRAPPIST-1 Exoplanets May Harbor Life \u2014 But Disruptions Due to Gravity and Climate Could Turn One of Its Earth-size Planets Into a \u201cSnowball\u201d","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E40 light years away from Earth, the TRAPPIST-1 system of exoplanets shows promise for containing atmospheres that may support life. Yet two recent studies from teams involving Georgia Tech \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E and \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/math.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Mathematics\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E researchers show a few of the planets could spin themselves into chaotic day-night cycles, which could ultimately result in shared fates becoming uninhabitable snowballs.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThe \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/1538-4357\/ac0e97\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Efirst paper\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E is about how the day-night cycles of the planets vary,\u201d said \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/gongjie-li\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGongjie Li\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, assistant professor in the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E and a co-author of both studies. \u201cThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/2041-8213\/acbd33\u0022\u003Esecond paper\u003C\/a\u003E is about the effects of the day-night cycles on climate. It is the first (work) to combine rigid-body simulations with 3D global climate models.\u201d In this instance, \u201crigid body\u201d refers to extended planetary bodies, and this is different from traditional dynamical approaches that assume the planets are point masses.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cWe found that the chaotic variations in the day-night cycles led to fast snowball transitions for TRAPPIST-1f,\u201d the fifth planet from the red dwarf star that is the system\u2019s sun. \u201cThis can render the planet trapped in a permanent snowball state, and makes it less favorable to life that we know of,\u201d Li said.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe team for the first \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/1538-4357\/ac0e97\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Estudy\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, published in \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe Astrophysical Journal\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E in December 2022, \u201cGRIT: A Package for Structure-Preserving Simulations of Gravitationally Interacting Rigid Bodies,\u201d includes Li and two researchers from the Georgia Tech School of Mathematics: Associate Professor \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mtao8.math.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EMolei Tao\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E and graduate student \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/renyi-chen-4a3173b6\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERenyi Chen\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ELi and \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.fit.edu\/faculty-profiles\/c\/chen-howard\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EHoward Chen\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, assistant professor at the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.fit.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFlorida Institute of Technology\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, collaborated with \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/science.gsfc.nasa.gov\/sed\/bio\/ravikumar.kopparapu\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERavi Kumar Kopparapu\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, a planetary scientist for \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ENASA\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E; and \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/adivparadise.ca\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAdiv Paradise\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E, who developed a 3D climate model used for the second \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/2041-8213\/acbd33\u0022\u003Estudy\u003C\/a\u003E, \u201cSporadic Spin-Orbit Variations in Compact Multi-planet Systems and their Influence on Exoplanet Climate.\u201d That study was published this month in \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAstrophysical Journal Letters\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ERotating into \u2018crazy\u2019 day-night cycles\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe TRAPPIST-1 system, discovered in 2017 is often called \u201cthe miniature solar system with seven rocky planets.\u201d\u0026nbsp; The system hosts the most Earth-sized planets found in the habitable zone of a single star to date. It is also, according to NASA, the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/exoplanets.nasa.gov\/trappist1\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Emost studied\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E planetary system, second to our own.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThree of the planets, TRAPPIST-e, f, and g, are considered to be in their sun\u2019s habitable or \u201cGoldilocks\u201d zone, because their distance from their sun means temperatures aren\u2019t too hot or cold. Liquid water may also flow near or on the surface of these planets. The research done by Li and her colleagues for the first study included formulas for computer simulations that take into account gravitational pulls from these planets and their sun, along with their tidal forces.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe tidal forces in the TRAPPIST-1 system bring up a similarity to Earth\u2019s moon. \u201cThe planets reside very close to their host star and experience strong tidal interactions with that star, and thus were expected to be tidally locked, similar to the case of our own Moon, with one face always towards Earth, and permanent dayside and nightside,\u201d Li said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe formulas produced results that suggested the planets\u2019 rotation could become asynchronous, or chaotic, in 10 years, as those dynamics significantly affect their rotation. Those factors \u201ccan kick the outermost three planets\u201d \u2014 TRAPPIST-1f, 1g, and 1h \u2014 \u201cout of a tidally locked stage, and into having crazy day-night cycles,\u201d Li said.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EA potentially habitable planet could become an uninhabitable snowball\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe second research study combined those algorithms with a 3D climate model.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E \u201cWe include clouds, rainfall, and solar radiation in 3D in these models, and we coupled the spin-dynamics of the planets with 3D global climate models, the first time in the literature to do so.\u201d said Chen, the lead author of the second paper.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe researchers knew that existing climate modeling had shown that tidally-influenced terrestrial exoplanets \u2014 particularly those orbiting M-dwarf stars like TRAPPIST-1 \u2014 have unique atmospheric dynamics and surface conditions that may boost their likelihood to host livable habitats.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EYet imagine a planet showing a different \u201cface\u201d to its host star than it usually does. Different cooling and warming cycles would take over, especially for those exoplanets farthest away from TRAPPIST-1.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cTRAPPIST-1e is very warm, and the crazy day-night cycles don\u2019t affect the climate much. However, TRAPPIST-1f is a lot colder, and a change in day-night cycles can make it a snowball.\u201d The reason: when the planet rotates, the new hot dayside doesn\u2019t have enough time for the existing ice to melt, and when the new nightside forms ice, it leaves the planet covered in snow.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched in December 2021, recently began \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.space.com\/james-webb-space-telescope-trappist-planets\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Efocusing\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E on the outermost TRAPPIST-1 planets. The Telescope\u2019s instrument package includes ways to detect carbon dioxide, methane, and oxygen molecules in an exoplanet\u2019s atmosphere, which may yet yield clues to life.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cWe do not know what the climate is like on those planets yet,\u201d Li said. \u201cHowever,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Efuture studies by JWST on the atmosphere compositions of the planets will help us know more about its climate, and test our results.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFunding for the two TRAPPIST-1 studies is provided by NASA.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ECitations:\u0026nbsp;Citation Renyi Chen et al 2021 ApJ 919 50\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDOI 10.3847\/1538-4357\/ac0e97\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EHoward Chen et al 2023 ApJL 946 L32\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDOI 10.3847\/2041-8213\/acbd33\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAbout Georgia Tech\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology, \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Eor \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Tech,\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E is one of the top public research universities in the U.S., developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe Institute offers\u202f\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ebusiness, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts,\u202fand\u202fsciences\u202f\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Edegrees. Its more than 46,000 students, representing 50 states and more than 150 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAs a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"basic_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers from the School of Physics and Mathematics use complex math formulas and 3D climate modeling to study potential changes to TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets\u2019 rotation and orbits"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers from the School of Physics and Mathematics use complex math formulas and 3D climate modeling to study potential changes to TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets\u2019 rotation and orbits.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"basic_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers from the School of Physics and Mathematics use complex math formulas and 3D climate modeling to study potential changes to TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets\u2019 rotation and orbits"}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2023-03-28 14:11:33","changed_gmt":"2023-03-29 20:21:34","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-03-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-03-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"670326":{"id":"670326","type":"image","title":"TRAPPIST-1 Exoplanets (Photo NASA JPL).jpg","body":null,"created":"1680014061","gmt_created":"2023-03-28 14:34:21","changed":"1680014061","gmt_changed":"2023-03-28 14:34:21","alt":"TRAPPIST-1 Exoplanets (Photo NASA\/JPL)","file":{"fid":"253156","name":"TRAPPIST-1 Exoplanets (Photo NASA JPL).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/03\/28\/TRAPPIST-1%20Exoplanets%20%28Photo%20NASA%20JPL%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/03\/28\/TRAPPIST-1%20Exoplanets%20%28Photo%20NASA%20JPL%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":216138,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/03\/28\/TRAPPIST-1%20Exoplanets%20%28Photo%20NASA%20JPL%29.jpg?itok=fLwNG9oq"}},"670327":{"id":"670327","type":"image","title":"Gongjie Li.png","body":null,"created":"1680014639","gmt_created":"2023-03-28 14:43:59","changed":"1680014639","gmt_changed":"2023-03-28 14:43:59","alt":"Gongjie Li","file":{"fid":"253157","name":"Gongjie Li.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/03\/28\/Gongjie%20Li.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/03\/28\/Gongjie%20Li.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1139993,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/03\/28\/Gongjie%20Li.png?itok=I2KM4lNG"}},"670328":{"id":"670328","type":"image","title":"Molei Tao.png","body":null,"created":"1680014867","gmt_created":"2023-03-28 14:47:47","changed":"1680014867","gmt_changed":"2023-03-28 14:47:47","alt":"Molei Tao","file":{"fid":"253158","name":"Molei Tao.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/03\/28\/Molei%20Tao.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/03\/28\/Molei%20Tao.png","mime":"image\/png","size":519917,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/03\/28\/Molei%20Tao.png?itok=6lyHNHYz"}},"670330":{"id":"670330","type":"image","title":"Howard Chen.jpg","body":null,"created":"1680033755","gmt_created":"2023-03-28 20:02:35","changed":"1680033755","gmt_changed":"2023-03-28 20:02:35","alt":"Howard Chen ","file":{"fid":"253161","name":"Howard Chen.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/03\/28\/Howard%20Chen.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/03\/28\/Howard%20Chen.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1028619,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/03\/28\/Howard%20Chen.jpg?itok=mPtq20hl"}}},"media_ids":["670326","670327","670328","670330"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/more-clues-earth-exoplanets-are-indeed-earth","title":"More Clues That Earth-Like Exoplanets Are Indeed Earth-Like"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/active-matter-curved-spaces-mini-robots-learn-swim-stretchy-surfaces","title":"Active Matter, Curved Spaces: Mini Robots Learn to \u2018Swim\u2019 on Stretchy Surfaces"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/thats-no-exomoon-astrophysicists-reveal-method-finding-exoplanets-satellite-neighbors","title":"That\u2019s No Exomoon: Astrophysicists Reveal Method For Finding Exoplanets\u2019 Satellite Neighbors"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/stellar-flybys-crash-through-cosmic-debris-kicking-clues-planet-formation","title":"\u2018Stellar Flybys\u2019 Crash Through Cosmic Debris, Kicking Up Clues to Planet Formation"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1279","name":"School of Mathematics"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"168854","name":"School of Mathematics"},{"id":"177416","name":"Gongjie Li"},{"id":"170130","name":"Molei Tao"},{"id":"192434","name":"Howard Chen"},{"id":"192435","name":"Renyi Chen"},{"id":"170509","name":"exoplanets"},{"id":"192436","name":"TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets"},{"id":"181498","name":"habitable zone"},{"id":"192437","name":"planetary orbits"},{"id":"192438","name":"planetary spin"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"192252","name":"cos-planetary"},{"id":"192254","name":"cos-climate"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter: Renay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"basic_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"666652":{"#nid":"666652","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Can Cosmic Collisions Be Predicted Before They Happen? ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis story by Whitney Clavin, California Institute of Technology, was first published in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.caltech.edu\/about\/news\/can-cosmic-collisions-be-predicted-before-they-happen\u0022\u003ECaltech newsroom\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOn August 17, 2017, around 70 telescopes collectively turned their gaze to a fiery collision between two dead stars that took place millions of light-years away. The telescopes watched the event unfold in a rainbow of wavelengths, from radio waves to visible light to the highest-energy gamma rays. As the pair of ultra-dense neutron stars crashed into each other, they flung debris outward that glowed for days, weeks, and months. Some of the onlooking telescopes spotted gold, platinum, and uranium in the searing blast, confirming that most heavy elements in our universe are forged in this type of cosmic collision.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWere that the end of the story, this cosmic event would have been remarkable in itself, but three other detectors were present for astronomical gathering that day\u2014two belonging to the National Science Foundation-funded \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ligo.caltech.edu\/\u0022\u003ELIGO\u003C\/a\u003E (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) and one belonging to Europe\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.virgo-gw.eu\/\u0022\u003EVirgo\u003C\/a\u003E. LIGO and Virgo observe not light waves but gravitational waves, or shivers in space and time produced by massive accelerating objects. As neutron stars spiral together, they generate gravitational waves before they merge and explode with light. It was the LIGO\u2013Virgo gravitational-wave network that \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.caltech.edu\/about\/news\/ligo-and-virgo-make-first-detection-gravitational-waves-produced-colliding-neutron-stars-80082\u0022\u003Ealerted the dozens of telescopes around the world\u003C\/a\u003E that something astonishing was taking place in the skies above. Without LIGO and Virgo, August 17, 2017, would have been a typical day in astronomy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince that time, the LIGO\u2013Virgo network has detected only one other neutron star merger; in that case, which occurred in 2019, light-based telescopes were not able to observe the event. (LIGO-Virgo has also detected dozens of binary black hole mergers, but those are not expected to produce light in most instances.) With LIGO\u2013Virgo scheduled to turn back on this May, astronomers are excitedly preparing for more explosive neutron star mergers. One pressing question on the minds of some LIGO team members is: Can they detect these events sooner\u2014perhaps even \u003Cem\u003Ebefore\u003C\/em\u003E the dead stars collide?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo that end, the researchers are developing early-warning software to alert astronomers to neutron star mergers up to seconds or even a full minute before the impact.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s a race against time,\u0022 says Ryan Magee, a Caltech postdoctoral scholar who is co-leading the development of early-warning software along with Surabhi Sachdev (MS \u002717, PhD \u002719), a professor at Georgia Tech. \u0022We are missing precious time to understand what happens before and right after these mergers,\u0022 he says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEleven Hours Later, the Source Is Found\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce LIGO detects a likely neutron star collision, the race begins for telescopes on the ground and in space to follow up and pinpoint its location. The LIGO\u2013Virgo network, which consists of three gravitational-wave detectors, helps narrow in on the approximate location where the fireworks are happening while light-based telescopes are required to identify the exact galaxy in which the neutron stars reside.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the August 17 event, known as GW170817, most of the light-based telescopes were not able to start searching for the source of the gravitational-wave event until nine hours later. The LIGO\u2013Virgo team sent its first alert to the astronomical community 40 minutes after the neutron star collision and the first sky maps, outlining the event\u0027s rough location, 4.5 hours after the event. But by that time, the region of interest in the southern skies had dipped below the horizon and out of view of the southern telescopes capable of seeing it. Astronomers would have to anxiously wait until nine hours after the event to begin combing the skies. By about 11 hours after the neutron star collision, several ground-based optical telescopes had at last pinned down the location of the source of the waves: a galaxy called NGC 4993, which lies about 130 million light-years away.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGearing Up for the Next Run\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith 11 hours missing from the story of how neutron stars slam into each other and seed the universe with heavy elements, astronomers are eagerly awaiting more neutron star smashups. For LIGO\u2013Virgo\u0027s upcoming run, which will also include observations made by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.caltech.edu\/about\/news\/kagra-join-ligo-and-virgo-hunt-gravitational-waves\u0022\u003EJapan\u0027s KAGRA\u003C\/a\u003E, the detectors have been undergoing a series of upgrades to make them even better at catching gravitational-wave events and thus neutron star mergers. The team expects to detect four to 10 neutron star mergers\u0026nbsp;in next run\u0026nbsp;and as many as 100 in the fifth\u0026nbsp;observing run of the current advanced detector network, planned to begin in 2027. Future runs with more advanced detectors are planned for the 2030s.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne new feature to be employed at the next run is the early-warning alert system. The specialized software will complement the main software that has been routinely used to detect all the gravitational-wave events so far.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe main software, also called a search pipeline, looks for weak gravitational-wave signals buried in noisy LIGO data by matching the data to a library of known signals, or waveforms, that represent different types of events, such as black hole and neutron star mergers. If a match is found and confirmed, an alert is sent to the astronomical community. The early-warning software works in the same way but uses only truncated versions of the waveforms so that it can work faster.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The detectors are constantly taking new data in an observing run, and we are comparing our waveforms to the data as they come in. If we use truncated waveforms, we don\u0027t have to wait for as much data to be collected to do our comparison,\u0022 Magee says. \u0022The trade-off is that the signal needs to be loud enough to be detected using truncated waveforms. It\u0027s important to still run the main pipelines alongside the early-warning pipeline to pick up the weaker signals and get the best final localizations.\u0022 Magee, Sachdev, and their colleagues are working on an early-warning pipeline called GSTLAL; additional early-warning pipelines for LIGO\u2013Virgo are also in the works.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBefore the Fireworks\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs neutron stars spiral around each other like a pair of ice dancers, they orbit faster and faster and give off gravitational waves of increasingly higher frequencies. The final dance between neutron stars lasts longer than those between black holes, up to several minutes in the frequency bands LIGO\u0026nbsp;is most sensitive to\u003Cstrong\u003E,\u003C\/strong\u003E and this gives LIGO and Virgo more time to catch the lead-up to the stars\u0027 dramatic finale. In the case of GW170817, the pair of mingling neutron stars spent six minutes at the frequency ranges detectable by LIGO\u2013Virgo before the two bodies ultimately coalesced.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe LIGO early-warning software\u0027s truncated waveforms are designed to catch snippets of this last dance; in fact, the researchers think the software will eventually catch a neutron star merger up to one minute before the collision. If so, that will give telescopes around the world more time to find and study the explosions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In the next run, we might be able to catch one of the neutron star mergers 10 seconds ahead of time,\u0022 says Sachdev. \u0022By the fifth run, we believe we can catch one with a full minute of warning.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor astronomers, one minute is a lot of time. Caltech professor of astronomy Gregg Hallinan, the director of Caltech\u0027s Owens Valley Radio Observatory, says that early warnings of imminent neutron star mergers will be particularly important for gamma-ray, X-ray, and radio telescopes because the collisions may burst at these wavelengths right at the very start. \u0022Radio telescope arrays like the Long Wavelength Array at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO-LWA) and Caltech\u0027s future 2,000-antenna Deep Synoptic Array (DSA-2000) might be able to detect a radio flash that is theorized to occur at the time the neutron stars merge and in some models during the final inspiral before the merger,\u0022 says Hallinan. \u0022That will teach us about the immediate environments of these massively destructive events. What\u0027s more, seeing a radio flash could also help us quickly pin down the location of the mergers.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShreya Anand, a Caltech graduate student, says that early optical and ultraviolet observations of the mergers can reveal new information about their evolution, such as how elements are formed in the fast-moving material ejected from the collisions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnand, who works in the group of Caltech professor of astronomy \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pma.caltech.edu\/people\/mansi-m-kasliwal\u0022\u003EMansi Kasliwal\u003C\/a\u003E (MS \u002707, PhD \u002711), is busy developing software herself, not for early-warning systems but to search the skies for neutron star mergers and other cosmic events once an alert from LIGO is received. Kasliwal\u0027s group is currently developing software for the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and the upcoming Wide-field INfrared Transient ExploreR (WINTER), two survey instruments based at Caltech\u0027s Palomar Observatory. ZTF and WINTER can follow up on a LIGO alert to find and observe a neutron star merger. Anand is developing software that would speed up this search.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our algorithms figure out how to best cover different patches of sky and for how long to ensure the maximum chance of finding the target,\u0022 she says. \u0022We are missing interesting physics in the early phases of the mergers. The early-warning software from the LIGO team and the software for our telescope searches will speed up our chances of finding an event early. This will ultimately give us a more complete picture of what is going on.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/2041-8213\/abed54\/pdf\u0022\u003Eearly-warning study led by Magee\u003C\/a\u003E appears in \u003Cem\u003EThe Astrophysical Journal Letters\u003C\/em\u003E. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/2041-8213\/abc753\u0022\u003EThe study led by Sachdev\u003C\/a\u003E also appears in \u003Cem\u003EThe Astrophysical Journal Letters\u003C\/em\u003E. The research is funded by the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n\u003C\/div\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"basic_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"LIGO researchers are developing early-warning software to nab neutron-star mergers faster"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIn collaboration with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory \u003C\/span\u003E(LIGO), Surabhi Sachdev is co-leading the development of early-warning software to nab neutron-star mergers faster. \u0022In the next run, we might be able to catch one of the neutron star mergers 10 seconds ahead of time,\u0022 says\u0026nbsp;Sachdev, an assistant professor in the School of Physics. \u0022By the fifth run, we believe we can catch one with a full minute of warning.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"basic_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"LIGO researchers are developing early-warning software to nab neutron-star mergers faster"}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2023-03-17 20:33:24","changed_gmt":"2023-03-27 19:04:52","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-03-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-03-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"670292":{"id":"670292","type":"image","title":"Two black holes merging (LIGO)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EThis illustration shows the merger of two black holes and the gravitational waves that ripple outward as the black holes spiral toward each other. In reality, the area near the black holes would appear highly warped, and the gravitational waves would be difficult to see directly. (LIGO)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1679681106","gmt_created":"2023-03-24 18:05:06","changed":"1679943692","gmt_changed":"2023-03-27 19:01:32","alt":"Two black holes merging ","file":{"fid":"253121","name":"GravWave.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/03\/24\/GravWave.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/03\/24\/GravWave.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1891502,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/03\/24\/GravWave.jpg?itok=1cnNSEXe"}},"670203":{"id":"670203","type":"image","title":"LIGO researchers Surabhi Sachdev, Ryan Magee, and Shreya Anand.","body":"\u003Cp\u003ELIGO researchers Surabhi Sachdev, Ryan Magee, and Shreya Anand.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1679338443","gmt_created":"2023-03-20 18:54:03","changed":"1679943715","gmt_changed":"2023-03-27 19:01:55","alt":"LIGO researchers Surabhi Sachdev, Ryan Magee, and Shreya Anand.","file":{"fid":"253030","name":"Sachdev_headshot.width-450_1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/03\/20\/Sachdev_headshot.width-450_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/03\/20\/Sachdev_headshot.width-450_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":570719,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/03\/20\/Sachdev_headshot.width-450_1.jpg?itok=ewCBuSRz"}}},"media_ids":["670292","670203"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"192252","name":"cos-planetary"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"10881","name":"black holes"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECaltech:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nWhitney Clavin\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n(626)\u0026nbsp;395\u20111944\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:wclavin@caltech.edu\u0022\u003Ewclavin@caltech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"basic_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"666068":{"#nid":"666068","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Land RCSA Funding to Study Mars Samples, Develop SMART Collaborations","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETwo Georgia Tech researchers recently landed \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rescorp.org\/\u0022\u003EResearch Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA)\u003C\/a\u003E funding, which includes its core programs, the coveted \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rescorp.org\/cottrell-scholars\u0022\u003ECottrell Scholars\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rescorp.org\/scialog\u0022\u003EScialog\u0026reg;\u003C\/a\u003E honors. Elisabetta Matsumoto and Frances Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez are the latest College of Sciences faculty to receive RCSA support for their work.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERCSA\u0026rsquo;s mission is to advance early stage, high-potential, basic scientific research. The association provides funding for research and sponsors conferences to support a diverse and inclusive community of early career faculty, innovative ideas for basic research, integration of research and science teaching, interdisciplinary research, and building the foundation for the academic leadership of the future.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Scialog\u0026reg; program invests in interdisciplinary, innovative, basic research on problems of high complexity that are timely and of significant value to society.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIts goal is to foster new collaborations across multiple disciplines to spark innovative ideas, stimulate significant advances on chosen topics, and attract higher levels of funding.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESMART collaborations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/elisabetta-matsumoto\u0022\u003EElisabetta Matsumoto\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, was part of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rescorp.org\/cottrell-scholars\/cottrell-scholars-collaborative\u0022\u003ECottrell Scholars Collaborative\u003C\/a\u003E program, in which participants are encouraged to form teams and develop collaborative projects with potential national impact in science education.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMatsumoto\u0026rsquo;s collaborative project, Supporting Making to Align Research and Teaching (SMART), builds off an existing Cottrell project aiming to increase awareness of making, an emerging instructional practice where students learn a discipline (and enjoy enhanced creativity and self-expression) by creating shared physical and digital artifacts.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe goal of this project is to support and document faculty training and adoption of making methods, as well as to generate examples of making activities in disciplines, such as chemistry and astronomy, that have not adopted this technique.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMars samples\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/rivera-hernandez-dr-frances\u0022\u003EFrances Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez,\u003C\/a\u003E an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, is participating in the second year of the Scialog\u0026reg; Signatures of Life in the Universe program (the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hsfoundation.org\/\u0022\u003EHeising-Simons Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E is a program co-sponsor).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team\u0026rsquo;s goal is to catalyze cutting-edge research with the potential to transform our understanding of the habitability of planets, of how the occurrence of life alters planets and leaves signatures, and of how to detect such signatures beyond Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez\u0026rsquo;s project with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/science.jpl.nasa.gov\/people\/barge\/\u0022\u003ELaurie Barge\u003C\/a\u003E, a research scientist in the Planetary Sciences division of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/\u0022\u003ENASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E, is titled Mars Sample Return: Connecting Martian Environmental Chemistry to Returned Samples. It is funded by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/\u0022\u003ENASA\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA rich history of RCSA support\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERCSA is a longtime supporter of College of Sciences research. Several faculty members from a variety of disciplines have been named Cottrell Scholars or joined the Scialog program over the past 29 years.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETwo School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences associate professors, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/glass-dr-jennifer\u0022\u003EJennifer Glass\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/reinhard-dr-chris\u0022\u003EChris Reinhard\u003C\/a\u003E, were \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/jennifer-glass-chris-reinhard-join-scialog-colleagues-search-signatures-life-universe\u0022\u003Epart of the first year\u003C\/a\u003E of the Signatures of Life in the Universe program in 2021. Glass was chosen for her research proposal, Methane from Nontraditional Abiotic Sources and Potential for False Biosignature Positives, while Reinhard proposal was Stochastic Simulation of Evolving Planetary Biospheres.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso in 2021, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/vinayak-agarwal\u0022\u003EVinayak Agarwal\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry \u003C\/a\u003Eand the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, was named a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/vinayak-agarwal-wins-2021-cottrell-scholar-award-ocean-studies\u0022\u003ECottrell Scholar\u003C\/a\u003E for his proposal, Unlocking Marine Eukaryotic Natural Product Biosynthetic Schemes in Research and Education.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EElisabetta Matsumoto\u0026rsquo;s first time as a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/elisabetta-matsumoto-2020-cottrell-scholar-research-math-and-science-behind-knitting\u0022\u003ECottrell Scholar was in 2020\u003C\/a\u003E for her research on tying together the science and mathematics behind knitting, which was featured in\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/05\/17\/science\/math-physics-knitting-matsumoto.html\u0022\u003EThe New York Times\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso in 2020, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/gongjie-li\u0022\u003EGongjie Li\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the School of Physics, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/amanda-stockton\u0022\u003EAmanda Stockton\u003C\/a\u003E, professors in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, were named Scialog\u0026reg; Signatures of Life in the Universe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rescorp.org\/scialog\/slu-fellows\u0022\u003EFellows\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/georgia-tech-alumnus-chad-risko-named-2018-cottrell-scholar\u0022\u003EChad Risko\u003C\/a\u003E, a former Ph.D. student in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was named a Cottrell Scholar in 2018 with the goal of developing a course-based undergraduate research experience focusing on the application of computing and data science in chemistry. Risko was a Ph.D. student of former Regents Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/bredas\/jean-luc%20\u0022\u003EJean-Luc Br\u0026eacute;das\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/brian-hammer\u0022\u003EBrian Hammer\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences, was part of a 2015 collaborative effort for the Scialog\u0026reg; Molecules Come to Life Team Award for the project, Rebooting the Gut Microbial Ecosystem Using Bacterial Dueling.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPrevious Georgia Tech recipients of the Cottrell Scholar Award also include \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/david-m-collard\u0022\u003EDavid Collard \u003C\/a\u003E(1994), professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E and senior associate dean in the College of Sciences; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/michael-schatz\u0022\u003EMichael Schatz \u003C\/a\u003E(1999) and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/tamara-bogdanovi%C4%87\u0022\u003ETamara Bogdanovi\u0107\u003C\/a\u003E (2016), both professors of the School of Physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Elisabetta Matsumoto and Frances Rivera-Hern\u00e1ndez have won funding and support from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA), continuing a long history of backing for leading-edge research honored by Cottrell Scholars and Scialog\u00ae programs."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EElisabetta Matsumoto and Frances Rivera-Hern\u0026aacute;ndez have won funding and support from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA), continuing a long history of backing for leading-edge research honored by Cottrell Scholars and Scialog\u0026reg; programs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Elisabetta Matsumoto and Frances Rivera-Hern\u00e1ndez have won funding and support from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA), continuing a long history of backing for leading-edge research honored by Cottrell Scholars and Scialog\u00ae programs."}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2023-02-22 15:36:04","changed_gmt":"2023-03-09 16:03:37","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-02-22T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2023-02-22T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"666110":{"id":"666110","type":"image","title":"Elisabetta Matsumoto with a scarf that represents cellular automata, a mathematical construct depicting a system\u0027s evolution over time. (Photo Elisabetta Matsumoto)","body":null,"created":"1677170308","gmt_created":"2023-02-23 16:38:28","changed":"1677170308","gmt_changed":"2023-02-23 16:38:28","alt":"","file":{"fid":"251900","name":"Sabetta Matsumoto with scarf.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Sabetta%20Matsumoto%20with%20scarf.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Sabetta%20Matsumoto%20with%20scarf.png","mime":"image\/png","size":5583233,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Sabetta%20Matsumoto%20with%20scarf.png?itok=e8h5o-ZV"}},"665837":{"id":"665837","type":"image","title":"Frances Rivera-Hern\u00e1ndez","body":null,"created":"1676479627","gmt_created":"2023-02-15 16:47:07","changed":"1676479627","gmt_changed":"2023-02-15 16:47:07","alt":"","file":{"fid":"251793","name":"Frances Rivera Hernandez.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Frances%20Rivera%20Hernandez_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Frances%20Rivera%20Hernandez_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":714834,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Frances%20Rivera%20Hernandez_0.png?itok=6Fkh72t4"}}},"media_ids":["666110","665837"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/elisabetta-matsumoto-2020-cottrell-scholar-research-math-and-science-behind-knitting","title":"Elisabetta Matsumoto Is 2020 Cottrell Scholar for Research on the Math and Science Behind Knitting"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/jennifer-glass-chris-reinhard-join-scialog-colleagues-search-signatures-life-universe","title":"Jennifer Glass, Chris Reinhard Join Scialog Colleagues in the Search for \u2018Signatures of Life in the Universe\u2019"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/vinayak-agarwal-wins-2021-cottrell-scholar-award-ocean-studies","title":"Vinayak Agarwal Wins 2021 Cottrell Scholar Award for Ocean Studies"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"EAS"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192252","name":"cos-planetary"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166926","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"173838","name":"Elisabetta Matsumoto"},{"id":"187439","name":"Frances Rivera-Hernandez"},{"id":"171803","name":"RCSA"},{"id":"192200","name":"Research Corporation for Science Advancement"},{"id":"184181","name":"Cottrell Scholars"},{"id":"184997","name":"Scialog"},{"id":"185777","name":"Heising-Simons Foundation"},{"id":"192201","name":"mars samples"},{"id":"146391","name":"knitting"},{"id":"143401","name":"makers"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter: Renay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"662849":{"#nid":"662849","#data":{"type":"news","title":"IceCube Neutrinos Give Us First Glimpse Into the Inner Depths of an Active Galaxy","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis news release first appeared in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/icecube.wisc.edu\/news\/press-releases\/2022\/11\/icecube-neutrinos-give-us-first-glimpse-into-the-inner-depths-of-an-active-galaxy\/\u0022\u003EUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison\u0026#39;s IceCube Neutrino Observatory newsroom\u003C\/a\u003E, and has been tailored for Georgia Tech readers. \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the first time, an international team of scientists, including a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, have found evidence of high-energy neutrino emission from NGC 1068, also known as Messier 77, an active galaxy in the constellation Cetus and one of the most familiar and well-studied galaxies to date.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFirst spotted in 1780, this galaxy, located 47 million light-years away from us, can be observed with large binoculars. The \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.abg3395\u0022\u003Eresults\u003C\/a\u003E, published in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E, were shared Nov. 3 in an online scientific webinar that gathered experts, journalists, and scientists from around the globe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe detection was made at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/\u0022\u003ENational Science Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E-supported \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/icecube.wisc.edu\/\u0022\u003EIceCube Neutrino Observatory\u003C\/a\u003E, a massive neutrino telescope encompassing 1 billion tons of instrumented ice at depths of 1.5 to 2.5 kilometers below Antarctica\u0026rsquo;s surface near the South Pole. This unique telescope, which explores the farthest reaches of our universe using neutrinos, reported the first observation of a high-energy astrophysical neutrino source in 2018. The source, TXS 0506+056, is a known blazar located off the left shoulder of the Orion constellation and 4 billion light-years away.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThese findings represent a significant improvement on a prior study on NGC 1068 published in 2020, according to \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/ignacio-taboada\u0022\u003EIgnacio Taboada\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E, a physics professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the spokesperson of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/icecube.wisc.edu\/collaboration\/meet-the-collaboration\/\u0022\u003EIceCube Collaboration\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Part of this improvement came from enhanced techniques and part from a careful update of the detector calibration,\u0026rdquo; says Taboada. \u0026ldquo;Work by the detector operations and calibrations teams enabled better neutrino directional reconstructions to precisely pinpoint NGC 1068 and enable this observation. Resolving this source was made possible through enhanced techniques and refined calibrations, an outcome of the IceCube Collaboration\u0026rsquo;s hard work.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;One neutrino can single out a source. But only an observation with multiple neutrinos will reveal the obscured core of the most energetic cosmic objects,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Cstrong\u003EFrancis Halzen\u003C\/strong\u003E, a professor of physics at the University of Wisconsin\u0026ndash;Madison and principal investigator of IceCube. He adds, \u0026ldquo;IceCube has accumulated some 80 neutrinos of teraelectronvolt energy from NGC 1068, which are not yet enough to answer all our questions, but they definitely are the next big step towards the realization of neutrino astronomy.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUnlike light, neutrinos can escape in large numbers from extremely dense environments in the universe and reach Earth largely undisturbed by matter and the electromagnetic fields that permeate extragalactic space. Although scientists envisioned neutrino astronomy more than 60 years ago, the weak interaction of neutrinos with matter and radiation makes their detection extremely difficult. Neutrinos could be key to our queries about the workings of the most extreme objects in the cosmos.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Answering these far-reaching questions about the universe that we live in is a primary focus of the U.S. National Science Foundation,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Cstrong\u003EDenise Caldwell\u003C\/strong\u003E, director of NSF\u0026rsquo;s Physics Division.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs is the case with our home galaxy, the Milky Way, NGC 1068 is a barred spiral galaxy, with loosely wound arms and a relatively small central bulge. However, unlike the Milky Way, NGC 1068 is an active galaxy where most radiation is not produced by stars but due to material falling into a black hole millions of times more massive than our Sun and even more massive than the inactive black hole in the center of our galaxy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENGC 1068 is an active galaxy\u0026mdash;a Seyfert II type in particular\u0026mdash;seen from Earth at an angle that obscures its central region where the black hole is located. In a Seyfert II galaxy, a torus of nuclear dust obscures most of the high-energy radiation produced by the dense mass of gas and particles that slowly spiral inward toward the center of the galaxy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Recent models of the black hole environments in these objects suggest that gas, dust, and radiation should block the gamma rays that would otherwise accompany the neutrinos,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Cstrong\u003EHans Niederhausen\u003C\/strong\u003E, a postdoctoral associate at Michigan State University and one of the main analyzers of the paper. \u0026ldquo;This neutrino detection from the core of NGC 1068 will improve our understanding of the environments around supermassive black holes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENGC 1068 could become a standard candle for future neutrino telescopes, according to \u003Cstrong\u003ETheo Glauch\u003C\/strong\u003E, a postdoctoral associate at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), in Germany, and another main analyzer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It is already a very well-studied object for astronomers, and neutrinos will allow us to see this galaxy in a totally different way. A new view will certainly bring new insights,\u0026rdquo; says Glauch.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe improved analysis points the way toward superior neutrino observatories that are already in the works.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It is great news for the future of our field,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Cstrong\u003EMarek Kowalski\u003C\/strong\u003E, an IceCube collaborator and senior scientist at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, in Germany. \u0026ldquo;It means that with a new generation of more sensitive detectors there will be much to discover. The future IceCube-Gen2 observatory could not only detect many more of these extreme particle accelerators but would also allow their study at even higher energies. It\u0026rsquo;s as if IceCube handed us a map to a treasure trove.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith the neutrino measurements of TXS 0506+056 and NGC 1068, IceCube is one step closer to answering the century-old question of the origin of cosmic rays. Additionally, these results imply that there may be many more similar objects in the universe yet to be identified.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The unveiling of the obscured universe has just started, and neutrinos are set to lead a new era of discovery in astronomy,\u0026rdquo; says \u003Cstrong\u003EElisa Resconi\u003C\/strong\u003E, a professor of physics at TUM and another main analyzer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Several years ago, NSF initiated an ambitious project to expand our understanding of the universe by combining established capabilities in optical and radio astronomy with new abilities to detect and measure phenomena like neutrinos and gravitational waves,\u0026rdquo; says Caldwell. \u0026ldquo;The IceCube Neutrino Observatory\u0026rsquo;s identification of a neighboring galaxy as a cosmic source of neutrinos is just the beginning of this new and exciting field that promises insights into the undiscovered power of massive black holes and other fundamental properties of the universe.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe IceCube Neutrino Observatory is funded and operated primarily through an award from the National Science Foundation to the University of Wisconsin\u0026ndash;Madison (OPP-2042807 and PHY-1913607). The IceCube Collaboration, with over 350 scientists in 58 institutions from around the world, runs an extensive scientific program that has established the foundations of neutrino astronomy.\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/icecube.wisc.edu\/collaboration\/institutions\u0022\u003E https:\/\/icecube.wisc.edu\/collaboration\/institutions\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIceCube\u0026rsquo;s research efforts, including critical contributions to the detector operation, are funded by agencies in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The IceCube EPSCoR Initiative (IEI) receives additional support through NSF-EPSCoR-2019597. IceCube construction was also funded with significant contributions from the National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS \u0026amp; FWO) in Belgium; the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Research Foundation (DFG) in Germany; the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, and the Swedish Research Council in Sweden; and the University of Wisconsin\u0026ndash;Madison Research Fund in the U.S.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Evidence for neutrino emission from the nearby active galaxy NGC 1068,\u0026rdquo; The IceCube Collaboration: R. Abbasi et al., Science 378, 6619 (2022), \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/icecube.wisc.edu\/news\/press-releases\/2022\/11\/icecube-neutrinos-give-us-first-glimpse-into-the-inner-depths-of-an-active-galaxy\/10.1126\/science.abg3395\u0022\u003EDOI:10.1126\/science.abg3395\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Ignacio Taboada is the spokesperson for international team of scientists using a massive Antarctica-based neutrino telescope to detect the particles coming from a supermassive black hole 47 million light-years from Earth"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIgnacio Taboada, School of Physics professor, is the spokesperson for an international team of scientists using a massive Antarctica-based neutrino telescope to detect the particles coming from a supermassive black hole 47 million light-years from Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Ignacio Taboada, School of Physics professor, is the spokesperson for international team of scientists using a massive Antarctica-based neutrino telescope to detect the particles coming from a supermassive black hole 47 million light-years from Earth."}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2022-11-04 14:52:02","changed_gmt":"2023-03-02 19:52:35","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-11-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-11-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"662851":{"id":"662851","type":"image","title":"Hubble image of the spiral galaxy Messier 77, also known as NGC 1068. (Photo credit NASA\/ESA\/A. van Der Hoeven)","body":null,"created":"1667573876","gmt_created":"2022-11-04 14:57:56","changed":"1667573876","gmt_changed":"2022-11-04 14:57:56","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250976","name":"Neutrino galaxy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Neutrino%20galaxy.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Neutrino%20galaxy.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":391793,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Neutrino%20galaxy.jpg?itok=JNhn_fc5"}},"662853":{"id":"662853","type":"image","title":"The IceCube Neutrino Laboratory (Photo credit Martin Wolf, IceCube\/NSF)","body":null,"created":"1667574101","gmt_created":"2022-11-04 15:01:41","changed":"1667574101","gmt_changed":"2022-11-04 15:01:41","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250978","name":"Ice Cube Lab exterior.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ice%20Cube%20Lab%20exterior.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ice%20Cube%20Lab%20exterior.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1048259,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Ice%20Cube%20Lab%20exterior.jpg?itok=8NPe_jIh"}},"662854":{"id":"662854","type":"image","title":"A neutrino detector about to be placed in the Antarctic ice. (Photo credit Mark Krasberg, IceCube\/NSF)","body":null,"created":"1667574218","gmt_created":"2022-11-04 15:03:38","changed":"1667574218","gmt_changed":"2022-11-04 15:03:38","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250979","name":"Neutrino detector in ice.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Neutrino%20detector%20in%20ice.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Neutrino%20detector%20in%20ice.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1253036,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Neutrino%20detector%20in%20ice.JPG?itok=Y0qfeXFd"}},"662852":{"id":"662852","type":"image","title":"Ignacio Taboada, School of Physics professor, Center for Relativistic Astrophysics member, and spokesperson for IceCube South Pole Neutrino Observatory. ","body":null,"created":"1667573964","gmt_created":"2022-11-04 14:59:24","changed":"1680030804","gmt_changed":"2023-03-28 19:13:24","alt":"Ignacio Taboada, School of Physics professor, Center for Relativistic Astrophysics member, and spokesperson for IceCube South Pole Neutrino Observatory. ","file":{"fid":"250977","name":"Ignacio Taboada.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ignacio%20Taboada.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ignacio%20Taboada.png","mime":"image\/png","size":170273,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Ignacio%20Taboada.png?itok=uryyddDH"}}},"media_ids":["662851","662853","662854","662852"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/icecube.wisc.edu\/news\/press-releases\/2022\/11\/icecube-neutrinos-give-us-first-glimpse-into-the-inner-depths-of-an-active-galaxy\/","title":"IceCube neutrinos give us first glimpse into the inner depths of an active galaxy"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/ghostly-neutrino-particles-provide-a-peek-at-heart-of-nearby-galaxy-11667497494?st=3ywzgoo0o8fu56q\u0026reflink=share_mobilewebshare","title":"Ghostly Neutrino Particles Provide a Peek at Heart of Nearby Galaxy (Wall Street Journal registration required)"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/ignacio-taboada-elected-spokesperson-icecube-south-pole-neutrino-observatory","title":"Ignacio Taboada Elected Spokesperson for IceCube South Pole Neutrino Observatory"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/icecube-neutrinos-point-long-sought-cosmic-ray-accelerator","title":"IceCube Neutrinos Point to Long-Sought Cosmic Ray Accelerator"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192252","name":"cos-planetary"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"30781","name":"Ignacio Taboada"},{"id":"178529","name":"IceCube Neutrino Observatory"},{"id":"191581","name":"IceCube Collaboration"},{"id":"11442","name":"neutrinos"},{"id":"191582","name":"NGC 1068"},{"id":"191583","name":"Messier 77"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Editor: Renay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Contacts: \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIceCube Press\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:press@icecube.wisc.edu\u0022\u003Epress@icecube.wisc.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n608-515-3831\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENSF Media Affairs\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:media@nsf.gov\u0022\u003Emedia@nsf.gov\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n703-292-7090\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"662986":{"#nid":"662986","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Eyes on the Night Sky: Total Lunar Eclipse Happening Tuesday","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the early morning hours of Tuesday, a total lunar eclipse will turn the moon a blood orange color \u0026mdash; a phenomenon that won\u0026rsquo;t happen again until 2025.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA\u0026nbsp;total lunar eclipse happens when the sun, Earth, and moon align so that the moon falls completely in the Earth\u0026#39;s shadow.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe campus observatory at the Howey Physics Building will open at 4 a.m. where the Aloha Telescope in Maui, Hawaii, will livestream a clear view of every stage of the eclipse, from 4 to 8 a.m. on the Georgia Tech Observatory\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/thegeorgiatechobservatory\u0022\u003EYouTube channel.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn Atlanta, a partial eclipse is expected to occur at 4:09 a.m., with the total eclipse beginning at 5:16 a.m.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJim Sowell, the director of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/astronomy.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Eobservatory\u003C\/a\u003E, was recently interviewed by\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/inspire\/georgia-techs-aloha-telescope-brings-thrilling-images-to-k-12-classrooms\/QCVO4IVQVFA5DII52M44DZXIS4\/\u0022\u003EThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003Ewhere he spoke on the important impact of the Aloha Telescope, a joint project with the U.S. Air Force that began a decade ago as an innovative way to bring astronomy to K-12 classrooms around the world.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In the last few years, we\u0026rsquo;ve gotten to our stride,\u0026rdquo; Sowell said. \u0026ldquo;The kids get so excited and have all these questions.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EClear skies are the weather conditions necessary for the best experience of this type of rare occurrence.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech to offer views of  last total lunar eclipse for next 3 years"}],"uid":"35798","created_gmt":"2022-11-07 22:06:51","changed_gmt":"2022-11-07 22:14:29","author":"Ayana Isles","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-11-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-11-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"662985":{"id":"662985","type":"image","title":"2022 observatory night","body":null,"created":"1667858190","gmt_created":"2022-11-07 21:56:30","changed":"1667858190","gmt_changed":"2022-11-07 21:56:30","alt":"","file":{"fid":"251010","name":"moon_observatory.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/moon_observatory.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/moon_observatory.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":32589,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/moon_observatory.jpeg?itok=Y9U5GUvc"}}},"media_ids":["662985"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"142811","name":"lunar eclipse"},{"id":"173948","name":"Aloha Telescope"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:aisles3@gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAyana Isles\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nMedia Relations\u0026nbsp;Representative\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"660659":{"#nid":"660659","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Physicists Uncover New Dynamical Framework for Turbulence","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETurbulence plays a key role in our daily lives, making for bumpy plane rides, affecting weather and climate, limiting the fuel efficiency of the cars we drive, and impacting clean energy technologies. Yet, scientists and engineers have puzzled at ways to predict and alter turbulent fluid flows, and it has long remained one of the most challenging problems in science and engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENow, physicists from the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated \u0026mdash; numerically and experimentally \u0026mdash; that turbulence can be understood and quantified with the help of a relatively small set of special solutions to the governing equations of fluid dynamics that can be precomputed for a particular geometry, once and for all.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;For nearly a century, turbulence has been described statistically as a random process,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/roman-grigoriev\u0022\u003ERoman Grigoriev\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;Our results provide the first experimental illustration that, on suitably short time scales, the dynamics of turbulence is deterministic \u0026mdash; and connects it to the underlying deterministic governing equations.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe findings were \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2120665119\u0022\u003Epublished\u003C\/a\u003E in \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences \u003C\/em\u003Eon August 19, 2022. The team of researchers was led by Grigoriev and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/michael-schatz\u0022\u003EMichael Schatz\u003C\/a\u003E, professors in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E who have collaborated on various research projects over the past two decades.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchatz and Grigoriev were joined in the study by School of Physics graduate students Chris Crowley, Joshua Pughe-Sanford, and Wesley Toler, along with Michael Krygier, a postdoctoral scientist at Sandia National Laboratories, who developed the study\u0026rsquo;s numerical solvers as a graduate student at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA New \u0026#39;Roadmap\u0026#39; for Turbulence Research\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EQuantitatively predicting the evolution of turbulent flows \u0026mdash; and, in fact, almost any of their properties \u0026mdash; is rather difficult. \u0026ldquo;Numerical simulation is the only reliable existing prediction approach,\u0026rdquo; Grigoriev said. \u0026ldquo;But it can be awfully expensive. The goal of our research was to make prediction less costly.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers created a new \u0026ldquo;roadmap\u0026rdquo; of turbulence by looking at a weak turbulent flow that was confined between two independently rotating cylinders \u0026mdash; giving the team a unique way to compare experimental observations with numerically computed flows, due to the absence of \u0026ldquo;end effects\u0026rdquo; that are present in more familiar geometries, such as flow down a pipe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Turbulence can be thought of as a car following a sequence of roads,\u0026rdquo; said Grigoriev. \u0026ldquo;Perhaps an even better analogy is a train, which not only follows a railway on a prescribed timetable but also has the same shape as the railway it is following.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe experiment featured transparent walls to allow full visual access, and it used a state-of-the-art flow visualization to allow the researchers to reconstruct the flow by tracking the motion of millions of suspended fluorescent particles. In parallel, advanced numerical methods were used to compute recurrent solutions of the partial differential equation (Navier-Stokes equation), governing fluid flows under conditions exactly matching experiment.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt is well-known that turbulent fluid flows exhibit a repertoire of patterns \u0026mdash; referred to as \u0026#39;coherent structures\u0026#39; in the field \u0026mdash; that have a well-defined spatial profile but appear and disappear in an apparently random manner. By analyzing their experimental and numerical data, the researchers discovered that these flow patterns and their evolution resemble those described by the special solutions they computed. These special solutions are both recurrent and unstable, meaning they describe repeating flow patterns over short intervals of time. Turbulence tracks one such solution after another, which explains what patterns can appear, and in what order.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERecurrent Solutions, Two Frequencies\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;All the recurrent solutions that we found in this geometry turned out to be quasi-periodic \u0026mdash; that is, characterized by two different frequencies,\u0026rdquo; said Grigoriev. One frequency described the overall rotation of the flow pattern around the axis of symmetry of the flow, while the other described the changes in the shape of the flow pattern in a reference frame co-rotating with the pattern. The corresponding flows repeat periodically in these co-rotating frames.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We then compared turbulent flows in experiment and direct numerical simulations with these recurrent solutions and found turbulence to closely follow (track) one recurrent solution after another, for as long as turbulent flow persisted,\u0026rdquo; Grigoriev said. \u0026ldquo;Such qualitative behaviors were predicted for low-dimensional chaotic systems, such as the famous Lorenz model, derived six decades ago as a greatly simplified model of the atmosphere.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe work represents the first experimental observation of chaotic motion tracking recurrent solutions actually observed in turbulent flows. \u0026ldquo;The dynamics of turbulent flows are, of course, far more complicated due to the quasi-periodic nature of recurrent solutions,\u0026rdquo; Grigoriev added.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Using this method, we conclusively showed that the organization of turbulence in both space and time is well captured by these structures,\u0026rdquo; the researchers said. \u0026ldquo;These results lay the foundation for representing turbulence in terms of coherent structures and leveraging their persistence in time to overcome the devastating effects of chaos on our ability to predict, control, and engineer fluid flows.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA New Dynamical Foundation for 3D Fluid Flows\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThese findings most immediately impact the community of physicists, mathematicians, and engineers who are still trying to understand fluid turbulence, which remains \u0026ldquo;perhaps the greatest unsolved problem in all of science,\u0026rdquo; Grigoriev said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This work builds and expands on previous work on fluid turbulence by the same group, some of which was \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/news\/2017\/03\/15\/butterflys-wing-tornado-predicting-turbulence\u0022\u003Ereported at Georgia Tech in 2017\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026rdquo; he added. \u0026ldquo;Unlike the work discussed in that publication, which focused on idealized two-dimensional fluid flows, present research addresses the practically important and more complicated three-dimensional flows.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUltimately, the team\u0026rsquo;s study lays a mathematical foundation for fluid turbulence which is dynamical, rather than statistical, in nature \u0026mdash; and hence has the capability to make quantitative predictions, which are crucial for a variety of applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It can give us the ability to dramatically improve the accuracy of weather forecasts and, most notably, enable prediction of extreme events such as hurricanes and tornadoes,\u0026rdquo; said Grigoriev. \u0026ldquo;Dynamical framework is also essential for our ability to engineer flows with desired properties, for instance, reduced drag around vehicles to improve fuel efficiency, or enhanced mass transport to help remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the emerging direct air capture industry.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFunding and acknowledgements:\u003C\/strong\u003E The researchers thank Marc Avila for sharing his Taylor\u0026ndash;Couette flow code, and gratefully acknowledge financial support by Army Research Office under Grants W911NF-15-1-0471 and W911NF-16-10281 and by NSF under Grant CMMI-1725587.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECitation and Video:\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2120665119\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2120665119\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Georgia Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 44,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPhysicists at Georgia Tech have proven \u0026mdash; numerically and experimentally \u0026mdash; that turbulence in fluid flows can be understood and quantified with the help of a small set of special solutions that can be precomputed for a particular geometry, once and for all. The findings reveal a new, dynamical framework for turbulence, with a wide range of applications, from more accurate weather forecasts to improving the fuel efficiency of cars and airplanes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech physicists have proven \u2014 numerically and experimentally \u2014 that turbulence in fluid flows can be understood and quantified with the help of a small set of special solutions that can be precomputed for a particular geometry, once and for all."}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2022-08-29 19:14:07","changed_gmt":"2022-08-29 19:52:36","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-08-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-08-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"660664":{"id":"660664","type":"image","title":"The researchers\u0027 experiment featured transparent walls to allow full visual access, and used a state-of-the-art flow visualization. (Photo: Michael Schatz)","body":null,"created":"1661801565","gmt_created":"2022-08-29 19:32:45","changed":"1661801565","gmt_changed":"2022-08-29 19:32:45","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250314","name":"2022 08 29 IMG_20200307_135805[64].jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2008%2029%20IMG_20200307_135805%5B64%5D.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2008%2029%20IMG_20200307_135805%5B64%5D.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":942317,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022%2008%2029%20IMG_20200307_135805%5B64%5D.jpg?itok=QSeCgYR2"}},"660666":{"id":"660666","type":"image","title":"The setup allowed the researchers to reconstruct the flow by tracking the motion of millions of suspended fluorescent particles. (Photo: Michael Schatz)","body":null,"created":"1661801652","gmt_created":"2022-08-29 19:34:12","changed":"1661801652","gmt_changed":"2022-08-29 19:34:12","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250315","name":"2022 08 29 ParticlesSetup[2].jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2008%2029%20ParticlesSetup%5B2%5D.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2008%2029%20ParticlesSetup%5B2%5D.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":996662,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022%2008%2029%20ParticlesSetup%5B2%5D.jpg?itok=CPMDpOy8"}},"660667":{"id":"660667","type":"image","title":"A schematic of the physicists\u0027 research. ","body":null,"created":"1661801733","gmt_created":"2022-08-29 19:35:33","changed":"1661801733","gmt_changed":"2022-08-29 19:35:33","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250316","name":"2022 08 29 TCF_exp_schematic[67].png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2008%2029%20TCF_exp_schematic%5B67%5D.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2008%2029%20TCF_exp_schematic%5B67%5D.png","mime":"image\/png","size":362217,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022%2008%2029%20TCF_exp_schematic%5B67%5D.png?itok=L5Bf6L89"}},"660668":{"id":"660668","type":"image","title":"Roman Grigoriev (left) and Michael Schatz.","body":null,"created":"1661802244","gmt_created":"2022-08-29 19:44:04","changed":"1661802244","gmt_changed":"2022-08-29 19:44:04","alt":"","file":{"fid":"250317","name":"Grigoriev and Schatz.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Grigoriev%20and%20Schatz.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Grigoriev%20and%20Schatz.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1028417,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Grigoriev%20and%20Schatz.jpg?itok=TtFEAyEs"}}},"media_ids":["660664","660666","660667","660668"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1255","name":"turbulence"},{"id":"191183","name":"recurrent solutions"},{"id":"191184","name":"coherent structures"},{"id":"191185","name":"turbulent solutions"},{"id":"170035","name":"Roman Grigoriev"},{"id":"40211","name":"Michael Schatz"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"2584","name":"fluid dynamics"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter and Media Contact: \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess.hunt@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEditor: \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:georgia.parmelee@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Robert Parmelee\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Research Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"658924":{"#nid":"658924","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Feryal \u00d6zel Named School of Physics Chair","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe College of Sciences is pleased to announce the appointment of Feryal \u0026Ouml;zel as chair of the School of Physics, effective August 2022.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026Ouml;zel is a professor of astronomy and physics and associate dean for Research at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.arizona.edu\/\u0022\u003EUniversity of Arizona\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/science.arizona.edu\/\u0022\u003ECollege of Science\u003C\/a\u003E. Her research focuses on theoretical, computational, plasma, nuclear, and high energy astrophysics \u0026mdash; along with black holes, neutron stars, and high performance computing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am delighted to join Georgia Tech, an institution with strong commitments to basic research, education, and societal impact,\u0026rdquo; \u0026Ouml;zel said. \u0026ldquo;I am looking forward to contributing to its continued growth and its thriving atmosphere.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Throughout the search process for our new chair, Feryal continually impressed me with her insights and vision,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/lozier.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESusan Lozier\u003C\/a\u003E, dean of the College of Sciences and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair. \u0026ldquo;I am very much looking forward to working with her in the next few years to advance the teaching and research missions of the School.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I will also take this opportunity to extend my many thanks to the search committee and heartfelt gratitude to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/michael-schatz-wins-2021-regents-teaching-excellence-online-teaching-award\u0022\u003EMike Schatz\u003C\/a\u003E for his leadership of the School since spring 2020,\u0026rdquo; Lozier added. \u0026ldquo;Mike has admirably steered the School as interim chair and I have appreciated the integrity, creativity, and commitment that he has consistently demonstrated.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERevealing the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA theoretical astrophysicist, \u0026Ouml;zel is also a founding member for the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eventhorizontelescope.org\/organization\u0022\u003EEvent Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration\u003C\/a\u003E, where she has led the Modeling and Analysis Group, and has served on the EHT Science Council since its inception.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOn May 12 of this year, she led EHT\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/youtu.be\/4Ws0iPDSqI4?t=587\u0022\u003Eunveiling of the first image\u003C\/a\u003E of the supermassive black hole located at the center of our Milky Way galaxy \u0026mdash; Sagittarius A* \u0026mdash; Sgr A* (pronounced \u0026quot;sadge-ay-star\u0026quot;) for short, which is four million times more massive than our Sun.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eventhorizontelescope.org\/blog\/astronomers-reveal-first-image-black-hole-heart-our-galaxy\u0022\u003Elong-anticipated look at Sgr A*\u003C\/a\u003E was produced by a global research team using observations from a worldwide network of radio telescopes, with findings published in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/journal\/2041-8205\/page\/Focus_on_First_Sgr_A_Results\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Astrophysical Journal Letters\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. According to EHT, the work provided \u0026ldquo;overwhelming evidence that the object is indeed a black hole, and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants\u0026rdquo; thought to reside at the center of most galaxies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We see a bright ring surrounding complete darkness, the telltale sign of a black hole,\u0026rdquo; \u0026Ouml;zel said. \u0026ldquo;Now, we can confirm we are looking directly at the point of no return.\u0026quot; As light is curved by the powerful gravity of the black hole, glowing gas creates a signature halo around a dark \u0026ldquo;shadow\u0026rdquo; central region. \u0026ldquo;It seems that black holes like doughnuts,\u0026rdquo; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/12\/science\/black-hole-photo.html\u0022\u003E\u0026Ouml;zel added\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026Ouml;zel said she \u0026quot;fell in love\u0026quot; with Sgr A* two decades ago, while working on her dissertation as a graduate student at Harvard University. Back then, she wondered if we could actually glimpse a black hole directly \u0026mdash; and decided to take on the challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHer arrival to Georgia Tech will also bring her research partner and spouse, Dimitrios Psaltis, to the School of Physics faculty. \u0026ldquo;I am very excited to be a part of the Georgia Tech community and help spearhead new initiatives in cutting-edge science and technology,\u0026rdquo; said Psaltis, a fellow astrophysicist and professor who chairs the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/tap.arizona.edu\/\u0022\u003ETheoretical Astrophysics Program\u003C\/a\u003E at the University of Arizona. Psaltis is also the founding Project Scientist of the EHT.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs early as the late 1990s, \u0026Ouml;zel and Psaltis worked together to explore the feasibility of taking a picture of Sgr A*. In 2012, they hosted the inaugural meeting of the Event Horizon Telescope in Tucson, which established the worldwide collaboration.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Many of the early ideas came out of our research group, including the computational tools and infrastructure for the simulation library, as well as the proof of principle for testing Einstein\u0026rsquo;s theory,\u0026quot; said Psaltis, who is also principal investigator of the international\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bhpire.arizona.edu\/?_ga=2.109643847.370979499.1651773714-1868685316.1638739730\u0022\u003E Black Hole Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) Project\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026quot;Everything, from running the telescopes to analyzing the data, is a collective effort. Each one of us has their hands in basically everything, and we made it work.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMeet Feryal \u0026Ouml;zel \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBorn and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, Feryal \u0026Ouml;zel received her B.S. in physics and applied mathematics at Columbia University and her Ph.D. in 2002 at Harvard University. After completing a NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study, \u0026Ouml;zel joined the University of Arizona faculty in 2005, where she has worked as a professor of astronomy and physics, and as associate dean for research in the College of Science.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe is co-investigator of the NASA Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) Mission and has twice earned the American Astronomical Society Bruno Rossi Prize (NICER and EHT collaborations), along with a number of honors including a joint \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.arizona.edu\/story\/3m-breakthrough-prize-goes-black-hole-hunters-including-ua-astrophysicists\u0022\u003EBreakthrough Prize in Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, and NSF Diamond Achievement Award.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2016, \u0026Ouml;zel was named a Guggenheim Fellow, as well as a visiting professor and member of the Harvard University Black Hole Initiative. In 2017 she was honored as the Columbia University Annual Bishop Lecturer. She has also served as a Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Fellow at Harvard University and as a Miller Visiting Professor at University of California, Berkeley.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026Ouml;zel is a member of the American Astronomical Society and an Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society. She is past chair of the NASA Astrophysics Advisory Committee and NASA Lynx X-ray Telescope Science and Technology Definition Team, and currently serves as an advisor of NANOGrav and the Miller Institute, as well as a member at Aspen Center for Physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026Ouml;zel and Psaltis enjoy running marathons and biking long distances together.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ELearn more about \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chem.arizona.edu\/people\/faculty\/feryal-ozel\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFeryal \u0026Ouml;zel\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E and \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chem.arizona.edu\/people\/faculty\/dimitrios-psaltis\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDimitrios Psaltis\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Georgia Tech\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 44,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAstrophysicist Feryal \u0026Ouml;zel will chair the School of Physics, effective August 2022. The appointment will also bring Dimitrios Psaltis to the Georgia Tech Physics faculty.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Astrophysicist Feryal \u00d6zel will chair the School of Physics, effective August 2022. The appointment will also bring Dimitrios Psaltis to the Georgia Tech Physics faculty. "}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2022-06-15 20:53:59","changed_gmt":"2022-06-21 15:51:19","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-06-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-06-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"658925":{"id":"658925","type":"image","title":"Feryal \u00d6zel, professor and chair of the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.","body":null,"created":"1655326554","gmt_created":"2022-06-15 20:55:54","changed":"1681392226","gmt_changed":"2023-04-13 13:23:46","alt":"Feryal \u00d6zel, professor and chair of the School of Physics.","file":{"fid":"249771","name":"2022 05 12 Feryal Ozel - headshot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Feryal%20Ozel%20-%20headshot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Feryal%20Ozel%20-%20headshot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":444816,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Feryal%20Ozel%20-%20headshot.jpg?itok=wK1uR0sk"}},"658926":{"id":"658926","type":"image","title":"Dimitrios Psaltis, professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.","body":null,"created":"1655327108","gmt_created":"2022-06-15 21:05:08","changed":"1681392301","gmt_changed":"2023-04-13 13:25:01","alt":"Dimitrios Psaltis, professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.","file":{"fid":"249772","name":"2022 05 12 Dimitrios Psaltis - headshot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Dimitrios%20Psaltis%20-%20headshot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Dimitrios%20Psaltis%20-%20headshot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":452646,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Dimitrios%20Psaltis%20-%20headshot.jpg?itok=mp840_hW"}}},"media_ids":["658925","658926"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"190811","name":"Feryal \u00d6zel"},{"id":"190812","name":"Dimitrios Psaltis"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"4079","name":"astrophysics"},{"id":"173772","name":"supermassive black holes"},{"id":"10881","name":"black holes"},{"id":"173141","name":"Theoretical physics"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"190813","name":"Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration"},{"id":"190814","name":"University of Arizona"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter and Media Contact:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"653777":{"#nid":"653777","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Frenkel Biexcitons Light Up Organic Semiconductor Advances","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOrganic semiconductors already provide the energy behind optical technologies inside television displays, solar cells, and lighting fixtures. Their molecular carbon-based structure makes them cheaper to produce, more flexible, of lighter weight, and more environmentally friendly than silicon-based or composite semiconductors. The future in more applications is bright \u0026mdash; if scientists can learn more about harnessing their ability to react to and produce light.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA team of Georgia Tech researchers brings us one step closer to understanding those properties. Their new study, published in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/sciadv.abi5197\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EScience Advances\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, for the first time brings tracking and measurement to organic semiconductor photoexcitations: particles put into \u0026ldquo;excited\u0026rdquo; or energized quantum states by light.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe semiconductors\u0026rsquo; primary photoexcitations, called Frenkel excitons, dictate the optical qualities in those semiconductors. They can, in principle, form bonded pairs called biexcitons, but these have never been identified unambiguously. Quantifying those reactions will help researchers learn more about their properties to unlock future uses, such as more efficient and sustainable batteries and solar cells, biosensors, and new types of lasers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a window into the basic electronic structure and properties of these materials,\u0026rdquo; says study co-author \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/carlos-silva\u0022\u003ECarlos Silva Acu\u0026ntilde;a\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor with joint appointments in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, \u0026ldquo;but also into these tech applications we care about. How do we convert electrical energy to light? Or in photovoltaic applications, how do we convert solar light into electrical power? It\u0026rsquo;s more about understanding and discovering the very basic fundamental properties of materials that will allow the design of tailored materials that optimize a particular function.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESilva Acu\u0026ntilde;a and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/people\/natalie-stingelin\u0022\u003ENatalie Stingelin\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor with joint appointments in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Materials Science and Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, led a team of researchers that tweaked traditional spectroscopy \u0026mdash; how light or any other form of radiation is emitted and absorbed by materials \u0026mdash; to track and measure the energy coming from Frenkel biexcitons. The researchers wanted to know how those photoexcitations form \u0026ldquo;bonds\u0026rdquo; between each other, how excitons find the right partners to form biexcitons, and how stable those exciton partners are.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe scientists used different spectroscopy techniques such as non-linear and coherent versions, which give researchers more flexibility in determining the energies flying back and forth between pairs of excitons. \u0026ldquo;The idea is an advanced spectroscopy that allows us to dissect interactions between excitations,\u0026rdquo; Silva Acu\u0026ntilde;a says. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s designed to measure or resolve the interaction energy between different photoexcitations,\u0026rdquo; adding that the researchers can dissect with more detail where light from the biexcitons falls on the spectrum.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThose interactions are the foundation for any future quantum (atomic and subatomic) science applications for organic semiconductors, \u0026ldquo;because all the quantum phases we might want to induce are all governed by their interactions, and the interactions between photoexcitations are key.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe global organic semiconductor market is expected to grow by $90.8 billion between 2020 and 2024, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20201203005571\/en\/Semiconductor-Market-to-Grow-by-90.80-bn-During-2020-2024-Industry-Analysis-Market-Trends-Market-Growth-Opportunities-and-Forecast-2024-Technavio\u0022\u003Eaccording to Berkshire Hathaway company Business Wire\u003C\/a\u003E. Yet while composite semiconductors have well-studied and defined optical signatures, that\u0026rsquo;s not quite the case for organic semiconductors. \u0026ldquo;We could not find a clear optical signature of biexcitons,\u0026rdquo; Silva Acu\u0026ntilde;a says. \u0026ldquo;That\u0026rsquo;s what has made them more challenging. There is a lot of theoretical prediction and calculation, but not really any experimental measurement\u0026rdquo; preceding the new Georgia Tech research, he explains.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We can for the first time unambiguously identify bound excitons and characterize their nature. They\u0026rsquo;re attracted to what energy, repulsed by what energy, and why? How do those details relate to molecular structure?\u0026rdquo; he says. \u0026ldquo;What would we need to change to change those properties? How do we discover new materials with tailored properties?\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESilva Acu\u0026ntilde;a also notes an unexpected finding in the research: Excitons that interact with each other in different polymer chains attract each other to form biexcitons \u0026mdash; while excitons in the same polymer chain repel each other. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a little bit counterintuitive that you can have two excitons repel each other, and yet they bind,\u0026rdquo; he says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIf the interaction energy between excitons is strong, a lot of excitons will end up as bound biexcitons, Silva Acu\u0026ntilde;a adds. If science decides that can help add more functions to those materials, \u0026ldquo;Maybe we can design them to be even more strongly bound.\u0026rdquo; Or if it\u0026rsquo;s decided that those bonds need to be weaker for certain functions, \u0026ldquo;How can we turn them off? It\u0026rsquo;s all about material discovery.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E***\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDOI:\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cem\u003Escience.org\/doi\/10.1126\/sciadv.abi5197\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAuthors: \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAlong with Silva-Acu\u0026ntilde;a (C.S.-A.) and Stingelin (N.S.), co-authors of the study include: Elizabeth Guti\u0026eacute;rrez-Meza, Ravyn Malatesta, and David A. Valverde-Ch\u0026aacute;vez (all of the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Georgia Tech), Hongmo Li and Seong-Min Kim (both of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech), Ilaria Bargigia and Ajay Ram Srimath Kandada (Department of Physics and Center for Functional Materials at Wake Forest University), Eric R. Bittner and Hao Li (Department of Chemistry at University of Houston), and Sergei Tretiak (Theoretical Division and Center for Nonlinear Studies, Los Alamos National Laboratory). C.S.-A. acknowledges support from the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the College of Sciences at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFunding:\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cem\u003EThe work at Georgia Tech was funded by the National Science Foundation [DMR-1904293 (to C.S.-A.) and DMREF-1729737 (to N.S. and C.S.-A.)]. C.S.-A. acknowledges support from the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the College of Sciences at Georgia Tech. The work at the University of Houston was funded in part by the National Science Foundation (CHE-1664971 and DMR-1903785) and the Robert A. Welch Foundation (E-1337). This work was also conducted in part at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, a U.S. Department of Energy and Office of Basic Energy Science user facility. \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E***\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 44,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"A team led by Carlos Silva Acu\u00f1a and Natalie Stingelin finds a way to track and measure biexcitons: the energy behind the light-emitting qualities of organic semiconductors "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe future of organic semiconductors is bright, thanks to their ability to react to, and produce, light on a much more affordable, sustainable scale than traditional semiconductors. But first scientists must learn more about the forces behind their light-emitting qualities, so-called Frenkel biexcitons. Now, a team of researchers led by Georgia Tech has found a way to measure and track them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A team led by Carlos Silva Acu\u00f1a and Natalie Stingelin finds a way to track and measure biexcitons: the energy behind the light-emitting qualities of organic semiconductors "}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2021-12-16 20:20:30","changed_gmt":"2022-02-18 19:07:52","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-02-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-02-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"653779":{"id":"653779","type":"image","title":"Image shows organic-thin film transistors for organic semiconductors under continuous testing on a probe station. (Photo Rob Felt Georgia Tech)","body":null,"created":"1639687055","gmt_created":"2021-12-16 20:37:35","changed":"1639687055","gmt_changed":"2021-12-16 20:37:35","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247994","name":"Image shows organic-thin film transistors for organic semiconductors under continuous testing on a probe station. (Photo Rob Felt, Georgia Tech).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Image%20shows%20organic-thin%20film%20transistors%20for%20organic%20semiconductors%20under%20continuous%20testing%20on%20a%20probe%20station.%20%28Photo%20Rob%20Felt%2C%20Georgia%20Tech%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Image%20shows%20organic-thin%20film%20transistors%20for%20organic%20semiconductors%20under%20continuous%20testing%20on%20a%20probe%20station.%20%28Photo%20Rob%20Felt%2C%20Georgia%20Tech%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":430647,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Image%20shows%20organic-thin%20film%20transistors%20for%20organic%20semiconductors%20under%20continuous%20testing%20on%20a%20probe%20station.%20%28Photo%20Rob%20Felt%2C%20Georgia%20Tech%29.jpg?itok=w4Avaz3X"}},"628697":{"id":"628697","type":"image","title":"Organic photovoltaic devices","body":null,"created":"1573091672","gmt_created":"2019-11-07 01:54:32","changed":"1573091672","gmt_changed":"2019-11-07 01:54:32","alt":"Organic photovoltaic device in a hand","file":{"fid":"239436","name":"organic-pv.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/organic-pv.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/organic-pv.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1361225,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/organic-pv.jpg?itok=VzFC72zn"}},"651283":{"id":"651283","type":"image","title":"Carlos Silva Acu\u00f1a, professor, School of Physics","body":null,"created":"1633030429","gmt_created":"2021-09-30 19:33:49","changed":"1633361640","gmt_changed":"2021-10-04 15:34:00","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247109","name":"Carlos Silva Acuna.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Carlos%20Silva%20Acuna.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Carlos%20Silva%20Acuna.png","mime":"image\/png","size":897147,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Carlos%20Silva%20Acuna.png?itok=3OW-zWLB"}},"653778":{"id":"653778","type":"image","title":"Natalie Stingelin","body":null,"created":"1639686221","gmt_created":"2021-12-16 20:23:41","changed":"1639686221","gmt_changed":"2021-12-16 20:23:41","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247993","name":"Natalie Stingelin.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Natalie%20Stingelin.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Natalie%20Stingelin.png","mime":"image\/png","size":5780806,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Natalie%20Stingelin.png?itok=FQJ3ssJY"}}},"media_ids":["653779","628697","651283","653778"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/science-matters\/sciencematters-season-3-episode-7-finding-magic-materials-science","title":"ScienceMatters - Season 3, Episode 7 - Finding the Magic in Materials Science"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/future-colorfully-lit-mystifying-physics-paint-semiconductors","title":"A Future Colorfully Lit by the Mystifying Physics of Paint-On Semiconductors"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/hispanic-and-latinx-heritage-month-faculty-perspectives-representation-mentoring-leadership","title":"Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month: Faculty Perspectives on Representation, Mentoring, Leadership in STEM"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/carlos-silva-named-associate-editor-science-advances","title":"Carlos Silva-Acu\u00f1a Named Associate Editor of Science Advances"},{"url":"https:\/\/silva.chemistry.gatech.edu","title":"Silva Lab"},{"url":"https:\/\/silva.chemistry.gatech.edu","title":"Natalie Stingelin, Siva Sivakumar Named Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors"},{"url":"https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/materials\/5questionsStingelin","title":"5 Questions with the New IMat Advisory Team: Natalie Stingelin"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/institute-materials-imat-announces-initiative-leads-and-science-advisor","title":"Institute for Materials (IMat) Announces Initiative Leads and Science Advisor"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"85951","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"166928","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"id":"189593","name":"School of Materials Science"},{"id":"167445","name":"School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering"},{"id":"188975","name":"Carlos Silva Acuna"},{"id":"65041","name":"natalie stingelin"},{"id":"189564","name":"Frenkel biexcitons"},{"id":"6593","name":"organic semiconductors"},{"id":"12372","name":"organic solar cells"},{"id":"182287","name":"organic photovoltaics"},{"id":"2294","name":"materials science"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Renay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEditor: \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"655232":{"#nid":"655232","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Develop Methodology for Streamlined Control of Material Deformation","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECan you crumple up two sheets of paper the exact same way? Probably not \u0026mdash; the very flexibility that lets flexible structures from paper to biopolymers and membranes undergo many types of large deformations makes them notoriously difficult to control. Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Universiteit van Amsterdam, and Universiteit Leiden have shed new light on this fundamental challenge, demonstrating that new physical theories provide precise predictions of the deformations of certain structures, as recently published in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-021-27825-0\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENature Communications.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the paper, Michael Czajkowski and D. Zeb Rocklin from Georgia Tech, Corentin Coulais from Universiteit van Amsterdam, and Martin van Hecke of AMOLF and Universiteit Leiden approach a highly studied exotic elastic material, uncover an intuitive geometrical description of the pronounced \u0026ndash; or nonlinear \u0026ndash; soft deformations, and show how to activate any of these deformations on-demand with minimal inputs. This new theory reveals that a flexible mechanical structure is governed by some of the same math as electromagnetic waves, phase transitions, and even black holes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;So many other systems struggle with how to be strong and solid in some ways but flexible and compliant in others, from the human body and micro-organisms to clothing and industrial robots,\u0026rdquo; said Rocklin. \u0026ldquo;These structures solve that problem in an incredibly elegant way that permits a single folding mechanism to generate a wide family of deformations. We\u0026rsquo;ve shown that a single folding mode can transform a structure into an infinite family of shapes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA Brief History of Metamaterials \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMetamaterials rely on the use of hinges, folds, cuts, and \u0026ldquo;flexible\u0026rdquo; ingredients to display the variety of counterintuitive physics that has been steadily revealed over the past decade of intense research. Many of these new behaviors have emerged from the development of auxetics, materials that tend to shrink in all directions when they are compressed from any direction rather than bulging outward. Although the researchers\u0026rsquo; chosen structure, \u0026ldquo;Rotating Squares,\u0026rdquo; is already one of the most heavily researched metamaterials, they uncovered entirely new and powerful physics hiding within its deformations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Normally complex real-world structures defy analytical physics, which made it all the more thrilling when Michael found that his conformal predictions could account for 99.9% of the variance in Corentin\u0026rsquo;s structure,\u0026rdquo; said Rocklin. \u0026ldquo;This new approach could allow us to predict and control tough, flexible structures from the size of skyscrapers to the microscale.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EConformal Findings \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe results of this paper rely on the novel observation that these maximally auxetic metamaterials deform conformally, which the researchers confirmed with a high degree of accuracy. This means that any angle drawn on the material before and after deformation\u0026nbsp;will still look like the same angle. This seemingly mundane observation activates powerful mathematical structures.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis conformal insight allows for a variety of pen-and-paper analytic advances: a nonlinear energy functional, deformation fitting methods, new prediction methods etc. This culminates with a recipe to choose any of these conformal deformations in an exact, reversible, and mathematically straightforward manner via the manipulation of the boundary. By choosing how much the boundary is stretched, the overall shape can be picked from infinite possibilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESuch deformation control is still limited by the essential nature of conformal deformations. However, the underlying principles are quite general, and researchers are working to apply these new principles to more varied and complex structures.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Our results are very promising for the soft microscopic robotics that are being developed for non-invasive surgical purposes,\u0026quot; said Czajkowski.\u0026nbsp;\u0026quot;In this effort, scalability and precise external control are two of the primary goalposts, and our style of deformation control seems perfectly suited for the job.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe jump to more provocative applications is likely not far off, as the realm of metamaterials has steadily become populated with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/nature18960\u0022\u003Emanipulatable faces\u003C\/a\u003E, a variety of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/107\/44\/18809\u0022\u003Enew grabbers\u003C\/a\u003E and hands, and even an elastic worm that can \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/full\/10.1126\/scirobotics.aax7329\u0022\u003Ethread a series of needles\u003C\/a\u003E. These advances will become essential in the effort to develop soft microscopic robots, which must be externally manipulated to move through a body and perform noninvasive surgeries.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECitation:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMichael Czajkowski, Corentin Coulais, Martin van Hecke and D. Zeb Rocklin,\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-021-27825-0\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EConformal elasticity of mechanism-based metamaterials\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026rdquo; \u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E (January 11, 2022). doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-021-27825-0\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers demonstrate that new physical theories provide precise predictions of the deformations of certain structures, revealing that a flexible mechanical structure is governed by some of the same math as electromagnetic waves and even black holes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers demonstrate that new physical theories provide precise predictions of the deformations of certain structures, revealing that a flexible mechanical structure is governed by some of the same math as electromagnetic waves and even black holes. "}],"uid":"34602","created_gmt":"2022-02-04 20:30:04","changed_gmt":"2022-02-09 19:47:06","author":"Georgia Parmelee","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-02-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-02-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"655231":{"id":"655231","type":"image","title":"A conformal deformation of the Kagome Metamaterial gives an example of the dramatic possibilities.","body":null,"created":"1644006137","gmt_created":"2022-02-04 20:22:17","changed":"1644006137","gmt_changed":"2022-02-04 20:22:17","alt":"A conformal deformation of the Kagome Metamaterial gives an example of the dramatic possibilities.","file":{"fid":"248413","name":"pressReleaseImages_kagome_pic[39].jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pressReleaseImages_kagome_pic%5B39%5D.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pressReleaseImages_kagome_pic%5B39%5D.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":776713,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/pressReleaseImages_kagome_pic%5B39%5D.jpg?itok=-hF1lLo4"}},"655230":{"id":"655230","type":"image","title":"Rotating Squares 1","body":null,"created":"1644006046","gmt_created":"2022-02-04 20:20:46","changed":"1644006046","gmt_changed":"2022-02-04 20:20:46","alt":"The \u201cRotating Squares\u201d metamaterial deforms conformally, with the blue grid of right angles remaining at right angles after deformation by a foot shaped object. ","file":{"fid":"248412","name":"pressReleaseImages_foot[70].jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pressReleaseImages_foot%5B70%5D.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pressReleaseImages_foot%5B70%5D.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":904535,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/pressReleaseImages_foot%5B70%5D.jpg?itok=_RneSwfl"}}},"media_ids":["655231","655230"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Parmelee | georgia.parmelee@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"654771":{"#nid":"654771","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Cobb, Jo, Sa de Melo Honored as Lifetime AAAS Fellows","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elected three faculty from Georgia Tech and Emory University to the newest class of AAAS Fellows, one of the highest distinctions in the scientific community:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKim M. Cobb\u003C\/strong\u003E, Georgia Power Chair, director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.globalchange.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGlobal Change Program\u003C\/a\u003E, and ADVANCE Professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\t\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHanjoong Jo\u003C\/strong\u003E, Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Faculty Chair in Biomedical Engineering and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/\u0022\u003ECoulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026rsquo;s associate chair for \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.emory.edu\/home\/index.html\u0022\u003EEmory University\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\t\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECarlos A. R. Sa de Melo\u003C\/strong\u003E, professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, College of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\t\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 2021 class of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.aaas.org\/news\/aaas-honors-outstanding-scientific-contributors-2021-aaas-fellows\u0022\u003EAAAS Fellows\u003C\/a\u003E includes 564 scientists, engineers, and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines who are being recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements. AAAS is the world\u0026rsquo;s largest general scientific society and publisher of the \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E family of journals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETech\u0026rsquo;s trio of honorees lead a spectrum of global research spanning climate variability and trends to theoretical physics to atherosclerosis.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKim M. Cobb\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeology \u0026amp; Geography | For distinguished service to the field of paleoclimatology and in outreach and education to foster a new generation of earth scientists who are engaged with the real world.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;As a climate scientist,\u0026rdquo; Cobb shares, \u0026ldquo;it\u0026rsquo;s thrilling to uncover some of Earth\u0026rsquo;s longest held secrets. In that way, our research has always been its own reward to me. But this honor is special, and a true testament to the outsized contributions of our team\u0026rsquo;s research faculty, students, and staff.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe mission of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cobblab.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECobb\u0026rsquo;s research\u003C\/a\u003E is to uncover the mechanisms of global climate change \u0026mdash; both natural and anthropogenic \u0026mdash; to inform regional projections of future climate change.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMore recently, her research has included the study of climate extremes in Georgia, with the aim of bolstering community resilience to climate change impacts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs historically marginalized communities are most vulnerable to such impacts, Cobb explains, she works with a large team of colleagues and students that includes social scientists, as well as local officials and community organizations. Her AAAS Fellow citation recognizes her sustained efforts in communicating climate science to policymakers and the general public.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHanjoong Jo\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBiological Science | For distinguished contributions to atherosclerosis research, especially in discovering the role of blood flow on endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis using novel animal models and cultured cells.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJo\u0026rsquo;s research focuses on better understanding atherosclerosis, a buildup of artery-clogging fats and cholesterol that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am deeply honored and humbled to be elected as an AAAS Fellow,\u0026rdquo; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/news\/jo-elevated-aaas-fellow\u0022\u003Eshares Jo\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;This election recognizes my lifetime contribution to vascular mechanobiology and atherosclerosis by a distinguished group of AAAS Fellows, who are themselves accomplished leaders in broad [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] fields.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECarlos A. R. Sa de Melo\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPhysics | For seminal contributions to superconductivity and superfluidity, particularly the crossover from BCS (Bardeen\u0026ndash;Cooper\u0026ndash;Schrieffer) superconductivity to Bose-Einstein condensation in ultra-cold atoms, and for communicating these advances to students and the public.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESa de Melo\u0026rsquo;s work focuses on theoretical condensed matter and ultra-cold atomic and molecular physics: superconductors, quantum magnets, superfluids, and Bose-Einstein condensates.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I strongly encourage my students to be broad, deep and creative,\u0026rdquo; he shares. \u0026ldquo;Breadth of knowledge is very important in today\u0026#39;s physics job market, as is expert (deep) knowledge in a particular area.\u0026rdquo; But most of all, he adds, it\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;the development of new directions, never explored before\u0026rdquo; comprising the dominant component of his research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am very thankful to the colleagues that have nominated me for such a recognition \u0026mdash; to my students and postdocs for their collaboration,\u0026rdquo; Sa de Melo says, \u0026ldquo;and to the AAAS Council for electing me to the rank of Fellow for contributions to theoretical physics in the fields of superconductivity and superfluidity.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA tradition since 1874\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;AAAS is proud to bestow the honor of AAAS Fellow to some of today\u0026rsquo;s brightest minds who are integral to forging our path into the future,\u0026rdquo; says Dr. Sudip Parikh, AAAS chief executive officer and \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E executive publisher. \u0026ldquo;We celebrate these distinguished individuals for their invaluable contributions to the scientific enterprise.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis tradition stretches back to 1874. AAAS Fellows are a \u0026ldquo;distinguished cadre of scientists, engineers, and innovators who have been recognized for their achievements across disciplines ranging from research, teaching, and technology, to administration in academia, industry, and government, to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAAAS members achieve the rank of Fellow through a rigorous annual nomination and selection process. Cobb, Jo, and Sa de Melo join \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.aaas.org\/fellows\/historic?field_last_name_value=All\u0026amp;field_institutional_affiliation_value=%22georgia%20institute%20of%20technology%22\u0026amp;field_address_city=All\u0026amp;field_address_when_elected_administrative_area=All\u0026amp;field_address_when_elected_country_code=All\u0026amp;field_primary_aaas_section=All\u0026amp;field_status_value=All\u0026amp;order=field_year_elected\u0026amp;sort=desc\u0026amp;name_combine=\u0026amp;field_year_elected\u0022\u003Emore than 90 faculty\u003C\/a\u003E from Georgia Tech faculty elected as Fellows since 1954, including \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/kaye-husbands-fealing\u0022\u003EKaye Husbands Fealing\u003C\/a\u003E, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, who also serves on the AAAS Executive Board \u0026mdash; along with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/lozier-elected-american-academy-arts-and-sciences\u0022\u003Eseveral fellow Georgia Tech faculty\u003C\/a\u003E inducted as AAAS members, including \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/about\/meet-susan-lozier\u0022\u003ESusan Lozier\u003C\/a\u003E, dean of the College of Sciences and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new class of Fellows will receive an official certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin to commemorate their election (representing science and engineering, respectively) and will be celebrated at an AAAS commemoration later this year. The cohort is also featured in the AAAS News \u0026amp; Notes section of \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E for January 2022.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E***\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nThe \u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 44,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Cstrong\u003EAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science\u003C\/strong\u003E (AAAS) is the world\u0026rsquo;s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal\u003Cem\u003E Science\u003C\/em\u003E, as well as \u003Cem\u003EScience Translational Medicine\u003C\/em\u003E; \u003Cem\u003EScience Signaling\u003C\/em\u003E; a digital, open-access journal, \u003Cem\u003EScience Advances\u003C\/em\u003E; \u003Cem\u003EScience Immunology; \u003C\/em\u003Eand \u003Cem\u003EScience Robotics\u003C\/em\u003E. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes more than 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. The nonprofit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to \u0026ldquo;advance science and serve society\u0026rdquo; through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more. For additional information about AAAS, visit\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.aaas.org\u0022\u003E www.aaas.org\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Kim M. Cobb, Hanjoong Jo, and Carlos A. R. Sa de Melo are among AAAS scientists, engineers, and innovators being recognized for scientifically and socially distinguished achievements."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ERepresenting a trio of disciplines across Georgia Tech and Emory, Kim M. Cobb, Hanjoong Jo, and Carlos A. R. Sa de Melo are among 564 scientists, engineers, and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines being recognized for scientifically and socially distinguished achievements.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Kim M. Cobb, Hanjoong Jo, and Carlos A. R. Sa de Melo are among AAAS scientists, engineers, and innovators being recognized for scientifically and socially distinguished achievements."}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2022-01-25 22:49:41","changed_gmt":"2022-01-26 15:33:00","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-01-26T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-01-26T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"654770":{"id":"654770","type":"image","title":"The AAAS Fellowship Rosette (Photo: AAAS)","body":null,"created":"1643150935","gmt_created":"2022-01-25 22:48:55","changed":"1643150935","gmt_changed":"2022-01-25 22:48:55","alt":"","file":{"fid":"248294","name":"MEMB_FellowsSurveyEmail_HeroImage.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MEMB_FellowsSurveyEmail_HeroImage.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MEMB_FellowsSurveyEmail_HeroImage.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":38949,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/MEMB_FellowsSurveyEmail_HeroImage.jpg?itok=WUBqtQ6z"}},"622315":{"id":"622315","type":"image","title":"Kim Cobb","body":null,"created":"1559915999","gmt_created":"2019-06-07 13:59:59","changed":"1643205600","gmt_changed":"2022-01-26 14:00:00","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237029","name":"Kim Cobb by GT.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Kim%20Cobb%20by%20GT.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Kim%20Cobb%20by%20GT.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":9532,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Kim%20Cobb%20by%20GT.jpg?itok=d6cYWPfz"}},"391651":{"id":"391651","type":"image","title":"Hanjoong Jo","body":null,"created":"1449246312","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:12","changed":"1475894406","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:06","alt":"Hanjoong Jo","file":{"fid":"75562","name":"hjoemory-300x235.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hjoemory-300x235.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hjoemory-300x235.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":84070,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hjoemory-300x235.jpg?itok=gDNOeW2y"}},"654772":{"id":"654772","type":"image","title":"Carlos A. R. Sa de Melo","body":null,"created":"1643151888","gmt_created":"2022-01-25 23:04:48","changed":"1643151910","gmt_changed":"2022-01-25 23:05:10","alt":"","file":{"fid":"248295","name":"sademelo-large.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sademelo-large.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sademelo-large.png","mime":"image\/png","size":81062,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sademelo-large.png?itok=ea6VUJ9o"}}},"media_ids":["654770","622315","391651","654772"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.aaas.org\/news\/aaas-honors-outstanding-scientific-contributors-2021-aaas-fellows","title":"AAAS Honors Outstanding Scientific Contributors as 2021 AAAS Fellows"},{"url":"https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/news\/jo-elevated-aaas-fellow","title":"Jo Elevated to AAAS Fellow"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/ladies-and-gentlemen-academies","title":"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Academies"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/lozier-elected-american-academy-arts-and-sciences","title":"Lozier Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences"},{"url":"https:\/\/cobblab.eas.gatech.edu\/","title":"Kim Cobb\u0027s Lab"},{"url":"https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/carlos-sa-de-melo","title":"Carlos Sa de Melo"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.jolabwebpage.com\/","title":"Jo Lab"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"EAS"},{"id":"565971","name":"Ocean Science and Engineering (OSE)"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"33791","name":"kim cobb"},{"id":"189801","name":"carlos sa de melo"},{"id":"10287","name":"Hanjoong Jo"},{"id":"166926","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"14219","name":"Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1629","name":"AAAS"},{"id":"11718","name":"AAAS Fellow"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\njess@cos.gatech.edu\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n+1 (404) 385-5207\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJoshua Stewart\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology \u0026amp; Emory University\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\njstewart@gatech.edu\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n+1 (404) 385-2416\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"653688":{"#nid":"653688","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Air Flow Key to Ensuring Black Soldier Fly Larvae Thrive as a Sustainable Food Source","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBlack soldier fly larvae devour food waste and other organic matter and are made of 60% protein, making them an attractive sustainable food source in agriculture. But increasingly, black soldier larvae are dying before they reach livestock facilities as animal feed.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers, recognizing the culprit is the collective heat generated when the maggots eat in crowded conditions, have found that delivering the right amount of airflow could help solve the overheating issue. Their findings were published this month in \u003Cem\u003EFrontiers in Physics\u003C\/em\u003E as part of a special issue on the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/research-topics\/16040\/physics-of-social-interactions#articles\u0022\u003E\u0026ldquo;Physics of Social Interactions.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Black soldier fly larvae are widely used in an emerging food-recycling industry. The idea is to feed the larvae with food waste and then turn them into chicken feed,\u0026rdquo; explained first author Hungtang Ko, a Ph.D. student in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;These larvae make a great candidate for this process because they eat just about everything.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEach year humans waste more than one billion tons of food, or a third of all food production, and many countries are running out of options for disposing of this waste.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe larvae thrive in and around compost piles, where their larvae help break down organic material, from rotten produce to animal remains and manure. Black soldier fly larvae commonly grow to about 1,000 times their size, noted David Hu, professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s like going from the size of a person to the size of a big truck,\u0026rdquo; he said of the larvae\u0026rsquo;s growth from eggs to adults.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHu has appeared on \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.sciencefriday.com\/videos\/the-very-hungry-maggot\/\u0022\u003EScience Friday\u003C\/a\u003E graphically showing the voracious appetite of black soldier fly larvae, which can eat twice their body mass in food per day. But when these maggots feed while tightly packed in container bins, they generate metabolic heat that collectively can turn lethal for them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAir Flow Matters\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKo and Hu collaborated with Daniel Goldman, Dunn Family Professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, to set up the experiments. Goldman uses fluidized beds \u0026mdash;widely used in industrial applications like oil refining \u2015 to control properties of granular media in animal and robot locomotion studies. Fluidized beds operate by forcing a vertical flow of fluid through a collection of particulate matter; above a certain flow rate, the grains transition from a solid pile to a fluid-like arrangement, where they collide and jostle. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers placed the larvae in a container subjected to regular air flow at a consistent temperature. They then attached a leaf blower to supply air flow into the chamber, manually ramping up and down the air speed in five-minute trials.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause of the larvae\u0026rsquo;s constant activity, the collectives\u0026rsquo; behavior under air fluidization differs from what is observed in traditional fluidized beds: larvae were un-jammable when air flow became low. Instead, they behave like a fluid that adapted and adjusted to external forces.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;An interesting aspect of this work is that it probes a regime of \u0026lsquo;active matter,\u0026rsquo; which has received less attention from physicists: Instead of 3D swarms composed of widely separated, non-colliding flying birds and insects, our `swarm\u0026rsquo; exists in another regime, where animals are packed tightly together,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a second experiment, the team used x-ray imaging and constant air speed to see how fast larvae eat. Specifically, Ko measured the average velocity and pressure of the larvae, as well as how much food they ate under various airflow speeds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;As you continue to increase the flow, you\u0026rsquo;ll reach a point where all the larvae are flying [through the air]. The airflow is too fast, and they won\u0026rsquo;t eat well,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOptimal air velocity will ensure the larvae are cooled off properly and can still feed effectively. \u0026ldquo;Probing optimal flow velocity will be a good next step. Also, from an engineering perspective, we need to consider other ways that we can cool the larvae down, including using heat transfer,\u0026rdquo; he added.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe results indicated that as larvae are agitated by rapid flows, the insects are more likely to be suspended in mid-air without contacting the food, suggesting that a moderate flow rate would be optimal for feeding dense groups of larvae.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also hope this work will enable black soldier fly larvae to be more readily available as recyclers of food waste, which totals \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.fao.org\/3\/i2697e\/i2697e.pdf\u0022\u003E1.3 billion tons per year\u003C\/a\u003E, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. But just as important is the potential of these protein-rich insects to reduce the carbon effects of feeding animals. Global food production contributes more than 17 billion metric tons of human-made greenhouse gas emissions every year, according to a study published in September in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s43016-021-00358-x.epdf?sharing_token=a9WGYTrpVJmPNPwPp3aKEdRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0P5hJzOufiwVEu0osAOLG2L7YmizCBD0QPnXzpZvdgVd8KgbSSsvW_RoDgCorMiMSUv5VsbbEOU6ZYIpYAX3-2-kel3Sgpg1HgOMHI8JuP5TWIqO3TadXe-jyiimgh5Xpd6T1lmwfZH3PgqnWjgTK-jpxERnAZvCtZbZAb94uBkpE7U8BkVdyYHwTWkC_81EwSOgCXM3-GeQVXdw5qe9SuKYf4wT5__DSc-vxmqHMqCpYPjfJnS4iPoNqN-T50fViWfYLR5MHF_yokwfMfAbrGf\u0026amp;tracking_referrer=www.scientificamerican.com\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENature Food\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. Animal-based foods produce more than twice the emissions of plant-based food, the study found.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There\u0026#39;s no sustainable protein source for the animals that we eat,\u0026rdquo; noted Ko. \u0026ldquo;The black soldier fly larvae could play a role in reducing the environmental impact of feeding these animals.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION:\u003C\/strong\u003E H. Ko, et. all,\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;Air-Fluidized Aggregates of Black Soldier Fly Larvae,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;(\u003Cem\u003EFrontiers in Physics,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E2021) https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fphy.2021.734447\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBlack soldier fly larvae devour food waste and other organic matter and are made of 60% protein, making them an attractive sustainable food source in agriculture. But increasingly, larvae are dying before they reach livestock facilities as feed. Georgia Tech researchers provide insights into how this insect superfood can be raised and fed in dense groups without overheating.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech research provides insights into how this insect superfood can be raised and fed in dense groups without overheating "}],"uid":"34602","created_gmt":"2021-12-14 17:47:56","changed_gmt":"2021-12-20 17:54:26","author":"Georgia Parmelee","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-12-14T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-12-14T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"653685":{"id":"653685","type":"image","title":"Black soldier fly larvae.","body":null,"created":"1639503698","gmt_created":"2021-12-14 17:41:38","changed":"1639511498","gmt_changed":"2021-12-14 19:51:38","alt":"Living larvae inside the apparatus between fluidization experiments at Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Physics\u2019 Howey Physics building. (Photo credit: Grace Cassidy, Georgia Tech)","file":{"fid":"247954","name":"Photo 1 - Larvae image[78].jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Photo%201%20-%20Larvae%20image%5B78%5D.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Photo%201%20-%20Larvae%20image%5B78%5D.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":234331,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Photo%201%20-%20Larvae%20image%5B78%5D.jpg?itok=Mkadg7N0"}},"653686":{"id":"653686","type":"image","title":"Hungtang Ko, first author of the study.","body":null,"created":"1639503749","gmt_created":"2021-12-14 17:42:29","changed":"1639511428","gmt_changed":"2021-12-14 19:50:28","alt":"Hungtang Ko headshot","file":{"fid":"247955","name":"Photo 2 - Hungtang Ko[2].jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Photo%202%20-%20Hungtang%20Ko%5B2%5D.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Photo%202%20-%20Hungtang%20Ko%5B2%5D.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":93388,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Photo%202%20-%20Hungtang%20Ko%5B2%5D.jpg?itok=P1mniOPd"}}},"media_ids":["653685","653686"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/asargent7@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAnne Wainscott-Sargent\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["asargent7@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"653725":{"#nid":"653725","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Dupuis Selected as Benjamin Franklin Medal Recipient","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERussell Dupuis has been named as a co-recipient of the 2022 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering. He and his fellow laureates will be honored for their achievements during The Franklin Institute Awards Week, to be held May 2-5, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENow in its 197th year, The Franklin Institute Awards Program pays tribute to its namesake and America\u0026rsquo;s first citizen scientist, Benjamin Franklin, by honoring 13 individuals for their extraordinary achievements in science, engineering, and business leadership. This awards program is the oldest comprehensive science and technology awards program in the United States and has recognized more than 2,000 of the most pioneering scientists, engineers, inventors, and innovators from across the globe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDupuis is being honored for pioneering the technology known as MOCVD (metalorganic chemical vapor deposition). This technology provides the materials quality and ultra-precision required for many device components central to modern life, including LEDS, transistors, lasers, and high-performance solar cells.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHis contributions to the development of MOCVD are among the most significant contributions made in the growth of semiconductor devices in the last 40 years. His work on the understanding and improvement of the MOCVD process was the key development that led to the demonstration of the first MOCVD-grown III-V compound semiconductor heterostructure solar cells, injection lasers, the first CW room-temperature quantum-well lasers grown by any materials technology, and the demonstration of high-reliability MOCVD lasers. These important achievements have had a great impact on the efficient use of energy in the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDupuis has been a faculty member in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Georgia Tech since 2003. He holds the Steve W. Chaddick Endowed Chair in Electro-Optics and is a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar. Dupuis also leads the Center for Compound Semiconductors. Prior to his arrival at Tech, he was a chaired professor at the University of Texas at Austin and worked at Texas Instruments, Rockwell International, and AT\u0026amp;T Bell Laboratories.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDupuis has received several major honors in the last six years. Earlier this year, he and four of his colleagues were awarded the 2021 Queen Elizabeth Prize in Engineering for the creation and development of LED lighting. In 2019, Dupuis was honored with the\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EMaterials Today\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;Innovation Award for his development of the MOCVD technology and seminal contributions to compound semiconductor materials and devices. In 2015, he was one of five pioneers to receive the Draper Prize for Engineering in recognition of the significant benefit to society created by the initial development and commercialization of LED technologies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDupuis has also been recognized\u0026nbsp;with\u0026nbsp;the IEEE Edison Medal and as a Fellow of\u0026nbsp;the\u0026nbsp;IEEE, OSA, the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EECE Professor Russell Dupuis has been named as a co-recipient of the 2022 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering. He and his fellow laureates will be honored for their achievements during The Franklin Institute Awards Week, to be held May 2-5, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"ECE Professor Russell Dupuis has been named as a co-recipient of the 2022 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering. "}],"uid":"27241","created_gmt":"2021-12-15 20:46:52","changed_gmt":"2021-12-20 16:30:58","author":"Jackie Nemeth","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-12-15T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-12-15T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"361591":{"id":"361591","type":"image","title":"Russell Dupuis","body":null,"created":"1449245782","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:16:22","changed":"1475895098","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:38","alt":"Russell Dupuis","file":{"fid":"201574","name":"drrusselldupuis-rgb-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drrusselldupuis-rgb-2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/drrusselldupuis-rgb-2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5161777,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/drrusselldupuis-rgb-2_0.jpg?itok=pC0GLpNx"}}},"media_ids":["361591"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/russell-dean-dupuis","title":"Russell Dupuis"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu","title":"Georgia Tech"},{"url":"http:\/\/gra.org","title":"Georgia Research Alliance"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.fi.edu\/awards","title":"The Franklin Institute Awards"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.fi.edu","title":"The Franklin Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1255","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2461","name":"Russell Dupuis"},{"id":"276","name":"Awards"},{"id":"1506","name":"faculty"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"166855","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"12065","name":"Center for Compound Semiconductors"},{"id":"189538","name":"Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering"},{"id":"189539","name":"The Franklin Institute"},{"id":"173144","name":"MOCVD"},{"id":"14280","name":"LEDs"},{"id":"7528","name":"transistors"},{"id":"10652","name":"lasers"},{"id":"189540","name":"high-performance solar cells"},{"id":"1464","name":"Georgia Research Alliance"},{"id":"180173","name":"Led Lighting"},{"id":"189541","name":"semiconductor materials and devices"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJackie Nemeth\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-894-2906\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"653247":{"#nid":"653247","#data":{"type":"news","title":"NASA Juno Mission Paper Featured in Science","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPaul Steffes, a professor emeritus in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and his colleagues with the NASA Juno Mission published a paper that is the cover feature of the November 19, 2021 issue of\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E. This paper is\u0026nbsp;entitled \u0026ldquo;Microwave observations reveal the deep extent and structure of Jupiter\u0026rsquo;s atmospheric vortices.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJupiter\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;atmosphere has a system of zones and belts punctuated by small and large vortices, the largest being the Great Red Spot. How these features change with depth is unknown, with theories of their structure ranging from shallow meteorological features to surface expressions of deep-seated convection. Steffes and his colleagues present observations of atmospheric vortices using the Juno spacecraft\u0026rsquo;s Microwave Radiometer. They found vortex roots that extend deeper than the altitude at which water is expected to condense, and they identified density inversion layers. Their results constrain the three-dimensional structure of Jupiter\u0026rsquo;s vortices and their extension below the clouds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJuno began its five-year-long journey to Jupiter when it launched from Kennedy Space Center on August 5, 2011. It has been circling Jupiter since entering its orbit on July 4, 2016. Slated to continue through September 2025 or through the end of the spacecraft\u0026rsquo;s life\u0026ndash;whichever comes first, the mission will not only continue key observations of Jupiter, but also will expand its investigations to the larger Jovian system including Jupiter\u0026#39;s rings and large moons, with targeted observations and close flybys planned of the moons Ganymede, Europa, and Io.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.abf1015\u0022\u003ETo learn more, read the paper on the\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;website\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EECE Professor Emeritus\u0026nbsp;Paul Steffes and his colleagues with the NASA Juno Mission published a paper that is the cover feature of the November 19, 2021 issue of\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"ECE Professor Emeritus\u00a0Paul Steffes and his colleagues with the NASA Juno Mission published a paper that is the cover feature of the November 19, 2021 issue of\u00a0Science."}],"uid":"27241","created_gmt":"2021-11-30 18:05:39","changed_gmt":"2021-12-03 02:30:10","author":"Jackie Nemeth","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-11-30T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-11-30T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"653362":{"id":"653362","type":"image","title":"Science Cover featuring Juno Mission","body":null,"created":"1638498557","gmt_created":"2021-12-03 02:29:17","changed":"1638498557","gmt_changed":"2021-12-03 02:29:17","alt":"graphic of Science Cover featuring Juno Mission","file":{"fid":"247812","name":"cropped - November 19, 2021- Print Pages.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cropped%20-%20November%2019%2C%202021-%20Print%20Pages.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cropped%20-%20November%2019%2C%202021-%20Print%20Pages.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":136833,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cropped%20-%20November%2019%2C%202021-%20Print%20Pages.jpg?itok=IlnFF7tx"}},"634669":{"id":"634669","type":"image","title":"Paul Steffes","body":null,"created":"1587599637","gmt_created":"2020-04-22 23:53:57","changed":"1587599637","gmt_changed":"2020-04-22 23:53:57","alt":"Paul Steffes in lab. ","file":{"fid":"241521","name":"paul_steffes_000.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/paul_steffes_000.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/paul_steffes_000.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":76239,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/paul_steffes_000.jpg?itok=L9fQdd2I"}}},"media_ids":["653362","634669"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/paul-g-steffes","title":"Paul Steffes"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu","title":"Georgia Tech"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/science.abf1015","title":"Science article"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/juno\/main\/index.html","title":"Juno Mission (NASA website)"}],"groups":[{"id":"1255","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1260","name":"Paul Steffes"},{"id":"166855","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"13866","name":"Juno Mission"},{"id":"167040","name":"science"},{"id":"11219","name":"Jupiter"},{"id":"189431","name":"Great Red Spot"},{"id":"189432","name":"microwave radiometer"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJackie Nemeth\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-894-2906\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"652625":{"#nid":"652625","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Surfing Gravitational Waves: Georgia Tech Students Help LIGO Catalog All Known Space-time Ripples","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAn international collaboration of scientists, including a team of Georgia Tech graduate students, undergraduate students, and faculty, has\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2111.03606\u0022\u003Ereleased\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;the largest catalog ever of gravitational waves from cosmic collisions of black holes and neutron stars.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis week,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ligo.org\/\u0022\u003ELIGO\u003C\/a\u003E-\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.virgo-gw.eu\/\u0022\u003EVirgo\u003C\/a\u003E-\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gwcenter.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/en\/\u0022\u003EKAGRA\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;Collaboration\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ligo.org\/news\/index.php#GWTC3\u0022\u003Epublished a set of scientific papers on their findings\u003C\/a\u003E, which include the detection of 35 new gravitational wave events since the last release, in October 2020. That brings the total number of these observed events to 90 since the first one was detected in 2015.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe gravitational wave findings include confirmation of intermediate-sized black holes, rare black hole-neutron star merges, and more information on extremely distant black holes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGravitational waves are ripples in space and time caused by black holes smashing into each other, or neutron stars colliding. Black holes are\u0026nbsp;regions of extremely warped space-time caused by a very compact mass. Intense gravity prevents anything, including light, from escaping. Neutron stars are what\u0026rsquo;s left of massive stars when all their fuel has been exhausted; they become objects so large and dense (though not as dense as black holes) that atoms cannot sustain their structure as they do on Earth.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Only now are we starting to appreciate the wonderful diversity of black holes and neutron stars,\u0026rdquo; says Christopher Berry, lecturer at the University of Glasgow, in a LIGO press release. \u0026ldquo;Our latest results prove that they come in many sizes and combinations. We have solved some long-standing mysteries but uncovered some new puzzles too. Using these observations, we are closer to unlocking the mysteries of how stars, the building blocks of our universe, evolve.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/joshua-c-brandt\/\u0022\u003EJoshua Brandt\u003C\/a\u003E, a second-year student in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, is a co-author of one of the scientific\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ligo.org\/science\/Publication-O3bCatalog\/\u0022\u003Epapers\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The third gravitational wave catalog not only represents a large addition to the information we know about black-hole binaries, but it also is a culmination of work from hundreds of scientists all over the world,\u0026rdquo; Brandt says. \u0026ldquo;It shows how successful large scientific collaborations can be with a diverse group of people all applying their expertise to vast amounts of data, which goes into this paper highlighting the major findings.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Georgia Tech connection to gravitational wave detection\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBrandt is one of eight undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Physics who assisted in the research and co-wrote the associated papers. The group includes graduate students\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/humansofligo.blogspot.com\/2019\/05\/sudarshan-ghonge.html\u0022\u003ESudarshan Ghonge\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/hannah-griggs\u0022\u003EHannah Griggs\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/megan-arogeti\u0022\u003EMegan Arogeti\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/erin-thompson\u0022\u003EErin Thompson\u003C\/a\u003E, and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/peter-lott-21a3a9208\u0022\u003EPeter Lott\u003C\/a\u003E. Undergraduates Brandt,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nadiaqutob\u0022\u003ENadia Qutob \u003C\/a\u003E(fourth-year), and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jack-sullivan-1a066389\u0022\u003EJack Sullivan\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(fourth-year) are co-authors of the paper summarizing the gravitational wave findings.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It is amazing to get involved in this type of research so early on\u0026rdquo; as an undergraduate, says Brandt. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026#39;s been inspiring to see how even though the members of LIGO are so busy working on groundbreaking research themselves, they take time to help any other member, including students, and get them involved. A lot of this cutting-edge research isn\u0026#39;t just individuals with specialized knowledge all combining their results together; it thrives on willingness of experienced scientists to share their knowledge and teach those who want to become involved and contribute.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, Griggs and Thompson contributed to a second\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2111.03608\u0022\u003Estudy\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;detailing new findings on gamma-ray bursts. \u0026ldquo;We hoped to determine what kind of cosmic event caused the gamma rays we see on Earth, with special attention paid to neutron star mergers \u0026mdash; with a black hole or another neutron star \u0026mdash; supernovae, and unstable accretion disk formation around spinning black holes,\u0026rdquo; Griggs says. \u0026ldquo;We saw no evidence of gravitational wave events matching up with our GRB (gamma ray burst) catalog. It tells us that in the detection volume of Advanced LIGO\/Virgo, GRBs that are energetic enough to produce detectable gravitational waves are quite rare events.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGravitational waves can also be used to test the validity of Einstein\u0026rsquo;s theory of general relativity to a new precision. \u0026ldquo;The ever-increasing number of gravitational wave events and mergers detected by LIGO enable us to examine the strong field of gravity with greater sensitivity,\u0026rdquo; graduate student Peter Lott says. \u0026ldquo;One can consider the universe as our laboratory, with the scores of detectable compact binary coalescences as our test subjects,\u0026rdquo; Lott adds, referring to binary systems consisting of compact black holes and\/or neutron stars in tight orbits around each other. \u0026ldquo;I am humbled to participate in this international research effort, and I am eager to continue to contribute to further tests in the future.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe students were supervised by\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cadonati.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ELaura Cadonati\u003C\/a\u003E, associate dean for Research in the College of Sciences. Cadonati, also a professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and former director of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cra.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Relativistic Astrophysics\u003C\/a\u003E, is a former LIGO deputy spokesperson.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ligo.org\/news\/index.php#GWTC3\u0022\u003Enew catalog updates the list\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;of all gravitational-wave events observed to date with events found between November 2019-March 2020, using three international detectors: the two Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors in Louisiana and Washington in the U.S, and the Advanced Virgo detector in Italy. Data from these three detectors was analyzed by an international team of scientists from the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, and the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gwcenter.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp\/en\/\u0022\u003EKAGRA (Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector) Collaboration\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in Japan.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA new category for black holes, and a rare cosmic event\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOf the 35 events detected by the research teams, 32 were most likely to be black hole mergers, in which two black holes spiral around each other before finally joining together, an event which emits a burst of gravitational waves.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe black holes have a range of sizes, with the most massive around 90 times the mass of Earth\u0026rsquo;s sun. Several of the resulting black holes that formed from these mergers exceed 100 times the mass of our Sun and are classed as intermediate-mass black holes, a relatively new category long thought to exist by astrophysicists.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe most recent observations confirm that this new class of black holes is more common in the universe than previously thought.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETwo of the 35 events spotted were likely to be neutron stars and black holes merging, a much rarer event that was only discovered in the most recent observing run of the LIGO and Virgo detectors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOf these rare neutron star and black hole mergers, one event seems to show a massive black hole (about 33 times the mass of the Sun) with a very low-mass neutron star (about 1.17 times the Sun\u0026rsquo;s mass). This is one of the lowest-mass neutron stars ever detected, either using gravitational waves or electromagnetic observations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe masses of black holes and neutron stars are key clues to how massive stars live their lives and die in supernova explosions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGravitational waves were first predicted by Albert Einstein in his theory of general relativity in 1916. Because the gravitational waves reaching Earth are so minuscule, it took many decades of work to build instruments precise enough to measure them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"School of Physics graduate students and undergraduates analyze new data on \u2018wonderful diversity\u2019 of black holes and neutron stars for catalog of gravitational wave events. "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Physics graduate students and undergraduates analyze new data on \u0026lsquo;wonderful diversity\u0026rsquo; of black holes and neutron stars for catalog of gravitational wave events.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"School of Physics graduate students and undergraduates analyze new data on \u2018wonderful diversity\u2019 of black holes and neutron stars for catalog of gravitational wave events. "}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2021-11-09 19:09:59","changed_gmt":"2021-11-12 20:28:31","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-11-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-11-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"652629":{"id":"652629","type":"image","title":"Collision and merger of two black holes, resulting in the first detection of gravitational waves, GW150914, by LIGO. (Photo LIGO\/SXS.) ","body":null,"created":"1636486372","gmt_created":"2021-11-09 19:32:52","changed":"1636486372","gmt_changed":"2021-11-09 19:32:52","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247597","name":"Black_hole_collision_and_merger_releasing_gravitational_waves.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Black_hole_collision_and_merger_releasing_gravitational_waves.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Black_hole_collision_and_merger_releasing_gravitational_waves.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":311886,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Black_hole_collision_and_merger_releasing_gravitational_waves.jpg?itok=kq4imqax"}},"652628":{"id":"652628","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech students and faculty who worked with LIGO on the latest gravitational wave catalog. (Photo Laura Cadonati\/LIGO)","body":null,"created":"1636485959","gmt_created":"2021-11-09 19:25:59","changed":"1636485959","gmt_changed":"2021-11-09 19:25:59","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247596","name":"image.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/image_9.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/image_9.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2210096,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/image_9.png?itok=-IVzM1EW"}},"652633":{"id":"652633","type":"image","title":"Chart showing all gravitational wave events detected since 2015. (Photo LIGO)","body":null,"created":"1636486777","gmt_created":"2021-11-09 19:39:37","changed":"1636486777","gmt_changed":"2021-11-09 19:39:37","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247598","name":"gwmerger-poster-white-md.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gwmerger-poster-white-md.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gwmerger-poster-white-md.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2794015,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gwmerger-poster-white-md.jpg?itok=Uy2ifkT2"}},"652710":{"id":"652710","type":"image","title":"A graphic showing time-frequency waveform plots of all gravitational wave events since 2015. (Courtesy LIGO\/Virgo\/KAGRA\/S. Ghonge, Georgia Tech\/Karan Jani, Vanderbilt)","body":null,"created":"1636648506","gmt_created":"2021-11-11 16:35:06","changed":"1636648506","gmt_changed":"2021-11-11 16:35:06","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247626","name":"GWTC-Poster-O123-Landscape.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GWTC-Poster-O123-Landscape_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GWTC-Poster-O123-Landscape_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":4250857,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/GWTC-Poster-O123-Landscape_0.png?itok=-T_DKKuw"}}},"media_ids":["652629","652628","652633","652710"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/georgia-tech-sciences-engineering-and-space-longtime-campus-partnership-skys-still-limit","title":"Georgia Tech Sciences, Engineering, and Space: For a Longtime Campus Partnership, the Sky\u2019s Still The Limit"},{"url":"https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2021\/10\/making-martian-rocket-biofuel-mars","title":"Making Martian Rocket BioFuel on Mars"},{"url":"https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/news\/item\/651785\/global-challenges-opportunities-space-foreign-policy-with-mariel-borowitz","title":"Global Challenges and Opportunities: Space and Foreign Policy with Mariel Borowitz"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/catalog-cosmic-cataclysms-helps-establish-gravitational-wave-astronomy","title":"Catalog of Cosmic Cataclysms Helps Establish Gravitational Wave Astronomy"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/birth-massive-black-holes-early-universe-revealed","title":"Birth of Massive Black Holes in the Early Universe Revealed"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/nature-astronomy-center-relativistic-astrophysics-cover-story-guide-discovering-medium-sized","title":"Nature Astronomy: Center for Relativistic Astrophysics Cover Story Is a Guide for Discovering Medium-sized Black Holes"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/laura-cadonati-named-associate-dean-research","title":"Laura Cadonati Named Associate Dean for Research"},{"url":"https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/news\/2017\/10\/03\/gravitational-wave-confirmations-earn-2017-nobel-prize-physics","title":"Gravitational Wave Confirmations Earn 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics"},{"url":"https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/archive\/features\/gravitational-waves-observed.shtml","title":"Einstein Was Correct (Again): Gravitational Waves Observed "}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"99091","name":"Gravitational waves"},{"id":"189313","name":"gravitational wave catalog"},{"id":"10881","name":"black holes"},{"id":"175916","name":"Neutron Stars"},{"id":"120161","name":"LIGO"},{"id":"189314","name":"Virgo"},{"id":"189315","name":"KARGA"},{"id":"120191","name":"Laura Cadonati"},{"id":"189316","name":"Joshua Brandt"},{"id":"189317","name":"Hannah Griggs"},{"id":"189351","name":"Peter Lott"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERenay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEditors: Jess Hunt-Ralston and Laura Cadonati\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"651725":{"#nid":"651725","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How to Make an Exosuit that Helps with Awkward Lifts","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the last few years, mechanically assistive exosuits, long depicted in works of popular science fiction and film, have finally started to see commercial deployment, according to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/young\u0022\u003EAaron Young\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Most of these exosuits have a so-called passive design, assisting the wearer with unpowered elements like springs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EActive exosuits that incorporate electronics and powered motors are yet to be broadly applied. They tend to be big and heavy, and rely on rigid exoskeletons to transfer weight from body to ground. Exoskeletons add a great deal of stiffness, as well, Young said. Putting on most active exosuits is a little like becoming one with a forklift, restricting a wearer to lifting weights in a vertical plane.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor all these reasons, Young\u0026rsquo;s Asymmetric Back eXosuit (ABX) described in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/9559874\u0022\u003EOctober 5 issue of IEEE Transactions on Robotics\u003C\/a\u003E is highly non-standard. There\u0026rsquo;s no exoskeleton, no rigid structure, nothing that makes contact with the floor. If the wearer is just standing there, it does nothing except for adding 14 pounds to their legs. But if they raise their body from a leaning over position, it makes a somewhat frantic noise: that is the sound of the ABX helping them rotate their torso, helping them twist.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough most active exosuits support vertical lifts, rotating and twisting movements are also ubiquitous, especially in certain fields of manual labor like garbage collection and baggage handling. In many cases, these motions can be awkward and strenuous, leading to work-related injuries as well as back pain, according to Young. Back pain, in turn, is directly correlated with the strength of compressive forces and shear forces that are applied to the spine.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn designing their exosuit, the researchers sought a way to reduce these loads on the spinal joints. Putting it on looks a little like donning a futuristic backpack. Two motors are first strapped onto the back of each upper thigh. These motors are then connected to the back of the opposite shoulders, each with their own cable, making for two cables that diagonally overlap. The exosuit provides assistance by applying tension to the cables when it detects a wearer rise from a bending posture.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026#39;s definitely a different sensation than a sort of standard exoskeleton. It\u0026#39;s not your standard design,\u0026rdquo; said Young.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause the diagonal cables have a component of motion that is horizontal, they exert a pull on the torso that can aid in twisting it from side to side. In tests, the researchers showed that when a wearer of the ABX swung a weight from the ground to one side, the exosuit reduced their back muscle activations by an average of 16%, as measured by electromyography (EMG) sensors. The exosuit also provided a 37% reduction in back muscle exertion when a wearer lifted weights symmetrically, straight off the ground \u0026ndash; an assistance level comparable to more rigid designs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;People definitely felt like the technology is assisting them, which is great. And we did see the concurrent EMG reduction,\u0026rdquo; said Young. \u0026ldquo;I think it\u0026rsquo;s a great first step.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a sense, wearing the exosuit is almost like strapping two additional muscles onto the body \u0026ndash; unconventional muscles, which run directly from back to leg. Interestingly, it is the positioning of these muscles rather than their brute strength that makes them functional, said Young.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe motors pull the cables with much less power than the muscles in the body. However, the cables are positioned much further away from the joints. Through this positioning, the cables obtain greater leverage and mechanical advantage, allowing the wearer to reduce their overall muscular output and hence the load that they place on their spine. (Spinal loading was not directly measured in the study.)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAside from its overall performance, it is the flexible, asymmetric nature of the suit that really makes it unique, Young said. There are currently no other active exosuits that provide assistance for twisting and rotating through a comparable range of motion. While other exosuits also use cables, none have arranged them along diagonal lines.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYoung is currently seeking collaborations with industry partners to further develop the exosuit. In future work, he sees its control system as a point to improve. Currently, when a person raises their torso from a lowered position, the cables simply pull with constant tension. But it should be possible to make the system detect different actions of the wearer and adjust its pull in response.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EReferences\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJ. M. Li, D. D. Molinaro, A. S. King, A. Mazumdar and A. J. Young, \u0026quot;Design and Validation of a Cable-Driven Asymmetric Back Exosuit,\u0026quot; in IEEE Transactions on Robotics, doi: 10.1109\/TRO.2021.3112280.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Georgia Tech\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 40,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New exosuit invented by Georgia Tech researchers reduces muscular exertion required for rotating and twisting motions."}],"uid":"35899","created_gmt":"2021-10-14 19:49:28","changed_gmt":"2021-10-15 17:05:40","author":"Mordechai Rorvig","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-10-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-10-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"651722":{"id":"651722","type":"image","title":"Aaron Young 001","body":null,"created":"1634240470","gmt_created":"2021-10-14 19:41:10","changed":"1634317475","gmt_changed":"2021-10-15 17:04:35","alt":"","file":{"fid":"247263","name":"BexoStill_padded.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/BexoStill_padded.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/BexoStill_padded.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":413732,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/BexoStill_padded.jpg?itok=S1G1BWGQ"}}},"media_ids":["651722"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMordechai Rorvig\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nSenior Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["mrorvig@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"648935":{"#nid":"648935","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New \u0027Vibrant Pack Energy Harvesters\u0027 to Harness Big Bridge Vibrations","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis story by Craig McManamon \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hw.ac.uk\/news\/articles\/2021\/bridge-energy-to-be-harvested-in-pioneering.htm\u0022\u003Efirst appeared\u003C\/a\u003E in the Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh, Scotland) newsroom and has been tailored for Georgia Tech audiences.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETraffic and wind regularly cause low frequency vibrations to ripple through bridge building materials such as steel and concrete. This energy would normally travel away from its source before dissipating \u0026mdash; but academics at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh alongside colleagues from \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gsu.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia State University\u003C\/a\u003E and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E in the US have recognized an opportunity. They intend to capture and recycle this untapped source by using the principles of physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey have received \u0026pound;340,000\u0026nbsp;(about $463,000) from the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gow.epsrc.ukri.org\/NGBOViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP\/V034391\/1\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council\u0026nbsp;(EPSRC)\u003C\/a\u003E, part of UK Research and Innovation,\u0026nbsp;and $443,000 from the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENational Science Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E (NSF) to research and develop a revolutionary vibro-impact energy harvesting device.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDaniil Yurchenko, Ph.D., from Heriot-Watt University, has created a prototype called a \u0026lsquo;vibrant pack energy harvester\u0026rsquo; that can be fitted at multiple locations on a bridge.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThese autonomous devices, measuring around 5 \u0026ndash; 10cm in length, do not require wiring to an electrical power source and are relatively cheap to manufacture. They work by holding a small ball housed within a tube that rolls back and forth as the device absorbs low frequency vibrations. As the ball moves, it impacts on non-conductive materials, known as dielectric membranes, located at either end of the tube. When the membrane is stretched, a brief electrical charge is applied but once it returns to its undeformed state, the generated excessive electrical charge can be harvested.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis electrical energy is stored in a battery and used to power a sensor capable of monitoring the structural integrity of a bridge. Engineers can then record multiple measurements, such as vibrations, traffic load, wind and temperature, all at the same time but without the need for specialist infrastructure to be installed at significant cost.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYurchenko, from the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, explains that while dielectric elastomer technology has been tried in wave energy, nothing has been done on this centimetre scale before.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;What we are doing is creating a more efficient and cost-effective solution by harvesting energy that would otherwise be lost,\u0026rdquo; he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s something that has never been done before in this way.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a technology that can be used on any bridge anywhere in the world. There are plenty of places where these devices can be fitted to a bridge structure such as on cables, on the pillars, other side of the bridge deck, there really aren\u0026rsquo;t any limits.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The biggest problem in energy harvesting is that the absolute amount of energy produced by a typical device is very small due to the low available level of vibrations. In fact, for the past 100 years scientists have been fighting adverse vibrations to ensure that bridges are safe. So, through this work we will try to optimise the performance of our vibro impact energy harvesting device tuning it to the bridge application.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team is working alongside Wenzel Consult, an independent company that specialises in bridge sensor technology in Austria and Turkey.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs the project advances, the scientists say they intend to carry our real-life testing of their prototype on a 32-meter long highway bridge in northern Austria.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe multidisciplinary project, entitled, Stochastic Nonsmooth Analysis For Energy Harvesting, is due to complete in 2024.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.gatech.edu\/rkuske7-home\/\u0022\u003ERachel Kuske\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and chair of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/math.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Mathematics\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech, said: \u0026ldquo;While the device has nonlinear behaviour, which is beneficial in generating more energy than is used to power the device, the same nonlinearity can result in a range of complex responses to the vibrations. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We will use dynamical analyses to predict the different types of responses, as well as to select design choices for responses that optimise energy output. As the bridge vibrations are also inherently noisy, the analysis will also identify how to leverage noise sources that are beneficial and mitigate effects from detrimental noise sources.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Igor Belykh, co-investigator from Georgia State University, adds: \u0026ldquo;This project seeks to provide guidelines for designing power supplies that can harvest energy from bridge oscillations. These energy harvesters can be used in bridge damage sensors thereby minimising sensor maintenance\/battery replacement and decreasing the associated risks to service personnel on high suspension bridges. Moreover, this project is synergistically connected to another project supported by NSF grant (2019-2022) \u0026lsquo;Modern approaches to modelling and predicting bridge instabilities\u0026rsquo; that will inform the design of energy harvesters by offering a dynamical characterisation of bridge oscillations and external perturbations to be harvested.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe scientists say that in the future the same technology could be adapted and used to harvest energy from other vibrating man-made structures and machines.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ERelated news coverage: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com\/education\/vibrations-from-forth-bridge-and-queensferry-crossing-could-be-harvested-and-turned-into-electrical-power-3313475\u0022\u003EEdinburgh Evening News\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scottishconstructionnow.com\/article\/and-finally-good-vibrations\u0022\u003EScottish Construction Now\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/futurescot.com\/bridge-energy-to-be-harvested-in-pioneering-research-project-led-by-scottish-university\/\u0022\u003EFutureScot\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.heraldscotland.com\/news\/homenews\/19453629.heriot-watt-scientists-say-bridge-vibrations-used-improve-safety\/\u0022\u003EThe Herald Scotland\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/digit.fyi\/bridge-energy-gathered-heriot-watt-project\/\u0022\u003EDigit\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETraffic and wind regularly cause low frequency vibrations to ripple through bridge building materials such as steel and concrete. This energy would normally travel away from its source before dissipating \u0026mdash; but School of Mathematics\u0026#39; Rachel Kuske is joining colleagues at\u0026nbsp;Georgia State University and Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh to capture and recycle this untapped energy source by using the principles of physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Traffic and wind regularly cause low frequency vibrations to ripple through steel and concrete in bridges. This energy would normally travel away from its source before dissipating \u2014 but Rachel Kuske has joined an effort to capture and recycle this energy"}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2021-07-20 19:07:23","changed_gmt":"2021-07-21 14:08:08","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-07-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-07-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"648936":{"id":"648936","type":"image","title":"Queensferry Crossing from Port Edgar Maria (Credit: Transport Scotland)","body":null,"created":"1626808364","gmt_created":"2021-07-20 19:12:44","changed":"1626808364","gmt_changed":"2021-07-20 19:12:44","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246359","name":"36246225504_af6d3632bc_k.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/36246225504_af6d3632bc_k.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/36246225504_af6d3632bc_k.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":832820,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/36246225504_af6d3632bc_k.jpg?itok=RtLsxE6n"}},"595289":{"id":"595289","type":"image","title":"Rachel Kuske, School of Mathematics professor and chair","body":null,"created":"1504101520","gmt_created":"2017-08-30 13:58:40","changed":"1504101520","gmt_changed":"2017-08-30 13:58:40","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226868","name":"Rachel Kuske.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Rachel%20Kuske_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Rachel%20Kuske_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":40048,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Rachel%20Kuske_0.jpg?itok=LpigU81q"}},"648955":{"id":"648955","type":"image","title":"Daniil Yurchenko, associate professor in the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University","body":null,"created":"1626875943","gmt_created":"2021-07-21 13:59:03","changed":"1626876475","gmt_changed":"2021-07-21 14:07:55","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246373","name":"DDY.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DDY.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DDY.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":237517,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/DDY.jpg?itok=O7mqWv7u"}},"648956":{"id":"648956","type":"image","title":"Igor Belykh, professor in the Department of Math and Statistics with a joint appointment at Neuroscience Institute in the College of Arts \u0026 Sciences at Georgia State University","body":null,"created":"1626876172","gmt_created":"2021-07-21 14:02:52","changed":"1626876172","gmt_changed":"2021-07-21 14:02:52","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246374","name":"igor.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/igor.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/igor.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":46959,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/igor.jpg?itok=YKKWUVBU"}}},"media_ids":["648936","595289","648955","648956"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1279","name":"School of Mathematics"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"179355","name":"Building Construction"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"168854","name":"School of Mathematics"},{"id":"173361","name":"Rachel Kuske"},{"id":"188303","name":"vibro-impact energy harvesting"},{"id":"213","name":"energy"},{"id":"188304","name":"suspension bridges"},{"id":"1400","name":"Construction"},{"id":"188305","name":"bridge oscillations"},{"id":"188306","name":"energy harvesters"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"256","name":"math"},{"id":"173647","name":"_for_math_site_"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"648023":{"#nid":"648023","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Blending Old and New Schools: Machine Learning Mixes with Traditional Science Principles ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMachine learning came along at just the right time. The world is now awash in more data than ever before, and computer algorithms that can learn and improve as they perform data analysis promise to help scientists handle that information overload.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYet researchers who think that machine learning by itself can help solve complex problems in science, engineering, and medicine, should strive for a more balanced approach, says\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/roman-grigoriev\u0022\u003ERoman Grigoriev\u003C\/a\u003E, part of a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;team with new\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-021-23479-0\u0022\u003Eresearch\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;suggesting a hybrid approach for conducting science that blends new era technologies, old school experimentation, and theoretical analysis. The research suggests faster solutions to complex, data-intensive riddles involving such issues as cancer, earthquakes, weather forecasts, and climate change.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a combination of existing theoretical understanding \u0026mdash; as well as experimental data with machine learning,\u0026rdquo; says Grigoriev, Physics professor and lead investigator of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cns.physics.gatech.edu\/~roman\/index.html\u0022\u003EDynamics and Control Group\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;Oftentimes people who do machine learning kind of forget about theoretical understanding and almost rely totally on data. It\u0026rsquo;s relatively simple, but when there\u0026rsquo;s a lot of data and not enough structure in that data, that approach is bound to fail.\u0026quot; Grigoriev explains that there\u0026#39;s often just too much data to meaningfully analyze, at which point \u0026quot;the problem becomes intractable. Essentially, harnessing appropriate domain knowledge is critical for finding structure in the data.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-021-23479-0\u0022\u003E\u0026ldquo;Robust learning from noisy, incomplete, high-dimensional experimental data via physically constrained symbolic regression\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026rdquo; was in May in\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/ncomms\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/a\u003E Fellow School of Physics researchers involved in the study are\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/michael-schatz\u0022\u003EMichael Schatz\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and the School\u0026rsquo;s interim chair; graduate research assistant\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/logan-kageorge\u0022\u003ELogan Kageorge\u003C\/a\u003E; and former graduate research assistant\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/patrick-reinbold-05aa78136\u0022\u003EPatrick A.K. Reinbold\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe problem with high-dimensional data\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMachine learning uses computer algorithms to find patterns in data, but \u0026ldquo;most popular machine learning approaches present results in a form that is hard to interpret and\u0026nbsp;explain,\u0026rdquo; Grigoriev says. \u0026ldquo;Unless you understand the how and the why, you can\u0026rsquo;t really say you understand a problem.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUnderstanding and predicting complicated behaviorsbehaviors \u0026mdash; by crunching a lot of dense, rich data \u0026mdash; can help with fundamental and practical problems in science arenas like weather forecasting and characterizing cardiac arrhythmias.\u0026nbsp;The problem is\u0026nbsp;that most of those arenas involve \u0026ldquo;high-dimensional\u0026rdquo; data, which means exactly what it sounds like: data with a lot of dimensions or variables, sometimes millions of them.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe dimensionality of the data is so large that \u0026ldquo;you get lost and it\u0026rsquo;s hard to see any trends,\u0026rdquo; Grigoriev says.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHis team has come up with a hybrid approach that blends machine learning with elements of the traditional process of scientific discovery. That means a theoretical description, observations, designing experiments to test the description, and \u0026ldquo;then going back and forth between improving the theories, and designing new experiments. That\u0026rsquo;s been the traditional approach for hundreds of years.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe foundation of Science\u0026#39;s understanding and progress relies on that scientific method \u0026mdash; the combination of theory and experimentation. \u0026ldquo;They\u0026rsquo;re not developed just based on the\u0026nbsp;data. They\u0026nbsp;are developed using both existing knowledge as well as some general fundamental laws.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAn approach that spotlights the beauty of equations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EConstraining the data to include just those variables that pertain directly to the experiment in\u0026nbsp;question is vital in working with high-dimensional data, Grigoriev says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;What this approach allows you to do is identify a simpler model that uses the variables you need. It\u0026rsquo;s a simplified description that applies to a particular situation, but obtained using data that\u0026rsquo;s computational or experimental. It can do both.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe result is represented in a mathematical model, Grigoriev says, and \u0026ldquo;once you see those equations, you understand what the variables are. The equations certainly help explain the essence of a physical problem.\u0026rdquo; His team\u0026rsquo;s approach was validated in the research with a fluid dynamics experiment. A thin layer of liquid was suspended in a rectangular tank, with magnetic and electrical fields shot through it to create what physicists call a turbulent flow \u0026mdash; irregular shifts happening within the fluid layer that can rapidly change direction and magnitude.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGrigoriev and his team used their hybrid approach to analyze the accessible data, in this case the velocity of the water. Subsequently, they were able to reconstruct variables that couldn\u0026rsquo;t be measured directly, like water pressure and force.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis is the beauty of the equations \u0026mdash; how much they allow you to do,\u0026nbsp;Grigoriev says.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;What we do get is an equation, or set of equations, which are in a familiar form. We know how to explain, how to solve the problem using these equations. This is the nice thing about this approach. We\u0026rsquo;re working with variables whose meaning we understand; we know how to interpret them.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team believes the study\u0026rsquo;s results will lead to advances like faster, more accurate ways to make predictions of complicated behavior in those large, real world problems in science, engineering, and medicine.\u0026nbsp;For example, as Grigoriev\u0026rsquo;s team\u0026rsquo;s research states, \u0026ldquo;the ability to identify and quantify important patterns and sequences in atmospheric turbulence should enable weather forecasts that are better and more rapid than those currently possible today.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. CMMI-1725587 and CMMI-2028454. The experimental data used in this work was produced by Jeff Tithof. The magnetic field measurements were performed with assistance from Charles Haynes. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-021-23479-0\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-021-23479-0\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Solving big science problems with new roadmap that blends potent data analysis tools with \u0027existing theoretical understanding\u0027"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA quartet of School of Physics researchers has come up with a roadmap that blends powerful new machine learning tools with traditional scientific investigative techniques and theories, all in the hopes of solving the biggest problems in science, engineering, and medicine.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Solving big science problems with new roadmap that blends potent data analysis tools with \u0027existing theoretical understanding\u0027"}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2021-06-09 19:48:03","changed_gmt":"2021-06-24 19:02:50","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"648176":{"id":"648176","type":"image","title":"A fluid dynamics experiment shows small fluorescent particles carried along by the flow. The particles represent the types of data used in the School of Physics study. (Credit: Roman Grigoriev)","body":null,"created":"1623870072","gmt_created":"2021-06-16 19:01:12","changed":"1623870072","gmt_changed":"2021-06-16 19:01:12","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246059","name":"2021 06 Roman Grigoriev - research - Crisp Seeded Flow.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2021%2006%20Roman%20Grigoriev%20-%20research%20-%20Crisp%20Seeded%20Flow.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2021%2006%20Roman%20Grigoriev%20-%20research%20-%20Crisp%20Seeded%20Flow.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1014405,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2021%2006%20Roman%20Grigoriev%20-%20research%20-%20Crisp%20Seeded%20Flow.jpg?itok=MCgpz90p"}},"648024":{"id":"648024","type":"image","title":"Roman Grigoriev","body":null,"created":"1623268247","gmt_created":"2021-06-09 19:50:47","changed":"1623268247","gmt_changed":"2021-06-09 19:50:47","alt":"","file":{"fid":"245990","name":"RG5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/RG5.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/RG5.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":238786,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/RG5.jpg?itok=NBWAgycv"}}},"media_ids":["648176","648024"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/12-proposals-achieve-college-sciences-strategic-goals-funded-sutherland-deans-chair","title":"12 Proposals to Achieve College of Sciences Strategic Goals Funded by Sutherland Dean\u0027s Chair"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/open-source-machine-learning-tool-could-help-choose-cancer-drugs","title":"Open Source Machine Learning Tool Could Help Choose Cancer Drugs"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"170035","name":"Roman Grigoriev"},{"id":"40211","name":"Michael Schatz"},{"id":"188026","name":"Logan Kageorge"},{"id":"188027","name":"Patrick A.K. Reinbold"},{"id":"9167","name":"machine learning"},{"id":"188028","name":"scientific observations"},{"id":"188029","name":"mathematical equations"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERenay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer II\/Science Writer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["renay.san@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"648192":{"#nid":"648192","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Subterranean Investigations","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.news.ucsb.edu\/2021\/020333\/subterranean-investigations\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EBy Sonia Fernandez (UC Santa Barbara)\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u0026rsquo;ve seen robots take to the air, dive beneath the waves and perform all sorts of maneuvers on land. Now, researchers at UC Santa Barbara and Georgia Institute of Technology are exploring a new frontier: the ground beneath our feet. Taking their cues from plants and animals that have evolved to navigate subterranean spaces, they\u0026rsquo;ve developed a fast, controllable soft robot that can burrow through sand. The technology not only enables new applications for fast, precise and minimally invasive movement underground, but also lays mechanical foundations for new types of robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The biggest challenges with moving through the ground are simply the forces involved,\u0026rdquo; said Nicholas Naclerio, a graduate student researcher in the lab of UC Santa Barbara mechanical engineering professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/me.ucsb.edu\/people\/elliot-hawkes\u0022\u003EElliot Hawkes\u003C\/a\u003E and lead author of a paper on the cover of the journal \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/robotics.sciencemag.org\/content\/6\/55\/eabe2922\u0022\u003EScience Robotics\u003C\/a\u003E. Whereas air and water offer little resistance to objects moving through them, he explained, the subterranean world is another story.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you\u0026rsquo;re trying to move through the ground, you have to push the soil, sand or other medium out of the way,\u0026rdquo; Naclerio said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFortunately, the natural world provides numerous examples of underground navigation in the form of plants and fungi that build underground networks and animals that have mastered the ability to tunnel directly through granular media. Gaining a mechanical understanding of how plants and animals have mastered subterranean navigation opens up many possibilities for science and technology, according to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family Professor of Physics at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Discovery of principles by which diverse organisms successfully swim and dig within granular media can lead to development of new kinds of mechanisms and robots that can take advantage of such principles,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;And reciprocally, development of a robot with such capabilities can inspire new animal studies as well as point to new phenomena in the physics of granular substrates.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers had a good head start with a vine-like soft robot designed in the Hawkes Lab that mimics plants and the way they navigate by growing from their tips, while the rest of the body remains stationary. In the subterranean setting, tip extension, according to the researchers, keeps resisting forces low and localized only to the growing end; if the whole body moved as it grew, friction over the entire surface would increase as more of the robot entered the sand until the robot could no longer move.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBurrowing animals, meanwhile, serve as inspiration for an additional strategy called granular fluidization, which suspends the particles in a fluid-like state and allows the animal to overcome the high level of resistance presented by sand or loose soil. The southern sand octopus, for instance, expels a jet of water into the ground, and uses its arms to pull itself into the temporarily loosened sand. That ability made its way onto the researchers\u0026rsquo; robot in the form of a tip-based flow device that shoots air into the region just ahead of the growing end, enabling it to move into that area.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The biggest challenge we found and what took the longest to solve was when we switched to horizontal burrowing, our robots would always surface,\u0026rdquo; Naclerio said. Whereas gases or liquids evenly flow over and under a traveling symmetric object, he explained, in fluidized sand, the distribution of forces is not as balanced, and creates a significant lift force for the horizontally travelling robot. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s much easier to push the sand up and out of the way than it is to compact it down.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo understand the robot\u0026rsquo;s behavior and the largely unexplored\u0026nbsp; physics of air-aided intrusions, the team took drag and lift measurements as a result of different angles of airflow into from the tip of a solid rod shoved horizontally into sand.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Frictional force response in granular materials greatly differs from that of Newtonian fluids, as intruding into sand can compact and stress large swaths of terrain in the direction of motion due to high friction,\u0026rdquo; said Andras Karsai, a graduate student researcher in Goldman\u0026rsquo;s lab. \u0026ldquo;To mitigate this, a low-density fluid that lifts and pushes grains away from an intruder will often reduce the net frictional stress it has to overcome.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUnlike with gas or liquid, where a downward fluid jet would create lift for the travelling object, in sand the downward air flow reduced the lift forces and excavated the sand below the robot\u0026rsquo;s growing tip. This, combined with inspiration from the sandfish lizard, whose wedge-shaped head favors downward movement, allowed the researchers to modulate the resisting forces and keep the robot moving horizontally without rising out of the sand.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA small, exploratory, soft robot such as this has a variety of applications where shallow burrowing through dry granular media is needed, such as soil sampling, underground installation of utilities and erosion control. Tip extension enables changes in direction, while also allowing the body of the robot to modulate how firmly anchored it is in the medium \u0026mdash; control that could become useful for exploration in low gravity environments. In fact, the team is working on a project with NASA to develop burrowing for the moon or even more distant bodies, like Enceladus, a moon of Jupiter.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We believe burrowing has the potential to open new avenues and enable new capabilities for extraterrestrial robotics,\u0026rdquo; Hawkes said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch for this paper was conducted also by Mason Murray-Cooper, Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin and Enes Aydin at Georgia Institute of Technology. \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFunding: \u003C\/strong\u003EThis work is supported by the NSF (grant nos. 1637446, 1915445, 1915355, and 1935548), the Army Research Office (grant no. GR10005043), the Packard Foundation, and by an Early Career Faculty grant from NASA\u0026rsquo;s Space Technology Research Grants Program. The work of Nicholas D. Naclerio is supported by a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship. \u003Cstrong\u003ECompeting interests:\u003C\/strong\u003E Nicholas D. Naclerio and Elliot W. Hawkes are authors of international patent application WO2020060858A1, related to this work. All other authors declare that they have no competing interests. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/scirobotics.abe2922\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Physicists at Georgia Tech and engineers at UC Santa Barbara are exploring the shallow underground world with a burrowing soft robot"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWe\u0026rsquo;ve seen robots take to the air, dive beneath the waves, and perform all sorts of maneuvers on land. Now, physicists at Georgia Tech and engineers at UC Santa Barbara are exploring the shallow underground world with a fast, steerable, burrowing soft robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Physicists at Georgia Tech and engineers at UC Santa Barbara are exploring the shallow underground world with a burrowing soft robot"}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2021-06-17 18:23:53","changed_gmt":"2021-06-24 18:59:59","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-06-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"648193":{"id":"648193","type":"image","title":"Researchers have developed a fast, steerable, burrowing soft robot (Photo: UC Santa Barbara)","body":null,"created":"1623954918","gmt_created":"2021-06-17 18:35:18","changed":"1623954918","gmt_changed":"2021-06-17 18:35:18","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246067","name":"DSC00508 2.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSC00508%202.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DSC00508%202.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":450082,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/DSC00508%202.JPG?itok=xmnjvCn9"}},"648195":{"id":"648195","type":"image","title":"A small, exploratory, soft robot such as this has a variety of applications where shallow burrowing through dry granular media is needed, such as soil sampling, underground installation of utilities and erosion control (Photo: UC Santa Barbara)","body":null,"created":"1623955405","gmt_created":"2021-06-17 18:43:25","changed":"1623955405","gmt_changed":"2021-06-17 18:43:25","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246069","name":"IMG_1370.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_1370.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_1370.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":463559,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IMG_1370.jpeg?itok=SUrboUyH"}},"648194":{"id":"648194","type":"image","title":"Science Robotics, June 2021 Online Cover: Groundbreaking Soft Robot (Credit: Sicheng Wang)","body":null,"created":"1623955296","gmt_created":"2021-06-17 18:41:36","changed":"1623955296","gmt_changed":"2021-06-17 18:41:36","alt":"","file":{"fid":"246068","name":"Science Robotics cover June 2021.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Science%20Robotics%20cover%20June%202021.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Science%20Robotics%20cover%20June%202021.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":423338,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Science%20Robotics%20cover%20June%202021.jpg?itok=LD6EAajR"}}},"media_ids":["648193","648195","648194"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.news.ucsb.edu\/2021\/020333\/subterranean-investigations","title":"UCSB The Current: Subterranean Investigations"},{"url":"https:\/\/crablab.gatech.edu\/","title":"Daniel Goldman: CRAB Lab"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"12040","name":"Daniel Goldman"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"186871","name":"soft robotics"},{"id":"188095","name":"burrowing robot"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"7688","name":"biomimicry"},{"id":"188096","name":"UC Santa Barbara"},{"id":"188097","name":"Elliot Hawkes"},{"id":"188098","name":"Science Robotics"},{"id":"188099","name":"granular substrates"},{"id":"188100","name":"air-aided intrusions"},{"id":"188101","name":"Andras Karsai"},{"id":"188102","name":"soil sampling"},{"id":"188103","name":"underground installation of utilities"},{"id":"188104","name":"erosion control"},{"id":"188105","name":"burrowing for the moon"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"188106","name":"ARO"},{"id":"171847","name":"Army Research Office"},{"id":"363","name":"NSF"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESonia Fernandez\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nSenior Writer, Science and Engineering\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nPublic Affairs and Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nUC Santa Barbara\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n(805) 893-4765\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nsonia.fernandez@ucsb.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n(404) 385-5207\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\njess@cos.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"647816":{"#nid":"647816","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Neutrons Piece Together 40-year Puzzle Behind Iron-iodide\u2019s Mysterious Magnetism","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis story by Jeremy Rumsey first appeared on \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/neutrons.ornl.gov\/content\/neutrons-piece-together-40-year-puzzle-behind-iron-iodide%E2%80%99s-mysterious-magnetism\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/neutrons.ornl.gov\/content\/neutrons-piece-together-40-year-puzzle-behind-iron-iodide%E2%80%99s-mysterious-magnetism\u0022\u003EOak Ridge National Laboratory: Neutron Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAdvanced materials with more novel properties are almost always developed by adding more elements to the list of ingredients. But quantum research suggests some simpler materials might already have advanced properties that scientists just couldn\u0026rsquo;t see, until now.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers from Georgia Tech and the University of Tennessee\u0026ndash;Knoxville uncovered hidden and unexpected quantum behavior in a rather simple iron-iodide material (FeI\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E) that was discovered almost a century ago. The new research insights into the material\u0026rsquo;s behavior were enabled using a combination of neutron scattering experiments and theoretical physics calculations at the Department of Energy\u0026rsquo;s (DOE\u0026rsquo;s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team\u0026rsquo;s findings\u0026mdash;published in the journal \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41567-020-01110-1\u0022\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026mdash;solves a 40-year-old puzzle about the material\u0026rsquo;s mysterious behavior and could be used as a map to unlock a treasure trove of quantum phenomena in other materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our discovery was driven in large part by curiosity,\u0026rdquo; said Xiaojian Bai, the paper\u0026rsquo;s first author. Bai earned his PhD at Georgia Tech and works as a postdoctoral researcher at ORNL, where he uses neutrons to study magnetic materials. \u0026ldquo;I came across this iron-iodide material in 2019 as part of my PhD thesis project. I was trying to find compounds with a magnetic triangular lattice arrangement that exhibits what\u0026rsquo;s called \u0026lsquo;frustrated magnetism.\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn common magnets, like refrigerator magnets, the material\u0026rsquo;s electrons are arranged in a line like arrows that either all point in the same direction\u0026mdash;up or down\u0026mdash;or they alternate between up and down. The directions the electrons point are called \u0026lsquo;spins.\u0026rsquo; But in more complex materials like iron-iodide, the electrons are arranged in a triangular grid, wherein the magnetic forces between the three magnetic moments are conflicted and are unsure of which direction to point\u0026mdash;hence, \u0026lsquo;frustrated magnetism.\u0026rsquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;As I was reading through all the literature, I noticed this compound, iron-iodide, that was discovered in 1929 and was studied somewhat intensively back in the 1970s and 80s,\u0026rdquo; said Bai. \u0026ldquo;At the time, they saw some peculiarity, or unconventional modes of behavior, but they didn\u0026rsquo;t really have the resources to fully understand why they were seeing it. So, we knew there was something unsolved that was strange and interesting, and compared to forty years ago, we have much more powerful experimental tools available, so we decided to revisit this problem and hoped to provide some new insights.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EQuantum materials are often described as systems that exhibit exotic behavior and disobey classical laws of physics\u0026mdash;like a solid material that behaves like a liquid, with particles that move like water and refuse to freeze or stop their motion even at freezing temperatures. Understanding how those exotic phenomena work, or their underlying mechanisms, is the key to advancing electronics and developing other next-generation technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In quantum materials, two things are of great interest: phases of matter such as liquids, solids, and gases, and excitations of those phases, like soundwaves. Similarly, spin waves are excitations of a magnetic solid material,\u0026rdquo; said Martin Mourigal, professor of physics at Georgia Tech. \u0026ldquo;For a long time, our quest in quantum materials has been to find exotic phases, but the question we asked ourselves in this research is \u0026lsquo;Maybe the phase itself is not apparently exotic, but what if its excitations are?\u0026rsquo; And indeed that\u0026rsquo;s what we found.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENeutrons are ideal probes to study magnetism because they themselves act like microscopic magnets and can be used to interact with and excite other magnetic particles without compromising a material\u0026rsquo;s atomic structure.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBai was introduced to neutrons when he was a graduate student of Mourigal\u0026rsquo;s at Georgia Tech. Mourigal has been a frequent neutron scattering user at ORNL\u0026rsquo;s High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) for several years, using the DOE Office of Science user facilities to study a wide range of quantum materials and their various and bizarre behaviors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen Bai and Mourigal exposed the iron-iodide material to a beam of neutrons, they expected to see one particular excitation or band of energy associated with a magnetic moment from a single electron; but instead they saw not one, but two different quantum fluctuations emanating simultaneously.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Neutrons allowed us to see this hidden fluctuation very clearly and we could measure its entire excitation spectrum, but we still didn\u0026rsquo;t understand why we were seeing such abnormal behavior in an apparently classical phase,\u0026rdquo; said Bai.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor answers, they turned to theoretical physicist Cristian Batista, Lincoln Chair Professor at the University of Tennessee\u0026ndash;Knoxville, and deputy director of ORNL\u0026rsquo;s Shull Wollan Center\u0026mdash;a joint institute for neutron sciences that provides visiting researchers with additional neutron scattering resources and expertise.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith help from Batista and his group, the team was able to mathematically model the behavior of the mysterious quantum fluctuation and, after performing additional neutron experiments using the CORELLI and SEQUOIA instruments at SNS, they were able to identify the mechanism that was causing it to appear.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;What theory predicted and what we were able to confirm with neutrons, is that this exotic fluctuation happens when the spin direction between two electrons is flipped, and their magnetic moments tilt in opposite directions,\u0026rdquo; Batista said. \u0026ldquo;When neutrons interact with the spins of the electrons, the spins rotate in synchronicity along a certain direction in space. This choreography triggered by neutron scattering creates a spin wave.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe explained that in different materials, electronic spins can take on many different orientations and spin choreographies that create different kinds of spin waves. In quantum mechanics, this concept is known as \u0026ldquo;wave-particle duality,\u0026rdquo; wherein the new waves are regarded as new particles and are typically hidden to neutron scattering under normal conditions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In a sense, we\u0026rsquo;re looking for dark particles,\u0026rdquo; Batista added. \u0026ldquo;We can\u0026rsquo;t see them, but we know they\u0026rsquo;re there because we can see their effects, or the interactions they\u0026rsquo;re having with the particles that we can see.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In quantum mechanics, there\u0026rsquo;s no distinction between waves and particles. We understand the particle\u0026rsquo;s behavior based on the wavelength, and that\u0026rsquo;s what neutrons allow us to measure,\u0026rdquo; said Bai.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMourigal likened the way neutrons detect particles to waves breaking around rocks on the ocean\u0026rsquo;s surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In still water we can\u0026rsquo;t see the rocks at the bottom of the ocean until a wave moves over it,\u0026rdquo; Mourigal said. \u0026ldquo;It was only by creating as many waves as possible with neutrons that, through Cristian\u0026rsquo;s theory, Xiaojian was able to identify the rocks, or in this case, the interactions that make the hidden fluctuation visible.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHarnessing quantum magnetic behavior has already led to technological advances such as the MRI machine and magnetic hard disc storage that catalyzed personal computing. More exotic quantum materials may expedite the next technological wave.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Bai, Mourigal, and Batista, the paper\u0026rsquo;s authors include Shang-Shun Zhang, Zhiling Dun, Hao Zhang, Qing Huang, Haidong Zhou, Matthew Stone, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Feng Ye.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince their discovery, the team has used those insights to develop and test predictions into a broader set of materials they expect will yield more promising results.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;As we introduce more ingredients into a material, we also increase potential problems such as disorder and heterogeneities. If we really want to understand and create clean quantum mechanical systems based on materials, going back to these simple systems might be more important than we thought,\u0026rdquo; said Mourigal.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;So that solves the 40-year-old puzzle of the mysterious excitation in iron-iodide,\u0026rdquo; said Bai. \u0026ldquo;We have the advantage today in the advancements of large-scale neutron facilities like SNS that allow us to basically probe the entire energy and momentum space of a material to see what\u0026rsquo;s happening with these exotic excitations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Now that we understand how this exotic behavior works in a relatively simple material, we can imagine what we could find in more complicated ones. This new understanding has motivated us and hopefully it will motivate the scientific community to investigate more of these kinds of materials which will surely lead to more interesting physics.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research was supported by DOE\u0026rsquo;s Office of Science. UT-Battelle LLC manages ORNL for the DOE Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.energy.gov\/science\u0022\u003Ewww.energy.gov\/science\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAdvanced materials with more novel properties are almost always developed by adding more elements to the list of ingredients. But quantum research suggests some simpler materials might already have advanced properties that scientists just couldn\u0026rsquo;t see, until now, thanks to new work from researchers at Georgia Tech and the University of Tennessee\u0026ndash;Knoxville.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Advanced materials with more novel properties are almost always developed by adding more elements to the list of ingredients. But quantum research suggests some materials might already have advanced properties that scientists couldn\u2019t see, until now."}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2021-05-28 14:19:52","changed_gmt":"2021-05-28 18:36:20","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-05-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-05-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"647817":{"id":"647817","type":"image","title":"Researcher Xiaojian Bai and his colleagues used neutrons at ORNL\u2019s Spallation Neutron Source to discover hidden quantum fluctuations in a rather simple iron-iodide material discovered in 1929. (Credit: ORNL\/Genevieve Martin) ","body":null,"created":"1622211657","gmt_created":"2021-05-28 14:20:57","changed":"1622211657","gmt_changed":"2021-05-28 14:20:57","alt":"","file":{"fid":"245914","name":"MVC_0232RR.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MVC_0232RR.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MVC_0232RR.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":49392,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/MVC_0232RR.jpg?itok=BO8QHDRT"}},"647818":{"id":"647818","type":"image","title":"A small sample of iron-iodide held by Bai (above) is mounted and prepared for neutron scattering experiments which were used to measure the material\u2019s fundamental magnetic excitations. (Credit: ORNL\/Genevieve Martin)","body":null,"created":"1622211719","gmt_created":"2021-05-28 14:21:59","changed":"1622211719","gmt_changed":"2021-05-28 14:21:59","alt":"","file":{"fid":"245915","name":"2021-P02813.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2021-P02813.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2021-P02813.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2829090,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2021-P02813.jpg?itok=4r858Hja"}}},"media_ids":["647817","647818"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/mourigal.gatech.edu\/","title":"Mourigal Lab"},{"url":"https:\/\/neutrons.ornl.gov\/content\/neutrons-piece-together-40-year-puzzle-behind-iron-iodide%E2%80%99s-mysterious-magnetism","title":"ORNL: Science and Discovery: Neutron Sciences"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/12-proposals-achieve-college-sciences-strategic-goals-funded-sutherland-deans-chair","title":"12 Proposals to Achieve College of Sciences Strategic Goals Funded by Sutherland Dean\u0027s Chair"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/institute-materials-imat-announces-initiative-leads-and-science-advisor","title":"Institute for Materials (IMat) Announces Initiative Leads and Science Advisor "},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/martin-mourigal-receives-nsf-career-award-quantum-materials-research","title":"Martin Mourigal receives NSF CAREER award for quantum materials research"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/martin-mourigal-2019-sigma-xi-young-faculty-award-2019-ctlbp-junior-faculty-teaching-excellence","title":"Martin Mourigal: 2019 Sigma Xi Young Faculty Award; 2019 CTL\/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/quantum-materials-expertise-georgia-tech","title":"Quantum Materials Expertise at Georgia Tech"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"168235","name":"quantum materials"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"172876","name":"Martin Mourigal"},{"id":"187933","name":"Xiaojian Bai"},{"id":"187961","name":"exotic phases"},{"id":"187962","name":"excitations"},{"id":"187963","name":"frustrated magnetism"},{"id":"187935","name":"neutrons"},{"id":"187964","name":"spin waves"},{"id":"108061","name":"Oak Ridge National Laboratory"},{"id":"187965","name":"High Flux Isotope Reactor"},{"id":"172879","name":"Spallation Neutron Source"},{"id":"3441","name":"DOE"},{"id":"187936","name":"iron-iodide"},{"id":"187966","name":"Cristian Batista"},{"id":"187967","name":"quantum magnetic behavior"},{"id":"187968","name":"mysterious excitation"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"186870","name":"go-imat"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Director\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"644229":{"#nid":"644229","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Study Finds Alligator Hearts Keep Beating No Matter What ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMammals and cold-blooded alligators share a common four-chamber heart structure \u0026ndash; unique among reptiles \u0026ndash; but that\u0026rsquo;s where the similarities end. Unlike humans and other mammals, whose hearts can fibrillate under stress, alligators have built-in antiarrhythmic protection. The findings from new research were reported Jan. 27 in the journal Integrative \u003Cem\u003EOrganismal Biology\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Alligator hearts don\u0026rsquo;t fibrillate \u0026ndash; no matter what we do. They\u0026rsquo;re very resilient,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/flavio-fenton\u0022\u003EFlavio Fenton\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology, researcher in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, and the report\u0026rsquo;s corresponding author. Fibrillation is one of the most dangerous arrhythmias, leading to blood clots and stroke when occurring in the atria and to death within minutes when it happens in the ventricles.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study looked at the action potential wavelengths of rabbit and young alligator hearts. Both species have four-chambered hearts of similar size (about\u0026nbsp; 3 cm); however, while rabbits maintain a constant heart temperature of 38 degrees Celsius, the body temperature of active, wild alligators ranges from 10 to 37 degrees Celsius. Heart pumping is controlled by an electrical wave that tells the muscle cells to contract. An electrical signal drives this wave, which must occur in the same pattern to keep blood pumping normally. In a deadly arrhythmia, this electrical signal is no longer coherent.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;An arrhythmia can happen for many reasons, including temperature dropping. For example, if someone falls into cold water and gets hypothermia, very often this person will develop an arrythmia and then drown,\u0026rdquo; Fenton said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring the study, the researchers recorded changes in the heart wave patterns at 38 C and 23 C. \u0026ldquo;The excitation wave in the rabbit heart reduced by more than half during temperature extremes while the alligator heart showed changes of only about 10% at most,\u0026rdquo; said Conner Herndon, a co-author and a graduate research assistant in the School of Physics. \u0026ldquo;We found that when the spatial wavelength reaches the size of the heart, the rabbit can undergo spontaneous fibrillation, but the alligator would always maintain this wavelength within a safe regime,\u0026rdquo; he added.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile alligators can function over a large temperature range without risk of heart trauma, their built-in safeguard has a drawback: it limits their maximum heart rate, making them unable to expend extra energy in an emergency. Rabbits and other warm-blooded mammals, on the other hand, can accommodate higher heart rates necessary to sustain an active, endothermic metabolism but they face increased risk of cardiac arrhythmia and critical vulnerability to temperature changes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe physicists from Georgia Tech collaborated with two biologists on the study, including former Georgia Tech postdoctoral fellow Henry Astley, now assistant professor in the Biomimicry Research and Innovation Center at the University of Akron\u0026rsquo;s Department of Biology.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I was a little surprised by how massive the difference was \u0026ndash; the sheer resilience of the crocodilian heart and the fragility of the rabbit heart. I had not expected the rabbit heart to come apart at the seams as easily as it did,\u0026rdquo; noted Astley.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELower temperatures are one cause of cardiac electrophysiological arrhythmias, where fast-rotating electrical waves can cause the heart to beat faster and faster, leading to compromised cardiac function and potentially sudden cardiac death. Lowering\u0026nbsp; the temperature of the body \u0026ndash; frequently done for patients before certain surgeries \u0026ndash; also can induce an arrhythmia.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers agree that this study could help better understand how the heart works and what can cause a deadly arrhythmia \u0026ndash; which fundamentally happens when the heart doesn\u0026rsquo;t pump blood correctly any longer.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe authors also consider the research a promising step toward better understanding of heart electrophysiology and how to help minimize fibrillation risk. Until December 2020, when Covid-19 took the top spot, heart disease was the leading cause of death in the United States and in most industrialized countries, with more people dying of heart disease than the next two causes of death combined.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAstley said the research provides a deeper understanding of the natural world and insight into the different coping mechanisms of cold- and warm-blooded animals.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECo-author Tomasz Owerkowicz, associate\u0026nbsp; professor in the Department of Biology at California State University, San Bernardino, considers the findings \u0026ldquo;another piece of the puzzle that helps us realize how really cool non-human animals are and how many different tricks they have up their sleeves.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe expressed hope that more researchers will follow their example and use a non-traditional animal model in future research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Everyone studies mammals, fruit flies, and zebrafish. There\u0026#39;s such a huge wealth of resources among the wild animals that have not been brought to the laboratory setting that have such neat physiologies, that are waiting to be uncovered. All we have to do is look,\u0026rdquo; he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: C. Herndon, et al., \u0026ldquo;Defibrillate you Later, Alligator; Q10 Scaling and Refractoriness Keeps Alligators from Fibrillation.\u0026rdquo; (\u003Cem\u003EIntegrative Organismal Biology\u003C\/em\u003E, 2021)\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/iob\/advance-article\/doi\/10.1093\/iob\/obaa047\/6120966?login=true\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/academic.oup.com\/iob\/advance-article\/doi\/10.1093\/iob\/obaa047\/6120966?login=true\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Anne Wainscott-Sargent (404-435-5784) (asargent7@gatech.edu) John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Anne Wainscott-Sargent\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study reported by Georgia Tech researchers finds that an alligator heart will not fibrillate when exposed to drastic temperature changes, unlike a rabbit (mammal) heart, which is critically vulnerable to heart trauma under those conditions. The research could help\u0026nbsp; better understand how the heart works and what can cause a deadly arrhythmia \u0026ndash; which fundamentally happens when the heart doesn\u0026rsquo;t pump blood correctly any longer.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Both humans and alligators share a common four-chamber heart structure, but unlike mammals, alligators have built-in antiarrhythmic protection. "}],"uid":"35692","created_gmt":"2021-02-15 14:46:29","changed_gmt":"2021-03-09 01:28:48","author":"Anne Sargent","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-02-15T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-02-15T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"644226":{"id":"644226","type":"image","title":"Alligator 1","body":null,"created":"1613398625","gmt_created":"2021-02-15 14:17:05","changed":"1613398625","gmt_changed":"2021-02-15 14:17:05","alt":"Close up of a baby alligator in the wild.","file":{"fid":"244584","name":"thumbnail_alligator head.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thumbnail_alligator%20head.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thumbnail_alligator%20head.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":111618,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/thumbnail_alligator%20head.jpg?itok=vKQrKB0n"}},"644227":{"id":"644227","type":"image","title":"Alligator 2","body":null,"created":"1613398934","gmt_created":"2021-02-15 14:22:14","changed":"1613398934","gmt_changed":"2021-02-15 14:22:14","alt":"Alligator lurking in the water","file":{"fid":"244586","name":"thumbnail_IMG_4788.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thumbnail_IMG_4788.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thumbnail_IMG_4788.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":220808,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/thumbnail_IMG_4788.jpg?itok=3nZKwlE5"}}},"media_ids":["644226","644227"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187033","name":"alligator"},{"id":"2583","name":"heart"},{"id":"180904","name":"arrhythmia"},{"id":"174315","name":"fibrillation"},{"id":"187034","name":"heart risk"},{"id":"187035","name":"heart rhythm"},{"id":"112191","name":"Flavio Fenton"},{"id":"172447","name":"Conner Herndon"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAnne Wainscott-Sargent\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 435-5784\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["asargent7@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"644073":{"#nid":"644073","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Collective Worm and Robot \u201cBlobs\u201d Protect Individuals, Swarm Together","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIndividually, California blackworms live an unremarkable life eating microorganisms in ponds and serving as tropical fish food for aquarium enthusiasts. But together, tens, hundreds, or thousands of the centimeter-long creatures can collaborate to form a \u0026ldquo;worm blob,\u0026rdquo; a shape-shifting living liquid that collectively protects its members from drying out and helps them escape threats such as excessive heat.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile other organisms form collective flocks, schools, or swarms for such purposes as mating, predation, and protection, the Lumbriculus variegatus worms are unusual in their ability to braid themselves together to accomplish tasks that unconnected individuals cannot. A new study reported by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology describes how the worms self-organize to act as entangled \u0026ldquo;active matter,\u0026rdquo; creating surprising collective behaviors whose principles have been applied to help blobs of simple robots evolve their own locomotion.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, supported by the National Science Foundation and the Army Research Office, was reported Feb. 5 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E. Findings from the work could help developers of swarm robots understand how emergent behavior of entangled active matter can produce unexpected, complex, and potentially useful mechanically driven behaviors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECollective Behavior in Worms\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe spark for the research came several years ago in California, where \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/people\/saad-bhamla\u0022\u003ESaad Bhamla\u003C\/a\u003E was intrigued by blobs of the worms he saw in a backyard pond.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We were curious about why these worms would form these living blobs,\u0026rdquo; said Bhamla, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;We have now shown through mathematical models and biological experiments that forming the blobs confers a kind of collective decision-making that enables worms in a larger blob to survive longer against desiccation. We also showed that they can move together, a collective behavior that\u0026rsquo;s not done by any other organisms we know of at the macro scale.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESuch collective behavior in living systems is of interest to researchers exploring ways to apply the principles of living systems to human-designed systems such as swarm robots, in which individuals must also work together to create complex behaviors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The worm blob collective turns out to have capabilities that are more than what the individuals have, a wonderful example of biological emergence,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, a Dunn Family Professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, who studies the physics of living systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy the Worms Form Blobs\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe worm blob system was studied extensively by Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, a research associate in Goldman\u0026rsquo;s lab. Using bundles of worms she originally ordered from a California aquarium supply company \u0026ndash; and now raises in Georgia Tech labs \u0026ndash; Ozkan-Aydin put the worms through several experiments. Those included development of a \u0026ldquo;worm gymnasium\u0026rdquo; that allowed her to measure the strength of individual worms, knowledge important to understanding how small numbers of the creatures can move an entire blob.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe started by taking the aquatic worms out of the water and watching their behavior. First, they individually began searching for water. When that search failed, they formed a ball-shaped blob in which individuals took turns on the outer surface exposed to the air where evaporation was taking place \u0026ndash; behavior she theorized would reduce the effect of evaporation on the collective. By studying the blobs, she learned that worms in a blob could survive out of water 10 times longer than individual worms could.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;They would certainly want to reduce desiccation, but the way in which they would do this is not obvious and points to a kind of collective intelligence in the system,\u0026rdquo; said Goldman. \u0026ldquo;They are not just surface-minimizing machines. They are looking to exploit good conditions and resources.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUsing Blobs to Escape Threats\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOzkan-Aydin also studied how worm blobs responded to both temperature gradients and intense light. The worms need a specific range of temperatures to survive and dislike intense light. When a blob was placed on a heated plate, it slowly moved away from the hotter portion of the plate to the cooler portion and under intense light formed tightly entangled blobs. The worms appeared to divide responsibilities for the movement, with some individuals pulling the blob while others helped lift the aggregation to reduce friction.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs with evaporation, the collective activity improves the chances of survival for the entire group, which can range from 10 worms up to as many as 50,000.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;For an individual worm going from hot to cold, survival depends on chance,\u0026rdquo; said Bhamla. \u0026ldquo;When they move as a blob, they move more slowly because they have to coordinate the mechanics. But if they move as a blob, 95% of them get to the cold side, so being part of the blob confers many survival advantages.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA Worm Gymnasium\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers noted that only two or three \u0026ldquo;puller\u0026rdquo; worms were needed to drag a 15-worm blob. That led them to wonder just how strong the creatures were, so Ozkan-Aydin created a series of poles and cantilevers in which she could measure the forces exerted by individual worms. This \u0026ldquo;worm gymnasium\u0026rdquo; allowed her to appreciate how the pullers managed to do their jobs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When the worms are happy and cool, they stretch out and grab onto one of the poles with their heads and they pull onto it,\u0026rdquo; Bhamla said. \u0026ldquo;When they are pulling, you can see the deflection of the cantilever to which their tails were attached. Yasemin was able to use known weights to calibrate the forces the worms create. The force measurement shows the individual worms are packing a lot of power.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESome worms were stronger than others, and as the temperature increased, their willingness to work out at the gym declined.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EApplying Worm Principles to Robots\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOzkan-Aydin also applied the principles observed in the worms to small robotic blobs composed of \u0026ldquo;smart active particles,\u0026rdquo; six 3D-printed robots with two arms and two sensors allowing them to sense light. She added a mesh enclosure and pins to arms that allowed these \u0026ldquo;smarticles\u0026rdquo; to be entangled like the worms and tested a variety of gaits and movements that could be programmed into them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Depending on the intensity, the robots try to move away from the light,\u0026rdquo; Ozkan-Aydin said. \u0026ldquo;They generate emergent behavior that is similar to what we saw in the worms.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe noted that there was no communication among the robots. \u0026ldquo;Each robot is doing its own thing in a decentralized way,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;Using just the mechanical interaction and the attraction each robot had for light intensity, we could control the robot blob.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy measuring the energy consumption of an individual robot when it performed different gaits (wiggle and crawl), she determined that the wiggle gait uses less power than the crawl gait. The researchers anticipate that by exploiting gait differentiation, future entangled robotic swarms could improve their energy efficiency.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EExpanding What Robot Swarms Can Do\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers hope to continue their study of the collective dynamics of the worm blobs and apply what they learn to swarm robots, which must work together with little communication to accomplish tasks that they could not do alone. But those systems must be able to work in the real world.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Often people want to make robot swarms do specific things, but they tend to be operating in pristine environments with simple situations,\u0026rdquo; said Goldman. \u0026ldquo;With these blobs, the whole point is that they work only because of physical interaction among the individuals. That\u0026rsquo;s an interesting factor to bring into robotics.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the challenges ahead are recruiting graduate students willing to work with the worm blobs, which have the consistency of bread dough.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The worms are very nice to work with,\u0026rdquo; said Ozkan-Aydin. \u0026ldquo;We can play with them and they are very friendly. But it takes a person who is very comfortable working with living systems.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project shows how the biological world can provide insights beneficial to the field of robotics, said Kathryn Dickson, program director of the Physiological Mechanisms and Biomechanics Program at the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This discovery shows that observations of animal behavior in natural settings, along with biological experiments and modeling, can offer new insights, and how new knowledge gained from interdisciplinary research can help humans, for example, in the robotic control applications arising from this work,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grants CAREER 1941933 and 1817334 and the Army Research Office under grant W911NF-11-1-0514. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, Daniel I. Goldman, and M. Saad Bhamla, \u0026ldquo;Collective dynamics in entangled worm and robot blobs. (\u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E, 2021). \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2010542118\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2010542118\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIndividually, California blackworms live an unremarkable life eating microorganisms in ponds and serving as tropical fish food for aquarium enthusiasts. But together, tens, hundreds, or thousands of the centimeter-long creatures can collaborate to form a \u0026ldquo;worm blob,\u0026rdquo; a shape-shifting living liquid that collectively protects its members from drying out and helps them escape threats such as excessive heat.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Research into \u0022blobs\u0022 formed by worms and robots could help developers of swarm robots better utilize emergent behavior."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2021-02-10 17:50:47","changed_gmt":"2021-02-10 17:52:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-02-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-02-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"644063":{"id":"644063","type":"image","title":"Worm blobs create collective behavior","body":null,"created":"1612977380","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:16:20","changed":"1612977380","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:16:20","alt":"Blobs of California blackworms in bottles","file":{"fid":"244530","name":"worm-blobs_3202.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/worm-blobs_3202.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/worm-blobs_3202.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":523457,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/worm-blobs_3202.jpg?itok=QsJpZbV5"}},"644064":{"id":"644064","type":"image","title":"Closeup of smart active particle (smarticle)","body":null,"created":"1612977504","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:18:24","changed":"1612977504","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:18:24","alt":"Closeup of robotic smarticles","file":{"fid":"244531","name":"smarticle_2917.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle_2917.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle_2917.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":247973,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticle_2917.jpg?itok=0NvJXMvX"}},"644067":{"id":"644067","type":"image","title":"Group of smart active particles (smarticles)","body":null,"created":"1612977805","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:23:25","changed":"1612977805","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:23:25","alt":"Group of smart active particles (smarticles)","file":{"fid":"244533","name":"smarticle-blob_2976.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle-blob_2976.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle-blob_2976.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":589131,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticle-blob_2976.jpg?itok=ynQ3aO5V"}},"644069":{"id":"644069","type":"image","title":"Daniel Goldman and smarticle","body":null,"created":"1612977934","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:25:34","changed":"1612977934","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:25:34","alt":"Dan Goldman holds smart active particle robot","file":{"fid":"244534","name":"smarticle-goldman_3146.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle-goldman_3146.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle-goldman_3146.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":398887,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticle-goldman_3146.jpg?itok=S1JKssdW"}},"644066":{"id":"644066","type":"image","title":"Robot blob and worm blob","body":null,"created":"1612977688","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:21:28","changed":"1612977688","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:21:28","alt":"Robot blob and worm blob compared","file":{"fid":"244532","name":"smarticle-worm-blob_2963.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle-worm-blob_2963.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticle-worm-blob_2963.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":460225,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticle-worm-blob_2963.jpg?itok=XMi9en8a"}},"644071":{"id":"644071","type":"image","title":"Smarticles interact to form a robot blob","body":null,"created":"1612978286","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:31:26","changed":"1612978286","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:31:26","alt":"Smarticles interact to form a robot blob","file":{"fid":"244536","name":"worm-blobs_2906.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/worm-blobs_2906.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/worm-blobs_2906.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":456628,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/worm-blobs_2906.jpg?itok=6TYPlifj"}},"644070":{"id":"644070","type":"image","title":"Living liquid of worm blobs","body":null,"created":"1612978167","gmt_created":"2021-02-10 17:29:27","changed":"1612978167","gmt_changed":"2021-02-10 17:29:27","alt":"Worm blob flows from a hand","file":{"fid":"244535","name":"worm-blob_2971.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/worm-blob_2971.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/worm-blob_2971.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":314541,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/worm-blob_2971.jpg?itok=EZ-wa6jZ"}}},"media_ids":["644063","644064","644067","644069","644066","644071","644070"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186986","name":"worm blob"},{"id":"182389","name":"smarticle"},{"id":"186987","name":"robot blob"},{"id":"181005","name":"collective behavior"},{"id":"175602","name":"living systems"},{"id":"186555","name":"active matter"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"643751":{"#nid":"643751","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Snake Micro Scales Reveal Secrets of Sidewinding and Slithering","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe mesmerizing flow of a sidewinder moving obliquely across desert sands has captivated biologists for centuries and has been variously studied over the years, but questions remained about how the snakes produce their unique motion. Sidewinders are pit vipers, specifically rattlesnakes, native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EScientists had already described the microstructure of the skin on the ventral, or belly, surface of snakes. Many of the snakes studied, including all viper species, had distinctive rearward facing \u0026ldquo;microspicules\u0026rdquo; (micron-sized protrusions on scales) that had been interpreted in the context of reducing friction in the forward direction\u0026mdash;the direction the crawling snake\u0026mdash;and increasing friction in the backward direction to reduce slip.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EConsidered through the lens of a sidewinder\u0026rsquo;s peculiar form of locomotion, however, it seemed that these microspicules would not function in the same manner. But no one had examined the microstructure of sidewinders, nor of a handful of unrelated African vipers that also sidewind.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWorking with naturally-shed skins collected from snakes in zoos, researchers used atomic force microscopy to visualize and measure the microstructures of these scale protrusions in three species of sidewinding vipers as well as many other viper species for comparison. The results of the research, published this week in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E, found that indeed the sidewinders have a unique structure distinct from other snakes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe microspicules were absent in the African sidewinding species and reduced to tiny nubbins in the North American sidewinder. All three snakes also had distinctive crater-like micro-depressions producing a distinctive texture not seen in other snakes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EProfessor of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.emory.edu\/home\/people\/bios\/rieser-jennifer.html\u0022\u003EJennifer Rieser\u003C\/a\u003E, working as a postdoctoral researcher in Goldman\u0026rsquo;s group and currently an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/physics.emory.edu\u0022\u003EDepartment of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at Emory University, developed mathematical models to test how both the typical texture of rearward-directed microspicules and spicule-less cratered texture function as snakes interact with the ground. The models revealed that the microspicules would actually impede sidewinding, explaining their evolutionary loss in these species.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe models also revealed an unexpected result that microspicules function to improve performance of snakes that use lateral undulation to move. Lateral undulation is the typical side-to-side mode locomotion used by the majority of snake species. \u0026ldquo;This discovery adds a new dimension to our knowledge of the functionality of these structures, that is more complex than the previous ideas,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/zooatlanta.org\/leader-expert\/joe-mendelson-phd\/\u0022\u003EJoseph Mendelson\u003C\/a\u003E, director of research at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/zooatlanta.org\/\u0022\u003EZoo Atlanta\u003C\/a\u003E and adjunct associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Biological Sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe models indicate that the microspicules act a bit like corduroy fabric. \u0026ldquo;Friction is low when you run your finger along the length of the furrowed fabric\u0026mdash;consistent with previous work\u0026mdash;but the furrows produce significant friction when you move your finger sideways across the fabric texture,\u0026rdquo; said Goldman. The functionality of the distinct craters remains a mystery.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe findings could be important to the development of future generations of robots able to move across challenging surfaces such as loose sand. \u0026ldquo;Understanding how and why this example of convergent evolution works may allow us to adapt it for our own needs, such as building robots that can move in challenging environments,\u0026rdquo; Rieser said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn terms of anatomy, this was a classic example of convergent evolution between a pair of snake species in Africa and a very distantly related snake in North America, Mendelson noted. Biogeographic reconstructions conducted by Jessica Tingle, a doctoral student at University of California Riverside, indicated that the African snakes are evolutionarily much older than the North American sidewinder, suggesting that the sidewinders represented an earlier phase in adaptation for sidewinding.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETai-De Li, then at Georgia Tech in the lab of Prof Elisa Riedo and now at the City University of New York, did the AFM measurements.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDrawing from the fields of evolutionary biology, living systems physics, and mathematical modelling, the team produced a study that explains some aspects of what these microstructures on the bellies of snakes do and how they evolved in snakes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our results highlight how an integrated approach can provide quantitative predictions for structure-function relationships and insights into behavioral and evolutionary adaptions in biological systems,\u0026rdquo; the authors wrote.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Georgia Tech Elizabeth Smithgall Watts Fund; National Science Foundation Physics of Living Systems Grants PHY-1205878 and PHY-1150760; and Army Research Office Grant W911NF-11-1-0514. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Jennifer M. Rieser, Tai-De Li, Jessica L. Tingle, Daniel I. Goldman, and Joseph R. Mendelson III, \u0026ldquo;Functional consequences of convergently evolved microscopic skin features on snake locomotion.\u0026rdquo; (\u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E, 2021)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe mesmerizing flow of a sidewinder moving obliquely across desert sands has captivated biologists for centuries and has been variously studied over the years, but questions remained about how the snakes produce their unique motion. Sidewinders are pit vipers, specifically rattlesnakes, native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The mesmerizing flow of a sidewinder moving across desert sands has captivated biologists for centuries, but questions remained about how the snakes produce their unique motion."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2021-02-02 01:15:39","changed_gmt":"2021-02-09 20:07:08","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-02-01T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-02-01T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"643748":{"id":"643748","type":"image","title":"Microstructure of snake belly scales","body":null,"created":"1612227536","gmt_created":"2021-02-02 00:58:56","changed":"1612227536","gmt_changed":"2021-02-02 00:58:56","alt":"Microscope image of rattlesnake scales","file":{"fid":"244398","name":"lance-headed.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lance-headed.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/lance-headed.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":762089,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/lance-headed.jpg?itok=gdWZKxFR"}},"643749":{"id":"643749","type":"image","title":"Sidewinder in sandy arena","body":null,"created":"1612227616","gmt_created":"2021-02-02 01:00:16","changed":"1612227616","gmt_changed":"2021-02-02 01:00:16","alt":"Sidewinder snake in sandy arena","file":{"fid":"244399","name":"sidewinder-snake.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sidewinder-snake.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sidewinder-snake.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1150070,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sidewinder-snake.jpg?itok=NPz7tSJS"}},"643750":{"id":"643750","type":"image","title":"Sidewinder snake microstructures","body":null,"created":"1612227723","gmt_created":"2021-02-02 01:02:03","changed":"1612227723","gmt_changed":"2021-02-02 01:02:03","alt":"Microscales of sidewinder snakes","file":{"fid":"244400","name":"sidewinder-scales.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sidewinder-scales.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sidewinder-scales.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":804673,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sidewinder-scales.jpg?itok=Wcx36_T-"}}},"media_ids":["643748","643749","643750"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"169001","name":"Snake"},{"id":"169681","name":"sidewinder snake"},{"id":"186899","name":"snake scale"},{"id":"186900","name":"pit viper"},{"id":"186901","name":"microspicules"},{"id":"2352","name":"robots"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"642447":{"#nid":"642447","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Spontaneous Robot Dances Highlight a New Kind of Order in Active Matter","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPredicting when and how collections of particles, robots, or animals become orderly remains a challenge across science and engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the 19th century, scientists and engineers developed the discipline of statistical mechanics, which predicts how groups of simple particles transition between order and disorder, as when a collection of randomly colliding atoms freezes to form a uniform crystal lattice.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMore challenging to predict are the collective behaviors that can be achieved when the particles become more complicated, such that they can move under their own power. This type of system \u0026mdash; observed in bird flocks, bacterial colonies, and robot swarms \u0026mdash; goes by the name \u0026quot;active matter.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs reported in the January 1, 2021 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E, a team of physicists and engineers have proposed a new principle by which active matter systems can spontaneously order, without need for higher level instructions or even programmed interaction among the agents. And they have demonstrated this principle in a variety of systems, including groups of periodically shape-changing robots called \u0026quot;smarticles\u0026quot; \u0026mdash; smart, active particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe theory, developed by Postdoctoral Researcher Pavel Chvykov at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while a student of Prof. Jeremy England, who is now a researcher in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics \u003C\/a\u003Eat Georgia Institute of Technology, posits that certain types of active matter with sufficiently messy dynamics will spontaneously find what the researchers refer to as \u0026quot;low rattling\u0026quot; states.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Rattling is when matter takes energy flowing into it and turns it into random motion,\u0026rdquo; England said. \u0026ldquo;Rattling can be greater either when the motion is more violent, or more random. Conversely, low rattling is either very slight or highly organized \u0026mdash; or both. So, the idea is that if your matter and energy source allow for the possibility of a low rattling state, the system will randomly rearrange until it finds that state and then gets stuck there. If you supply energy through forces with a particular pattern, this means the selected state will discover a way for the matter to move that finely matches that pattern.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo develop their theory, England and Chvykov took inspiration from a phenomenon \u0026mdash; dubbed thermophoresis \u0026mdash; discovered by the Swiss physicist Charles Soret in the late 19th century. In Soret\u0026#39;s experiments, he discovered that subjecting an initially uniform salt solution in a tube to a difference in temperature would spontaneously lead to an increase in salt concentration in the colder region \u0026mdash; which corresponds to an increase in order of the solution.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EChvykov and England developed numerous mathematical models to demonstrate the low rattling principle, but it wasn\u0026#39;t until they connected with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family Professor of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, that they were able to test their predictions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESaid Goldman, \u0026quot;A few years back, I saw England give a seminar and thought that some of our smarticle robots might prove valuable to test this theory.\u0026quot; Working with Chvykov, who visited Goldman\u0026#39;s lab, Ph.D. students William Savoie and Akash Vardhan used three flapping smarticles enclosed in a ring to compare experiments to theory. The students observed that instead of displaying complicated dynamics and exploring the container completely, the robots would spontaneously self-organize into a few dances \u0026mdash; for example, one dance consists of three robots slapping each other\u0026#39;s arms in sequence. These dances could persist for hundreds of flaps, but suddenly lose stability and be replaced by a dance of a different pattern.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter first demonstrating that these simple dances were indeed low rattling states, Chvykov worked with engineers at Northwestern University, Prof. Todd Murphey and Ph.D. student Thomas Berrueta, who developed more refined and better controlled smarticles. The improved smarticles allowed the researchers to test the limits of the theory, including how the types and number of dances varied for different arm flapping patterns, as well as how these dances could be controlled. \u0026quot;By controlling sequences of low rattling states, we were able to make the system reach configurations that do useful work,\u0026quot; Berrueta said. The Northwestern University researchers say that these findings may have broad practical implications for micro-robotic swarms, active matter, and metamaterials.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs England noted: \u0026ldquo;For robot swarms, it\u0026rsquo;s about getting many adaptive and smart group behaviors that you can design to be realized in a single swarm, even though the individual robots are relatively cheap and computationally simple. For living cells and novel materials, it might be about understanding what the \u0026lsquo;swarm\u0026rsquo; of atoms or proteins can get you, as far as new material or computational properties.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study\u0026rsquo;s Georgia Tech-based team includes Jeremy L. England, a Physics of Living Systems scientist who researches with the School of Physics; Dunn Family Professor Daniel Goldman; professor Kurt Wiesenfeld, and graduate students Akash Vardhan (Quantitative Biosciences) and William Savoie (School of Physics). They join Pavel Chvykov (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), along with professor Todd D. Murphey and graduate students Thomas A. Berrueta and Alexander Samland of Northwestern University.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis material is based on work supported by the Army Research Office under awards from ARO W911NF-18-1-0101, ARO MURI Award W911NF-19-1-0233, ARO W911NF-13-1-0347, by the National Science Foundation under grants PoLS-0957659, PHY-1205878, PHY-1205878, PHY-1205878, and DMR-1551095, NSF CBET-1637764, by the James S. McDonnell Foundation Scholar Grant 220020476, and the Georgia Institute of Technology Dunn Family Professorship. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Chvykov \u0026amp; Berrueta, et al., \u0026ldquo;Low rattling: A predictive principle for self-organization in active collectives,\u0026rdquo; (Science 2021).\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/science.sciencemag.org\/content\/371\/6524\/90\/tab-pdf\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/science.sciencemag.org\/content\/371\/6524\/90\/tab-pdf\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have proposed a new principle by which active matter systems can spontaneously order, without need for higher level instructions or even programmed interaction among the agents. And they have demonstrated this principle in a variety of systems, including groups of periodically shape-changing robots called \u0026quot;smarticles.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have proposed a new principle by which active matter systems can spontaneously order, without need for higher level instructions."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-12-31 19:22:12","changed_gmt":"2020-12-31 19:29:55","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-12-31T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-12-31T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"642445":{"id":"642445","type":"image","title":"Swarm of smarticles","body":null,"created":"1609442091","gmt_created":"2020-12-31 19:14:51","changed":"1609442091","gmt_changed":"2020-12-31 19:14:51","alt":"Smarticles in a ring","file":{"fid":"244012","name":"angle1.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/angle1.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/angle1.png","mime":"image\/png","size":512873,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/angle1.png?itok=IrNqcNqW"}},"642446":{"id":"642446","type":"image","title":"Possible smarticle shapes","body":null,"created":"1609442220","gmt_created":"2020-12-31 19:17:00","changed":"1609442220","gmt_changed":"2020-12-31 19:17:00","alt":"Composite smarticle shapes","file":{"fid":"244013","name":"composite2.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/composite2.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/composite2.png","mime":"image\/png","size":549665,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/composite2.png?itok=kfNFJZLk"}}},"media_ids":["642445","642446"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"182389","name":"smarticle"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"186555","name":"active matter"},{"id":"186556","name":"order"},{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"640976":{"#nid":"640976","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Dense Microgel Suspensions Reveal In-silico What Happens Under Compression","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMicrogel suspensions made up of microscopic liquid-filled polymer particles occupy a curious physical state somewhere between liquid and solid, giving them unique properties and potential uses in self-healing structures, optically active materials, microreactors, drug-delivery systems, and templates for regenerating living structures such as bone and muscle.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing large-scale computer simulations, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have now mapped out the surprising behavior and mechanics of these complex particle-solvent systems, learning how the \u0026ldquo;soft and squishy\u0026rdquo; particles deform, swell, de-swell, and penetrate each other as they respond to compression. The findings could help guide the design of microgel-based applications with unique and useful properties.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We wanted to understand broadly what happens to these particles if you put them together and start compressing them,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/alexeev\u0022\u003EAlexander Alexeev\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and Anderer Faculty Fellow in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;Unlike rigid particles that fill the available space and then stop compressing, these particles have multiple processes that can work in parallel inside the suspension. Microgels can change shape, shrink, and penetrate one another. We found that these processes play a varying role when you increase the particle number density and compress them enough.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFindings of the study were reported October 19 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the MCIU\/AEI\/FEDER EU, and simulations utilized the NSF\u0026rsquo;s Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing mesoscale computer simulations, the researchers studied the behavior of compressed suspensions consisting of shape-shifting microgels with different architectures at a variety of packing fractions and solvent conditions. They found that under compression, the \u0026ldquo;fluffy\u0026rdquo; microgels \u0026mdash; which resemble microscopic sponges with polymer threads extending from them \u0026mdash; change shape and shrink, with limited interpenetration among particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You can use their softness and the fact that they change shape to pack them even more,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.icrea.cat\/Web\/ScientificStaff\/alberto-fernandez-nieves-280811\u0022\u003EAlberto Fernandez-Nieves\u003C\/a\u003E, ICREA Professor in the Department of Condensed Matter Physics at the University of Barcelona and adjunct professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;There are a variety of mechanisms to pack them into an available volume, and these mechanisms may play a different role depending on the situation. Until this study, we didn\u0026rsquo;t quite know how the microgels could be packed together beyond random close packing.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETheir ability to release solvent allows the microgels to shrink and deform, unlike hard particles in regular colloidal suspensions. In addition, the polymer threads allow them to interpenetrate and overlap to pack more particles into a given space. The microgel particles range in size from 50 nanometers up to as much as 10 microns in diameter. In their simulations, Alexeev, Fernandez-Nieves, and recent Ph.D. graduate Svetoslav Nikolov studied suspensions containing about a hundred microgel particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Their compressibility is a new ingredient that is not present in other soft particles, and it can bring about the fascinating and unique aspects of these microgel systems,\u0026rdquo; said Fernandez-Nieves. \u0026ldquo;This study gives us information we need to exploit this softness to achieve things we wouldn\u0026rsquo;t be able to do otherwise.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe simulations provided information about the effects of variables such as solvent type and degree of compression on the mechanical properties of the microgels in the suspension.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you look at the mechanical properties of the suspension in different solvents, you see the curves are very different,\u0026rdquo; Alexeev said. \u0026ldquo;If they are swollen, they are fluffy and can move around in the suspension. If they expel solvent, they can become almost dry, so the mechanical properties can change dramatically. What we found is surprising and not at all what people expected.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the key fundamental findings is that the mechanical properties of the suspension can be quantified in terms of the single microgel bulk modulus. \u0026ldquo;It is how these particles compress that determines the material properties of the whole suspension when it is sufficiently concentrated,\u0026rdquo; Fernandez-Nieves said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You can have many different kinds of behavior, but when you scale all the behaviors by the actual compressibility of one microgel, all the behaviors come together,\u0026rdquo; he added. \u0026ldquo;That means this quantity seems to be the important one to consider to understand the macroscopic properties of the suspension.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers used the NSF\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.xsede.org\/\u0022\u003EExtreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment\u003C\/a\u003E to simulate the microgel systems. While the behavior of ordinary particle-based systems might seem straightforward to study, the compressibility of the microgels coupled with the complexity of the polymer crosslinking made the simulation quite large, Alexeev noted.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A single particle is already a quite complicated system,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;The computational complexity provided findings that we hope will encourage experimentalists to further explore what these unique systems can do.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award DMR-1255288, the MCIU\/AEI\/FEDER, EU (Grant PGC2018-336 097842-B-I00), and NSF Graduate Research Fellowship DGE-1650044. The simulations were performed using the computational resources of the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment provided through NSF Awards DMR-180038 and DMR-180026. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Svetoslav V. Nikolov, Alberto Fernandez-Nieves, and Alexander Alexeev, \u0026ldquo;Behavior and mechanics of dense microgel suspensions\u0026rdquo; (\u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E, 2020). \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2008076117\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2008076117\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMicrogel suspensions made up of microscopic liquid-filled polymer particles occupy a curious physical state somewhere between liquid and solid, giving them unique properties and potential uses in self-healing structures, optically active materials, microreactors, drug-delivery systems, and templates for regenerating living structures such as bone and muscle.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Simulations of microgel suspensions show the surprising behavior of these materials when they are compressed."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-11-05 00:57:34","changed_gmt":"2020-11-05 00:58:27","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-11-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-11-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"640974":{"id":"640974","type":"image","title":"Microgel packing","body":null,"created":"1604537061","gmt_created":"2020-11-05 00:44:21","changed":"1604537061","gmt_changed":"2020-11-05 00:44:21","alt":"Illustration of microgels packing into a limited volume","file":{"fid":"243601","name":"microgel-packing.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microgel-packing.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microgel-packing.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":216672,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/microgel-packing.jpg?itok=ZZCWGU0p"}},"640975":{"id":"640975","type":"image","title":"Microgel snapshots","body":null,"created":"1604537138","gmt_created":"2020-11-05 00:45:38","changed":"1604537138","gmt_changed":"2020-11-05 00:45:38","alt":"Illustration of swollen microgels","file":{"fid":"243602","name":"microgel-snapshots.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microgel-snapshots.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microgel-snapshots.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":240458,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/microgel-snapshots.jpg?itok=McxapTm6"}}},"media_ids":["640974","640975"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3345","name":"microgel"},{"id":"186195","name":"microgel suspension"},{"id":"1492","name":"Polymer"},{"id":"170178","name":"self-healing"},{"id":"186196","name":"microreactor"},{"id":"5910","name":"Drug Discovery"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"639185":{"#nid":"639185","#data":{"type":"news","title":"E-Beam Atomic-scale 3-D \u2018Sculpting\u2019 Could Enable New Quantum Nanodevices","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy varying the energy and dose of tightly focused electron beams, researchers have demonstrated the ability to both etch away and deposit high-resolution nanoscale patterns on two-dimensional layers of graphene oxide. The 3D additive\/subtractive \u0026ldquo;sculpting\u0026rdquo; can be done without changing the chemistry of the electron beam deposition chamber, providing the foundation for building a new generation of nanoscale structures.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBased on focused electron beam-induced processing (FEBID) techniques, the work could allow production of 2D\/3D complex nanostructures and functional nanodevices useful in quantum communications, sensing, and other applications. For oxygen-containing materials such as graphene oxide, etching can be done without introducing outside materials, using oxygen from the substrate.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;By timing and tuning the energy of the electron beam, we can activate interaction of the beam with oxygen in the graphene oxide to do etching, or interaction with hydrocarbons on the surface to create carbon deposition,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/fedorov\u0022\u003EAndrei Fedorov\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and Rae S. and Frank H. Neely Chair in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;With atomic-scale control, we can produce complicated patterns using direct write-remove processes. Quantum systems require precise control on an atomic scale, and this could enable a host of potential applications.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technique was described August 7 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EACS Applied Materials \u0026amp; Interfaces\u003C\/em\u003E. The work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences. Coauthors included researchers from Pusan National University in South Korea.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECreation of nanoscale structures is traditionally done using a multistep process of photoresist coating and patterning by photo- or electron beam lithography, followed by bulk dry\/wet etching or deposition. Use of this process limits the range of functionalities and structural topologies that can be achieved, increases the complexity and cost, and risks contamination from the multiple chemical steps, creating barriers to fabrication of new types of devices from sensitive 2D materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFEBIP enables a material chemistry\/site-specific, high-resolution multimode atomic scale processing and provides unprecedented opportunities for \u0026ldquo;direct-write,\u0026rdquo; single-step surface patterning of 2D nanomaterials with an in-situ imaging capability. It allows for realizing a rapid multiscale\/multimode \u0026ldquo;top-down and bottom-up\u0026rdquo; approach, ranging from an atomic scale manipulation to a large-area surface modification on nano- and microscales.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;By tuning the time and the energy of the electrons, you can either remove material or add material,\u0026rdquo; Fedorov said. \u0026ldquo;We did not expect that upon electron exposure of graphene oxide we would start etching patterns.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith graphene oxide, the electron beam introduces atomic scale perturbations into the 2D-arranged carbon atoms and uses embedded oxygen as an etchant to remove carbon atoms in precise patterns without introduction of a material into the reaction chamber. Fedorov said any oxygen-containing material might produce the same effect. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s like the graphene oxide carries its own etchant,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;All we need to activate it is to \u0026lsquo;seed\u0026rsquo; the reaction with electrons of appropriate energy.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor adding carbon, keeping the electron beam focused on the same spot for a longer time generates an excess of lower-energy electrons by interactions of the beam with the substrate to decompose the hydrocarbon molecules onto the surface of the graphene oxide. In that case, the electrons interact with the hydrocarbons rather than the graphene and oxygen atoms, leaving behind liberated carbon atoms as a 3D deposit.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Depending on how many electrons you bring to it, you can grow structures of different heights away from the etched grooves or from the two-dimensional plane,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;You can think of it almost like holographic writing with excited electrons, substrate and adsorbed molecules combined at the right time and the right place.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe process should be suitable for depositing materials such as metals and semiconductors, though precursors would need to be added to the chamber for their creation. The 3D structures, just nanometers high, could serve as spacers between layers of graphene or as active sensing elements or other devices on the layers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you want to use graphene or graphene oxide for quantum mechanical devices, you should be able to position layers of material with a separation on the scale of individual carbon atoms,\u0026rdquo; Fedorov said. \u0026ldquo;The process could also be used with other materials.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing the technique, high-energy electron beams can produce feature sizes just a few nanometers wide. Trenches etched in surfaces could be filled with metals by introducing metal atoms containing precursors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond simple patterns, the process could also be used to grow complex structures. \u0026ldquo;In principle, you could grow a structure like a nanoscale Eiffel Tower with all the intricate details,\u0026rdquo; Fedorov said. \u0026ldquo;It would take a long time, but this is the level of control that is possible with electron beam writing.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough systems have been built to use multiple electron beams in parallel, Fedorov doesn\u0026rsquo;t see them being used in high-volume applications. More likely, he said, is laboratory use to fabricate unique structures useful for research purposes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are demonstrating structures that would otherwise be impossible to produce,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;We want to enable the exploitation of new capabilities in areas such as quantum devices. This technique could be an imagination enabler for interesting new physics coming our way with graphene and other interesting materials.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Fedorov, the research team included Songkil Kim, SungYeb Jung, Jaekwang Lee, and Seokjun Kim from Pusan National University in South Korea.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported primarily by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, under award no. DE-SC0010729, and by the National Research Foundation of Korea grant MSIT no. 2019R1C1C1010556 funded by the Korean government. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring organizations.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Songkil Kim, et al., \u0026ldquo;High-Resolution Three-Dimensional Sculpting of Two-Dimensional Graphene Oxide by E\u2011Beam Direct Write.\u0026rdquo; (\u003Cem\u003EACS Applied Materials \u0026amp; Interface\u003C\/em\u003E, 2020.) \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1021\/acsami.0c11053\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1021\/acsami.0c11053\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy varying the energy and dose of tightly focused electron beams, researchers have demonstrated the ability to both etch away and deposit high-resolution nanoscale patterns on two-dimensional layers of graphene oxide. The 3D additive\/subtractive \u0026ldquo;sculpting\u0026rdquo; can be done without changing the chemistry of the electron beam deposition chamber, providing the foundation for building a new generation of nanoscale structures.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"By varyingResearchers have demonstrated the ability to both etch away and deposit high-resolution nanoscale patterns on two-dimensional layers of graphene oxide."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-09-17 00:21:47","changed_gmt":"2020-09-17 00:24:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-09-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-09-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"639182":{"id":"639182","type":"image","title":"Etching graphene flakes","body":null,"created":"1600301427","gmt_created":"2020-09-17 00:10:27","changed":"1600301427","gmt_changed":"2020-09-17 00:10:27","alt":"Microscope image of etched pattern","file":{"fid":"243031","name":"etching-3a.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/etching-3a.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/etching-3a.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":375298,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/etching-3a.jpg?itok=N2vhwhIA"}},"639183":{"id":"639183","type":"image","title":"Deposition of carbon on graphene","body":null,"created":"1600301531","gmt_created":"2020-09-17 00:12:11","changed":"1600301564","gmt_changed":"2020-09-17 00:12:44","alt":"Microscope image shows carbon deposition","file":{"fid":"243032","name":"deposition-3b.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/deposition-3b.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/deposition-3b.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":409504,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/deposition-3b.jpg?itok=5ifPwD3Z"}},"639184":{"id":"639184","type":"image","title":"Etching and deposition technique","body":null,"created":"1600301653","gmt_created":"2020-09-17 00:14:13","changed":"1600301653","gmt_changed":"2020-09-17 00:14:13","alt":"Figure showing etching and deposition on graphene oxide","file":{"fid":"243033","name":"etching-and-deposition.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/etching-and-deposition.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/etching-and-deposition.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":606583,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/etching-and-deposition.jpg?itok=gHNXvjFR"}}},"media_ids":["639182","639183","639184"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"143091","name":"electron beam"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"},{"id":"431","name":"nanoscale"},{"id":"34221","name":"graphene oxide"},{"id":"1744","name":"quantum"},{"id":"185865","name":"quantum nanodevices"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"635326":{"#nid":"635326","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Planetary Exploration Rover Avoids Sand Traps with \u201cRear Rotator Pedaling\u201d","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe rolling hills of Mars or the moon are a long way from the nearest tow truck. That\u0026rsquo;s why the next generation of exploration rovers will need to be good at climbing hills covered with loose material and avoiding entrapment on soft granular surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBuilt with wheeled appendages that can be lifted and wheels able to wiggle,\u0026nbsp;a new robot known as the \u0026ldquo;Mini Rover\u0026rdquo; has developed and tested complex locomotion techniques robust enough to help it climb hills covered with such granular material \u0026ndash; and avoid the risk of getting ignominiously stuck on some remote planet or moon.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing a complex move the researchers dubbed \u0026ldquo;rear rotator pedaling,\u0026rdquo; the robot can climb a slope by using its unique design to combine paddling, walking, and wheel spinning motions. The rover\u0026rsquo;s behaviors were modeled using a branch of physics known as terradynamics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When loose materials flow, that can create problems for robots moving across it,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDan Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, the Dunn Family Professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;This rover has enough degrees of freedom that it can get out of jams pretty effectively. By avalanching materials from the front wheels, it creates a localized fluid hill for the back wheels that is not as steep as the real slope. The rover is always self-generating and self-organizing a good hill for itself.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was reported on May 13 as the cover article in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience Robotics\u003C\/em\u003E. The work was supported by the NASA National Robotics Initiative and the Army Research Office.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA robot built by NASA\u0026rsquo;s Johnson Space Center pioneered the ability to spin its wheels, sweep the surface with those wheels and lift each of its wheeled appendages where necessary, creating a broad range of potential motions. Using in-house 3D printers, the Georgia Tech researchers collaborated with the Johnson Space Center to re-create those capabilities in a scaled-down vehicle with four wheeled appendages driven by 12 different motors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The rover was developed with a modular mechatronic architecture, commercially available components, and a minimal number of parts,\u0026rdquo; said Siddharth Shrivastava, an undergraduate student in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;This enabled our team to use our robot as a robust laboratory tool and focus our efforts on exploring creative and interesting experiments without worrying about damaging the rover, service downtime, or hitting performance limitations.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe rover\u0026rsquo;s broad range of movements gave the research team an opportunity to test many variations that were studied using granular drag force measurements and modified Resistive Force Theory. Shrivastava and School of Physics Ph.D. candidate Andras Karsai began with the gaits explored by the NASA RP15 robot, and were able to experiment with locomotion schemes that could not have been tested on a full-size rover.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also tested their experimental gaits on slopes designed to simulate planetary and lunar hills using a fluidized bed system known as SCATTER (Systematic Creation of Arbitrary Terrain and Testing of Exploratory Robots) that could be tilted to evaluate the role of controlling the granular substrate. Karsai and Shrivastava collaborated with Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, a postdoctoral research fellow in Goldman\u0026rsquo;s lab, to study the rover motion in the SCATTER test facility.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;By creating a small robot with capabilities similar to the RP15 rover, we could test the principles of locomoting with various gaits in a controlled laboratory environment,\u0026rdquo; Karsai said. \u0026ldquo;In our tests, we primarily varied the gait, the locomotion medium, and the slope the robot had to climb. We quickly iterated over many gait strategies and terrain conditions to examine the phenomena that emerged.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the paper, the authors describe a gait that allowed the rover to climb a steep slope with the front wheels stirring up the granular material \u0026ndash; poppy seeds for the lab testing \u0026ndash; and pushing them back toward the rear wheels. The rear wheels wiggled from side-to-side, lifting and spinning to create a motion that resembles paddling in water. The material pushed to the back wheels effectively changed the slope the rear wheels had to climb, allowing the rover to make steady progress up a hill that might have stopped a simple wheeled robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe experiments provided a variation on earlier robophysics work in Goldman\u0026rsquo;s group that involved moving with legs or flippers, which had emphasized disturbing the granular surfaces as little as possible to avoid getting the robot stuck.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In our previous studies of pure legged robots, modeled on animals, we had kind of figured out that the secret was to not make a mess,\u0026rdquo; said Goldman. \u0026ldquo;If you end up making too much of a mess with most robots, you end up just paddling and digging into the granular material. If you want fast locomotion, we found that you should try to keep the material as solid as possible by tweaking the parameters of motion.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut simple motions had proved problematic for Mars rovers, which got stuck in granular materials. Goldman says the gait discovered by Shrivastava, Karsai and Ozkan-Aydin might be able to help future rovers avoid that fate.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This combination of lifting and wheeling and paddling, if used properly, provides the ability to maintain some forward progress even if it is slow,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said. \u0026ldquo;Through our laboratory experiments, we have shown principles that could lead to improved robustness in planetary exploration \u0026ndash; and even in challenging surfaces on our own planet.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers hope next to scale up the unusual gaits to larger robots, and to explore the idea of studying robots and their localized environments together. \u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;d like to think about the locomotor and its environment as a single entity,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said. \u0026ldquo;There are certainly some interesting granular and soft matter physics issues to explore.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the Mini Rover was designed to study lunar and planetary exploration, the lessons learned could also be applicable to terrestrial locomotion \u0026ndash; an area of interest to the Army Research Laboratory, one of the project\u0026rsquo;s sponsors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;This basic research is revealing exciting new approaches for locomotion in complex terrain,\u0026quot; said Dr. Samuel Stanton, program manager, Army Research Office, an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command\u0026#39;s Army Research Laboratory. \u0026quot;This could lead to platforms capable of intelligently transitioning between wheeled and legged modes of movement to maintain high operational tempo.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond those already mentioned, the researchers worked with Robert Ambrose and William Bluethmann at NASA, and traveled to NASA JSC to study the full-size NASA RP15 rover.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by the Army Research Office (W911NF-18-1-0120) and the NASA National Robotics Initiative (NNX15AR21G). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Siddharth Shrivastava, Andras Karsai, Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, Ross Pettinger, William Bluethmann, Robert O. Ambrose, Daniel I. Goldman, \u0026ldquo;Material remodeling on granular terrain yields robustness benefits for a robophysical rover.\u0026rdquo; (Science Robotics, May 2020)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBuilt with wheeled appendages that can be lifted and wheels able to wiggle, a new robot known as the \u0026ldquo;Mini Rover\u0026rdquo; has developed and tested complex locomotion techniques robust enough to help it climb hills covered with granular material \u0026ndash; and avoid the risk of getting ignominiously stuck on some remote planet or moon.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Using the Mini Rover, researchers have studied locomotion techniques that could help future rovers work on granular lunar and planetary surfaces."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-05-13 14:22:47","changed_gmt":"2020-05-13 17:50:59","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-05-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-05-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"635320":{"id":"635320","type":"image","title":"Mini Rover moving on sand","body":null,"created":"1589378228","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 13:57:08","changed":"1589378228","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 13:57:08","alt":"Mini Rover in sand","file":{"fid":"241746","name":"mini-rover-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":502031,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-1.jpg?itok=B4UJ2OGx"}},"635321":{"id":"635321","type":"image","title":"Mini Rover moving on sand - 2","body":null,"created":"1589378378","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 13:59:38","changed":"1589378378","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 13:59:38","alt":"Mini Rover in sand","file":{"fid":"241747","name":"mini-rover-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":775928,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-2.jpg?itok=cLOCRqkS"}},"635322":{"id":"635322","type":"image","title":"Mini Rover in laboratory track bed","body":null,"created":"1589378574","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 14:02:54","changed":"1589378574","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 14:02:54","alt":"Mini Rover in track bed","file":{"fid":"241748","name":"mini-rover-5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-5.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-5.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":737962,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-5.jpg?itok=u4b4X_Ed"}},"635323":{"id":"635323","type":"image","title":"Mini Rover tested on simulated hill","body":null,"created":"1589378747","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 14:05:47","changed":"1589378747","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 14:05:47","alt":"Mini Rover in fluidized bed","file":{"fid":"241749","name":"mini-rover-4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-4.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-4.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":721288,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-4.jpg?itok=PtdL_eIo"}},"635324":{"id":"635324","type":"image","title":"Close up of Mini Rover appendage","body":null,"created":"1589378900","gmt_created":"2020-05-13 14:08:20","changed":"1589378900","gmt_changed":"2020-05-13 14:08:20","alt":"Appendage for Mini Rover","file":{"fid":"241750","name":"mini-rover-3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mini-rover-3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":542065,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mini-rover-3.jpg?itok=KERqtw06"}}},"media_ids":["635320","635321","635322","635323","635324"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"184799","name":"Mini Rover"},{"id":"7057","name":"Mars"},{"id":"184802","name":"planetary exploration"},{"id":"184805","name":"lunar exploration"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"184807","name":"granular material"},{"id":"62221","name":"terradynamics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"635137":{"#nid":"635137","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Immunity of Recovered COVID-19 Patients Could Cut Risk of Expanding Economic Activity","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhile attention remains focused on the number of COVID-19 deaths and new cases, a separate statistic \u0026ndash; the number of recovered patients \u0026ndash; may be equally important to the goal of minimizing the pandemic\u0026rsquo;s infection rate as shelter-in-place orders are lifted.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe presumed immunity of those who have recovered from the infection could allow them to safely substitute for susceptible people in certain high-contact occupations such as healthcare. Dubbed \u0026ldquo;shield immunity,\u0026rdquo; the anticipated protection against short-term reinfection could allow recovered patients to expand their interactions with infected and susceptible people, potentially reducing overall transmission rates when interactions are permitted to expand.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENew modeling of the virus\u0026rsquo; behavior suggests that an intervention strategy based on shield immunity could reduce the risk of allowing the higher levels of human interaction needed to support expanded economic activity. The number of Americans infected by the novel coronavirus is likely much higher than what has been officially reported, and that could be good news for efforts to utilize their presumed immunity to protect the larger community.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, there are two important caveats to the strategy. The first is that the duration of immunity to reinfection by SARS-CoV-2 remains unknown; however, individuals who survived infections by related viral infections, like SARS, had persistent antibodies for approximately two years \u0026ndash; and those who survived infection to MERS had evidence of immunity for approximately three years. The second issue is that determining on a broad scale who has antibodies that may protect them from the coronavirus will require a level of reliable serological testing not yet available in the United States.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our model describes ways in which serological tests used to identify individuals who have been infected by and recovered from COVID-19 could help both reduce future transmission and foster increased economic engagement,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/joshua-weitz\u0022\u003EJoshua Weitz\u003C\/a\u003E, professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E and founding director of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;The idea is to think in advance about how identifying recovered individuals could help serve the collective good, using information collected on neutralizing antibodies in new ways.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41591-020-0895-3\u0022\u003Epaper describing the modeling behind the concept of shield immunity\u003C\/a\u003E was published May 7 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Medicine\u003C\/em\u003E by a team of researchers from Georgia Tech, Princeton University and McMaster University. The researchers studied the potential impacts of presumed immunity among recovered persons using a computational model of COVID-19 epidemiological dynamics, building upon a SEIR (susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered) framework.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a population of 10 million citizens, for example, the model predicts that in a worst-case transmission scenario, implementation of an intermediate shielding strategy could help reduce deaths from 71,000 to 58,000, while an enhanced shielding plan could cut deaths from 71,000 to 20,000. The model also suggests that shielding could enhance the effects of social distancing strategies that may remain in place once higher levels of economic activity resume.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIdentification of individuals who have protective antibodies against the novel coronavirus has begun only recently. Antibody tests are not 100% specific, implying that tests can lead to false positives. However, targeted use of antibody testing in groups with elevated exposure will lead to increases in positive predictive value, even with imperfect tests. The serological antibody test differs from widespread polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing being done to determine whether people are actively infected with the virus.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong healthcare professionals, serological testing could identify recovered individuals who might then be able to interact with patients with reduced concern for infection. Other recovered individuals could be used to help reduce transmission risk in nursing homes, the food service industry, emergency medical services, grocery stores, retailing and other essential operations. Across society, the relatively small number of individuals with immunity could substitute for people whose immunity status isn\u0026rsquo;t known; reducing transmission risk both for recovered individuals and those who remain immunologically naive.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We want to think about serology as an intervention,\u0026rdquo; Weitz said. \u0026ldquo;Finding out who is immune to the coronavirus could make a big difference in trying to reduce the risk to people who would be vulnerable by interacting with someone who could pass on the disease.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESerological testing to identify those with immunity might begin with healthcare workers, who may be more likely to have been infected by the coronavirus because of their exposure to infected persons, Weitz said. Because so many infections do not produce the distinctive COVID-19 symptoms, it\u0026rsquo;s likely that many people have recovered from the illness without knowing they\u0026rsquo;ve had had it, potentially expanding the pool of recovered persons.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There may be a deeper pool of individuals who can help within their own fields and other fields of specialization to reduce transmission,\u0026rdquo; Weitz said. \u0026ldquo;The reality is that people within high-contact jobs probably are likely to have a higher incidence of infection than other groups.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut using antibody information about individuals would create potential privacy issues, and require that those individuals make informed decisions about accepting additional risks for the greater good of the community.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;What this model says is that if we could identify individuals who are immune, there is a chance that some individuals would not have to reduce their level of interaction with others because that interaction would be less risky,\u0026rdquo; he added. \u0026ldquo;Rather than trying to keep reducing interactions, which is helpful for reducing transmission but bad for what it does for the economy, we might be able to maintain interactions while reducing the risk, combined with other mitigation approaches.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUltimately, addressing the pandemic will require development and mass production of a vaccine that could boost immunity levels beyond 60 percent in the general population. Until that is available, Weitz believes that shield immunity could become part of the approach to the challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We don\u0026rsquo;t have a silver bullet,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;Until we have a vaccine, we will have to use a combination of strategies to control COVID-19, and shield immunity is potentially one of them.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Weitz, co-authors of the paper included Dr. Stephen J. Beckett, Ashley R. Coenen, Dr. David Demory, Marian Dominguez-Mirazo, Dr. Chung-Yin Leung, Guanlin Li, Andreea Magalie, Rogelio Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Shashwat Shivam, and Conan Zhao, all from Georgia Tech; Prof. Jonathan Dushoff of McMaster University, and Sang Woo Park of Princeton University.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Simons Foundation (SCOPE Award ID 329108), the Army Research Office (W911NF1910384), National Institutes of Health (1R01AI46592-01), and National Science Foundation (1806606 and 1829636). Any findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Joshua S. Weitz, et al., \u0026ldquo;Intervention Serology and Interaction Substitution: Modeling the Role of `Shield Immunity\u0026#39; in Reducing COVID-19 Epidemic Spread.\u0026rdquo; (Nature Medicine, 2020) \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41591-020-0895-3\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41591-020-0895-3\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe presumed immunity of those who have recovered from the infection could allow them to safely substitute for susceptible people in certain high-contact occupations such as healthcare. Dubbed \u0026ldquo;shield immunity,\u0026rdquo; the anticipated protection against short-term reinfection could allow recovered patients to expand their interactions with infected and susceptible people.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The presumed immunity of those who have recovered from the coronavirus infection could allow them to substitute for susceptible people."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-05-07 12:20:25","changed_gmt":"2020-05-07 12:27:38","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-05-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-05-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"635134":{"id":"635134","type":"image","title":"Shield Immunity Graphic","body":null,"created":"1588853108","gmt_created":"2020-05-07 12:05:08","changed":"1588853108","gmt_changed":"2020-05-07 12:05:08","alt":"Graphic showing shield immunity proposal","file":{"fid":"241685","name":"immune_shield-graphic.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/immune_shield-graphic.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/immune_shield-graphic.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":201021,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/immune_shield-graphic.jpg?itok=EDtZd5os"}},"635135":{"id":"635135","type":"image","title":"Recovered Patients Could Substitute for Others","body":null,"created":"1588853321","gmt_created":"2020-05-07 12:08:41","changed":"1588853321","gmt_changed":"2020-05-07 12:08:41","alt":"Nursing home clinician with patient","file":{"fid":"241686","name":"GettyImages-1140154151-md.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GettyImages-1140154151-md.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GettyImages-1140154151-md.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":204534,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/GettyImages-1140154151-md.jpg?itok=IWroFG00"}},"635136":{"id":"635136","type":"image","title":"Professor Joshua Weitz","body":null,"created":"1588853486","gmt_created":"2020-05-07 12:11:26","changed":"1588853486","gmt_changed":"2020-05-07 12:11:26","alt":"Professor Joshua Weitz","file":{"fid":"241687","name":"joshua-weitz.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/joshua-weitz.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/joshua-weitz.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3370772,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/joshua-weitz.jpg?itok=i72FKQpz"}}},"media_ids":["635134","635135","635136"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"184751","name":"shield immunity"},{"id":"11599","name":"Joshua Weitz"},{"id":"172458","name":"biological sciences"},{"id":"21371","name":"immunity"},{"id":"184289","name":"covid-19"},{"id":"184754","name":"coronavrius"},{"id":"729","name":"pandemic"},{"id":"10660","name":"infection"},{"id":"4292","name":"virus"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"634293":{"#nid":"634293","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Case For DIY Masks To Slow Coronavirus\u2019 Spread","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA nationwide chorus is urging the wearing of homemade face masks in public to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus. One voice is that of is physicist Walt de Heer who here explains some of the logic behind wearing the protective covering, starting with old-fashioned wisdom.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Your mother told you to cover your mouth when you cough, and this is the best way to do it without fail,\u0026rdquo; said de Heer, a Regents Professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDe Heer advocates that widespread use of masks can save hundreds of lives in just days, and he is not alone. The \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/prevent-getting-sick\/prevention.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECenters for Disease Control and Prevention\u003C\/a\u003E, the U.S. Surgeon General, and the White House have officially recommended cloth face coverings.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince people can carry the\u0026nbsp;coronavirus with no COVID-19 symptoms and still spread the virus, everyone is a potential carrier, which means that everyone should wear a DIY mask in public, de Heer said. He compared it to coughing\u0026nbsp;into your sleeve but even better because a DIY mask is always in front of your face, and it can be made out of more effective fabrics than a sleeve.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENotes of caution\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAll of these parties, including de Heer, want people to not buy up masks needed by clinicians. N95 masks are not only not necessary for the general public but are also ineffective for many people, which could be dangerous.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;N95 masks are difficult to wear correctly, and they are hard to breathe through. They are not as effective for everyday use as a more comfortable cloth mask,\u0026rdquo; de Heer said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EU.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams has cautioned that wearing masks must not discourage other behaviors to fight contagion like handwashing, avoiding touching your face, and social distancing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDIY mask physics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHere is more logic on DIY mask effectiveness followed by links to instructions on how to make them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a researcher, de Heer is a leading expert on small clusters, particles the size of the misty droplets that shoot out of mouths when people sneeze or cough. The bigger the droplets, the higher the viral loads they likely contain, and face covers catch nearly all larger drops and most smaller ones as well.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBreathing mist from a cough or sneeze or getting it in the eyes, nose, or mouth \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/prevent-getting-sick\/how-covid-spreads.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fprepare%2Ftransmission.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eis likely the primary source of contagion for the coronavirus\u003C\/a\u003E, according to the CDC. There have also been reports that the mist may hang in the air \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/health\/archive\/2020\/04\/coronavirus-pandemic-airborne-go-outside-masks\/609235\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Elike exhaled cigarette smoke\u003C\/a\u003E that people can inhale and become infected.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA hand-sewn mask out of cloth that has a tighter weave can cut down sharply on the mist, de Heer said, but even a bandana is much better than nothing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;For math\u0026rsquo;s sake, say a bandana stops 80 percent of dangerous mist. That protection increases when everyone wears them. So, if two people are wearing bandanas \u0026ndash; the sender of the spittle and a potential receiver \u0026ndash; the math tells us that two bandanas would catch 96 percent of the dangerous mist. This shows that we all need to be wearing something.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHordes of Americans wore masks during the last great pandemic to hit the country, the Spanish flu of 1918-1919. Nurses handed out white gauze masks, and people also made them at home.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pwp.gatech.edu\/rapid-response\/face-masks\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers have published instructions and guidance\u003C\/a\u003E for making and using homemade masks. Also, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/how-to-make-face-mask-coronavirus.html?action=click\u0026amp;module=RelatedLinks\u0026amp;pgtype=Article\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe New York Times has\u0026nbsp;published mask sewing instructions here\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/prevent-getting-sick\/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe CDC here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Czech example\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne country, in particular, impressed upon de Heer that the effectiveness of masks \u0026ndash; the Czech Republic. A recent movement there led to the very widespread use of homemade cloth masks, and that country also has a very mild curve of new COVID-19 infections.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECountries turn a variety of weapons against contagion with varying success or failure, so it can be hard to determine if a single one stands out. But some countries have clearly reduced the rise in contagion as well as death rates more effectively.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESome are known for world-class healthcare systems with large capacities to serve their populations, but at the same time, they have displayed signature measures in the struggle. In the Czech Republic, this has been widespread cloth mask use.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you look at Western countries \u0026ndash; and I\u0026rsquo;m going to include the state of New York in that list \u0026ndash; New York has had really high increases in new cases. So have Spain, Italy, and France,\u0026rdquo; de Heer said. \u0026ldquo;Then you have outliers. Germany and Austria got out ahead of the game by getting widespread testing going very early on.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Czech Republic has been another distinct outlier. So have many other places where masks are ubiquitous such as Hong Kong, Japan, or South Korea, de Heer noted, even though they are densely populated, making social distancing more challenging.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAustria also recently mandated the use of face covers when grocery shopping, following the lead of the Czech Republic. De Heer points to the Czech experience and that of successful Asian countries as very conspicuous evidence that masks help and that it is wise to adopt widespread use in the United States as well.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHere\u0026#39;s how to\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/subscribe\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Esubscribe to our free science and technology\u0026nbsp;newsletter\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlso read: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/634092\/filtration-engineers-offer-advice-do-it-yourself-face-masks\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAdvice on DIY masks\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-272-2780), email:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"If coughing in your sleeve is effective, face masks must be, too, and successes in Asia and Europe corroborate this, physicist says."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2020-04-12 00:55:38","changed_gmt":"2020-04-23 13:09:58","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-04-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-04-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"633641":{"id":"633641","type":"image","title":"Coping with COVID","body":null,"created":"1584493388","gmt_created":"2020-03-18 01:03:08","changed":"1584561934","gmt_changed":"2020-03-18 20:05:34","alt":"Workers in a university lab","file":{"fid":"241113","name":"Steven 1-18.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Steven%201-18.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Steven%201-18.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1772780,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Steven%201-18.png?itok=Sr7Qq48z"}},"634292":{"id":"634292","type":"image","title":"COVID-19 face mask art","body":null,"created":"1586651910","gmt_created":"2020-04-12 00:38:30","changed":"1586651910","gmt_changed":"2020-04-12 00:38:30","alt":"","file":{"fid":"241361","name":"adam-niescioruk-Z9arfr0f248-unsplash.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/adam-niescioruk-Z9arfr0f248-unsplash.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/adam-niescioruk-Z9arfr0f248-unsplash.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1377648,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/adam-niescioruk-Z9arfr0f248-unsplash.jpg?itok=3eJA__VP"}}},"media_ids":["633641","634292"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"}],"keywords":[{"id":"184289","name":"covid-19"},{"id":"183843","name":"coronavirus"},{"id":"184375","name":"face mask"},{"id":"184442","name":"mask"},{"id":"184443","name":"n95"},{"id":"56991","name":"cough"},{"id":"171251","name":"sneeze"},{"id":"176614","name":"contagion"},{"id":"184441","name":"face covering"},{"id":"184444","name":"sleeve"},{"id":"184445","name":"DIY mask"},{"id":"184446","name":"hand-sewn mask"},{"id":"179830","name":"hand washing"},{"id":"184447","name":"social distancing"},{"id":"184448","name":"small clusters"},{"id":"14705","name":"droplets"},{"id":"184449","name":"mist"},{"id":"11460","name":"aerosol"},{"id":"184450","name":"bandana"},{"id":"184451","name":"spittle"},{"id":"100601","name":"Czech Republic"},{"id":"768","name":"Germany"},{"id":"3289","name":"hong kong"},{"id":"167310","name":"south korea"},{"id":"751","name":"Japan"},{"id":"166846","name":"Spain"},{"id":"2146","name":"Italy"},{"id":"2050","name":"france"},{"id":"184452","name":"Austria"},{"id":"3783","name":"new york"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"},{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"631208":{"#nid":"631208","#data":{"type":"news","title":"$25 Million Project Will Advance DNA-Based Archival Data Storage","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe demand for archival data storage has been skyrocketing, and if a new research initiative reaches its goals, that need could be met by taking advantage of an efficient and robust information storage medium that has proven itself through the centuries: the biopolymer DNA.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity\u0026rsquo;s (IARPA) Molecular Information Storage (MIST) program has awarded a multi-phase contract worth up to $25 million to develop scalable DNA-based molecular storage techniques. The goal of the project, which will be led by the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI), is to use DNA as the basis for deployable storage technologies that can eventually scale into the exabyte regime and beyond with reduced physical footprint, power and cost requirements relative to conventional storage technologies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technology already exists for storing and reading information into DNA \u0026mdash; which also encodes the genetic blueprint for living organisms \u0026mdash; but significant advances will be needed to make it commercially practical and cost competitive with established magnetic tape and optical disk memory. While current archival storage has a limited lifetime, information stored in DNA could last for hundreds of years.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The goal is to significantly reduce the size, weight and power required for archival data storage,\u0026rdquo; said Alexa Harter, director of GTRI\u0026rsquo;s Cybersecurity, Information Protection, and Hardware Evaluation Research (CIPHER) Laboratory. \u0026ldquo;What would take acres in a data farm today could be kept in a device the size of the tabletop. We want to significantly improve all kinds of metrics for long-term data storage.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Scalable Molecular Archival Software and Hardware (SMASH) project resulted from a proposal prepared by GTRI, San Francisco-based Twist Bioscience, San Diego-based Roswell Biotechnologies, and the University of Washington in collaboration with Microsoft.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the project plans, Twist will engineer a DNA synthesis platform on silicon that \u0026ldquo;writes\u0026rdquo; the DNA strands that carry the data. Roswell will provide DNA sequencing, or \u0026quot;reading\u0026quot; technology, and the University of Washington \u0026ndash; in collaboration with Microsoft \u0026ndash; will bring system architecture, data analysis and coding expertise to the project. At Georgia Tech, the project will involve fabrication facilities at the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology and researchers in such specialties as chemistry and information theory, who will also draw from four of GTRI\u0026rsquo;s eight laboratories.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The reason people are looking at DNA for storage is that it has evolved over the ages as a very compact and reliable means of information storage,\u0026rdquo; said Nicholas Guise, a GTRI senior research scientist. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s so compact that a practical DNA archive could store an exabyte of data\u0026mdash;equivalent to a million terabyte hard drives\u0026mdash;in a volume about the size of a sugar cube. Scientists have been able to read DNA from animals that died centuries ago, so the data lasts essentially forever under the right conditions.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETechnology for encoding and decoding DNA works at small scales today, but to be useful for commercial archival purposes, researchers will have to scale up the production of synthetic DNA, reliably connect it to established computing systems and improve the speed of the data writing and reading process. The project goal would be to encode and decode terabytes of data in a day at costs and rates more than 100 times better than current technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDNA data storage won\u0026rsquo;t initially replace server farms for information that must be accessed quickly and often. Because of the time required for reading and decoding, the technique would be useful for information that must be kept indefinitely, but accessed infrequently.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPart of the technical challenge is interfacing the DNA with standard CMOS electronic technologies. The researchers plan to build hybrid chips in which the DNA grows above layers containing the electronics. The overall project will leverage the efficiencies of current semiconductor technologies, said Brooke Beckert, a GTRI research engineer.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;ll be working with commercial foundries, so when we get the processing right, it should be much easier to transition the technology over to them,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;Connecting to the existing technology infrastructure is a critical part of this project, but we\u0026rsquo;ll have to custom-make most of the components in the first stage.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the challenges will be managing the tradeoffs between speed and error, said Guise. \u0026ldquo;The issue is how far down we can scale this without introducing too many errors,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;The basic synthesis is proven at a scale of hundreds of microns. We want to shrink that by a factor of 100, which leads us to worry about such issues as crosstalk between different DNA strands in adjacent locations on the chips.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrent technology uses modified inkjet printing to produce the DNA strands, but the SMASH project plans to grow the biopolymer more rapidly and in larger quantities using parallelized synthesis on the hybrid chips.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo achieve the major advances in reading cost and speed required, the program will rely on the molecular electronic DNA reader chips under development at Roswell. The data will be read from DNA strands using a molecular electronic sensor array chip, on which single molecules are drawn through nanoscale current meters that measure electrical signatures of each letter in the sequence.\u0026nbsp; For biomedical applications, the sequencing industry has been focused on a goal of achieving a $1,000 human genome. The DNA reading goals of this program amount to delivering a $10 genome, and that will require a major technology disruption.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers acknowledge the challenges ahead in bringing their devices to commercial scale.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We don\u0026rsquo;t see any killers ahead for this technology,\u0026rdquo; said Adam Meier, a GTRI senior research scientist. \u0026ldquo;There is a lot of emerging technology and doing this commercially will require many orders of magnitude improvement. Magnetic tape for archival storage has been improving steadily for 60 years, and this investment from IARPA will power the advancements needed to make DNA storage competitive with that.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe demand for archival data storage has been skyrocketing, and if a new research initiative reaches its goals, that need could be met by taking advantage of an efficient and robust information storage medium that has proven itself through the centuries: the biopolymer DNA.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new research initiative is using DNA as an efficient and robust archival storage medium."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-01-16 02:08:12","changed_gmt":"2020-01-16 14:19:39","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-01-16T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-01-16T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"631205":{"id":"631205","type":"image","title":"DNA Data Storage Researchers","body":null,"created":"1579139387","gmt_created":"2020-01-16 01:49:47","changed":"1579139387","gmt_changed":"2020-01-16 01:49:47","alt":"DNA data storage researchers at clean room","file":{"fid":"240218","name":"dna-storage-115.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dna-storage-115.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dna-storage-115.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":681907,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dna-storage-115.jpg?itok=L1vWYeF4"}},"631206":{"id":"631206","type":"image","title":"Data Storage Researchers at Cleanroom","body":null,"created":"1579139528","gmt_created":"2020-01-16 01:52:08","changed":"1579139528","gmt_changed":"2020-01-16 01:52:08","alt":"DNA data storage researchers at clean room","file":{"fid":"240219","name":"dna-storage-106.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dna-storage-106.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dna-storage-106.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":541418,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dna-storage-106.jpg?itok=COSveNQO"}},"631207":{"id":"631207","type":"image","title":"DNA Data Storage Researchers2","body":null,"created":"1579139645","gmt_created":"2020-01-16 01:54:05","changed":"1579139645","gmt_changed":"2020-01-16 01:54:05","alt":"DNA data storage researchers at clean room","file":{"fid":"240220","name":"dna-storage-113.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dna-storage-113.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dna-storage-113.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":525422,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dna-storage-113.jpg?itok=Q3YFp1b5"}}},"media_ids":["631205","631206","631207"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1041","name":"dna"},{"id":"438","name":"data"},{"id":"183605","name":"data storage"},{"id":"183607","name":"archival storage"},{"id":"6191","name":"BioPolymer"},{"id":"167151","name":"sequencing"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"630960":{"#nid":"630960","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Leviathan Polymer Brush Made With E. coli Holds Bacteria at Bay","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA lab goof with an enzyme taken from bacteria has led to the creation of the Leviathan of polymer brushes, emerging biocompatible materials with the potential to repel infectious bacteria.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPolymer brushes are surfaces normally covered with nanoscale bristles made of polymers, spaghetti-like molecular chains that are synthesized chemically. But\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-019-13440-7\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein a new study\u003C\/a\u003E, a team led by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology stumbled onto a biological technique to improve on the brushes by growing the bristles into giants 100 times the usual length.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We were putting the enzyme onto a surface to observe it for a totally different experiment, but we put too much on the surface too densely, and \u0026ndash; boom \u0026ndash; we ended up with the thickest, longest polymer brush we\u0026rsquo;d ever seen or heard of,\u0026rdquo; said Jennifer Curtis, who led the study and is\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/jennifer-curtis\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ean associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;They were so big you could actually see them under an optical microscope instead of having to feel them with an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/584069\/catching-molecular-dances-slow-motion-adding-white-noise\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eatomic force microscope\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;or use other methods needed for more customary polymer brushes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers diverted attention from the original study to pursue the freakishly large new brush.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo bacteria encroaching on them, the brush\u0026rsquo;s bristles are a virtually impenetrable, squishy thicket that keeps microbes out in lab observations. It hinders the spread of biofilms, bacterial colonies that join together to form a tough material that makes killing the bacteria difficult.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBiofilm bulwark\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The human immune system has a hard time with biofilms. Antibiotics don\u0026rsquo;t work very well on them either. In water filtration, biofilms can stick tenaciously, too. If you have a hyaluronan brush on a surface, a biofilm can\u0026rsquo;t stick to it,\u0026rdquo; Curtis said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHyaluronan, the compound in the bristles, is a polysaccharide, a chain of sugar molecules, and is naturally widespread in and around our cells. It is also known to many from its use in cosmetic moisturizers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe enzyme that makes the hyaluronan bristles on the brush is\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hyaluronan_synthase\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehyaluronan synthase\u003C\/a\u003E, and it circumvents more tedious chemical synthesis by effortlessly extruding extremely long bristles. The enzymes also can replace bristles when they break off, something chemically synthesized brushes cannot do, which limits those brushes\u0026rsquo; durability. Still, use of the synthase is unorthodox.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Brush people say, \u0026lsquo;What are these enzymes doing here?\u0026rsquo; because they\u0026rsquo;re looking for chemistry, and biologists wonder what the brush has to do with biology,\u0026rdquo; Curtis said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team published\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-019-13440-7\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe new study,\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ESelf-regenerating giant hyaluronan polymer\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-019-13440-7\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebrushes,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-019-13440-7\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein the journal\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-019-13440-7\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;Nature Communications\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-019-13440-7\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;in December 2019\u003C\/a\u003E. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEngineered\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EE. coli\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers engineered bacteria to overabundantly produce the enzyme by inserting hyaluronan synthase genes from the bacteria\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EStreptococcus equisimilis\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;into\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EE. coli\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Ethen they harvested the enzyme.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We shattered the bacteria into a bunch of non-living gooey fragments then adhered their membrane to surfaces, and the synthase extruded the brushes,\u0026rdquo; Curtis said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe enzymes can be switched on and off, and adjusting salt concentration or pH in the solution around the brushes makes the bristles extend to a straight form or curl up into a retracted form. Functional additives like antibacterials could be embedded in brushes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESomething like a catheter could conceivably one day be coated with brushes to remain bacteria-free, and the thickness of the wiggly brushes would also act as a lubricant by preventing frictive contact with the surface beneath them. Some human cells key to the healing process are actually able to sink through the bristles, which could have potential for medicine.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;For a chronic wound that won\u0026rsquo;t heal, you may be able to design a bandage that encourages new cell growth but keeps bacteria out,\u0026rdquo; Curtis said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBiophysics research\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers\u0026rsquo; fortuitous detour into the giant brush has expanded possibilities for their original intent of studying enzymatic hyaluronan in isolation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We constantly deal with the coupling of biochemistry, chemical signaling, and mechanics, so having something that isolates the mechanics from the signaling so we can focus on just the mechanics is really useful,\u0026rdquo; Curtis said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EWenbin Wei and Jessica Faubel of Georgia Tech were the study\u0026rsquo;s first authors. These researchers co-authored the study: Hemaa Selvakumar, Daniel T. Kovari, Joanna Tsao, Amar T. Mohabir, Michelle Krecker, and Michael A. Filler from Georgia Tech; Felipe Rivas, Elaheh Rahbar, and Adam Hall from the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences; and Jennifer Washburn and Paul Weigel from the University of Oklahoma. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (grants #0955811, 1709897 and 1205878). Any findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily of the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESenior Science Writer\u0026nbsp;\u0026amp; Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-272-2780)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEmail:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A fortuitous slip in the lab leads to the creation of a monstrously large polymer brush"}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2020-01-13 16:42:00","changed_gmt":"2020-01-13 16:45:16","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-01-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-01-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"630956":{"id":"630956","type":"image","title":"Unusually massive polymer brush","body":null,"created":"1578932731","gmt_created":"2020-01-13 16:25:31","changed":"1578932731","gmt_changed":"2020-01-13 16:25:31","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240177","name":"hyaluronan.brush_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hyaluronan.brush_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hyaluronan.brush_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3801290,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hyaluronan.brush_.jpg?itok=_HaF77MM"}},"630957":{"id":"630957","type":"image","title":"Hyaluronan brush researchers","body":null,"created":"1578932876","gmt_created":"2020-01-13 16:27:56","changed":"1578932876","gmt_changed":"2020-01-13 16:27:56","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240178","name":"hyaluronan.researchers.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hyaluronan.researchers.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hyaluronan.researchers.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3885831,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hyaluronan.researchers.jpg?itok=vfoHkcC3"}},"630958":{"id":"630958","type":"image","title":"Hyaluronan brush made my engineered enzyme placed on a surface","body":null,"created":"1578933010","gmt_created":"2020-01-13 16:30:10","changed":"1578933010","gmt_changed":"2020-01-13 16:30:10","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240179","name":"hyaluronan.brush_.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hyaluronan.brush_.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hyaluronan.brush_.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1284717,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hyaluronan.brush_.png?itok=ZoZ7R2bQ"}}},"media_ids":["630956","630957","630958"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"5230","name":"Biophysics"},{"id":"183567","name":"polymer brush"},{"id":"176496","name":"polyelectrolyte"},{"id":"12760","name":"E. Coli"},{"id":"183568","name":"Hyaluronan"},{"id":"183569","name":"hyaluronic acid"},{"id":"183570","name":"hyaluronan synthase"},{"id":"183571","name":"Streptococcus equisimilis"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"630798":{"#nid":"630798","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Collaborates with IBM to Develop Software Stacks for Quantum Computers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology has announced its agreement to join the IBM Q Hub at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to help advance the fundamental research and use of quantum computing in building software infrastructure and developing specialized error mitigation techniques. Georgia Tech will have cloud access, via the Oak Ridge Hub, to the world\u0026rsquo;s largest fleet of universal quantum computing systems for commercial use case exploration and fundamental research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Access to IBM machines will allow Georgia Tech to build software infrastructure to make it easier to operate quantum machines, create specialized error mitigation techniques in software \u0026ndash; thereby mitigating some of the hardware errors \u0026ndash; and develop algorithms and applications for the emerging noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) computing paradigm,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/moinuddin-k-qureshi\u0022\u003EMoinuddin Qureshi\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;Access will also allow Georgia Tech researchers to better understand the error patterns in existing quantum computers, which can help with developing the architecture for future machines.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs part of the ORNL hub, Georgia Tech will join a community of Fortune 500 companies, startups, academic institutions and research labs working to advance quantum computing and explore practical applications. Georgia Tech will leverage IBM\u0026rsquo;s quantum expertise and resources, Qiskit software and developer tools, and will have cloud-based access to IBM\u0026rsquo;s Quantum Computation Center. IBM makes available through the cloud 15 of the most-advanced universal quantum computing systems available, including a 53-qubit system \u0026ndash; the most qubits of a universal quantum computer commercially available in the industry.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince the IBM Q Network\u0026rsquo;s launch in 2017 it has grown to more than 100 organizations, collaborating with IBM and one another to advance fundamental quantum computing research, and the development of practical applications for business and science.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch is being conducted worldwide to develop a new type of computational device known as a quantum computer, based on the principles of quantum physics. Quantum computers could tackle specialized computational problems such as integer factorization, understanding materials properties or optimization challenges much faster than conventional digital computers. Quantum computers will use one of a number of possible approaches to create quantum bits \u0026ndash; units known as qubits \u0026ndash; to compute and store data, giving them unique advantages over computers based on silicon transistors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the machines have great promise, there are difficult challenges in operating such machines and in writing software that will take advantage of their power, Qureshi said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe agreement will give Georgia Tech access to IBM\u0026rsquo;s premium systems, including the 53-qubit quantum computer. \u0026ldquo;In the regime between 50 and 60 qubits is where quantum machines can potentially do computations that are beyond the capabilities of existing conventional computers,\u0026rdquo; Qureshi said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout the Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology, also known as Georgia Tech, is one of the leading public research universities in the United States. Georgia Tech provides a technologically focused education to more than 36,000 undergraduate and graduate students in fields ranging from engineering, computing, and sciences, to business, design, and liberal arts. Research, economic development and other sponsored activities at Georgia Tech passed a significant milestone during the fiscal year that concluded on June 30, 2019, recording more than a billion dollars in new grants, contracts and other awards.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout IBM Q\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nIBM Q is an industry-first initiative to build commercial universal quantum systems for business and science applications. For more information about IBM\u0026#39;s quantum computing efforts, please visit www.ibm.com\/ibmq.\u0026nbsp;IBM Q Network\u0026trade; and IBM Q\u0026trade; are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E- \u003Cem\u003EWritten in collaboration with IBM.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology has announced its agreement to join the IBM Q Hub at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to advance the fundamental research and use of quantum computing in building software infrastructure and developing specialized error mitigation techniques. Georgia Tech will have cloud access, via the Oak Ridge Hub, to the world\u0026rsquo;s largest fleet of universal quantum computing systems for commercial use case exploration and fundamental research.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech has agreed to join the IBM Q Hub at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-01-08 19:52:43","changed_gmt":"2020-01-08 19:55:51","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-01-08T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-01-08T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"630796":{"id":"630796","type":"image","title":"IBM Quantum Computer","body":null,"created":"1578512700","gmt_created":"2020-01-08 19:45:00","changed":"1578512700","gmt_changed":"2020-01-08 19:45:00","alt":"IBM quantum computer","file":{"fid":"240123","name":"IBM_SystemOne_Andrew_Lindemann.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IBM_SystemOne_Andrew_Lindemann.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IBM_SystemOne_Andrew_Lindemann.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":556200,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IBM_SystemOne_Andrew_Lindemann.jpg?itok=S1DgSBAq"}},"630797":{"id":"630797","type":"image","title":"IBM Quantum Computer2","body":null,"created":"1578512815","gmt_created":"2020-01-08 19:46:55","changed":"1578512815","gmt_changed":"2020-01-08 19:46:55","alt":"IBM quantum computer","file":{"fid":"240124","name":"IBM_SystemOne_Andrew_Lindemann_2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IBM_SystemOne_Andrew_Lindemann_2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IBM_SystemOne_Andrew_Lindemann_2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":532271,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IBM_SystemOne_Andrew_Lindemann_2.jpg?itok=5ornuNB8"}}},"media_ids":["630796","630797"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1744","name":"quantum"},{"id":"4359","name":"quantum computing"},{"id":"1126","name":"ibm"},{"id":"183487","name":"software stacks"},{"id":"183488","name":"error mitigation"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"630729":{"#nid":"630729","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Laser Pulse Creates Frequency Doubling in Amorphous Dielectric Material","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have demonstrated a new all-optical technique for creating robust second-order nonlinear effects in materials that don\u0026rsquo;t normally support them. Using a laser pulse fired at an array of gold triangles on a titanium dioxide (TiO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E) slab, the researchers created excited electrons that briefly doubled the frequency of a beam from a second laser as it bounced off the amorphous TiO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E slab.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy widening the range of optical materials useful for micro- and nanoscale optoelectronic applications, the work could give optical engineers new options for creating second-order nonlinear effects, which are important in such areas as optical computers, high-speed data processors and bioimaging safe for use in the human body.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Now that we can optically break the crystalline symmetry of traditionally linear materials such as amorphous titanium dioxide, a much wider range of optical materials can be adopted in the mainstream of micro- and nanotechnology applications such as high-speed optical data processors,\u0026rdquo; said Wenshan Cai, a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe proof-of-concept findings were reported January 2 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review Letters\u003C\/em\u003E. The research received support from the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA majority of optical materials tend to have a symmetric crystal structure that limits their ability to create second-order nonlinear effects such as frequency doubling that have important technological applications. Until now, this symmetry could only be interrupted by applying electrical signals or mechanical strain to the crystal.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the laboratory, Cai and collaborators Mohammad Taghinejad, Zihao Xu, Kyu-Tae Lee and Tianquan Lian created an array of tiny plasmonic gold triangles on the surface of a centrosymmetric TiO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E slab. They then illuminated the TiO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E\/gold structure with a pulse of red laser light, which acted as an optical switch for breaking the crystal symmetry of the material. The amorphous TiO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E slab would not naturally support strong second-order nonlinear effects.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The optical switch excites high-energy electrons inside the gold triangles, and some of the electrons migrate to the titanium dioxide from the triangles\u0026rsquo; tips,\u0026rdquo; Cai explained. \u0026ldquo;Since the migration of electrons to the TiO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E slab primarily happens at the tips of triangles, the electron migration is spatially an asymmetric process, fleetingly breaking the titanium dioxide crystal symmetry in an optical fashion.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe induced symmetry breaking effect is observed almost instantaneously after the red laser pulse is triggered, doubling the frequency of a second laser that is then bounced off the titanium dioxide containing the excited electrons. The lifetime of the induced second-order nonlinearity generally depends on how fast electrons can migrate back from the titanium dioxide to the gold triangles after the disappearance of the pulse. In the case study reported by the researchers, the induced nonlinear effect lasted for a few picoseconds, which the researchers say is enough for most applications where short pulses are used. A stable, continuous wave laser can make this effect last for as long as the laser is on.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The strength of the induced nonlinear response depends on the number of electrons that can migrate from gold triangles to the titanium dioxide slab,\u0026rdquo; Cai added. \u0026ldquo;We can control the number of migrated electrons through the intensity of the red laser light. Increasing the intensity of the optical switch generates more electrons inside the gold triangles, and therefore sends more electrons into the TiO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E slab.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAdditional research will be needed to build on the proof of concept, which showed for the first time that the crystal symmetry of centrosymmetric materials can be broken by optical means, via asymmetric electron migrations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;To approach the practical criteria detailed on the essence of our technique, we still need to develop guidelines that tell us what combination of metal\/semiconductor material platform should be used, what shape and dimension would maximize the strength of the induced second-order nonlinear effect, and what range of laser wavelength should be used for the switching light,\u0026rdquo; Cai noted.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFrequency doubling is just one potential application for the technique, he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We believe that our findings not only provide varieties of opportunities in the field of nonlinear nanophotonics, but also will play a major role in the field of quantum electron tunneling,\u0026rdquo; Cai added. \u0026ldquo;Indeed, built upon the accumulated knowledge in this field, our group is devising new paradigms to employ the introduced symmetry breaking technique as an optical probe for monitoring the quantum tunneling of electrons in hybrid material platforms. Nowadays, achieving this challenging goal is only possible with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) techniques, which are very slow and show low yield and sensitivity.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was performed in part at the Georgia Tech Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology, a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure, which is supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. ECCS-1542174). This material is based upon work partially supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant No. N00014-17-1-2555, by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ECCS-1609567, and by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Solar Photochemistry Program under Grant No. DE-FG02-12ER16347. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring organizations.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Mohammad Taghinejad, Zihao Xu, Kyu-Tae Lee, Tianquan Lian, and Wenshan Cai, \u0026ldquo;Transient Second-Order Nonlinear Media: Breaking the Spatial Symmetry in the Time Domain via Hot-Electron Transfer.\u0026rdquo; (\u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review Letters\u003C\/em\u003E, 2020). \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevLett.124.013901\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevLett.124.013901\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have demonstrated a new all-optical technique for creating robust second-order nonlinear effects in materials that don\u0026rsquo;t normally support them. Using a laser pulse fired at an array of gold triangles on a titanium dioxide (TiO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E) slab, the researchers created excited electrons that briefly doubled the frequency of a beam from a second laser as it bounced off the amorphous TiO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E slab.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have demonstrated a new all-optical technique for creating robust second-order nonlinear effects in materials that don\u2019t normally support them."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2020-01-08 01:59:17","changed_gmt":"2020-01-08 02:04:57","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-01-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-01-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"630726":{"id":"630726","type":"image","title":"Creating nonlinear effects","body":null,"created":"1578447962","gmt_created":"2020-01-08 01:46:02","changed":"1578447962","gmt_changed":"2020-01-08 01:46:02","alt":"Red laser creates nonlinear effects in titanium dioxide","file":{"fid":"240106","name":"frequency-doubled-horizonal.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/frequency-doubled-horizonal.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/frequency-doubled-horizonal.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":654792,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/frequency-doubled-horizonal.jpg?itok=zT0LG9h3"}},"630727":{"id":"630727","type":"image","title":"Breaking Inversion Symmetry","body":null,"created":"1578448098","gmt_created":"2020-01-08 01:48:18","changed":"1578448098","gmt_changed":"2020-01-08 01:48:18","alt":"Diagram of symmetry breaking","file":{"fid":"240107","name":"breaking-inversion-symmetry.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/breaking-inversion-symmetry.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/breaking-inversion-symmetry.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":199506,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/breaking-inversion-symmetry.jpg?itok=oniHRqF6"}},"630728":{"id":"630728","type":"image","title":"Frequency doubling demonstration","body":null,"created":"1578448261","gmt_created":"2020-01-08 01:51:01","changed":"1578448261","gmt_changed":"2020-01-08 01:51:01","alt":"Researchers with laser setup","file":{"fid":"240108","name":"frequency-doubled_1288010.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/frequency-doubled_1288010.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/frequency-doubled_1288010.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":707188,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/frequency-doubled_1288010.jpg?itok=_jishiNx"}}},"media_ids":["630726","630726","630727","630728"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4260","name":"laser"},{"id":"183477","name":"frequency doubling"},{"id":"114491","name":"dielectric materials"},{"id":"183479","name":"symmetry breaking"},{"id":"91661","name":"Wenshan Cai"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"629124":{"#nid":"629124","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Observing a \u201cCosmic Symphony\u201d Using Gravitational Wave Astronomy","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EShrouded in mystery since their discovery, the phenomenon of black holes continues to be one of the most mind-boggling enigmas in our universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn recent years, many researchers have made strides in understanding black holes using observational astronomy and an emerging field known as gravitational wave astronomy, first hypothesized by Albert Einstein, which directly measures the gravitational waves emitted by black holes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThrough these findings on black hole gravitational waves, which were first observed in 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatories (LIGO) in Louisiana and Washington, researchers have learned exciting details about these invisible objects and developed theories and projections on everything from their size to their physical properties.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStill, limitations in LIGO and other observation technologies have kept scientists from grasping a more complete picture of black holes, and one of the largest gaps in knowledge concerns a certain type of black hole: those of intermediate mass, or black holes that fall somewhere between supermassive (at least a million times greater than our sun) and stellar (think: smaller, though still five to 50 times greater than the mass of our sun).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat could soon change thanks to new research from a team of astrophysicists from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Vanderbilt University, the California Institute of Technology, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA. The study, which was sponsored by NASA and the National Science Foundation and published Nov. 18 in \u003Cem\u003ENature\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Cem\u003EAstronomy\u003C\/em\u003E, presents a compelling roadmap for capturing four- to 10-year snapshots of intermediate-mass black hole activity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The possibility that intermediate-mass black holes exist but are currently hidden from our view is both tantalizing and frustrating,\u0026rdquo; said Deidre Shoemaker, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics. \u0026ldquo;Fortunately, there is hope, as these black holes are ideal sources for future multiband gravitational wave astronomy.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new research, led by Karan Jani at Vanderbilt, looks at the future of LIGO detectors alongside the proposed Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) space mission, which would help humans get a step closer to understanding what happens in and around black holes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Like a symphony orchestra emits sound across an array of frequencies, the gravitational waves emitted by black holes occur at different frequencies and times,\u0026rdquo; Jani said. \u0026ldquo;Some of these frequencies are extremely high bandwidth, while some are low bandwidth, and our goal in the next era of gravitational wave astronomy is to capture multiband observations of both of these frequencies in order to \u0026lsquo;hear the entire song,\u0026rsquo; as it were, when it comes to black holes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELISA, a mission jointly led by the European Space Agency and NASA and planned for launch in the year 2034, would improve detection sensitivity for low-frequency gravitational waves. As the first dedicated space-based gravitational wave detector, LISA would provide a critical measurement of a previously unattainable frequency and enable the more complete observation of intermediate-mass black holes. In 2018, Vanderbilt physics and astronomy professor Kelly Holley-Bockelmann was appointed by NASA as the inaugural chair of the LISA Study Team.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Inside black holes, all known understanding of our universe breaks down,\u0026rdquo; Jani, who holds a Ph.D. in physics from Georgia Tech, said. \u0026ldquo;With the high frequency already being captured by LIGO detectors and the low frequency from future detectors and the LISA mission, we can bring these data points together to help fill in many gaps in our understanding of black holes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis story was adapted from content provided by Vanderbilt University.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research was supported by NASA under grant No. 80NSSC19K0322 and the National Science Foundation under grant Nos. PHY-1806580, PHY-1809572 and PHY-1708212. Work was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION:\u003C\/strong\u003E Karan Jani,\u0026nbsp;Deirdre Shoemaker, and\u0026nbsp;Curt Cutler, \u0026ldquo;Detectability of intermediate-mass black holes in multiband gravitational wave astronomy\u0026rdquo; (\u003Cem\u003ENature Astronomy\u003C\/em\u003E, November 2019). http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41550-019-0932-7\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Research from a team of astrophysicists presents a compelling roadmap for capturing four- to 10-year snapshots of intermediate-mass black hole activity."}],"uid":"31758","created_gmt":"2019-11-19 18:44:17","changed_gmt":"2020-01-07 15:00:49","author":"Josh Brown","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-11-19T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-11-19T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"629127":{"id":"629127","type":"image","title":"Simulation of Binary Black Holes","body":null,"created":"1574190553","gmt_created":"2019-11-19 19:09:13","changed":"1574190553","gmt_changed":"2019-11-19 19:09:13","alt":"","file":{"fid":"239596","name":"Picture1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Picture1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Picture1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":722717,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Picture1_0.jpg?itok=UMCaoxAq"}},"589220":{"id":"589220","type":"image","title":"Deirdre Shoemaker","body":null,"created":"1490297672","gmt_created":"2017-03-23 19:34:32","changed":"1490297672","gmt_changed":"2017-03-23 19:34:32","alt":"","file":{"fid":"224509","name":"Deirdre Shoemaker.Capture.PNG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Deirdre%20Shoemaker.Capture.PNG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Deirdre%20Shoemaker.Capture.PNG","mime":"image\/png","size":2901833,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Deirdre%20Shoemaker.Capture.PNG?itok=UlLYbWh8"}},"596365":{"id":"596365","type":"image","title":"Karan Jani presents his research on Black Holes","body":null,"created":"1506090489","gmt_created":"2017-09-22 14:28:09","changed":"1506348467","gmt_changed":"2017-09-25 14:07:47","alt":"","file":{"fid":"227303","name":"2017-PostdocSymposium-Karan_Jani-small.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2017-PostdocSymposium-Karan_Jani-small.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2017-PostdocSymposium-Karan_Jani-small.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":501055,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2017-PostdocSymposium-Karan_Jani-small.jpg?itok=yYJ0Ob3l"}}},"media_ids":["629127","589220","596365"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"10881","name":"black holes"},{"id":"120161","name":"LIGO"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:john.toon@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["john.toon@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"630132":{"#nid":"630132","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Moths and Perhaps Other Animals Rely on Precise Timing of Neural Spikes","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EExtracting nectar from flowers that may be dancing in the wind requires precise, millisecond timing between the brain and muscles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy capturing and analyzing nearly all of the brain signals sent to the wing muscles of hawk moths (\u003Cem\u003EManduca sexta\u003C\/em\u003E), which feed on such nectar, researchers have shown that precise timing within rapid sequences of neural signal spikes is essential to controlling the flight muscles necessary for the moths to eat.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research shows that millisecond changes in timing of the action potential spikes, rather than the number or amplitude of the spikes, conveys the majority of information the moths use to coordinate the five muscles in each of their wings. The importance of precise spike timing had been known for certain specific muscles in vertebrates, but the new work shows the general nature of the connection.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We were able to record simultaneously nearly every signal the moth\u0026rsquo;s brain uses to control its wings, which gives us an unprecedented and complete window into how the brain is conducting these agile and graceful maneuvers,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/simon-sponberg\u0022\u003ESimon Sponberg\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family Professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;These muscles are coordinated by subtle shifts in the timing at the millisecond scale rather than by just turning a knob to create more activity. It\u0026rsquo;s a more subtle story than we might have expected, and there are hints that this may apply more generally.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was reported Dec. 16 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Esther A. \u0026amp; Joseph Klingenstein Fund, and the Simons Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers Joy Putney, Rachel Conn and Sponberg set out to study how the brain coordinates agile activities such as running or flying that require compensating for perturbations in the air or variations on the ground. While the size of the signals could account for gross control of the behavior, the fine points of choreographing the tasks had to come from elsewhere, they reasoned.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERecording motor control signals in humans and other vertebrates would be a daunting task because so many neurons are used to control so many muscles in even simple behaviors. Fortunately, the researchers knew about the hawk moth, whose flight muscles are each controlled by a single or very few motor neurons. That allowed the researchers to study neural signals by measuring the activity of the corresponding muscles, using tiny wires inserted through the insect\u0026rsquo;s exoskeleton.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPutney and Conn determined the location of each wing muscle inside the moth exoskeleton, and learned where to create tiny holes for the wires \u0026mdash; two for each muscle \u0026mdash; that capture the signals. After inserting the wires in the anesthetized moths, the graduate students closed the holes with superglue to hold the wires in place. Connections to a computer system allowed recording and analysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The first time I did the surgery by myself, it took six hours,\u0026rdquo; said Putney. \u0026ldquo;Now I can do it in under an hour.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile connected to the computer, the moths were able to fly on a tether as they viewed a moving 3D-printed plastic flower. To measure the torque forces the moths created as they attempted to track the flower, the wired-up moths were suspended from an accelerometer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe torque information was then correlated with the spiking signals recorded from each wing muscle.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe importance of the work relates to the completeness of the signal measurement, which brought out the importance of the timing codes to what the moth was doing, Putney said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;People have recorded lots of muscles together before, but what we have shown is that all of these muscles are using timing codes,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;The way they are using these codes is consistent, regardless of the size of the muscle and how it is attached to the body.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIndeed, researchers have seen hints about the importance of precision timing in higher animals, and Sponberg believes the hawk moth research should encourage more study into the role of timing. The importance and prevalence of timing across the moth\u0026rsquo;s motor program also raises questions about how nervous systems in general create precise and coordinated motor commands.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We think this raises a question that can\u0026rsquo;t be ignored any longer \u0026mdash; whether or not this timing could be the real way that the brain is orchestrating movement,\u0026rdquo; Sponberg said. \u0026ldquo;When we look at specific signals in vertebrates, even up to humans, there are hints that this timing could be there.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study could also lead to new research on how the brain produces the agile motor control needed for agile movement.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Now that we know that the motor control is really precise, we can start trying to understand how the brain integrates precise sensory information to do motor control,\u0026rdquo; Sponberg said. \u0026ldquo;We want to really understand not only how the brain sets up signals, but also how the biophysics of muscles enables the precise timing that the brain uses.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis material is based upon work supported by National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships DGE-1650044 and DGE-1444932, an NSF CAREER award (1554790), and a Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship Award in the Neurosciences. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring organization.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Joy Putney, Rachel Conn, and Simon Sponberg, \u0026ldquo;Precise timing is ubiquitous, consistent and coordinated across a comprehensive, spike-resolved flight motor program.\u0026rdquo; (\u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,\u003C\/em\u003E 2019.) \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/early\/2019\/12\/11\/1907513116\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/early\/2019\/12\/11\/1907513116\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy capturing and analyzing nearly all of the brain signals sent to the wing muscles of hawk moths, researchers have shown that precise timing within rapid sequences of neural signal spikes is essential to controlling the flight muscles necessary for the moths to eat.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have captured and analyzed nearly all of the brain signals sent to the wings of hawk moths."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-12-17 18:21:46","changed_gmt":"2019-12-19 22:27:58","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-12-17T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-12-17T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"630127":{"id":"630127","type":"image","title":"Hummingbird-sized hawk moth","body":null,"created":"1576605880","gmt_created":"2019-12-17 18:04:40","changed":"1576605880","gmt_changed":"2019-12-17 18:04:40","alt":"Hawk moth in researcher\u0027s hand","file":{"fid":"239953","name":"hawkmoth8.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth8.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth8.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":369786,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth8.jpg?itok=ThjTGO6z"}},"630129":{"id":"630129","type":"image","title":"Recording hawk moth brain signals","body":null,"created":"1576606015","gmt_created":"2019-12-17 18:06:55","changed":"1576606015","gmt_changed":"2019-12-17 18:06:55","alt":"Recording signals from a hawk moth flapping its wings","file":{"fid":"239954","name":"moth-brain-006.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/moth-brain-006.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/moth-brain-006.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1073842,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/moth-brain-006.jpg?itok=NOcLq0us"}},"630130":{"id":"630130","type":"image","title":"Researchers analyze hawk moth brain signals","body":null,"created":"1576606148","gmt_created":"2019-12-17 18:09:08","changed":"1576606148","gmt_changed":"2019-12-17 18:09:08","alt":"Researchers discussing brain signal analysis","file":{"fid":"239955","name":"moth-brain-016.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/moth-brain-016.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/moth-brain-016.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1421849,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/moth-brain-016.jpg?itok=70DcQMKO"}},"630131":{"id":"630131","type":"image","title":"Researcher holds hawk moth","body":null,"created":"1576606348","gmt_created":"2019-12-17 18:12:28","changed":"1576606348","gmt_changed":"2019-12-17 18:12:28","alt":"Researcher holding hawk moth","file":{"fid":"239956","name":"hawkmoth12.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth12_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth12_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":285420,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth12_1.jpg?itok=W4sssDUh"}}},"media_ids":["630127","630129","630130","630131"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"175598","name":"hawk moth"},{"id":"170414","name":"Simon Sponberg"},{"id":"68461","name":"neural signals"},{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"},{"id":"176956","name":"action potential"},{"id":"183345","name":"brain spike"},{"id":"183341","name":"neural spike"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"629154":{"#nid":"629154","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Exoplanet Axis Study Boosts Hopes of Complex Life, Just Not Next Door","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;They\u0026rsquo;re out there,\u0026rdquo; goes a saying about extraterrestrials. It would seem more likely to be true in light of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/1538-4357\/ab46b5\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ea new study\u003C\/a\u003E on planetary axis tilts.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAstrophysicists at the Georgia Institute of Technology modeled a theoretical twin of Earth into other star systems called binary systems because they have two stars. They concluded that 87% of exo-Earths one might find in binary systems should have axis tilts similarly steady to Earth\u0026rsquo;s, an important ingredient for climate stability that favors the evolution of complex life.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Multiple-star systems are common, and about 50% of stars have binary companion stars. So, this study can be applied to a large number of solar systems,\u0026rdquo; said Gongjie Li, the study\u0026rsquo;s co-investigator an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/gongjie-li\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/gongjie-li\u0022\u003Eassistant professor at Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESingle-star solar systems like our own with multiple planets appear to be rarer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlpha Centauri B? Wretched\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers started out contrasting how the Earth\u0026rsquo;s axis tilt, also called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.obliquity.com\/info\/meaning.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eobliquity\u003C\/a\u003E, varies over time with the variation of Mars\u0026rsquo; axis tilt. Whereas our planet\u0026rsquo;s mild obliquity variations have been great for a livable climate and for evolution, the wilder variations of Mars\u0026#39; axis tilt may have helped wreck its atmosphere, as explained in the section below.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThen the researchers modeled Earth into\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/science\/2016-02-22\/goldilocks-zones-habitable-zone-astrobiology-exoplanets\/6907836\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehabitable, or Goldilocks, zones\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in Alpha Centauri AB \u0026ndash; our solar system\u0026rsquo;s nearest neighbor, a binary system with one star called \u0026ldquo;A\u0026rdquo; and the other \u0026ldquo;B.\u0026rdquo; After that, they expanded the model to a more universal scope.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We simulated what it would be like around other binaries with multiple variations of the stars\u0026rsquo; masses, orbital qualities, and so on,\u0026rdquo; said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.billyquarles.com\/\u0022 title=\u0022https:\/\/www.billyquarles.com\/\u0022\u003EBilly Quarles, the study\u0026rsquo;s principal\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;investigator and a research scientist in Li\u0026rsquo;s lab. \u0026ldquo;The overall message was positive but not for our nearest neighbor.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlpha Centauri A actually didn\u0026rsquo;t look bad, but the outlook for mild axis dynamics on an exo-Earth modeled around star B was wretched. This may douse some hopes because Alpha Centauri AB is four lightyears away, and a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/breakthroughinitiatives.org\/initiative\/3\u0022\u003Emission named Starshot with big-name backers\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;plans to launch a space probe to examine the system, including for signs of advanced life.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers published\u0026nbsp;their study, which was co-led by\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/content\/jack-lissauer\u0022\u003EJack Lissauer from NASA\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;Ames Research Center, in\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EAstrophysical Journal\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;on November 19, 2019, under the title: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.3847\/1538-4357\/ab46b5\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EObliquity Evolution of Circumstellar Planets in Sun-like Stellar Binaries\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;The research was funded by the NASA Exobiology Program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENo exoplanets have been confirmed around A or B; an exoplanet has been confirmed around the nearby red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, but that planet is likely to be uninhabitable.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Csup\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E[Ready for graduate school?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu\/apply-now\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EHere\u0026#39;s how to apply to Georgia Tech.\u003C\/a\u003E]\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEarth? Just right\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEven with its ice ages and hot phases, Earth\u0026rsquo;s climatological framework has been calm for hundreds of millions of years - in part because of its mild orbital and axis-tilt dynamics - allowing evolution to take big strides. Sharply varying dynamics, and thus climate, like on Mars could stand to regularly kill off advanced life, stunting evolution.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEarth\u0026rsquo;s orbit around the sun is on a slight incline that seesaws gently and very slowly through a slight precession, a kind of oscillation. As Earth revolves, it shifts position relative to the sun, circling it a little like a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS852US852\u0026amp;biw=890\u0026amp;bih=484\u0026amp;tbm=isch\u0026amp;sxsrf=ACYBGNQmdI3kjdR9Pl9FSKYYPItAMwZGOw%3A1572963813556\u0026amp;sa=1\u0026amp;ei=5YXBXfq3IY6Q5wKSo7jYAg\u0026amp;q=earth%27s+apsidial+precession+orbit+around+the+sun\u0026amp;oq=earth%27s+apsidial+precession+orbit+around+the+sun\u0026amp;gs_l=img.3...27670.32605..32912...3.0..0.91.1510.20......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i7i30j0i8i7i30.mcCOTIJdeJE\u0026amp;ved=0ahUKEwi6vufqotPlAhUOyFkKHZIRDisQ4dUDCAc\u0026amp;uact=5#imgrc=eoZMxUFkJQpTLM:\u0022\u003Espirograph drawing.\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;The orbit also\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/science\/cosmology-and-astronomy\/earth-history-topic\/earth-title-topic\/v\/apsidal-precession-perihelion-precession-and-milankovitch-cycles\u0022\u003Eprecesses in shape\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;between slightly more and slightly less oblong over 100,000-year periods.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/science\/cosmology-and-astronomy\/earth-history-topic\/earth-title-topic\/v\/milankovitch-cycles-precession-and-obliquity\u0022\u003EEarth\u0026rsquo;s axis tilt precesses\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;between 22.1 and 24.5 degrees over the course of 41,000 years. Our large moon stabilizes our tilt through its gravitational relationship with Earth, otherwise, bouncy gravitational interconnections with Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter would jolt our tilt with resonances.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If we didn\u0026rsquo;t have the moon, Earth\u0026rsquo;s tilt could vary by about 60 degrees,\u0026rdquo; Quarles said. \u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;d look maybe like Mars, and the precession of its axis appears to have contributed to a loss of atmosphere.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMars\u0026rsquo; axis precesses between 10 degrees and 60 degrees every 2 million years. At the 10-degree tilt, the atmosphere condenses at the poles, creating caps that lock up a lot of the atmosphere in ice. At 60 degrees, Mars could grow an ice belt around its equator.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUniverse? Hopeful\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn Alpha Centauri AB, star B, about the size of our sun, and the larger star, A, orbit one another at about the distance between Uranus and our sun, which is very close for two stars in a binary system. The study modeled variations of an exo-Earth orbiting either star but concentrated on a modeled Earth orbiting in the habitable zone centered around B, with A being the orbiting star.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA\u0026rsquo;s orbit is very elliptical, passing close by and then moving very far away from B and slinging powerful gravity, which, in the model, overpowered exo-Earth\u0026rsquo;s own dynamics. Its tilt and orbit varied widely; adding our moon to the model didn\u0026rsquo;t help.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Around Alpha Centauri B, if you don\u0026rsquo;t have a moon, you have a more stable axis than if you do have a moon. If you have a moon, it\u0026rsquo;s pretty much bad news,\u0026rdquo; Quarles said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEven without a moon and with mild axis variability, complex, Earthlike evolution would seem to have a hard time on the modeled exo-Earth around B.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The biggest effect you would see is differences in the climate cycles related to how elongated the orbit is. Instead of having ice ages every 100,000 years like on Earth, they may come every 1 million years, be worse, and last much longer,\u0026rdquo; Quarles said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut a sliver of hope for Earthlike conditions turned up in the model: \u0026ldquo;Planetary orbit and spin need to precess just right relative to the binary orbit. There is this tiny sweet spot,\u0026rdquo; Quarles said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen the researchers expanded the model to binary systems in the broader universe, the probability of gentle obliquity variations ballooned.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In general, the separation between the stars is larger in binary systems, and then the second star has less of an effect on the model of Earth. The planet\u0026rsquo;s own motion dynamics dominate other influences, and obliquity usually has a smaller variation,\u0026rdquo; Li said. \u0026ldquo;So, this is quite optimistic.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAlso READ:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/629124\/observing-cosmic-symphony-using-gravitational-wave-astronomy\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EObserving a \u0026ldquo;Cosmic Symphony\u0026rdquo; Using Gravitational Wave Astronomy\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research was funded by the NASA Exobiology Program (grant NNX14AK31G). Any findings, conclusions, or recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily of the NASA Exobiology Program.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-272-2780)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEmail:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThere\u0026#39;s new hope that advanced beings may exist on exoplanets. A\u0026nbsp;new study on\u0026nbsp;the dynamics\u0026nbsp;of\u0026nbsp;axis tilts of\u0026nbsp;exoplanets\u0026nbsp;in\u0026nbsp;Goldilocks\u0026nbsp;zones\u0026nbsp;says about 87% of planets like Earth in\u0026nbsp;two-star, or binary, systems should have axes conducive to\u0026nbsp;the evolution of complex life. But in the star system nearest us, Alpha Centauri AB, the study\u0026nbsp;pours some water on those hopes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"An exoplanet study on axis tilts raises hopes that advanced life may exist elsewhere in the universe."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2019-11-20 15:06:44","changed_gmt":"2019-12-09 19:24:09","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-11-20T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-11-20T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"629146":{"id":"629146","type":"image","title":"Alpha Centauri AB","body":null,"created":"1574260494","gmt_created":"2019-11-20 14:34:54","changed":"1574260494","gmt_changed":"2019-11-20 14:34:54","alt":"","file":{"fid":"239602","name":"Alpha.Cent_.AB_.Hubble.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Alpha.Cent_.AB_.Hubble.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Alpha.Cent_.AB_.Hubble.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":48895,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Alpha.Cent_.AB_.Hubble.jpg?itok=LiiKNIxL"}},"629149":{"id":"629149","type":"image","title":"Astrophysicist Billy Quarles at the telescope atop Georgia Tech\u0027s observatory","body":null,"created":"1574260949","gmt_created":"2019-11-20 14:42:29","changed":"1574260949","gmt_changed":"2019-11-20 14:42:29","alt":"","file":{"fid":"239604","name":"Billy.Quarles.telescope.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Billy.Quarles.telescope.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Billy.Quarles.telescope.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3052408,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Billy.Quarles.telescope.jpg?itok=picvps-v"}},"629148":{"id":"629148","type":"image","title":"Earth frigid around Alpha Centauri B","body":null,"created":"1574260664","gmt_created":"2019-11-20 14:37:44","changed":"1575470665","gmt_changed":"2019-12-04 14:44:25","alt":"","file":{"fid":"239786","name":"ExoEarth.Alpha_.Cent_.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ExoEarth.Alpha_.Cent_.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ExoEarth.Alpha_.Cent_.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2874407,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ExoEarth.Alpha_.Cent_.png?itok=VovqTgeg"}}},"media_ids":["629146","629149","629148"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"176464","name":"exoplanet"},{"id":"183095","name":"Alpha Centauri"},{"id":"174307","name":"Proxima Centauri"},{"id":"183096","name":"Proxima Centauri b"},{"id":"183097","name":"obliquity"},{"id":"183098","name":"axis"},{"id":"183099","name":"axis tilt"},{"id":"183100","name":"axis tilt variation"},{"id":"183101","name":"obliquity variation"},{"id":"183102","name":"Alpha centauri AB"},{"id":"183103","name":"binary system"},{"id":"183104","name":"binary star"},{"id":"183105","name":"Binary Star System"},{"id":"183053","name":"habitable exoplanets"},{"id":"179278","name":"habitable planets"},{"id":"183106","name":"Habitable Worlds Across Time and Space"},{"id":"181498","name":"habitable zone"},{"id":"183107","name":"goldilocks zone"},{"id":"183108","name":"Starshot"},{"id":"183109","name":"Ames Research Center"},{"id":"183110","name":"precession"},{"id":"179279","name":"ice age"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"628264":{"#nid":"628264","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Reframing Antarctica\u2019s Meltwater Pond Dangers to Ice Shelves and Sea Level","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDangers to ancient Antarctic ice portend a future of rapidly rising seas, but\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1029\/2019GL084397\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ea new study\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;may relieve\u0026nbsp;one nagging fear: that ponds of meltwater fracturing the ice below them could cause protracted chain reactions that unexpectedly collapse floating ice shelves. Though pooled meltwater does fracture ice, ensuing chain reactions appear short-ranged.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStill, massive increases in surface melting due to unusually warm weather can trigger catastrophic ice shelf collapses like that of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/earthobservatory.nasa.gov\/world-of-change\/LarsenB\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eiconic shelf \u0026ldquo;Larsen B,\u0026rdquo; which shattered in 2002\u003C\/a\u003E. Now, a study led by a researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology has modeled fracture chain reactions and how much water it would take for a repeat of that rare, epic collapse.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELarsen B\u0026rsquo;s disintegration was preceded by an atypical heatwave that riddled it with meltwater ponds, focusing researchers\u0026rsquo; attention on pond fracturing, also called hydrofracturing. They discovered that a melt pond hydrofracturing the ice shelf can prompt neighboring ponds to do the same. Concerns grew of possible extensive chain reactions, which the new study addressed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EToo much meltwater\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The chain reactions will not spread that far on the ice shelf,\u0026rdquo; said Alex Robel,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iceclimate.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ean assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;Normally, it would take many years for the chain reactions to have an effect on the integrity of the ice shelves. But there\u0026rsquo;s a caveat. Ponds that are close together and growing rapidly deeper could destroy the ice\u0026rsquo;s integrity.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There is a speed limit in the study that shows that an ice shelf can\u0026rsquo;t collapse ridiculously fast,\u0026rdquo; said co-author Alison Banwell, a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cires.colorado.edu\/researcher\/alison-banwell\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eglaciology researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;However, if it becomes as covered in meltwater ponds very quickly like Larsen B was, it can collapse in a similar way.\u0026rdquo; She added, \u0026ldquo;Multiple hydrofracture chains originating in different areas of an ice shelf could also lead to a larger-scale ice shelf breakup.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1029\/2019GL084397\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epublished their results in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EGeophysical Research Letters\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;on October 24, 2019. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at CU Boulder. An unrelated,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41598-019-50343-5\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Erecent study\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;reported a record number of meltwater ponds on Antarctica.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Currently there are not nearly enough ponds on any ice shelf for a repeat of Larsen B, but much meltwater is weighing on ice shelves and contributing damage to them,\u0026rdquo; said Banwell, who helped pioneer hydrofracture research on ice shelves.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQ\u0026amp;A\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBroken ice shelves themselves don\u0026rsquo;t add much to sea level. So, why care?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIce shelves float in the ocean, where they already contribute to sea level, so when they break up or melt, they don\u0026rsquo;t add much more to it. But many ice shelves push back against glaciers on land that do drive up sea level when they enter the ocean.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith the shelf gone, the speed of glacial flow can jump four- to tenfold. Glaciologists were not aware of this until Larsen B, which was a kilometer (0.62 miles) thick with a surface of 3,250 square km (1,250 square miles), splintered within weeks, and glacial flow behind it surged.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our research field thought ice shelves weren\u0026rsquo;t too important, then Larsen B showed us that was incorrect. Buttressing by ice shelves really is the thing that stabilizes the glaciers. Few issues are more significant than those that this study addresses,\u0026rdquo; said Brent Minchew, an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eapsweb.mit.edu\/people\/minchew\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eassistant professor of geophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMinchew was not involved in the study but recently co-published another study that relates to it. The MIT study rules out one absolutely nightmarish scenario of rapid glacier fracture due to the disappearance of ice shelves. But he and the other researchers reiterated that glacial flow nonetheless speeds up strikingly when ice shelves disappear.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso, most Antarctic ice shelves probably formed in the last ice age, and it could take another ice age to replace them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Csup\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E[Ready for graduate school?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu\/apply-now\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EHere\u0026#39;s how to apply to Georgia Tech.\u003C\/a\u003E]\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow does hydrofracturing work, and how did the study model its effects?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen meltwater ponds on top of cracks in the ice grow heavy, they can hydrofracture the ice.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The water pressure concentrates down to a point called a crack tip. It tries to push the crack apart and make it deeper, and the ice pushes back. When the water gets deep enough, it can win out and propagate the crack to the bottom of the ice shelf,\u0026rdquo; Robel said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe water drains down the crack, into the ocean, then the ice hops back up, making new cracks that can trigger neighboring ponds to hydrofracture, too. The study showed that this would encompass only small numbers of ponds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EConveniently for Robel, who explores ice dynamics with math, physics, and computer science, as ice shelves form, regimented matrices of surface dents appear in them, and that\u0026rsquo;s where the ponds collect.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERobel could apply computer science modeling called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/mathworld.wolfram.com\/CellularAutomaton.html\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecellular automata\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026ndash; known from pixelated matrix-like\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bitstorm.org\/gameoflife\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Evideo games\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026ndash; to model hydrofracture chain reactions. The model even outputs animations that the researchers named \u0026ldquo;minesweeper plots\u0026rdquo; after the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=play+minesweeper\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eclassic 1990s computer game\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDoes the study mean there is less danger than before of glacial flow accelerating?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENo, the study simply adds to scientific knowledge, and actually, the flow of some glaciers on Antarctica has already sped up a lot.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Maybe this mechanism is not something we have to worry as much about. But we shouldn\u0026rsquo;t breathe a sigh of relief because there are plenty of other ways of getting a whole lot of ice out of West Antarctica quickly,\u0026rdquo; Minchew said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPerhaps the greatest potential for glacier loss is instability where glaciers rest on the ground next to seawater. A\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/623053\/instability-antarctic-ice-projected-make-sea-level-rise-rapidly\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Estudy Robel published in July\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;projected that instability to be extremely likely to accelerate sea level rise.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow does this study help advance glacier research?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt makes it easier to look for harbingers of ice shelf damage.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Looking at the volume of water on the surface of the ice is much easier than looking for stress failures within the ice,\u0026rdquo; said Banwell, who will visit Antarctica in November to study melt ponds on the George IV ice shelf.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/623053\/instability-antarctic-ice-projected-make-sea-level-rise-rapidly\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlso READ:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EInstability in Antarctic Ice Projected to Make Sea Level Rise Rapidly\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research was funded by the National Science Foundation (grants\u0026nbsp;NSF PLR-1735715 and NSF PLR-1841607) and by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at CU Boulder. Any findings, conclusions or recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily of the funding agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-272-2780)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEmail:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMeltwater ponds riddle a kilometer-thick, 10,000-year-old Antarctic ice shelf, which shatters just weeks later. The collapse shocks scientists and unleashes the glacier behind the ice shelf, driving up sea level. A new study puts damage by meltwater ponds to ice shelves and the ensuing threat to sea level into cool, mathematical perspective.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"There\u0027s a speed limit on the damage surface ponds can do to ice shelves, but that doesn\u0027t mean the ponds aren\u0027t dangerous."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2019-10-29 15:58:06","changed_gmt":"2019-10-29 16:08:20","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-10-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-10-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"628239":{"id":"628239","type":"image","title":"Larsen B ice shelf before collapse","body":null,"created":"1572359161","gmt_created":"2019-10-29 14:26:01","changed":"1572359161","gmt_changed":"2019-10-29 14:26:01","alt":"","file":{"fid":"239240","name":"larsenb_tmo_20020131.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/larsenb_tmo_20020131.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/larsenb_tmo_20020131.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":110048,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/larsenb_tmo_20020131.jpg?itok=l5-Jn9O0"}},"628238":{"id":"628238","type":"image","title":"Larsen B ice shelf collapse","body":null,"created":"1572358935","gmt_created":"2019-10-29 14:22:15","changed":"1572359080","gmt_changed":"2019-10-29 14:24:40","alt":"","file":{"fid":"239239","name":"larsenb_tmo_20020223.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/larsenb_tmo_20020223.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/larsenb_tmo_20020223.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":145046,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/larsenb_tmo_20020223.jpg?itok=y2-Iq5h4"}},"628258":{"id":"628258","type":"image","title":"Alex Robel lab with ice wide shot","body":null,"created":"1572363458","gmt_created":"2019-10-29 15:37:38","changed":"1668628559","gmt_changed":"2022-11-16 19:55:59","alt":"","file":{"fid":"239253","name":"alex.ice_.tank_.wide_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/alex.ice_.tank_.wide_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/alex.ice_.tank_.wide_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4661595,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/alex.ice_.tank_.wide_.jpg?itok=EUNeI9Nq"}},"628260":{"id":"628260","type":"image","title":"CU\u0027s Alison Banwell in Antarctic meltwater","body":null,"created":"1572363678","gmt_created":"2019-10-29 15:41:18","changed":"1572363678","gmt_changed":"2019-10-29 15:41:18","alt":"","file":{"fid":"239255","name":"Alison.in_.pond_.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Alison.in_.pond_.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Alison.in_.pond_.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":651370,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Alison.in_.pond_.JPG?itok=9CU0rwQt"}},"628257":{"id":"628257","type":"image","title":"Alex Robel lab with ice","body":null,"created":"1572363363","gmt_created":"2019-10-29 15:36:03","changed":"1572363363","gmt_changed":"2019-10-29 15:36:03","alt":"","file":{"fid":"239252","name":"alex.ice_.tank_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/alex.ice_.tank_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/alex.ice_.tank_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4571314,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/alex.ice_.tank_.jpg?itok=FAwlQBCT"}},"628259":{"id":"628259","type":"image","title":"Alex Robel lab with cracked ice","body":null,"created":"1572363567","gmt_created":"2019-10-29 15:39:27","changed":"1572363567","gmt_changed":"2019-10-29 15:39:27","alt":"","file":{"fid":"239254","name":"alex.lab_.ice_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/alex.lab_.ice_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/alex.lab_.ice_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4763008,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/alex.lab_.ice_.jpg?itok=gRs5WZPQ"}}},"media_ids":["628239","628238","628258","628260","628257","628259"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"181665","name":"Ice Shelf"},{"id":"182853","name":"Larsen Ice Shelf"},{"id":"182854","name":"Larsen B"},{"id":"169620","name":"sea ice"},{"id":"182855","name":"Ice Sheet"},{"id":"182856","name":"ice sheet melt"},{"id":"182857","name":"Meltwater"},{"id":"182858","name":"meltwater ponds"},{"id":"182859","name":"hydrofracturing"},{"id":"182860","name":"chain reaction"},{"id":"82391","name":"Antarctica"},{"id":"182861","name":"Antarctica Research"},{"id":"178780","name":"sea level"},{"id":"182862","name":"Sea Level Changes"},{"id":"181651","name":"glacier instability"},{"id":"181650","name":"glacier sliding"},{"id":"182863","name":"Glacier erosion"},{"id":"181648","name":"Antarctic ice sheet"},{"id":"182864","name":"antarctic melting"},{"id":"182865","name":"cellular automata"},{"id":"182866","name":"minesweeper plot"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"627571":{"#nid":"627571","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Diversity May Be Key to Reducing Errors in Quantum Computing ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn quantum computing, as in team building, a little diversity can help get the job done better, computer scientists have discovered.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUnlike conventional computers, the processing in quantum-based machines is noisy, which produces error rates dramatically higher than those of silicon-based computers. So quantum operations are repeated thousands of times to make the correct answer stands out statistically from all the wrong ones.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut running the same operation over and over again on the same qubit set may just generate the same incorrect answers that can appear statistically to be the correct answer. The solution, according to researchers at the Georgia institute of Technology, is to repeat the operation on different qubit sets that have different error signatures \u0026ndash; and therefore won\u0026rsquo;t produce the same correlated errors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The idea here is to generate a diversity of errors so you are not seeing the same error again and again,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/moinuddin-k-qureshi\u0022\u003EMoinuddin Qureshi,\u003C\/a\u003E a professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, who worked out the technique with his senior Ph.D. student, Swamit Tannu. \u0026ldquo;Different qubits tend to have different error signatures. When you combine the results from diverse sets, the right answer appears even though each of them individually did not get the right answer,\u0026rdquo; said Tannu.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETannu compares the technique, known as Ensemble of Diverse Mappings (EDM), to the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Contestants who aren\u0026rsquo;t sure of the answer to a multiple choice question can ask the studio audience for help.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s not necessary that the majority of the people in the audience know the right answer,\u0026rdquo; Qureshi said. \u0026ldquo;If even 20% know it, you can identify it. If the answers go equally in the four buckets from the people who don\u0026rsquo;t know, the right answer will get 40% and you can select it even if only a relatively small number of people get it right.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EExperiments with an existing Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) computer showed that EDM improves the inference quality by 2.3 times compared to state-of-the-art mapping algorithms. By combining the output probability distributions of the diverse ensemble, EDM amplifies the correct answer by suppressing the incorrect ones.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe EDM technique, Tannu admits, is counterintuitive. Qubits can be ranked according to their error rate on specific types of problems, and the most logical course of action might be to use the set that\u0026rsquo;s most accurate. But even the best qubits produce errors, and those errors are likely to be the same when the operation is done thousands of times.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EChoosing qubits with different error rates \u0026ndash; and therefore different types of error \u0026ndash; guards against that by ensuring that the one correct answer will rise above the diversity of errors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The goal of the research is to create several different versions of the program, each of which can make a mistake, but they will not make identical mistakes,\u0026rdquo; Tannu explained. \u0026ldquo;As long as they make diverse mistakes, when you average things out, the mistakes get canceled out and the right answer emerges.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EQureshi compares the EDM technique to team-building techniques promoted by human resource consultants.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you form a team of experts with identical backgrounds, all of them may have the same blind spot,\u0026rdquo; he said, adding a human dimension. \u0026ldquo;If you want to make a team resilient to blind spots, collect a group of people who have different blind spots. As a whole, the team will be guarded against specific blind spots.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EError rates in conventional silicon-based computers are practically negligible, about one in a thousand-trillion operations, but today\u0026rsquo;s NISQ quantum computers produce an error in a mere 100 operations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;These are really early-stage machines in which the devices have a lot of error,\u0026rdquo; Qureshi said. \u0026ldquo;That will likely improve over time, but because we are dependent on matter that has extremely low energy and lacks stability, we will never get the reliability we have come to expect with silicon. Quantum states are inherently about a single particle, but with silicon you are packing a lot of molecules together and averaging their activity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If the hardware is inherently unreliable, we have to write software to make the most of it,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;We have to take the hardware characteristics into account to make these unique machines useful.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe notion of running a quantum operation thousands of times to get what\u0026rsquo;s likely to be the right answer at first seems counterproductive. But quantum computing is so much faster than conventional computing that nobody would object to doing a few thousand duplicate runs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The objective with quantum computers is not to take a current program and run it faster,\u0026rdquo; Qureshi said. \u0026ldquo;Using quantum, we can solve problems that are virtually impossible to solve with even the fastest supercomputers. With several hundred qubits, which is beyond the current state of the art, we could solve problems that would take a thousand years with the fastest supercomputer.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAdded Qureshi: \u0026ldquo;You don\u0026rsquo;t mind doing the computation a few thousand times to get an answer like that.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe quantum error mitigation scheme is scheduled to be presented on Oct. 14 at the 52nd Annual IEEE\/ACM International Symposium on Microarchitecture. The work was supported by a gift from Microsoft.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Swamit S. Tannu and Moinuddin Qureshi, \u0026ldquo;Ensemble of Diverse Mappings: Improving Reliability of Quantum Computers by Orchestrating Dissimilar Mistakes.\u0026rdquo; (MICRO-52). \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1145\/3352460.3358257\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1145\/3352460.3358257\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn quantum computing, as in team building, a little diversity can help get the job done better. Computer science researchers have discovered that by expanding the diversity of errors made by the qubits being used for operations, they can increase the likelihood that the correct answer will emerge\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"In quantum computing, as in team building, a little diversity can help get the job done better, computer scientists have found."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-10-14 18:26:48","changed_gmt":"2019-10-14 18:29:20","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-10-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-10-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"627569":{"id":"627569","type":"image","title":"Quantum Computing and Error Diversity","body":null,"created":"1571077102","gmt_created":"2019-10-14 18:18:22","changed":"1571077102","gmt_changed":"2019-10-14 18:18:22","alt":"Chart showing error diversity in quantum","file":{"fid":"238942","name":"qubit-allocator.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/qubit-allocator.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/qubit-allocator.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":672673,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/qubit-allocator.jpg?itok=108lg7ek"}},"627570":{"id":"627570","type":"image","title":"Quantum computing error mitigation researchers","body":null,"created":"1571077209","gmt_created":"2019-10-14 18:20:09","changed":"1571077209","gmt_changed":"2019-10-14 18:20:09","alt":"Researchers working on quantum computing error mitigation","file":{"fid":"238943","name":"Swamit_Moin.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Swamit_Moin.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Swamit_Moin.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2271206,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Swamit_Moin.jpg?itok=aGcY-EmB"}}},"media_ids":["627569","627570"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"182664","name":"quantum. quantum computing"},{"id":"3269","name":"error"},{"id":"736","name":"diversity"},{"id":"182665","name":"Ensemble of Diverse Mappings"},{"id":"168449","name":"edm"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"627106":{"#nid":"627106","#data":{"type":"news","title":"3D Printing Technique Accelerates Nanoscale Fabrication a Thousandfold","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a new time-based method to control light from an ultrafast laser, researchers have developed a nanoscale 3D printing technique that can fabricate tiny structures a thousand times faster than conventional two-photon lithography (TPL) techniques, without sacrificing resolution.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDespite the high throughput, the new parallelized technique \u0026mdash; known as femtosecond projection TPL (FP-TPL) \u0026mdash; produces depth resolution of 175 nanometers, which is better than established methods and can fabricate structures with 90-degree overhangs that can\u0026rsquo;t currently be made. The technique could lead to manufacturing-scale production of bioscaffolds, flexible electronics, electrochemical interfaces, micro-optics, mechanical and optical metamaterials, and other functional micro- and nanostructures.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe work, reported Oct. 3 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E, was done by researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/saha\u0022\u003ESourabh Saha\u003C\/a\u003E, the paper\u0026rsquo;s lead and corresponding author, is now an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EExisting nanoscale additive manufacturing techniques use a single spot of high-intensity light \u0026mdash; typically around 700 to 800 nanometers in diameter \u0026mdash; to convert photopolymer materials from liquids to solids. Because the point must scan through the entire structure being fabricated, the existing TPL technique can require many hours to produce complex 3D structures, which limits its ability to be scaled up for practical applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Instead of using a single point of light, we project a million points simultaneously,\u0026rdquo; said Saha. \u0026ldquo;This scales up the process dramatically because instead of working with a single point that has to be scanned to create the structure, we can use an entire plane of projected light. Instead of focusing a single point, we have an entire focused plane that can be patterned into arbitrary structures.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo create a million points, the researchers use a digital mask similar to those used in projectors to create images and videos. In this case, the mask controls a femtosecond laser to create the desired light pattern in the precursor liquid polymer material. The high-intensity light causes a polymerization reaction that turns the liquid to solid, where desired, to create 3D structures.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEach layer of the fabricated structure is formed by a 35-femtosecond burst of high-intensity light. The projector and mask are then used to create layer after layer until the entire structure is produced. The liquid polymer is then removed, leaving behind the solid. The FP-TPL technique allows the researchers to produce in eight minutes a structure that would take several hours to produce using earlier processes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The parallel two-photon system that has been developed is a breakthrough in nanoscale printing that will enable the remarkable performance in materials and structures at this size scale to be realized in usable components,\u0026rdquo; said LLNL\u0026rsquo;s Center for Engineered Materials and Manufacturing Director Chris Spadaccini.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUnlike consumer 3D printing that uses particles sprayed onto a surface, the new technique goes deep into the liquid precursor, allowing the fabrication of structures that could not be produced with surface fabrication alone. For instance, the technique can produce what Saha calls an \u0026ldquo;impossible bridge\u0026rdquo; with 90-degree overhangs and with more than a 1,000:1 aspect ratio of length to feature size. \u0026ldquo;We can project the light to any depth that we want in the material, so we can make suspended 3D structures,\u0026rdquo; he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers have printed suspended structures a millimeter long between bases that are smaller than 100 microns by 100 microns. The structure doesn\u0026rsquo;t collapse while being fabricated because the liquid and solid are about the same density \u0026mdash; and the production happens so quickly that the liquid doesn\u0026rsquo;t have time to be disturbed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond bridges, the researchers made a variety of structures chosen to demonstrate the technique, including micro-pillars, cuboids, log-piles, wires and spirals. The researchers used conventional polymer precursors, but Saha believes the technique would also work for metals and ceramics that can be generated from precursor polymers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The real application for this would be in industrial-scale production of small devices that may be integrated into larger products, such as components in smartphones,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;The next step is to demonstrate that we can print with other materials to expand the material palette.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch groups have been working for years to accelerate the two-photon lithography process used to produce nanoscale 3D structures. The success of this group came from adopting a different way of focusing the light, using its time-domain properties, which allowed production of very thin light sheets capable of high resolution \u0026mdash; and tiny features.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUse of the femtosecond laser allowed the research team to maintain enough light intensity to trigger the two-photon process polymerization while keeping the point sizes thin. In the FP-TPL technique, the femtosecond pulses are stretched and compressed as they pass through the optical system to implement temporal focusing. The process, which can generate 3D features smaller than the diffraction-limited, focused light spot, requires that two photons hit the liquid precursor molecules simultaneously.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Traditionally, there are tradeoffs between speed and resolution,\u0026rdquo; Saha said. \u0026ldquo;If you want a faster process, you would lose resolution. We have broken this engineering tradeoff, allowing us to print a thousand times faster with the smallest of features.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt Georgia Tech, Saha intends to continue advancing the work with new materials and further scale-up of the process.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;So far, we have shown that we can do pretty well on speed and resolution,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;The next questions will be how well we can predict the features and how well we can control the quality over large scales. That will require more work to understand the process itself.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Sourabh K. Saha, Dien Wang, Vu H. Nguyen, Yina Chang, James S. Oakdale, Shih-Chi Chen, \u0026ldquo;Scalable submicrometer additive manufacturing.\u0026rdquo; (Science 2019). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/science.aax8760\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/science.aax8760\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a new time-based method to control light from an ultrafast laser, researchers have developed a nanoscale 3D printing technique that can fabricate tiny structures a thousand times faster than conventional two-photon lithography (TPL) techniques, without sacrificing resolution.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new 3D-printing technique can create nanoscale structures a thousand times faster than current processes."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-10-03 16:45:45","changed_gmt":"2019-10-03 17:39:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-10-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-10-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"627101":{"id":"627101","type":"image","title":"Cuboid and penny","body":null,"created":"1570120092","gmt_created":"2019-10-03 16:28:12","changed":"1570120092","gmt_changed":"2019-10-03 16:28:12","alt":"Image showing a cuboid with a penny","file":{"fid":"238775","name":"cuboid_penny.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cuboid_penny.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cuboid_penny.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":252076,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cuboid_penny.jpg?itok=FPkcIGAT"}},"627104":{"id":"627104","type":"image","title":"Micropillar forest","body":null,"created":"1570120355","gmt_created":"2019-10-03 16:32:35","changed":"1570120355","gmt_changed":"2019-10-03 16:32:35","alt":"Micropillar forest","file":{"fid":"238777","name":"micropillar_forest.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/micropillar_forest.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/micropillar_forest.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":270521,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/micropillar_forest.jpg?itok=wlyyMU07"}},"627102":{"id":"627102","type":"image","title":"Nanoscale ring strucuture","body":null,"created":"1570120227","gmt_created":"2019-10-03 16:30:27","changed":"1570120227","gmt_changed":"2019-10-03 16:30:27","alt":"Nanoscale ring structure","file":{"fid":"238776","name":"ring_structure.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ring_structure.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ring_structure.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":366034,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ring_structure.jpg?itok=hzZgxph8"}},"627105":{"id":"627105","type":"image","title":"3D Printed Cantilever","body":null,"created":"1570120484","gmt_created":"2019-10-03 16:34:44","changed":"1570120484","gmt_changed":"2019-10-03 16:34:44","alt":"3D printed cantilever","file":{"fid":"238778","name":"cantilever.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cantilever.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cantilever.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":345358,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cantilever.jpg?itok=kjsPlrrn"}}},"media_ids":["627101","627104","627102","627105"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13351","name":"3d printing"},{"id":"57171","name":"additive manufacturing"},{"id":"182565","name":"femtosecond"},{"id":"431","name":"nanoscale"},{"id":"182567","name":"two-photon lithography"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404-894-6986)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"626994":{"#nid":"626994","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Hybrid Breakers Could Make Direct Current Practical in High Power Applications","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDirect current (DC) powers flashlights, smartphones and electric cars, but major power users depend on alternating current (AC), which cycles on and off 60 times per second. Among the reasons: AC is simple to turn off when there\u0026rsquo;s a problem \u0026mdash; known as a fault \u0026mdash; such as a tree falling on a power line.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut DC has inherent advantages over its alternating cousin, among them higher efficiency and the ability to carry more power over longer distances. That could be increasingly important as wind farms in rural areas produce power needed in population centers. And future electric aircraft and ships are likely to be powered by high-power-density DC systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlternating current can be shut down when the power level hits zero during a cycle \u0026mdash; the zero-crossing point of a sine wave \u0026mdash; which is the basis for breakers that protect modern power systems everywhere from substations to home installations. Without these alternating cycles, however, direct current has no opportune time to turn off the power.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENew technology funded by a $3.3 million award from ARPA-E\u0026rsquo;s BREAKERS program could help solve that problem using innovations in power electronics, piezoelectric actuators, and new insulation materials to make high-power DC circuit breakers feasible. Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Florida State University (FSU) expect to enable breaker switching speeds ten times faster than existing equipment and commercialize the technology through a consortium of industry partners.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The transition from AC to DC, which is already happening, will open up a new paradigm for efficiently and controllably managing power in future electrical systems and military platforms,\u0026rdquo; said Michael \u0026quot;Mischa\u0026quot; Steurer, a research faculty member at Florida State University\u0026rsquo;s Center for Advanced Power Systems. \u0026ldquo;This will be enabled by the amazing developments that have happened over the past two decades in power electronics.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe hybrid circuit breaker under development by the research team will use stacks of very large transistors to switch off the DC when necessary. Semiconductors are less efficient at conducting current than conventional mechanical switches, so under ordinary conditions, the current will flow through mechanical switches. But when the power must be turned off, current will be briefly routed through the power electronics until the mechanical breakers can be opened.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are proposing a hybrid DC circuit breaker in which the current will have two paths,\u0026rdquo; explained \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/lukas-graber\u0022\u003ELukas Graber\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech. \u0026ldquo;One path will be through the semiconductors, which can interrupt the current when needed. The second path will be through mechanical switches, which will provide a much less resistive path that will be more efficient for normal operations.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn common consumer electronics applications, transistors are too small to see and handle just a few volts. The transistors that will be used in DC switching are much larger \u0026mdash; a square centimeter \u0026mdash; and dozens or hundreds of them would be combined in serial or parallel to provide enough capacity for switching thousands of volts. After the current has been moved to the solid-state transistor pathway, piezoelectric actuators will quickly separate the contacts in the mechanical switches before current rises too high in the transistors. Once separated, the current through the transistors can be switched off.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We need to be extremely fast,\u0026rdquo; Graber said. \u0026ldquo;We have to separate the contacts within 250 microseconds and to completely break the current within 500 microseconds \u0026mdash; just half a millisecond. For that reason, we cannot use spring-loaded or hydraulic actuators common to AC breakers. Devices that rely on the piezoelectric effect can do that for us.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech and FSU researchers have developed intellectual property for components of the proposed DC breakers, and will work together to combine the technologies. The project is known as Efficient DC Interrupter with Surge Protection (EDISON).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We will combine the strengths of significantly different technologies \u0026mdash; solid state and mechanical \u0026mdash; into a system that functions better overall than its individual components,\u0026rdquo; said Steurer. \u0026ldquo;The pieces of the system have to work together seamlessly within half a millisecond to achieve our goal.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers \u0026mdash; including Associate Professor Maryam Saeedifard, VentureLab Principal Jonathan Goldman, and Postdoctoral Fellow Chanyeop Park at Georgia Tech and Professor Fang Peng, Research Faculty Karl Schoder, and Assistant Professor Yuan Li at FSU \u0026mdash; expect to build a prototype that will be tested at FSU\u0026rsquo;s five-megawatt test facility within three years. The development and testing will be done in collaboration with a team of industrial partners who will ultimately transition the DC breakers to commercial use.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDirect current could be particularly useful as more renewable energy comes online. Photovoltaics in the west may still be generating power after the sun sets in the east. Wind turbines may be producing power in the midsection of the country while clouds cover other parts of the country. Transmitting power from one location to another could therefore become more important.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There are large distances to be bridged with renewables,\u0026rdquo; Graber said. \u0026ldquo;When we rethink what the next grid is going to be like, DC may play a larger role.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor those who know the history of electrical power, the work opens a new chapter of a story that goes back almost a century and a half to two of the most celebrated inventors of all time.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe relative merits of DC versus AC provided the basis for the \u0026ldquo;War of Current\u0026rdquo; between inventors Thomas Edison and Nickolas Tesla in the 1880s. Edison, a proponent of DC, ultimately lost out to Tesla\u0026rsquo;s AC. But had Edison been able to use modern power electronics, the story might have turned out differently.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Edison was right, but at the time he was wrong,\u0026rdquo; Graber said. \u0026ldquo;DC is coming back strong, and we will be a part of making it practical.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFunding for the work is from ARPA-E\u0026rsquo;s Building Reliable Electronics to Achieve Kilovolt Effective Ratings Safely (BREAKERS) program. The project was among eight funded to support the development of medium-voltage devices for grid, industry and transportation applications.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDirect current (DC) powers flashlights, smartphones and electric cars, but major power users depend on alternating current (AC), which cycles on and off 60 times per second. Among the reasons: AC is simple to turn off when there\u0026rsquo;s a problem \u0026mdash; known as a fault \u0026mdash; such as a tree falling on a power line.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Direct current (DC) has advantages over alternating current, and a new circuit breaker under development could make DC more practical."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-10-01 23:52:51","changed_gmt":"2019-10-01 23:54:26","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"626991":{"id":"626991","type":"image","title":"Plasma potential surrounding electrical materials","body":null,"created":"1569973124","gmt_created":"2019-10-01 23:38:44","changed":"1569973124","gmt_changed":"2019-10-01 23:38:44","alt":"Studying the plasma potential around materials","file":{"fid":"238728","name":"dc-current-001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dc-current-001.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dc-current-001.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":394653,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dc-current-001.jpg?itok=a3cXA8dT"}},"626992":{"id":"626992","type":"image","title":"Plasma potential surrounding electrical materials - 2","body":null,"created":"1569973256","gmt_created":"2019-10-01 23:40:56","changed":"1569973256","gmt_changed":"2019-10-01 23:40:56","alt":"Studying plasma potential surrounding electrical material","file":{"fid":"238729","name":"dc-current-004.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dc-current-004.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dc-current-004.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":619796,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dc-current-004.jpg?itok=LjPk2THD"}},"626993":{"id":"626993","type":"image","title":"Material being evaluated in low-pressure plasma","body":null,"created":"1569973402","gmt_created":"2019-10-01 23:43:22","changed":"1569973402","gmt_changed":"2019-10-01 23:43:22","alt":"Material under evaluation in low-pressure plasma","file":{"fid":"238730","name":"dc-current-006.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dc-current-006.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dc-current-006.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":185674,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dc-current-006.jpg?itok=lWBlsChZ"}}},"media_ids":["626991","626992","626993"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"182517","name":"direct current"},{"id":"182521","name":"circuit breaker"},{"id":"182522","name":"hybrid circuit breaker"},{"id":"182523","name":"high-power"},{"id":"57041","name":"ARPA-E"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"626381":{"#nid":"626381","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Shape-Shifting Robot Built from \u201cSmarticles\u201d Shows New Locomotion Strategy","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBuilding conventional robots typically requires carefully combining components like motors, batteries, actuators, body segments, legs and wheels. Now, researchers have taken a new approach, building a robot entirely from smaller robots known as \u0026ldquo;smarticles\u0026rdquo; to unlock the principles of a potentially new locomotion technique.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 3D-printed smarticles \u0026mdash; short for smart active particles \u0026mdash; can do just one thing: flap their two arms. But when five of these smarticles are confined in a circle, they begin to nudge one another, forming a robophysical system known as a \u0026ldquo;supersmarticle\u0026rdquo; that can move by itself. Adding a light or sound sensor allows the supersmarticle to move in response to the stimulus \u0026mdash; and even be controlled well enough to navigate a maze.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough rudimentary now, the notion of making robots from smaller robots \u0026mdash; and taking advantage of the group capabilities that arise by combining individuals \u0026mdash; could provide mechanically based control over very small robots. Ultimately, the emergent behavior of the group could provide a new locomotion and control approach for small robots that could potentially change shapes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;These are very rudimentary robots whose behavior is dominated by mechanics and the laws of physics,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDan Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, a Dunn Family Professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;We are not looking to put sophisticated control, sensing, and computation on them all. As robots become smaller and smaller, we\u0026rsquo;ll have to use mechanics and physics principles to control them because they won\u0026rsquo;t have the level of computation and sensing we would need for conventional control.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, which was supported by the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation, was reported September 18 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience Robotics\u003C\/em\u003E. Researchers from Northwestern University also contributed to the project.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe foundation for the research came from an unlikely source: a study of construction staples. By pouring these heavy-duty staples into a container with removable sides, former Ph.D. student Nick Gravish \u0026mdash; now a faculty member at the University of California San Diego \u0026mdash; created structures that would stand by themselves after the container\u0026rsquo;s walls were removed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShaking the staple towers eventually caused them to collapse, but the observations led to a realization that simple entangling of mechanical objects could create structures with capabilities well beyond those of the individual components.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A robot made of other rudimentary robots became the vision,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said. \u0026ldquo;You could imagine making a robot in which you would tweak its geometric parameters a bit and what emerges is qualitatively new behaviors.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo explore the concept, graduate research assistant Will Savoie used a 3D printer to create battery-powered smarticles, which have motors, simple sensors, and limited computing power. The devices can change their location only when they interact with other devices while enclosed by a ring.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Even though no individual robot could move on its own, the cloud composed of multiple robots could move as it pushed itself apart and shrink as it pulled itself together,\u0026rdquo; Goldman explained. \u0026ldquo;If you put a ring around the cloud of little robots, they start kicking each other around, and the larger ring \u0026mdash; what we call a supersmarticle \u0026mdash; moves around randomly.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers noticed that if one small robot stopped moving, perhaps because its battery died, the group of smarticles would begin moving in the direction of that stalled robot. Graduate student Ross Warkentin learned he could control the movement by adding photo sensors to the robots that halt the arm flapping when a strong beam of light hits one of them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you angle the flashlight just right, you can highlight the robot you want to be inactive, and that causes the ring to lurch toward or away from it, even though no robots are programmed to move toward the light,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said. \u0026ldquo;That allowed steering of the ensemble in a very rudimentary, stochastic way.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Physics Professor Kurt Wiesenfeld and graduate student Zack Jackson modeled the movement of the these smarticles and supersmarticles to understand how the nudges and mass of the ring affected overall movement. Researchers from Northwestern University studied how the interactions between the smarticles provided directional control.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;For many robots, we have electrical current move motors that generate forces on parts that collectively move a robot reliably,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mccormick.northwestern.edu\/research-faculty\/directory\/profiles\/murphey-todd.html\u0022\u003ETodd Murphey\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor of mechanical engineering who worked with Northwestern graduate students Thomas Berrueta and Ana Pervan. \u0026ldquo;We learned that although individual smarticles interact with each other through a chaos of wiggling impacts that are each unpredictable, the whole robot composed of those smarticles moves predictably and in a way that we can exploit in software.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn future work, Goldman envisions more complex interactions that utilize the simple sensing and movement capabilities of the smarticles. \u0026ldquo;People have been interested in making a certain kind of swarm robots that are composed of other robots,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;These structures could be reconfigured on demand to meet specific needs by tweaking their geometry.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project is of interest to the U.S. Army because it could lead to new robotic systems capable of changing their shapes, modalities and functions, said Sam Stanton. He is program manager of complex dynamics and systems at the Army Research Office, an element of U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command\u0026rsquo;s Army Research Laboratory.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Future Army unmanned systems and networks of systems are imagined to be capable of transforming their shape, modality, and function. For example, a robotic swarm may someday be capable of moving to a river and then autonomously forming a structure to span the gap,\u0026rdquo; Stanton said. \u0026ldquo;Dan Goldman\u0026#39;s research is identifying physical principles that may prove essential for engineering emergent behavior in future robot collectives as well as new understanding of fundamental tradeoffs in system performance, responsiveness, uncertainty, resiliency, and adaptivity.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the research also included Georgia Tech graduate student Shengkai Li.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis material is based upon work supported by the Army Research Office under award W911NF-13-1-0347 and by the National Science Foundation under grants PoLS-0957659, PHY-1205878, DMR-1551095, PHY-1205878. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: William Savoie, et al., \u0026ldquo;A robot made of robots: emergent transport and control of a smarticle ensemble,\u0026rdquo; (Science Robotics 2019).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBuilding conventional robots typically requires carefully combining components like motors, batteries, actuators, body segments, legs and wheels. Now, researchers have taken a new approach, building a robot entirely from smaller robots known as \u0026ldquo;smarticles\u0026rdquo; to unlock the principles of a potentially new locomotion technique.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have built a robot entirely from smaller robots known as \u0022smarticles.\u0022"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-09-18 19:54:15","changed_gmt":"2019-09-18 19:57:38","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"626375":{"id":"626375","type":"image","title":"Close-up of Smart Active Particle","body":null,"created":"1568835251","gmt_created":"2019-09-18 19:34:11","changed":"1568835251","gmt_changed":"2019-09-18 19:34:11","alt":"Photo of smart active particle (smarticle)","file":{"fid":"238472","name":"smarticles-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-003.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-003.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":457502,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticles-003.jpg?itok=A-vIg9Yz"}},"626376":{"id":"626376","type":"image","title":"Supersmarticle Based on Five Smarticles","body":null,"created":"1568835406","gmt_created":"2019-09-18 19:36:46","changed":"1568835406","gmt_changed":"2019-09-18 19:36:46","alt":"Supersmarticle composed of five smarticles","file":{"fid":"238473","name":"smarticles-001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-001.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-001.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":347614,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticles-001.jpg?itok=yHb-ziqK"}},"626377":{"id":"626377","type":"image","title":"Controlling a Supersmarticle","body":null,"created":"1568835521","gmt_created":"2019-09-18 19:38:41","changed":"1568835521","gmt_changed":"2019-09-18 19:38:41","alt":"Light controlling a supersmarticle","file":{"fid":"238474","name":"smarticles-002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-002.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-002.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":743971,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticles-002.jpg?itok=qP1AsqkE"}},"626378":{"id":"626378","type":"image","title":"Researchers with Smarticles","body":null,"created":"1568835643","gmt_created":"2019-09-18 19:40:43","changed":"1568835643","gmt_changed":"2019-09-18 19:40:43","alt":"Researchers with smarticles","file":{"fid":"238475","name":"smarticles-004.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-004.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/smarticles-004.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":506131,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/smarticles-004.jpg?itok=C1Cxwx4b"}},"626379":{"id":"626379","type":"image","title":"Smarticle student researchers","body":null,"created":"1568835760","gmt_created":"2019-09-18 19:42:40","changed":"1568835760","gmt_changed":"2019-09-18 19:42:40","alt":"Students from Northwestern University","file":{"fid":"238476","name":"murphey_smarticle.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/murphey_smarticle.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/murphey_smarticle.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1139992,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/murphey_smarticle.jpg?itok=EsK5ZMmy"}}},"media_ids":["626375","626376","626377","626378","626379"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"377","name":"locomotion"},{"id":"182389","name":"smarticle"},{"id":"182390","name":"supersmarticle"},{"id":"181004","name":"emergent behavior"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"623053":{"#nid":"623053","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Instability in Antarctic Ice Projected to Make Sea Level Rise Rapidly","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EImages of vanishing Arctic ice are\u0026nbsp;jarring, but its\u0026nbsp;potential contributions to sea level rise are no match for Antarctica\u0026rsquo;s, even if receding southern ice is less eye-catching. Now, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/early\/2019\/07\/02\/1904822116\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ea study says \u003C\/a\u003Ethat instability hidden within Antarctic ice is likely to accelerate its flow into the ocean and push sea level up at a more rapid pace than previously expected.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the last six years, five closely observed Antarctic glaciers have doubled their rate of ice loss,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/funding\/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505320\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eaccording to the National Science Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E. At least one, Thwaites Glacier, modeled for the new study, will likely\u0026nbsp;succumb\u0026nbsp;to this\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/news\/news.php?feature=7322\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Einstability\u003C\/a\u003E, a volatile process that pushes ice into the ocean fast.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHow much ice the glacier will shed in the coming 50 to 800 years can\u0026rsquo;t exactly be projected due to unpredictable fluctuations in climate and the need for more data. But researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the University of Washington have factored the instability into 500 ice flow simulations for Thwaites with refined calculations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe scenarios diverged strongly from each other but together pointed to the eventual triggering of the instability, which will be described in the Q\u0026amp;A\u0026nbsp;below. Even if global warming were to later stop, the instability would keep pushing ice out to sea at an enormously accelerated rate over the coming centuries.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd this is if ice melt due to warming oceans does not get worse than it is today. The study used\u0026nbsp;present-day ice melt rates because the researchers were interested in the instability factor in itself.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGlacier tipping point\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you trigger this instability, you don\u0026rsquo;t need to continue to force the ice sheet by cranking up temperatures. It will keep going by itself, and that\u0026rsquo;s the worry,\u0026rdquo; said Alex Robel, who led the study and is an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iceclimate.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eassistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;Climate variations will still be important after that tipping point because they will determine how fast the ice will move.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;After reaching the tipping point, Thwaites Glacier could lose all of its ice in a period of 150 years. That would make for a sea level rise of about half a meter (1.64 feet),\u0026rdquo; said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/science.jpl.nasa.gov\/people\/HSeroussi\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENASA JPL scientist Helene Seroussi\u003C\/a\u003E, who collaborated on the study. For comparison, current sea level is 20 cm (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/114\/45\/11806#ref-5\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Enearly 8 inches\u003C\/a\u003E) above pre-global warming levels and is blamed for increased coastal flooding.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers published their \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/early\/2019\/07\/02\/1904822116\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Estudy in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;on Monday, July 8, 2019. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study also showed that the instability makes forecasting more uncertain, leading to the broad spread of scenarios. This is particularly relevant to the challenge of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mediaspace.gatech.edu\/media\/Climate+ChangeA+Engineering%27s+Grand+Challenge+Georgia+Tech%27s+Role+-+G.+Wayne+Clough\/1_rlizj1wx\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eengineering against flood dangers\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You want to engineer critical infrastructure to be resistant against the upper bound of potential sea level scenarios a hundred years from now,\u0026rdquo; Robel said. \u0026ldquo;It can mean building your water treatment plants and nuclear reactors for the absolute worst-case scenario, which could be two or three feet of sea level rise from Thwaites Glacier alone, so it\u0026rsquo;s a huge difference.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQ\u0026amp;A\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy is Antarctic ice the big driver of sea level rise?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUnderstanding the instability is easier with this background information:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EArctic sea ice is already floating in water. Readers will likely remember that 90% of an iceberg\u0026rsquo;s mass is underwater, and that when its ice melts, the volume shrinks, resulting in no change in sea level.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut when ice masses long supported by land, like mountain glaciers, melt, the water that ends up in the ocean adds to sea level. Antarctica holds the most land-supported ice, even if the bulk of that land is seabed holding up just part of the ice\u0026rsquo;s mass, while water holds up part of it. Also, Antarctica is an ice leviathan.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There\u0026rsquo;s almost eight times as much ice in the Antarctic ice sheet as there is in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/nsidc.org\/greenland-today\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGreenland ice sheet\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and 50 times as much as in all the mountain glaciers in the world,\u0026rdquo; Robel said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is that \u0026lsquo;instability\u0026rsquo; underneath the ice?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe line between where the ice sheet rests on the seafloor and where it extends over water is called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.antarcticglaciers.org\/glaciers-and-climate\/ice-ocean-interactions\/grounding-lines\/\u0022\u003Ethe grounding line\u003C\/a\u003E. In spots where the bedrock underneath the ice behind the grounding line slopes down, deepening as it moves inland, the instability can kick in.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat would look like this: On deeper beds, ice moves faster because water is giving it a little more lift, to begin with, then warmer ocean water can hollow out the bottom of the ice, adding water to the ocean. But, more importantly, the ice above the hollow loses land contact and flows faster out to sea.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Once ice is past the grounding line and only\u0026nbsp;over water, it\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.antarcticglaciers.org\/glaciers-and-climate\/sea-level-rise-2\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Econtributing to sea level\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;because buoyancy is holding it up more than it was before,\u0026rdquo; Robel said. \u0026ldquo;Ice flows out into the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.antarcticglaciers.org\/glaciers-and-climate\/ice-ocean-interactions\/marine-ice-sheets\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Efloating ice shelf\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and melts or breaks off as icebergs.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The process becomes self-perpetuating,\u0026rdquo; Seroussi said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Csup\u003E\u003Cem\u003E[Ready for graduate school?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu\/apply-now\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EHere\u0026#39;s how to apply to Georgia Tech.\u003C\/a\u003E]\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did the researchers integrate instability into sea level forecasting?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers borrowed \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/users.math.yale.edu\/users\/wettlaufer\/articles\/MW_JMP_2013.pdf\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Emath from statistical physics\u003C\/a\u003E that calculates what haphazard influences do to predictability in a physical system, like ice flow, acted upon by outside forces, like temperature changes. They applied the math to data-packed simulations of possible future fates of Thwaites Glacier, located in West Antarctica, where ice loss is most.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey made another\u0026nbsp;surprising discovery. Normally, when climate conditions fluctuate strongly, Antarctic ice evens out the effects. Ice flow may increase but gradually, not wildly, but the instability produced the opposite effect in the simulations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The system didn\u0026rsquo;t damp out the fluctuations, it actually amplified them. It increased the chances of rapid ice loss,\u0026rdquo; Robel said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow rapid is \u0026lsquo;rapid\u0026rsquo; sea level rise and when will we feel it?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study\u0026rsquo;s time scale was centuries, as is common for sea level studies. In the simulations, Thwaites Glacier colossal ice loss kicked in after 600 years, but it could come sooner\u0026nbsp;if oceans warm and as the instability reveals more of its secrets.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It could happen in the next 200 to 600 years. It depends on the bedrock topography under the ice, and we don\u0026rsquo;t know it in great detail yet,\u0026rdquo; Seroussi said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESo far, Antarctica and Greenland have lost a small fraction of their ice, but already, shoreline infrastructures face challenges from\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ncdc.noaa.gov\/sotc\/national\/2018\/05\/supplemental\/page-1\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eincreased tidal flooding\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and storm surges. Sea level is expected to rise by up to two feet by the end of this century.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor about 2,000 years until the late 1800s, sea level held steady, then it began climbing,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ocean.si.edu\/through-time\/ancient-seas\/sea-level-rise\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eaccording to the Smithsonian Institution\u003C\/a\u003E. The annual rate of sea level rise has roughly doubled since 1990.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlso watch VIDEO\u003C\/strong\u003E: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mediaspace.gatech.edu\/media\/clough\/1_rlizj1wx\u0022\u003EEasy explanation of climate change\u0026rsquo;s sea level threat and the grand challenge of engineering against it by G. Wayne Clough\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/mediaspace.gatech.edu\/media\/clough\/1_rlizj1wx\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E, Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s President Emeritus\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGerard Roe from the University of Washington coauthored the study. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (grant PLR-1735715 and PLR-1643299) and\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003Eby a grant from\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/issm.jpl.nasa.gov\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENASA Cryospheric Science and Modeling, Analysis and Prediction Programs\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E. Any findings, conclusions or recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily of the funding agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408), email:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EInstability hidden within Antarctic ice is likely to accelerate its flow into the ocean and push sea level up at a more rapid pace than previously expected. Even if images of vanishing Arctic ice and mountain glaciers are jarring, their potential contributions to sea level rise are no match for those of Antarctica, Earth\u0026#39;s\u0026nbsp;ice leviathan.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Instability hidden within Antarctic ice is likely to accelerate its flow into the ocean and push sea level up at a more rapid pace than previously expected."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2019-07-08 18:58:15","changed_gmt":"2019-09-10 21:55:39","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-07-08T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-07-08T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"623047":{"id":"623047","type":"image","title":"Thwaites Glacier\u0027s outer edge","body":null,"created":"1562610337","gmt_created":"2019-07-08 18:25:37","changed":"1580307455","gmt_changed":"2020-01-29 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NASA.gov_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ice%20loss%20graph%20NASA.gov_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ice%20loss%20graph%20NASA.gov_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":278506,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Ice%20loss%20graph%20NASA.gov_.jpg?itok=S5AmduRy"}},"623049":{"id":"623049","type":"image","title":"Glacier grounding line diagram","body":null,"created":"1562610606","gmt_created":"2019-07-08 18:30:06","changed":"1580308347","gmt_changed":"2020-01-29 14:32:27","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237268","name":"Fig-2.-Grounding-line.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Fig-2.-Grounding-line.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Fig-2.-Grounding-line.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":993394,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Fig-2.-Grounding-line.jpg?itok=mkp-isQG"}},"623052":{"id":"623052","type":"image","title":"Alex Robel in Antarctica","body":null,"created":"1562611436","gmt_created":"2019-07-08 18:43:56","changed":"1562611436","gmt_changed":"2019-07-08 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18:33:17","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237269","name":"antarctica_velocity1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/antarctica_velocity1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/antarctica_velocity1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":340311,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/antarctica_velocity1.jpg?itok=Nsq38HNc"}},"605678":{"id":"605678","type":"image","title":"Thwaites Glacier ","body":null,"created":"1525102138","gmt_created":"2018-04-30 15:28:58","changed":"1525102138","gmt_changed":"2018-04-30 15:28:58","alt":"Thwaites Glacier ","file":{"fid":"230952","name":"reconnaissance flight over the Thwaites glacier copyright U.S. National Science Foundation  U.S. Antarctic Program.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/reconnaissance%20flight%20over%20the%20Thwaites%20glacier%20copyright%20U.S.%20National%20Science%20Foundation%20%20U.S.%20Antarctic%20Program.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/reconnaissance%20flight%20over%20the%20Thwaites%20glacier%20copyright%20U.S.%20National%20Science%20Foundation%20%20U.S.%20Antarctic%20Program.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3355319,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/reconnaissance%20flight%20over%20the%20Thwaites%20glacier%20copyright%20U.S.%20National%20Science%20Foundation%20%20U.S.%20Antarctic%20Program.jpg?itok=asQ6MtOr"}}},"media_ids":["623047","623047","623048","623051","623049","623052","623050","605678"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research 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Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"625040":{"#nid":"625040","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Scurrying Roaches Help Researchers Steady Staggering Robots","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEw, a cockroach! But it zips off before the swatter appears. Now, researchers have leveraged the bug\u0026rsquo;s superb scurrying skills to create a cleverly simple method to assess and improve locomotion in robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENormally, tedious modeling of mechanics, electronics, and information science is required to understand how insects\u0026rsquo; or robots\u0026rsquo; moving parts coordinate smoothly to take them places. But\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-019-11613-y\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein a new study\u003C\/a\u003E, biomechanics researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology boiled down the sprints of cockroaches to handy principles and equations they then used to make a test robot amble about better.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe method told the researchers about how each leg operates on its own, how they all come together as a whole, and the harmony or lack thereof in how they do it. Despite bugs\u0026rsquo; and bots\u0026rsquo; utterly divergent motion dynamics, the new method worked for both and should work for other robots and animals, too.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe biological robot, the roach, was the far superior runner with neurological signals guiding six impeccably evolved legs. The mechanical robot, a consumer model, had four stubby legs and no nervous system but relied instead for locomotion control on coarse physical forces traveling through its chassis as crude signals to roughly coordinate its clunky gait.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The robot was much bulkier and could hardly sense its environment. The cockroach had many senses and can adapt better to rough terrain. Bumps as high as its hips wouldn\u0026rsquo;t slow it down at all,\u0026rdquo; said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/izaak-neveln-776315b2\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EIzaak Neveln\u003C\/a\u003E, the study\u0026rsquo;s first author, who was a postdoctoral researcher in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sponberg.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Elab of Simon Sponberg at Georgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003Eduring the study.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvanced simplicity\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe method, or \u0026ldquo;measure,\u0026rdquo; as the study calls it, transcended these huge differences, which pervade animal-inspired robotics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The measure is general (universal) in the sense that it can be used regardless of whether the signals are neural spiking patterns,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.lexico.com\/en\/definition\/kinematics\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ekinematics\u003C\/a\u003E, voltages or forces and does not depend on the particular relationship between the signals,\u0026rdquo; the study\u0026rsquo;s authors wrote.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENo matter how a bug or a bot functions, the measure\u0026rsquo;s mathematical inputs and outputs are always in the same units. The measure will not always eliminate the need for modeling, but it stands to shorten and guide modeling and avert anguishing missteps.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe authors\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-019-11613-y\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epublished the study in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in August 2019. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sponberg.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESponberg is an assistant professor\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics and in the School of Biological Sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECentralization vs. decentralization\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOften a bot or an animal sends many walking signals through a central system to harmonize locomotion, but not all signals are centralized. Even in humans, though locomotion strongly depends on signals from the central nervous system, some neural signals are confined to regions of the body; they are localized signals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESome insects appear to move with little centralization -- such as stick bugs, also known as walking sticks, whose legs prod about nearly independently. Stick bugs are\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YxtWFd1yVoc\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ewonky runners\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The idea has been that the stick bugs have the more localized control of motion, whereas a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/youtu.be\/1ro6PNqkHEM?t=18\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecockroach goes very fast\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and needs to maintain stability, and its motion control is probably more centralized, more clocklike,\u0026rdquo; Neveln said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStrong centralization of signals generally coordinates locomotion better. Centralized signals\u0026nbsp;could be code traveling through an elaborate robot\u0026rsquo;s wiring, a cockroach\u0026rsquo;s central neurons synching its legs, or the clunky robot\u0026#39;s chassis tilting away from a leg thumping the ground thus putting weight onto an opposing leg.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERoboticists need to see through the differences and figure out the interplay of a locomotor\u0026rsquo;s local and central signals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Csup\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E[Ready for graduate school?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu\/apply-now\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EHere\u0026#39;s how to apply to Georgia Tech.\u003C\/a\u003E]\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECool physics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new \u0026ldquo;measure\u0026rdquo; does this by focusing on an overarching phenomenon in the walking legs, which\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/images.app.goo.gl\/BYTfJYwuZw53yJsT7\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecan be seen as pendula\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;moving back and forth. For great locomotion, they need to synch up in what is called phase-coupling oscillations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA fun, easy experiment illustrates this physics principle. If a few, say six, metronomes \u0026ndash; ticking rhythm pendula that piano teachers use -- are swinging out of sync, and you place them all on a platform that freely sways along with the metronomes\u0026rsquo; swings,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/youtu.be\/Aaxw4zbULMs?t=5\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe swings will sync up in unison\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Phase_portrait#\/media\/File:Pendulum_phase_portrait_illustration.svg\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ephases, or directions, of their oscillations\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;are coupling with each other by centralizing their composite mechanical impulses through the platform. This particular example of phase-coupling is mechanical, but it can also be computational or neurological -- like in the roach.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIts legs would be analogous to the swinging metronomes, and central neuromuscular activity analogous to the free-swaying platform. In the roach, not all six legs swing in the same direction.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Their synchronization is not uniform. Three legs are synchronized in phase with each other -- the front and back legs of one side with the middle leg of the other side -- and those three are synchronized out of phase with the other three,\u0026rdquo; Neveln said. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s an alternating tripod gait. One tripod of three legs alternates with the other tripod of three legs.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUseless pogoing\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd just like pendula, each leg\u0026rsquo;s swings can be graphed as a wave. All the legs\u0026rsquo; waves can be averaged into an overall roach scurry wave and then developed into more useful math that relates centralization with decentralization and factors like\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.lexico.com\/en\/definition\/entropy\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eentropy\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;that can throw locomotion control off.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe resulting principles and math benefited the clunky robot, which has strong decentralized signals in its leg motors that react to leg contact with the ground, and centralized control weaker than that of the stick bug. The researchers graphed out the robot\u0026#39;s\u0026nbsp;movements, too, but they didn\u0026#39;t result in the neatly synced group of waves that the cockroach had produced.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers turned with the principles and math to the clunky robot, which initially was out of sorts -- bucking or hopping uselessly like a pogo stick. Then the scientists strengthened centralized control by re-weighting its chassis to make it move more coherently.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The metronomes on the platform are mechanical coupling, and our robot coordinates control that way,\u0026rdquo; Neveln said. \u0026ldquo;You can change the mechanical coupling of the robot by repositioning its weights. We were able to predict the changes this would make by using the measure we developed from the cockroach.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECockroach surprises\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also wired up specific roach muscles and neurons to observe their syncopations with the scurry waves. Seventeen cockroaches took 2,982 strides to inform the principles and math, and the bugs also sprung surprises on the researchers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne stuck out: The scientists had thought signaling centralized more when the roach sped up, but instead, both central and local signaling strengthened, perhaps doubling down on the message: Run!\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Amoolya Tiramulai coauthored the paper. The National Science Foundation funded the research (grant # NSF CAREER MPS\/PoLS 1554790). Any findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily of the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408), email:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo walk or run with finesse, roaches and\u0026nbsp;robots coordinate leg movements via signals sent through centralized systems -- but\u0026nbsp;utterly divergent ones. Despite their seemingly unbridgeable differences,\u0026nbsp;researchers have devised handy principles and equations from studying roaches\u0026nbsp;to assess how both beasts and bots locomote and to improve robotic gait.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have leveraged cockroaches\u0027 scurrying skills for a cleverly simple method to assess and improve locomotion in robots."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2019-08-22 20:47:25","changed_gmt":"2019-08-26 15:06:02","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-08-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-08-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"625034":{"id":"625034","type":"image","title":"Off-the-shelf robot with four legs","body":null,"created":"1566505226","gmt_created":"2019-08-22 20:20:26","changed":"1566831950","gmt_changed":"2019-08-26 15:05:50","alt":"","file":{"fid":"238011","name":"Minotaur2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Minotaur2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Minotaur2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":408218,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Minotaur2.jpg?itok=3T9atz4Y"}},"625031":{"id":"625031","type":"image","title":"The swings of cockroach legs as rough sine waves","body":null,"created":"1566505031","gmt_created":"2019-08-22 20:17:11","changed":"1566505031","gmt_changed":"2019-08-22 20:17:11","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237971","name":"Screen Shot 2019-08-09 at 16.07.27.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202019-08-09%20at%2016.07.27.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202019-08-09%20at%2016.07.27.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1031075,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202019-08-09%20at%2016.07.27.png?itok=xIJ4sQHo"}},"625035":{"id":"625035","type":"image","title":"Cockroach Blaberus discoidalis","body":null,"created":"1566506115","gmt_created":"2019-08-22 20:35:15","changed":"1566506115","gmt_changed":"2019-08-22 20:35:15","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237975","name":"Naturkundliche_Sammlung_U\u0308bermaxx_U\u0308berseemuseum_Bremen_0036.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Naturkundliche_Sammlung_U%CC%88bermaxx_U%CC%88berseemuseum_Bremen_0036.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Naturkundliche_Sammlung_U%CC%88bermaxx_U%CC%88berseemuseum_Bremen_0036.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":649861,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Naturkundliche_Sammlung_U%CC%88bermaxx_U%CC%88berseemuseum_Bremen_0036.jpeg?itok=nT4eLYyb"}}},"media_ids":["625034","625031","625035"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"182104","name":"Roach"},{"id":"182105","name":"Cockroach"},{"id":"182106","name":"phase-coupled oscillations"},{"id":"182107","name":"GAIT"},{"id":"7719","name":"walk"},{"id":"4285","name":"running"},{"id":"182108","name":"running ability"},{"id":"182109","name":"walking ability"},{"id":"182110","name":"Coupled-oscillator network"},{"id":"377","name":"locomotion"},{"id":"182111","name":"locomotor"},{"id":"182112","name":"locomotor instability"},{"id":"7738","name":"central nervous system"},{"id":"182113","name":"Information-based centralization"},{"id":"182114","name":"global control"},{"id":"182115","name":"local control"},{"id":"182116","name":"global signal"},{"id":"182117","name":"local signal"},{"id":"7121","name":"kinematics"},{"id":"2552","name":"robotic"},{"id":"182118","name":"centralization-decentralization axis"},{"id":"182119","name":"Kuramoto"},{"id":"182120","name":"mechanosensory feedback"},{"id":"181092","name":"Inertia"},{"id":"171924","name":"entropy"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"624602":{"#nid":"624602","#data":{"type":"news","title":"When Human Expertise Improves the Work of Machines","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMachine learning algorithms can sometimes do a better job with a little help from human expertise, at least in the field of materials science.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn many specialized areas of science, engineering and medicine, researchers are turning to machine learning algorithms to analyze data sets that have grown much too large for humans to understand. In materials science, success with this effort could accelerate the design of next-generation advanced functional materials, where development now depends on old-fashioned trial-and-error.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy themselves, however, data analytics techniques borrowed from other research areas often fail to provide the insights needed to help materials scientists and engineers choose which of many variables to adjust \u0026mdash; and can\u0026rsquo;t account for dramatic changes such as the introduction of a new chemical compound into the process. In some complex materials such as ferroelectrics, as many as 10 different factors can affect the properties of the resulting product.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a paper published this week in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENPJ Computational Materials\u003C\/em\u003E, researchers explain how to give the machines an edge at solving the challenge by intelligently organizing the data to be analyzed based on human knowledge of what factors are likely to be important and related. Known as dimensional stacking, the technique shows that human experience still has a role to play in the age of machine intelligence.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, as well as the Swiss National Science Foundation. Measurements were performed, in part, at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When your machine accepts strings of data, it really does matter how you are putting those strings together,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/bassiri_gharb\u0022\u003ENazanin Bassiri-Gharb\u003C\/a\u003E, the paper\u0026rsquo;s corresponding author and a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;We must be mindful that the organization of data before it goes to the algorithm makes a difference. If you don\u0026rsquo;t plug the information in correctly, you will get a result that isn\u0026rsquo;t necessarily correlated with the reality of the physics and chemistry that govern the materials.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBassiri-Gharb works on ferroelectrics, crystalline materials that exhibit spontaneous electrical polarizations switchable by an external electric field. Widely used for their piezoelectric properties \u0026mdash; which allow electrical inputs to generate mechanical outputs, and mechanical motion to generate electrical voltages \u0026mdash; their chemical formulas are usually complicated, including lead, manganese, niobium, oxygen, titanium, indium, bismuth and other elements.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers, who have been working for decades to improve the materials, would like to develop advanced ferroelectrics that don\u0026rsquo;t include lead. But trial-and-error design techniques haven\u0026rsquo;t led to major breakthroughs, and she is not alone in wanting a more direct approach \u0026mdash; one that could also more rapidly lead to improvements in other functional materials used in microelectronics, batteries, optoelectronic systems and other critical research fields.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;For materials science, things get really complicated, especially with the functional materials,\u0026rdquo; said Bassiri-Gharb. \u0026ldquo;As materials scientists, it\u0026rsquo;s very difficult to design the materials if we don\u0026rsquo;t understand why a response is increased. We have learned that the functionalities are not compartmentalized. They are interrelated among many properties of the material.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technique described in the paper involves a preprocessing step in which the large data sets are organized according to physical or chemical properties that make sense to material scientists.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;As a scientist or engineer, you have an idea whether or not there are physical or chemical correlations,\u0026rdquo; she explained. \u0026ldquo;You have to be cognizant of what kind of correlations could exist. The way you stack your data to be analyzed would have implications with respect to the physical or chemical correlations. If you do this correctly, you can get more information from any data analytics approach you might be using.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo test the techniques, Bassiri-Gharb and collaborators Lee Griffin, Iaroslav Gaponenko, and Shujun Zhang tested samples of relaxor-ferroelectric materials used in advanced ultrasonic imaging equipment. Griffin, a Georgia Tech graduate research assistant and the paper\u0026rsquo;s co-first author, did the experimental measurements. Zhang, a researcher at the University of Wollongong in Australia, provided samples for the study. Bassiri-Gharb and Gaponenko, a research affiliate in her group, developed the approach.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing a conductive tip on an atomic force microscope, they examined the electromechanical response from a series of chemically related samples, generating as many as 2,500 time- and voltage-dependent measurements on a grid of points established on each sample. The process generated hundreds of thousands of data points and provided a good test for the stacking approach, known technically as concatenation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Instead of just looking at the chemical composition that provides the highest response, we looked at a range of compositions and tried to figure out the commonality,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;We figured out that if we applied this data stacking with some thought process behind it, we could learn more about these interesting materials.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong their findings: Though the material is a single crystal, the functional response showed highly disordered behavior, reminiscent of a fully disordered material like glass. \u0026ldquo;This glassy behavior really is unexpectedly persisting beyond a small percentage of the material compositions,\u0026rdquo; said Bassiri-Gharb. \u0026ldquo;It is persisting across all of the compositions that we have looked at.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe hopes the technique will ultimately lead to information that will improve many materials and their functionalities. Knowing which chemicals need to be included could allow the materials scientists to move to the next phase \u0026mdash; working with chemists to put the right atoms in the right places.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The big goal for any materials\u0026rsquo; functionality is to find the guidelines that will provide the properties we want,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;We want to find the straight path to the best compositions for the next generation of these materials.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through award DMR-1255379, by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) though grant HDTRA1-15-0035, by the Center for the Science and Technology of Advanced Materials and Interfaces (STAMI) at Georgia Tech, and Division II of the Swiss National Science Foundation under project 200021_178782. The piezo-response measurements were in part performed at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring organizations.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Lee A. Griffin, et al., \u0026ldquo;Smart machine learning or discovering meaningful physical and chemical contributions through dimensional stacking\u0026rdquo; (\u003Cem\u003ENPJ Computational Materials\u003C\/em\u003E, 2019, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rdcu.be\/bOycU\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/rdcu.be\/bOycU\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMachine learning algorithms can sometimes do a better job with a little help from human expertise, at least in the field of materials science.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Machine learning algorithms can sometimes do a better job with a little help from human expertise."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-08-16 00:30:07","changed_gmt":"2019-08-16 00:31:02","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-08-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-08-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"624601":{"id":"624601","type":"image","title":"Atomic Force Microscope Analysis - 2","body":null,"created":"1565914820","gmt_created":"2019-08-16 00:20:20","changed":"1565914820","gmt_changed":"2019-08-16 00:20:20","alt":"Atomic force microscope analysis","file":{"fid":"237839","name":"data-stacking3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/data-stacking3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/data-stacking3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":463972,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/data-stacking3.jpg?itok=UjbrXKtq"}},"624600":{"id":"624600","type":"image","title":"Atomic Force Microscope Analysis","body":null,"created":"1565914692","gmt_created":"2019-08-16 00:18:12","changed":"1565914692","gmt_changed":"2019-08-16 00:18:12","alt":"Atomic force microscope analysis","file":{"fid":"237838","name":"data-stacking4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/data-stacking4.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/data-stacking4.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":492262,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/data-stacking4.jpg?itok=fyieeFBN"}},"624599":{"id":"624599","type":"image","title":"Single Crystal Response","body":null,"created":"1565914531","gmt_created":"2019-08-16 00:15:31","changed":"1565914531","gmt_changed":"2019-08-16 00:15:31","alt":"Studying the response of a single crystal","file":{"fid":"237837","name":"data-stacking2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/data-stacking2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/data-stacking2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":537769,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/data-stacking2.jpg?itok=g5xpmwwd"}}},"media_ids":["624601","624600","624599"],"groups":[{"id":"217141","name":"Georgia Tech Materials Institute"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13685","name":"ferroelectric"},{"id":"9167","name":"machine learning"},{"id":"1692","name":"materials"},{"id":"182025","name":"atomic force microscope"},{"id":"7251","name":"analytics"},{"id":"13686","name":"Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"624034":{"#nid":"624034","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Antineutrino Detection Could Help Remotely Monitor Nuclear Reactors","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETechnology to measure the flow of subatomic particles known as antineutrinos from nuclear reactors could allow continuous remote monitoring designed to detect fueling changes that might indicate the diversion of nuclear materials. The monitoring could be done from outside the reactor vessel, and the technology may be sensitive enough to detect substitution of a single fuel assembly.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technique, which could be used with existing pressurized water reactors as well as future designs expected to require less frequent refueling, could supplement other monitoring techniques, including the presence of human inspectors. The potential utility of the above-ground antineutrino monitoring technique for current and future reactors was confirmed through extensive simulations done by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Antineutrino detectors offer a solution for continuous, real-time verification of what is going on within a nuclear reactor without actually having to be in the reactor core,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/erickson\u0022\u003EAnna Erickson\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;You cannot shield antineutrinos, so if the state running a reactor decides to use it for nefarious purposes, they can\u0026rsquo;t prevent us from seeing that there was a change in reactor operations.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, reported August 6 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E, was partially supported by a grant from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The research evaluated two types of reactors, and antineutrino detection technology based on a PROSPECT detector currently deployed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory\u0026rsquo;s High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAntineutrinos are elementary subatomic particles with an infinitesimally small mass and no electrical charge. They are capable of passing through shielding around a nuclear reactor core, where they are produced as part of the nuclear fission process. The flux of antineutrinos produced in a nuclear reactor depends on the type of fission materials and the power level at which the reactor is operated.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Traditional nuclear reactors slowly build up plutonium 239 in their cores as a consequence of uranium 238 absorption of neutrons, shifting the fission reaction from uranium 235 to plutonium 239 during the fuel cycle. We can see that in the signature of antineutrino emission changes over time,\u0026rdquo; Erickson said. \u0026ldquo;If the fuel is changed by a rogue nation attempting to divert plutonium for weapons by replacing fuel assemblies, we should be able to see that with a detector capable of measuring even small changes in the signatures.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe antineutrino signature of the fuel can be as unique as a retinal scan, and how the signature changes over time can be predicted using simulations, she said. \u0026ldquo;We could then verify that what we see with the antineutrino detector matches what we would expect to see.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the research, Erickson and recent Ph.D. graduates Christopher Stewart and Abdalla Abou-Jaoude used high-fidelity computer simulations to assess the capabilities of near-field antineutrino detectors that would be located near \u0026ndash; but not inside \u0026ndash; reactor containment vessels. Among the challenges is distinguishing between particles generated by fission and those from natural background.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We would measure the energy, position and timing to determine whether a detection was an antineutrino from the reactor or something else,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;Antineutrinos are difficult to detect and we cannot do that directly. These particles have a very small chance of interacting with a hydrogen nucleus, so we rely on those protons to convert the antineutrinos into positrons and neutrons.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENuclear reactors now used for power generation must be refueled on a regular basis, and that operation provides an opportunity for human inspection, but future generations of nuclear reactors may operate for as long as 30 years without refueling. The simulation showed that sodium-cooled reactors could also be monitored using antineutrino detectors, though their signatures will be different from those of the current generation of pressurized water reactors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the challenges ahead is reducing the size of the antineutrino detectors to make them portable enough to fit into a vehicle that could be driven past a nuclear reactor. Researchers also want to improve the directionality of the detectors to keep them focused on emissions from the reactor core to boost their ability to detect even small changes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe detection principle is similar in concept to that of retinal scans used for identity verification. In retinal scans, an infrared beam traverses a person\u0026rsquo;s retina and the blood vessels, which are distinguishable by their higher light absorption relative to other tissue. This mapping information is then extracted and compared to a retinal scan taken earlier and stored in a database. If the two match, the person\u0026rsquo;s identity can be verified.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESimilarly, a nuclear reactor continuously emits antineutrinos that vary in flux and spectrum with the particular fuel isotopes undergoing fission. Some antineutrinos interact in a nearby detector via inverse beta decay. The signal measured by that detector is compared to a reference copy stored in a database for the relevant reactor, initial fuel and burnup; a signal that sufficiently matches the reference copy would indicate that the core inventory has not been covertly altered. However, if the antineutrino flux of a perturbed reactor is sufficiently different from what would be expected, that could indicate that a diversion has taken place.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe emission rates of antineutrino particles at different energies vary with operating lifetime as reactors shift from burning uranium to plutonium. The signal from a pressurized water reactor consists of a repeated 18-month operating cycle with a three-month refueling interval, while signal from an ultra-long cycle fast reactor (UCFR) would represent continuous operation, excluding maintenance interruptions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPreventing the proliferation of special nuclear materials suitable for weapons is a long-term concern of researchers from many different agencies and organizations, Erickson said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It goes all the way from mining of nuclear material to disposition of nuclear material, and at every step of that process, we have to be concerned about who\u0026rsquo;s handling it and whether it might get into the wrong hands,\u0026rdquo; she explained. \u0026ldquo;The picture is more complicated because we don\u0026rsquo;t want to prevent the use of nuclear materials for power generation because nuclear is a big contributor to non-carbon energy.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe paper shows the feasibility of the technique and should encourage the continued development of detector technologies, Erickson said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;One of the highlights of the research is a detailed analysis of assembly-level diversion that is critical to our understanding of the limitations on antineutrino detectors and the potential implications for policy that could be implemented,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;I think the paper will encourage people to look into future systems in more detail.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECITATION: Christopher Stewart, Abdalla Abou-Jaoude and Anna Erickson, \u0026ldquo;Employing antineutrino detectors to safeguard future nuclear reactors from diversions,\u0026rdquo; (\u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E, 2019). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-019-11434-z\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-019-11434-z\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETechnology to measure the flow of subatomic particles known as antineutrinos from nuclear reactors could allow continuous remote monitoring designed to detect fueling changes that might indicate the diversion of nuclear materials. The monitoring could be done from outside the reactor vessel, and the technology may be sensitive enough to detect substitution of a single fuel assembly.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Measuring the flow of subatomic particles known as antineutrinos from nuclear reactors could allow continuous remote monitoring designed to detect fueling changes."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-08-06 13:08:34","changed_gmt":"2019-08-06 13:13:15","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-08-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-08-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"624028":{"id":"624028","type":"image","title":"Nuclear reactor operating principles","body":null,"created":"1565095968","gmt_created":"2019-08-06 12:52:48","changed":"1565095968","gmt_changed":"2019-08-06 12:52:48","alt":"Schematic for nuclear reactor operation","file":{"fid":"237670","name":"nuclear-security-figure.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nuclear-security-figure.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nuclear-security-figure.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1276040,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/nuclear-security-figure.jpg?itok=pzVcUWf4"}},"624032":{"id":"624032","type":"image","title":"Researcher Anna Erickson","body":null,"created":"1565096375","gmt_created":"2019-08-06 12:59:35","changed":"1565096375","gmt_changed":"2019-08-06 12:59:35","alt":"Associate Professor Anna Erickson","file":{"fid":"237674","name":"antineutrino-005.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/antineutrino-005.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/antineutrino-005.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":359574,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/antineutrino-005.jpg?itok=duitth6N"}},"624031":{"id":"624031","type":"image","title":"Antineutrino spectrum development","body":null,"created":"1565096249","gmt_created":"2019-08-06 12:57:29","changed":"1565096249","gmt_changed":"2019-08-06 12:57:29","alt":"Antinuetrino spectrum from two different reactor types","file":{"fid":"237673","name":"antineutrino-figure2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/antineutrino-figure2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/antineutrino-figure2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":227391,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/antineutrino-figure2.jpg?itok=FDCkTyUm"}},"624030":{"id":"624030","type":"image","title":"Nuclear reactor operating and detection","body":null,"created":"1565096103","gmt_created":"2019-08-06 12:55:03","changed":"1565096103","gmt_changed":"2019-08-06 12:55:03","alt":"Explanation for how antineutrinos would be measured","file":{"fid":"237671","name":"antineutrino-figure1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/antineutrino-figure1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/antineutrino-figure1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":164415,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/antineutrino-figure1.jpg?itok=rAnOJL0x"}}},"media_ids":["624028","624032","624031","624030"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"181908","name":"antineutrino"},{"id":"14067","name":"nuclear reactor"},{"id":"4253","name":"reactor"},{"id":"181910","name":"nuclear fuel"},{"id":"998","name":"nonproliferation"},{"id":"102921","name":"monitoring"},{"id":"180430","name":"Anna Erickson"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"623759":{"#nid":"623759","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Hackers Could Use Connected Cars to Gridlock Whole Cities","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the year 2026, at rush hour, your self-driving car abruptly shuts down right where it blocks traffic. You climb out to see gridlock down every street in view, then a news alert on your watch tells you that hackers have paralyzed all Manhattan traffic by randomly stranding internet-connected cars.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFlashback to July 2019, the dawn of autonomous vehicles and other connected cars, and physicists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Multiscale Systems, Inc. have applied physics \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/journals.aps.org\/pre\/abstract\/10.1103\/PhysRevE.100.012316\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ein a new study\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to simulate what it would take for future hackers to wreak exactly this widespread havoc by randomly stranding these cars. The researchers want to expand the current discussion on automotive cybersecurity, which mainly focuses on hacks that could \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/technology\/our-driverless-future\/keep-hackers-out-of-your-driverless-car\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecrash one car\u003C\/a\u003E or run over one pedestrian, to include potential mass mayhem.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey warn that even with increasingly tighter cyber defenses, the amount of data breached has soared in the past four years, but objects becoming hackable can convert the rising cyber threat into a potential physical menace.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Unlike most of the data breaches we hear about, hacked cars have physical consequences,\u0026rdquo; said Peter Yunker, who co-led the study and is an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/peter-yunker\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eassistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt may not be that hard for state, terroristic, or mischievous actors to commandeer parts of the internet of things, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.spectator.co.uk\/2018\/07\/the-dream-of-driverless-cars-is-dying\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eincluding cars\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;With cars, one of the worrying things is that currently there is effectively one central computing system, and a lot runs through it. You don\u0026rsquo;t necessarily have separate systems to run your car and run your satellite radio. If you can get into one, you may be able to get into the other,\u0026rdquo; said Jesse Silverberg of Multiscale Systems, Inc., who co-led the study with Yunker\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFreezing traffic solid\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn simulations of hacking internet-connected cars, the researchers froze traffic in Manhattan nearly solid, and it would not even take that to wreak havoc. Here are their results, and the numbers are conservative for reasons mentioned below.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Randomly stalling 20 percent of cars during rush hour would mean total traffic freeze. At 20 percent, the city has been broken up into small islands, where you may be able to inch around a few blocks, but no one would be able to move across town,\u0026rdquo; said David Yanni, a graduate research assistant in Yunker\u0026rsquo;s lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENot all cars on the road would have to be connected, just enough for hackers to stall 20 percent of all cars on the road. For example, if 40 percent of all cars on the road were connected, hacking half would suffice.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHacking 10 percent of all cars at rush hour would debilitate traffic enough to prevent emergency vehicles from expediently cutting through traffic that is inching along citywide. The same thing would happen with a 20 percent hack during intermediate daytime traffic.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers\u0026rsquo; results appear \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/journals.aps.org\/pre\/abstract\/10.1103\/PhysRevE.100.012316\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review E\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;on July 20, 2019\u003C\/a\u003E. The study is not embargoed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Csup\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E[Ready for graduate school?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu\/apply-now\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EHere\u0026#39;s how to apply to Georgia Tech.\u003C\/a\u003E]\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIt could take less\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the city to be safe, hacking damage would have to be below that. In other cities, things could be worse.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Manhattan has a nice grid, and that makes traffic more efficient. Looking at cities without large grids like Atlanta, Boston, or Los Angeles, and we think hackers could do worse harm because a grid makes you more robust with redundancies to get to the same places down many different routes,\u0026rdquo; Yunker said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers left out factors that would likely worsen hacking damage, thus a real-world hack may require stalling even fewer cars to shut down Manhattan.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I want to emphasize that we only considered static situations \u0026ndash; if roads are blocked or not blocked. In many cases, blocked roads spill over traffic into other roads, which we also did not include. If we were to factor in these other things, the number of cars you\u0026rsquo;d have to stall would likely drop down significantly,\u0026rdquo; Yunker said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also did not factor in ensuing public panic nor car occupants becoming pedestrians that would further block streets or cause accidents. Nor did they consider hacks that would target cars at locations that maximize trouble.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey also stress that they are not cybersecurity experts, nor are they saying anything about the likelihood of someone carrying out such a hack. They simply want to give security experts a calculable idea of the scale of a hack that would shut a city down.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers do have some general ideas of how to reduce the potential damage.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Split up the digital network influencing the cars to make it impossible to access too many cars through one network,\u0026rdquo; said lead author Skanka Vivek, a postdoctoral researcher in Yunker\u0026rsquo;s lab. \u0026ldquo;If you could also make sure that cars next to each other can\u0026rsquo;t be hacked at the same time that would decrease the risk of them blocking off traffic together.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETraffic jams as physics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYunker researches in soft matter physics, which looks at how constituent parts \u0026ndash; in this case, connected cars \u0026ndash; act as one whole physical phenomenon. The research team analyzed the movements of cars on streets with varying numbers of lanes, including how they get around stalled vehicles and found they could apply a physics approach to what they observed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Whether traffic is halted or not can be explained by classic percolation theory used in many different fields of physics and mathematics,\u0026rdquo; Yunker said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Percolation_theory\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EPercolation theory\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;is often used in materials science to determine if a desirable quality like a specific rigidity will spread throughout a material to make the final product uniformly stable. In this case, stalled cars spread to make formerly flowing streets rigid and stuck.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe shut streets would be only those in which hacked cars have cut off all lanes or in which they have become hindrances that other cars can\u0026rsquo;t maneuver around and do not include streets where hacked cars still allow traffic flow.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers chose Manhattan for their simulations because a lot of data was available on that city\u0026rsquo;s traffic patterns.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlso READ: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/connected-new-world\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026#39;s cybersecurity researchers tackle the\u0026nbsp;internet of things\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe study was coauthored by Skanda Vivek and David Yanni of Georgia Tech and Jesse Silverberg of Multiscale Systems, Inc. Any findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408), email:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a future where\u0026nbsp;self-driving and other internet-connected cars share the roads with the rest of us, hackers could not only wreck the occasional vehicle but possibly compound attacks to gridlock whole cities by stalling out a limited percentage of connected cars. Physicists calculated how many stalled cars would cause how much mayhem.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Hackers could gridlock whole cities by stalling out a limited percentage of self-driving and other connected vehicles."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2019-07-29 15:20:09","changed_gmt":"2019-08-01 16:54:43","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-07-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-07-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"623747":{"id":"623747","type":"image","title":"Manhattan gridlock","body":null,"created":"1564409967","gmt_created":"2019-07-29 14:19:27","changed":"1564409967","gmt_changed":"2019-07-29 14:19:27","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237567","name":"New_York_City_Gridlock.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/New_York_City_Gridlock.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/New_York_City_Gridlock.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3358855,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/New_York_City_Gridlock.jpg?itok=-WKHgQ_u"}},"623752":{"id":"623752","type":"image","title":"Gridlock Manhattan","body":null,"created":"1564410856","gmt_created":"2019-07-29 14:34:16","changed":"1564410856","gmt_changed":"2019-07-29 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Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"622325":{"#nid":"622325","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Dashing the Dream of Ideal \u2018Invisibility\u2019 Cloaks for Stress Waves","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhether Harry Potter\u0026rsquo;s invisibility cloak, which perfectly steers light waves around objects to make them invisible, will ever become reality remains to be seen, but perfecting a more crucial cloak is impossible, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00205-019-01389-2\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ea new study says\u003C\/a\u003E. It would have perfectly steered stress waves in the ground, like those emanating from a blast, around objects like buildings to make them \u0026ldquo;untouchable.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDespite casting serious doubt on dozens of theoretical papers that have pursued\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;elastodynamic\u0026rdquo; cloaking, the new study\u0026rsquo;s authors from the Georgia Institute of Technology don\u0026rsquo;t think civil engineers should completely give up on it, just on the idea of an ideal cloak. Limited cloaking could still add a degree of protection to structures, particularly against some stress waves common in earthquakes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;With cloaking, there is this expectation that if you get any kind of stress wave from any kind of direction, a cloak should be able to hide the object from it. We now see that it is not possible,\u0026rdquo; said principal investigator Arash Yavari, a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ce.gatech.edu\/people\/Faculty\/421\/overview\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eprofessor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Civil and Environmental\u0026nbsp;Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and in the George W. Woodruff School of\u0026nbsp;Mechanical Engineering. \u0026ldquo;But for a large class of disturbances, namely the in-plane disturbances, you could probably design a good cloak.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn an earthquake, in-plane disturbances are seismic waves that track along\u0026nbsp;flatter and broader \u003Cs\u003E--\u003C\/s\u003E\u0026nbsp;or planar \u003Cs\u003E--\u003C\/s\u003E\u0026nbsp;paths\u0026nbsp;through the surface of the Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYavari and coauthor Ashkan Golgoon, a graduate research assistant studying with Yavari, published their study \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00205-019-01389-2\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein the journal \u003Cem\u003EArchive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis, \u003C\/em\u003Ea leading journal on theoretical solid mechanics, on May 16, 2019\u003C\/a\u003E. The research was funded by the Army Research Office.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHere\u0026#39;s what the dream of cloaking for stress waves looks like,\u0026nbsp;some theoretical errors the researchers\u0026nbsp;say\u0026nbsp;have errantly\u0026nbsp;perpetuated\u0026nbsp;that dream and what to do now that the bubble has burst.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe dream cloak\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe theoretical dream of elastodynamic cloaking to steer stress waves past a structure like it isn\u0026rsquo;t even there has a lot in common with the dream of an invisibility cloak, which would bend light \u0026mdash; electromagnetic waves \u0026mdash; around an object then point it out the other side.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe light waves hitting the viewer\u0026rsquo;s eye would reveal what is behind the object but not the object itself. In elastodynamic cloaking, the waves are not electromagnetic but mechanical, moving through the ground. Hypothetically, cloaking the object would completely isolate it from the waves.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a scenario to protect, say, a nuclear reactor from any stress waves traveling through the ground, whether from a natural or human-made calamity, ideally, civil engineers might lower the base of the reactor into a hole below the surface of the ground. They would build a protective cylinder or a half-spherical underground bowl around it with special materials to steer the stress waves around the circle.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThere are dreams, then there are the study\u0026rsquo;s findings.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We proved that the shape of the cloak does not matter, whether spherical or cylindrical, you can\u0026rsquo;t completely cloak,\u0026rdquo; Yavari said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Csup\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E[Thinking about grad school?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu\/apply-now\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EHere\u0026#39;s how to apply to Georgia Tech.\u003C\/a\u003E]\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe erroneous analogy\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA lot of theory and math from electromagnetic (light) cloaking has been transferred onto elastodynamic cloaking research, and some of the former appears to have thrown a wrench into the latter.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Many times, analogies from other fields are useful, but elasticity adds multiple physical factors that you don\u0026rsquo;t have in electromagnetism,\u0026rdquo; Yavari said. \u0026ldquo;For example, the balance of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/physics\/chapter\/10-7-gyroscopic-effects-vector-aspects-of-angular-momentum\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eangular momentum\u003C\/a\u003E is being violated in much of the research literature.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAngular momentum is a property of mass in rotational motion, and it is resistant to changes. Many people have experienced angular momentum by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3a7QXBu_rEM\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Etilting a spinning gyroscope\u003C\/a\u003E and watching it stubbornly move down an unexpected path.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough it\u0026rsquo;s a wave, light is photons, which have no mass. Stress waves, on the other hand, travel through matter \u0026mdash; specifically, solid matter as opposed to liquid or gas \u0026mdash; and that adds pivotal\u0026nbsp;dynamics to the equation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThose dynamics\u0026nbsp;also affect that hole that hides the object. Without it, the stress waves travel pretty uniformly through a medium, but with it, stresses concentrate around the hole and mess up the neat geometry of the wave patterns.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Roman cloak?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat to do? Cloak anyway. If the ideal solution does not exist, make an imperfect one.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The math says that cloaking is not possible in the strict sense. When you understand that, you don\u0026rsquo;t waste time,\u0026rdquo; Yavari said. \u0026ldquo;You formulate problems that optimize with what you do know around targeted stresses or loads you want to protect against.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEngineers could protect against\u0026nbsp;important earthquake stresses if they use materials that have been specifically pre-stressed, have certain elastic properties and distribution of densities that are detailed in the study. A real-life cloak can fall short of an ideal and still be great.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If instead of 100 percent of the wave energy I only feel 10 or 20 percent, it\u0026rsquo;s a huge deal because engineering is not a pursuit of absolute ideals,\u0026rdquo; Yavari said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEven the ancient Romans, notoriously math-phobic, appear to have \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/s\/613550\/roman-amphitheaters-act-like-seismic-invisibility-cloaks\/amp\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Einadvertently built seismic cloaks in their design of amphitheaters\u003C\/a\u003E, according to a report in \u003Cem\u003EMIT Technology Review\u003C\/em\u003E. Their resemblance to modern experimental cloaking devices may have helped preserve them for 2,000 years in seismically active regions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new study also examined a popular idea in civil engineering\u0026nbsp;that building with a family of materials that have a microstructure making them \u0026ldquo;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/silver.neep.wisc.edu\/~lakes\/Coss.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECosserat solids\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026rdquo; might allow for perfect cloaking. The authors concluded that this also can\u0026rsquo;t work. The study did not consider so-called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.iop.org\/resources\/topic\/archive\/metamaterials\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Emetamaterials\u003C\/a\u003E, which have received attention for rerouting in particular light waves.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso READ: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/features\/living-building-challenge-accepted\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EThe Kendeda \u0026quot;living building\u0026quot; will generate its own electricity and extract its water from the air\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Army Research Office (grants ARO W911NF-16-1-0064 and ARO W911NF-18-1-0003\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003E. \u003Cem\u003EAny findings, conclusions or recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily of the Army Research Office.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter and Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBen Brumfield (404-660-1408)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEmail:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESome\u0026nbsp;have dreamt of creating\u0026nbsp;the perfect cloak to make buildings impervious to stress waves caused by bombs,\u0026nbsp;earthquakes or other calamities. Sorry, researchers are now dashing the dream. But there\u0026#39;s still hope.\u0026nbsp;They also say it\u0026#39;s possible to make imperfect, real-world cloaks that will actually do some\u0026nbsp;good. Such cloaks\u0026nbsp;could\u0026nbsp;offer\u0026nbsp;significant partial protection, particularly against some common earthquake waves.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Many have dreamt of building the perfect cloak to make buildings impervious to seismic waves caused by bombs or earthquakes. Sorry, it appears impossible."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2019-06-07 15:04:49","changed_gmt":"2019-06-09 20:25:41","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-06-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-06-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"622309":{"id":"622309","type":"image","title":"Roman Colosseum an elastodynamic cloak?","body":null,"created":"1559913973","gmt_created":"2019-06-07 13:26:13","changed":"1559915162","gmt_changed":"2019-06-07 13:46:02","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237025","name":"Colosseum_in_Rome,_Italy_-_April_2007.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Colosseum_in_Rome%2C_Italy_-_April_2007.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Colosseum_in_Rome%2C_Italy_-_April_2007.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":654102,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Colosseum_in_Rome%2C_Italy_-_April_2007.jpg?itok=UUjbdr7d"}},"622310":{"id":"622310","type":"image","title":"Colosseum a seismic wave cloak?","body":null,"created":"1559914683","gmt_created":"2019-06-07 13:38:03","changed":"1559915141","gmt_changed":"2019-06-07 13:45:41","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237026","name":"colosseum.wiki_.inside.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/colosseum.wiki_.inside.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/colosseum.wiki_.inside.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5158714,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/colosseum.wiki_.inside.jpg?itok=OhzKg12j"}},"622312":{"id":"622312","type":"image","title":"Elastodynamic cloaking artist\u0027s impression fair use","body":null,"created":"1559915388","gmt_created":"2019-06-07 13:49:48","changed":"1559915388","gmt_changed":"2019-06-07 13:49:48","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237027","name":"seismic.cloak_.popsi_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/seismic.cloak_.popsi_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/seismic.cloak_.popsi_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":464504,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/seismic.cloak_.popsi_.jpg?itok=H5OgnMPH"}},"622314":{"id":"622314","type":"image","title":"Cloaking electromagnetic","body":null,"created":"1559915849","gmt_created":"2019-06-07 13:57:29","changed":"1559915849","gmt_changed":"2019-06-07 13:57:29","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237028","name":"Circular_EM_cloak_using_transformation_optics.svg_.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Circular_EM_cloak_using_transformation_optics.svg_.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Circular_EM_cloak_using_transformation_optics.svg_.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1368870,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Circular_EM_cloak_using_transformation_optics.svg_.png?itok=xeUCkXC1"}},"622322":{"id":"622322","type":"image","title":"Italy earthquake","body":null,"created":"1559918524","gmt_created":"2019-06-07 14:42:04","changed":"1559918524","gmt_changed":"2019-06-07 14:42:04","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237032","name":"2016_Amatrice_earthquake.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2016_Amatrice_earthquake.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2016_Amatrice_earthquake.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":312680,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2016_Amatrice_earthquake.jpg?itok=Xjjpd9DC"}},"622323":{"id":"622323","type":"image","title":"Arash Yavari","body":null,"created":"1559918709","gmt_created":"2019-06-07 14:45:09","changed":"1559918709","gmt_changed":"2019-06-07 14:45:09","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237033","name":"Yavari-Arash-2018.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Yavari-Arash-2018.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Yavari-Arash-2018.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":159682,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Yavari-Arash-2018.jpg?itok=la-lZXvY"}},"622324":{"id":"622324","type":"image","title":"Ashkan Golgoon","body":null,"created":"1559918814","gmt_created":"2019-06-07 14:46:54","changed":"1559918814","gmt_changed":"2019-06-07 14:46:54","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237034","name":"Ashkan-Golgoon.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ashkan-Golgoon.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Ashkan-Golgoon.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":853461,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Ashkan-Golgoon.jpg?itok=O6zi0c6i"}}},"media_ids":["622309","622310","622312","622314","622322","622323","622324"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"137","name":"Architecture"},{"id":"179355","name":"Building Construction"},{"id":"142","name":"City Planning, Transportation, and Urban Growth"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"181475","name":"invisibility cloak"},{"id":"181476","name":"elastodynamic"},{"id":"181477","name":"linear elasticity"},{"id":"181478","name":"non-linear elasticity"},{"id":"175","name":"Architecture"},{"id":"5770","name":"Earthquake"},{"id":"644","name":"electromagnetic"},{"id":"7120","name":"wave"},{"id":"181479","name":"angular momentum"},{"id":"2265","name":"balance"},{"id":"181480","name":"planar waves"},{"id":"181481","name":"in-plane disturbance"},{"id":"181482","name":"critique"},{"id":"97961","name":"criticism"},{"id":"181483","name":"stress wave"},{"id":"181484","name":"load"},{"id":"181485","name":"wave geometry"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"593815":{"#nid":"593815","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Brain-Mimicking Nanomaterials for A.I. Retina Receive $7 Million Research Grant","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA future android brain like that of Star Trek\u0026rsquo;s Commander Data might contain neuristors, multi-circuit components that emulate the firings of human neurons.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nature.com\/nmat\/journal\/v12\/n2\/full\/nmat3510.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENeuristors\u003C\/a\u003E already exist today in labs, in small quantities, and to fuel the quest to boost neuristors\u0026rsquo; power and numbers for practical use in brain-like computing, the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded a $7.1 million grant to a research team led by the Georgia Institute of Technology. The researchers will mainly expand work on new metal oxide materials that buzz electronically at the nanoscale to emulate the way human neural networks buzz with electric potential on a cellular level.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut to walk expectations back from \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/memory-alpha.wikia.com\/wiki\/Positronic_brain\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe distant sci-fi future\u003C\/a\u003E into the scientific present: The research team has developed\u0026nbsp;neuristor materials to build, for now, an intelligent light sensor, and not some artificial version of the human brain, which would require hundreds of trillions of circuits.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re not going to reach circuit complexities of that magnitude, not even a tenth,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/william-alan-doolittle\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAlan Doolittle, a professor at Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;Also, currently science doesn\u0026rsquo;t really know yet very well how the human brain works, so we can\u0026rsquo;t duplicate it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIntelligent retina\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut an artificial retina that can learn autonomously appears well within reach of the research team from Georgia Tech and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.binghamton.edu\/physics\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EBinghamton University\u003C\/a\u003E. Despite the term \u0026ldquo;retina,\u0026rdquo; the development is not\u0026nbsp;a medical implant, but it could be used in advanced image recognition cameras for national defense and police work.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the same time, it significantly advances brain-mimicking, or neuromorphic, computing. The research field that takes its cues from what science already does know about how the brain computes to develop exponentially more powerful computing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe retina is\u0026nbsp;comprised of an array of\u0026nbsp;neuristors, which combines the words \u0026ldquo;neuron\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;transistor\u0026rdquo; to refer to ultracompact circuits. The neuristors sense light, compute an image out of it and store the image. All three of the functions would occur simultaneously and nearly instantaneously.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The same device senses, computes and stores the image,\u0026rdquo; Doolittle said. \u0026ldquo;The device is the sensor, and it\u0026rsquo;s the processor, and it\u0026rsquo;s the memory all at the same time.\u0026rdquo; A neuristor itself is comprised in part of devices called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Memristor\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ememristors\u003C\/a\u003E inspired by the way human neurons work.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/cosmos-cranium\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E[Also READ\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cem\u003E:\u003C\/em\u003E The Brain, Cosmos in the Cranium -- brain research in a nutshell]\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBrain vs. PC\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat cuts out loads of processing and memory lag time that are inherent in traditional computing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETake the device you\u0026rsquo;re reading this article on: Its microprocessor has to tap a separate memory component to get data, then do some processing, tap memory again for more data, process some more, etc. \u0026ldquo;That back-and-forth from memory to microprocessor has \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/whatis.techtarget.com\/definition\/von-Neumann-bottleneck\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecreated a bottleneck\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026rdquo; Doolittle said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA neuristor array breaks the bottleneck by emulating the extreme flexibility of biological nervous systems: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/georgia_tech\/the-brain-cosmos-in-the-cranium-part-2-neurons-compute\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EWhen a brain \u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/georgia_tech\/the-brain-cosmos-in-the-cranium-part-2-neurons-compute\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecomputes\u003C\/a\u003E, it uses a broad set of neural pathways that flash with enormous data. Then, later, to compute the same thing again, it will use quite different neural paths.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETraditional computer pathways, by contrast, are hardwired. For example, look at a present-day processor and you\u0026rsquo;ll see lines etched into it. Those are pathways that computational signals are limited to.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new memristor materials at the heart of the neuristor are not etched, and signals flow through the surface very freely, more like they do through the brain, exponentially increasing the number of possible pathways computation can take. That helps the new intelligent retina compute powerfully and swiftly.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETerrorists, missing children\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe retina\u0026rsquo;s memory could also store thousands of photos, allowing it to immediately match up what it sees with the saved images. The retina could pinpoint known terror suspects in a crowd, find missing children, or identify enemy aircraft virtually instantaneously, without having to trawl databases to correctly identify what is in the images.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt could even autonomously learn to extrapolate further information, like calculating the third dimension of a face out of data from a two-dimensional image. Even if you take away the optics, the new neuristor arrays still advance \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/av\/technology-34224406\/what-is-artificial-intelligence\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eartificial intelligence\u003C\/a\u003E. Instead of light, a surface of neuristors could absorb massive data streams at once, compute them, store them, and compare them to patterns of other data, immediately.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It will work with anything that has a repetitive pattern like radar signatures, for example,\u0026rdquo; Doolittle said. \u0026ldquo;Right now, that\u0026rsquo;s too challenging to compute, because radar information is flying out at such a high data rate that no computer can even think about keeping up.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESmart materials\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research project\u0026rsquo;s title acronym CEREBRAL may hint at distant dreams of an artificial brain, but what it stands for spells out the present goal in neuromorphic computing: Cross-disciplinary Electronic-ionic Research Enabling Biologically Realistic Autonomous Learning.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe intelligent retina\u0026rsquo;s neuristors are based on novel metal oxide nanotechnology materials unique to Georgia Tech. They allow computing signals to flow flexibly across pathways \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0167273802001820\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethat are electronic, which is customary in computing, and at the same time make use of ion motion\u003C\/a\u003E, which is more commonly known from the way batteries and biological systems work.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new materials have already been created, and they work, but the researchers don\u0026rsquo;t yet fully understand why.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMuch of the project is dedicated to examining \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PBcwv6tqjE0\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Equantum states\u003C\/a\u003E in the materials and how those states help create useful electronic-ionic properties. Researchers will view them by bombarding the metal oxides with extremely bright x-ray photons at the recently constructed \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bnl.gov\/ps\/nsls2\/about-NSLS-II.php\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENational Synchrotron Light Source II\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGrant sub-awardee Binghamton University is located close by, and Binghamton physicists will run experiments and hone them via theoretical modeling.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026lsquo;Sea of lithium\u0026rsquo;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe neuristors are created mainly by the way the metal oxide materials are grown in the lab, which has some advantages over building \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ns.umich.edu\/new\/releases\/24856-next-gen-computing-memristor-chips-that-see-patterns-over-pixels\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eneuristors in a more wired way\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis materials-growing approach to creating part of the computational structure is conducive to mass production. Also, though neuristors in general free signals to take multiple pathways, Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s neuristors do it much more flexibly thanks to chemical properties.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We also have a sea of lithium, and it\u0026rsquo;s like an infinite reservoir of computational ionic fluid,\u0026rdquo; Doolittle said. The lithium niobite imitates the way ionic fluid bathes\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/science\/biology\/human-biology\/neuron-nervous-system\/v\/sodium-potassium-pump\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebiological neurons\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and allows them to flash with electric potential while signaling. In a neuristor array, the lithium niobite helps computational signaling move in myriad directions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s not like the typical semiconductor material, where you etch a line, and only that line has the computational material,\u0026rdquo; Doolittle said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommander Data\u0026rsquo;s brain?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Unlike any other previous neuristors, our neuristors will adapt themselves in their computational-electronic pulsing on the fly, which makes them more like a neurological system,\u0026rdquo; Doolittle said. \u0026ldquo;They mimic biology in that we have ion drift across the material to create the memristors (the memory part of neuristors).\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBrains are far superior to computers at most things, but not all. Brains recognize objects and do motor tasks much better. But computers are much better at arithmetic and data processing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENeuristor arrays can meld both types of computing, making them biological and algorithmic at once, a bit like \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/memory-alpha.wikia.com\/wiki\/Positronic_brain\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECommander Data\u0026rsquo;s brain\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/georgia_tech\/the-brain-cosmos-in-the-cranium-part-2-neurons-compute\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ELISTEN: How neurons\u0026nbsp;make the brain compute --\u0026nbsp;audio report\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/georgia_tech\/the-brain-cosmos-in-the-cranium-part-1-molecules\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ELISTEN: Wondrous facts about the brain -- audio report\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research is being funded through the U.S. Department of Defense\u0026rsquo;s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI) Program under grant number FOA: N00014-16-R-FO05. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of those agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe human brain\u0026#39;s computational might is the envy of computer engineers, and emulating it is coming a step closer thanks to new nanomaterials. Georgia Tech research engineers have created next-generation brain-mimmicking memory via \u0026quot;memristors\u0026quot; to underly processing \u0026quot;neuristors.\u0026quot; The engineers are using them to make an artificially intelligent retina\u0026nbsp;that could spot enemy aircraft or find missing children.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The dream of computing the way the human brain does comes a step closer thanks to nanomaterials"}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2017-07-28 15:57:43","changed_gmt":"2019-05-29 20:36:46","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-07-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-07-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"593805":{"id":"593805","type":"image","title":"National Synchrotron Light Source II","body":null,"created":"1501249823","gmt_created":"2017-07-28 13:50:23","changed":"1501262730","gmt_changed":"2017-07-28 17:25:30","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226357","name":"NSLS II.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/NSLS%20II.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/NSLS%20II.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":49548,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/NSLS%20II.jpg?itok=5SnIryDM"}},"593806":{"id":"593806","type":"image","title":"Marcus Clean Room with Alan Doolittle and Brooks Tellekamp","body":null,"created":"1501251265","gmt_created":"2017-07-28 14:14:25","changed":"1501254357","gmt_changed":"2017-07-28 15:05:57","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226358","name":"Doolittle.clean_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Doolittle.clean_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Doolittle.clean_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":245474,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Doolittle.clean_.jpg?itok=mHAyV-oz"}},"593810":{"id":"593810","type":"image","title":"Synchrotron UK","body":null,"created":"1501254232","gmt_created":"2017-07-28 15:03:52","changed":"1501254331","gmt_changed":"2017-07-28 15:05:31","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226360","name":"Brookhaven.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Brookhaven.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Brookhaven.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1838255,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Brookhaven.jpg?itok=7Ot2iEvU"}},"593812":{"id":"593812","type":"image","title":"Advanced Computing Nanomaterials","body":null,"created":"1501254805","gmt_created":"2017-07-28 15:13:25","changed":"1501254805","gmt_changed":"2017-07-28 15:13:25","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226361","name":"Doolittle.hands_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Doolittle.hands_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Doolittle.hands_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":291043,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Doolittle.hands_.jpg?itok=xZiA_Mfg"}},"593817":{"id":"593817","type":"image","title":"Alan Doolittle with student Brooks Tellekamp","body":null,"created":"1501258451","gmt_created":"2017-07-28 16:14:11","changed":"1501258488","gmt_changed":"2017-07-28 16:14:48","alt":"","file":{"fid":"226364","name":"Doolittle.outside.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Doolittle.outside.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Doolittle.outside.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":507597,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Doolittle.outside.jpg?itok=vCCbRwDN"}}},"media_ids":["593805","593806","593810","593812","593817"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"175011","name":"neuristor"},{"id":"175012","name":"memristor"},{"id":"1159","name":"Alan Doolittle"},{"id":"1785","name":"nanomaterials"},{"id":"175018","name":"metal oxide"},{"id":"91631","name":"neuromorphic computing"},{"id":"175021","name":"brain-like computing"},{"id":"1912","name":"brain"},{"id":"2556","name":"artificial intelligence"},{"id":"175013","name":"artificial retina"},{"id":"175032","name":"lithium niobite"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408) (ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"621923":{"#nid":"621923","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ancient Toy Inspires Tool for State-of-the-Art Science","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA 5,000-year-old toy still enjoyed by kids today has inspired an inexpensive, hand-powered scientific tool that could not only impact how field biologists conduct their research but also allow high-school students and others with limited resources to realize their own state-of-the-art experiments.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe device, a portable centrifuge for preparing scientific samples including DNA, is reported May 21 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EPLOS Biology\u003C\/em\u003E. The co-first author of the paper is Gaurav Byagathvalli, a senior at Lambert High School in Georgia. His colleagues are \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/people\/saad-bhamla\u0022\u003EM. Saad Bhamla\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology; Soham Sinha, a Georgia Tech undergraduate; Janet Standeven, Byagathvalli\u0026rsquo;s biology teacher at Lambert; and Aaron F. Pomerantz, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am exceptionally proud of this paper and will remember it 10, 20, 30 years from now because of the uniquely diverse team we put together,\u0026rdquo; said Bhamla, who is an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom a Rainforest to a High School\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETogether the team demonstrated the device, dubbed the 3D-Fuge because it is created through 3D printing, in two separate applications. In a rainforest in Peru the 3D-Fuge was an integral part of a \u0026ldquo;lab in a backpack\u0026rdquo; used to identify four previously-unknown plants and insects by sequencing their DNA. Back in the United States, a slightly different design enabled a new approach to creating living bacterial sensors for the potential detection of disease. That work was conducted at Lambert High School for a synthetic biology competition.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThanks to social media and a preprint of the \u003Cem\u003EPLOS Biology\u003C\/em\u003E paper on BioRxiv, the 3D-Fuge has already generated interest from around the world, including emails from high-school teachers in Zambia and Kenya. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s awesome to see research not just remain isolated to one location but see it spread,\u0026rdquo; said Byagathvalli. \u0026ldquo;Through this, we\u0026rsquo;ve realized how much of an impact simple yet effective tools can have, and hope this technology motivates others to continue along the same path and innovate new solutions to global issues.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo better share the work, the team has posted the 3D-Fuge designs, videos, and photos online available to anyone.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrugal Science\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne focus of Bhamla\u0026rsquo;s lab at Georgia Tech is the development of tools for frugal science, or real research that just about anyone can afford. The tools behind state-of-the-art science often cost thousands of dollars that make them inaccessible to those without serious resources.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECentrifuges are a good example.\u0026nbsp; A small benchtop unit costs between $3,000 and $5,000; larger units cost many times that. Yet the devices are necessary to produce concentrated amounts of, say, genomic materials like DNA. By rapidly spinning samples, they separate materials of interest from biological debris.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Bhamla team found that the 3D-Fuge works as well as its more expensive cousins, but costs less than $1.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAn Ancient Toy\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 3D-Fuge is based on earlier work by Bhamla and colleagues at Stanford University on a simple centrifuge made of paper. The \u0026ldquo;paperfuge,\u0026rdquo; in turn, was inspired by a toy composed of string and a button that Bhamla played with as a child. He later discovered that these toys, known as whirligigs, have existed for some 5,000 years.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey consist of a disk \u0026ndash; like a button \u0026ndash; with two holes, through which is threaded a length of flexible cord whose ends are knotted to create a single loop with the disk in the middle. That simple contraption is then swung with two hands until the button is spinning and whirring at very fast speeds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe earlier paperfuge uses a disk of paper. To that disk Bhamla glued small plastic tubes filled with a sample. He and colleagues reported that the device did indeed create high-quality samples.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn late 2017 Bhamla was separately approached by the Lambert High team and Pomerantz to see if the paperfuge could be adapted for the larger samples they needed (the paperfuge is limited to small samples of ~1 microliter\u0026mdash;or one drop of blood).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETogether they came up with the 3D-Fuge, which includes cavities for tubes that can hold some 100 times more of a sample than the paperfuge. The team developed two equally effective designs: one for field biology (led by Pomerantz) and the other for the high-school\u0026rsquo;s synthetic biology project (led by Byagathvalli).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBhamla notes that the 3D-Fuge has some limitations. For example, it can only process a few samples at a time (some applications require thousands of samples). Further, because it\u0026rsquo;s 10 times heavier than the paperfuge, it can\u0026rsquo;t reach the same speeds or produce the same forces of that device. That said, it still weighs only 20 grams, slightly less than a AA battery.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;But it works,\u0026rdquo; said Bhamla. \u0026ldquo;All you need is an [appropriate] application and some creativity.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was funded by the National Science Foundation (award no.181733), the Mindlin Foundation, and the Jacobs Institute Innovation Catalyst Award.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Gaurav Byagathvalli, Aaron F. Pomerantz, Soham Sinha, Janet Standeven, and M. Saad Bhamla, \u0026ldquo;A 3D-printed hand-powered centrifuge for molecular biology,\u0026rdquo; (PLOS Biology, 2019) \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pbio.3000251\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pbio.3000251\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Elizabeth Thomson\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"\u201c3D-Fuge,\u201d part of growing field of frugal science, helps democratize research"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA 5,000-year-old toy still enjoyed by kids today has inspired an inexpensive, hand-powered scientific tool that could not only impact how field biologists conduct their research but also allow high-school students and others with limited resources to realize their own state-of-the-art experiments.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A childrens\u0027 toy has inspired an inexpensive, hand-powered scientific tool that could help field biologists and others."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-05-23 13:48:40","changed_gmt":"2019-05-23 13:50:36","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-05-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-05-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"621920":{"id":"621920","type":"image","title":"3D-Printed Disks for 3D-Fuge","body":null,"created":"1558618506","gmt_created":"2019-05-23 13:35:06","changed":"1558618506","gmt_changed":"2019-05-23 13:35:06","alt":"3D-printed disks used in 3D-Fuge","file":{"fid":"236898","name":"3D-Fuge-001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/3D-Fuge-001.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/3D-Fuge-001.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":386553,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/3D-Fuge-001.jpg?itok=Z-ZEHpHZ"}},"621921":{"id":"621921","type":"image","title":"Using the 3D-Fuge","body":null,"created":"1558618623","gmt_created":"2019-05-23 13:37:03","changed":"1558618623","gmt_changed":"2019-05-23 13:37:03","alt":"A 3D-Fuge is demonstrated","file":{"fid":"236899","name":"3D-Fuge-004.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/3D-Fuge-004.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/3D-Fuge-004.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":722357,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/3D-Fuge-004.jpg?itok=JaSceuyR"}},"621922":{"id":"621922","type":"image","title":"Sample vial in 3D-Fuge","body":null,"created":"1558618740","gmt_created":"2019-05-23 13:39:00","changed":"1558618740","gmt_changed":"2019-05-23 13:39:00","alt":"Inserting vials in the 3D-Fuge","file":{"fid":"236900","name":"3d-Fuge-002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/3d-Fuge-002.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/3d-Fuge-002.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":354194,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/3d-Fuge-002.jpg?itok=E4pSmvh_"}}},"media_ids":["621920","621921","621922"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"140","name":"Cancer Research"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"181391","name":"centrifuge"},{"id":"181390","name":"3D-Fuge"},{"id":"13351","name":"3d printing"},{"id":"177841","name":"Saad Bhamla"},{"id":"277","name":"Biology"},{"id":"170184","name":"separations"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"620781":{"#nid":"620781","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Atomic Beams Shoot Straighter via Cascading Silicon Peashooters","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo a non-physicist, an \u0026ldquo;atomic beam collimator\u0026rdquo; may sound like a phaser firing mystical particles. That might not be the worst metaphor to introduce a technology that \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-019-09647-3\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eresearchers have now miniaturized\u003C\/a\u003E, making it more likely to someday land in handheld devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EToday, atomic beam collimators are mostly found in physics labs, where they shoot out atoms in a beam that produces exotic quantum phenomena and which has properties that may be useful in precision technologies. By shrinking collimators from the size of a small appliance to fit on a fingertip, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology want to make the technology available to engineers advancing devices like atomic clocks or\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/all-the-sensors-in-your-smartphone-and-how-they-work-1797121002\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eaccelerometers\u003C\/a\u003E, a component found in smartphones.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A typical device you might make out of this is a next-generation gyroscope for a precision navigation system that is independent of GPS and can be used when you\u0026rsquo;re out of satellite range in a remote region or traveling in space,\u0026rdquo; said Chandra Raman,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/chandra-raman\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ean associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and a co-principal investigator on the study.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was funded by the Office of Navy Research. The researchers \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-019-09647-3\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epublished their results in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;on April 23, 2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHere\u0026rsquo;s what a collimator is, some of the quantum potential in atomic beams, and how the miniature collimator format could help atomic beams shape new generations of technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPocket atomic shotgun\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Collimated atomic beams have been around for decades,\u0026rdquo; Raman said, \u0026ldquo;But currently, collimators must be large in order to be precise.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe atomic beam starts in a box full of atoms, often\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rsc.org\/periodic-table\/element\/37\/rubidium\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Erubidium\u003C\/a\u003E, heated to a vapor so that the atoms zing about chaotically. A tube taps into the box, and random atoms with the right trajectory shoot into the tube like pellets entering the barrel of a shotgun.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELike pellets leaving a shotgun, the atoms exit the end of the tube shooting reasonably straight but also with a random spray of atomic shot flying at skewed angles. In an atomic beam, that spray produces signal noise, and the improved collimator-on-a-chip eliminates most of it for a more precise, nearly perfectly parallel beam of atoms.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe beam is much more focused and pure than beams coming from existing collimators. The researchers would also like their collimator to enable experimental physicists to more conveniently create complex quantum states.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Csup\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E[Thinking about grad school?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu\/apply-now\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EHere\u0026#39;s how to apply to Georgia Tech.\u003C\/a\u003E]\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/sup\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUnwavering inertia machine\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut more immediately, the collimator sets up Newtonian mechanics that could be adapted for practical use.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe improved beams are streams of unwavering\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ou9YMWlJgkE\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Einertia\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;because, unlike a laser beam, which is made of massless photons, atoms have mass and thus momentum and inertia. This makes their beams potentially ideal reference points in beam-driven\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5677445\/#sec3-sensors-17-02284\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Egyroscopes\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;that help track motion and changes in location.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrent gyroscopes in GPS-free navigation devices are precise in the short run but not the long run, which means recalibrating or replacing them ever so often, and that makes them less convenient, say, on the moon or on Mars.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Conventional chip-scale instruments based on\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mems-exchange.org\/MEMS\/what-is.html\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technology\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;suffer from drift over time from various stresses,\u0026rdquo; said co-principal investigator Farrokh Ayazi, who is Ken Byers\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/farrokh-ayazi\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EProfessor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Electrical and\u0026nbsp;Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;To eliminate that drift, you need an absolutely stable mechanism. This atomic beam creates that kind of reference on a chip.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQuantum entanglement beam\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHeat-excited atoms in a beam can also be converted into\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/journal\/0953-4075\/page\/Special_issue_on_Rydberg_atomic_physics\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ERydberg atoms, which provide a cornucopia of quantum properties\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen an atom is energized enough, its outermost orbiting electron bumps out so far that the atom balloons in size. Orbiting so far out with so much energy, that outermost electron behaves like the lone electron of a hydrogen atom, and the Rydberg atom acts as if it had only a single proton.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You can engineer certain kinds of multi-atom quantum entanglement by using Rydberg states because the atoms interact with each other much more strongly than two atoms in the ground state,\u0026rdquo; Raman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Rydberg atoms could also advance future sensor technologies because they\u0026rsquo;re sensitive to fluxes in force or in electronic fields smaller than an electron in scale,\u0026rdquo; Ayazi said. \u0026ldquo;They could also be used in quantum information processing.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELithographed silicon\u0026nbsp;grooves\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers devised a surprisingly convenient way to make the new collimator, which could encourage manufacturers to adopt it: They cut long, extremely narrow channels through a silicon wafer running parallel to its flat surface. The channels were like shotgun barrels lined up side-by-side to shoot out an array of atomic beams.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESilicon is an exceptionally slick material for the atoms to fly through and also is used in many existing microelectronic and computing technologies. That opens up the possibility for combining these technologies on a chip with the new miniature collimator. Lithography, which is used to etch existing chip technology, was used to precisely cut the collimator\u0026#39;s channels.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers\u0026rsquo; biggest innovation greatly reduced the shotgun-like spray, i.e. the signal noise. They sliced two gaps in the channels, forming an aligned cascade of three sets of parallel arrays of barrels.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAtoms flying at skewed angles jump out of the channels at the gaps and those flying reasonably parallel in the first array of channels continue on to the next one, then the process repeats going from the second into the third array of channels. This gives the new collimator\u0026rsquo;s atomic beams their exceptional straightness.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlso read: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/606647\/spooky-quantum-particle-pairs-fly-weird-curveballs\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EWhat spooky quantum particles have in common with curveballs\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThese authors contributed to the study: Chao Li, Xiao Chai, Bochao Wei, Jeremy Yang, and Anosh Daruwalla, all from Georgia Tech. The research was funded by the Office of Naval Research (award # N00014-17-1-2249). A patent is pending (U.S. patent app. # 62\/672,709). Any findings, conclusions or recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily of the Office of Naval Research.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia contact\/writer\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 660-1408\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu?subject=Clownfish%20anemone%20story\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAtomic beams conjure fantasies of gigantic Space Force cannons. But\u0026nbsp;tiny atomic beams now shoot out of newly engineered collimators, a kind of\u0026nbsp;particle\u0026nbsp;peashooter, that could land in handheld devices. The beams create precise inertia better than a gyroscope\u0026#39;s that could help spacecraft navigate. The atomic beams from the new silicon collimators could also let physicist cheaply and easily produce exotic quantum\u0026nbsp;states for study.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A true feat in miniaturization, this new device could inspire a new generation of handheld navigation systems and quantum entanglement machines"}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2019-04-23 13:25:06","changed_gmt":"2019-04-23 20:11:41","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-04-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-04-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"620769":{"id":"620769","type":"image","title":"atomic beams illustration","body":null,"created":"1556023242","gmt_created":"2019-04-23 12:40:42","changed":"1556023715","gmt_changed":"2019-04-23 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state"},{"id":"181091","name":"multiple entangled states"},{"id":"167355","name":"silicon"},{"id":"7574","name":"lithography"},{"id":"31051","name":"Rydberg atom"},{"id":"9671","name":"Quantum Mechanics"},{"id":"181092","name":"Inertia"},{"id":"124661","name":"gyroscope"},{"id":"181093","name":"beam-driven gyroscope"},{"id":"31021","name":"rubidium"},{"id":"2557","name":"mems"},{"id":"181094","name":"signal noise"},{"id":"181095","name":"Signal intensity"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"620260":{"#nid":"620260","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Awarded $6.25 Million to Study Collective Emergent Behavior","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers have been awarded $6.25 million from the Department of Defense (DoD) to use collective emergent behavior to achieve task-oriented objectives.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDoD\u0026rsquo;s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives (MURI) Program funds projects that bring researchers together from diverse backgrounds to work on a complex problem. I\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ideas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Enstitute for Data Engineering and Science \u003C\/a\u003Eco-director, Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/people.math.gatech.edu\/~randall\/\u0022\u003EDana Randall\u003C\/a\u003E, is project investigator and leads a team of six that includes \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family Professor in the School of Physics. The Formal Foundations of Algorithmic Matter and Emergent Computation team also includes chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, and computational science researchers from other universities.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are trying to predict and design emergent behavior within computation by using basic algorithms on simple machines to perform complex tasks. Emergent behavior is when a microscopic change in a parameter creates a macroscopic change to a system. This collective behavior is easy to find in nature, from a swarm of bees to a colony of ants, but also appears in other scientific disciplines.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A MURI lets us take a deep dive toward understanding how many computationally limited components at the micro-scale can be programmed to work collectively to produce useful behavior at the macro-scale,\u0026rdquo; said Randall, who is also the ADVANCE Professor of Computing. \u0026ldquo;Our interdisciplinary team combines expertise in many fields, mimicking the research by forming a collaboration that is also greater than the sum of its parts.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe MURI hybrid approach to algorithmic matter combines traditional logic-based programming with non-traditional computational methods, such as using physical characteristics of the interacting matter to drive a system toward collective behavior. One of the goals is to program based on this predictable emergent behavior. The approach also predicts basic properties of the collective\u0026rsquo;s emergent behavior, like whether it will behave like a gas, fluid, or solid. In this context, emergent behavior turns into emergent collective computation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;MURI promises basic algorithms that allow very simple machines to work collectively to perform amazingly complex tasks,\u0026rdquo; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) chemical engineering Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/srg.mit.edu\/\u0022\u003EMichael Strano\u003C\/a\u003E said. \u0026ldquo;Our team will examine systems of autonomous cell-like particles that interact and respond to the movement of their neighbors in a programmable way. Theorists will be able to test ideas of emergent computation from these simple devices and learn how to execute tasks from the behavior of relatively simple, autonomous particles.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough the behavior has footing in physics, computer science, and swarm robotics, there is no underlying framework to explain why until this research. The multidisciplinary approach allows theory and experiment to continuously inform each other and determine the computational capabilities of emergent behavior. The team has an ideal range of expertise in machine learning, control theory, and non-equilibrium physics and algorithms. They are also working with experimentalists who build collective systems at granular and microscopic scales.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;An exciting aspect of this collaboration will be our attempts to interface and integrate ideas and tools from robotics, non-equilibrium physics, control theory, and computer science to develop task-capable swarms,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis MURI project will run for five years and is funded by the Army Research Office. In addition to Randall, Goldman, and Strano, the team also includes Arizona State computational science and engineering Professor Andrea Richa, MIT physics Associate Professor Jeremy England, and Northwestern mechanical engineering Professor Todd Murphey.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe overarching goal is to find how simplistic the computation can be for this complexity. This could lead to advances in engineered systems achieving specific task-oriented goals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The MURI promises nothing short of the transformation of robots,\u0026rdquo; Strano said, \u0026ldquo;from the large, bulky constructions that we think of today, to future clouds or swarms that enable functions that are currently impossible to realize.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Tess Malone\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers have been awarded $6.25 million from the Department of Defense (DoD) to use collective emergent behavior to achieve task-oriented objectives.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have been awarded $6.25 million to use collective emergent behavior."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-04-10 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researchers","file":{"fid":"236166","name":"emergent-behavior-016.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/emergent-behavior-016.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/emergent-behavior-016.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":608760,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/emergent-behavior-016.jpg?itok=pWS45jY_"}}},"media_ids":["620256","620257","620258","620259"],"groups":[{"id":"545781","name":"Institute for Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"181004","name":"emergent behavior"},{"id":"181005","name":"collective behavior"},{"id":"24211","name":"MURI"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"181009","name":"vibrating robot"},{"id":"3167","name":"algorithm"},{"id":"10467","name":"Dana Randall"},{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETess Malone\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECollege of Computing\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["tess.malone@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"619757":{"#nid":"619757","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Using Smartphones and Laptops to Simulate Deadly Heart Arrhythmias ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EModeling the complex electrical waves that cause heart arrhythmias could provide the key to understanding and treating a major cause of death in the world. Until now, however, real-time modeling of those deadly waveforms within millions of interacting heart cells required especially powerful computer clusters \u0026ndash; even supercomputers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing graphics processing chips designed for gaming applications and software that runs on ordinary web browsers, researchers have moved this modeling of the deadly spiral wave heart arrhythmias to less costly computers, and even to high-end smartphones. That could put the real-time 3D modeling into the hands of clinicians who may one day use the system to diagnose and treat these abnormal heart rhythms. The new tools could also help researchers study new drugs that must be evaluated for their potential to cause heart arrhythmias.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond cardiac issues, which can require solving billions of equations, the tools could also be applied to other physical systems, such as fluid flow and crystal growth. The research, which has been supported by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, is reported March 27 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience Advances\u003C\/em\u003E. The new simulation tools rely on Web Graphics Library (WebGL 2.0) and can run on most common operating systems, independent of the operating system.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Models that might have been accessible to only a handful of researchers in the world will now be available to many more groups,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/flavio-fenton\u0022\u003EFlavio Fenton\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;This also opens the door to many other areas of research where people have equations that can be run in parallel. Anybody can have access to these solutions, which run simulations as much as thousands of times faster than standard CPUs.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFenton and collaborators at Georgia Tech and Rochester Institute of Technology have been studying harmful heart rhythm patterns to understand them \u0026ndash; and potentially to design control strategies that go beyond existing treatments, which use drugs, implantable devices and tissue ablation to halt the arrhythmias. Ultimately, the researchers envision doctors using the simulations on tablet computers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Being able to do real-time simulations in three dimensions could open the door to clinical applications where we could actually obtain patient geometries and solve these equations in the cells that are packed into the heart,\u0026rdquo; said Elizabeth Cherry, a professor of mathematics at Rochester Institute of Technology and one of the project researchers. \u0026ldquo;We could see applications in the clinic that could individualize treatments on the basis of their specific heart geometries. We could actually test possible therapies to see what would work for each patient.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKey to what they have done are graphics processing units (GPUs), which were developed to help computers display graphics and video. Their development and application have now taken off with the growth of the computer gaming industry, which needs fast parallel processing. High-end smartphones have as many as 900 GPU cores, while high-end graphics cards for laptop or desktop computers may have more than 5,000. Each core can process simulation data, providing a massively parallel computing system.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Over the past several years, GPUs have become really powerful,\u0026rdquo; Fenton said. \u0026ldquo;Each one has multiple processors, so you can run problems in parallel like a supercomputer does. As many as 40 or 50 differential equations must be calculated for each cell, and we need to understand how millions of cells interact. I was surprised that even a cellphone may have enough GPU cores to run these simulations.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHarnessing GPU power is not all the researchers have done. Software for the GPUs varies by manufacturer and chip type. To allow the simulations to run on any GPU, Research Scientist Abouzar Kaboudian developed a versatile programming library that enabled him and his team of collaborators to develop programs in WebGL that run through web browsers such as Chrome and Firefox. Through a browser, the tools can run the simulations on a variety of computers, tablets and phones \u0026ndash; without the need to install any new programs on them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you have access to the Internet and a modern web browser like Firefox or Chrome, you can just go to a web link and the simulation will start running on the graphics card of your computer,\u0026rdquo; said Kaboudian. \u0026ldquo;Any problem that can be parallelized can run on the library that we have created. It will accelerate simulations on any computer by several hundred times.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the original goal was to simulate heart arrhythmias, the tools can be useful with other simulations such as chemical reactions, fluid flow, crystal growth and geophysical forces.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Oscillating forces can reduce the lifespan of civil engineering structures such as petroleum platforms and underwater pipelines,\u0026rdquo; Kaboudian said. \u0026ldquo;To understand these forces, you have to understand fluid flow around the structures and how to control the oscillations. With this program, you can see the effects of changes to modify your design strategy in real time.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers have developed ten different models based on their WebGL programming, and are planning to make the tools available to other researchers who want to use them. They are planning future enhancements, such as the ability to run the simulations on more than one GPU card to achieve even higher computational speeds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough high-end graphics cards can range in cost up to thousands of dollars, even those that cost only a few hundred dollars can provide computational power that would be only possible on supercomputers that would normally cost several hundred thousand dollars, Kaboudian said. In this way, they may provide real savings compared to operating large computer clusters or supercomputers. And that could make simulations available to more researchers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Being able to run these simulations on GPU cards greatly lowers the cost compared to a traditional supercomputer,\u0026rdquo; Cherry noted. \u0026ldquo;Even the GPUs of high-end cellphones can run these simulations. That will expand access by moving these simulations onto smaller local devices that researchers are familiar with and can afford.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation\u0026rsquo;s Computer and Network Systems under grants CNS-1446675 and CNS-1446312 and by the National Institute of Health\u0026rsquo;s National Heart Lung and Blood Institute under grant 1R01HL143450-01. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Abouzar Kaboudian, Elizabeth M. Cherry, Flavio H. Fenton, \u0026ldquo;Real-time interactive simulations of large-scale systems on personal computers and cell phones: Toward patient-specific heart modeling and other applications,\u0026rdquo; (Science Advances, 2019).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EModeling the complex electrical waves that cause heart arrhythmias could provide the key to understanding and treating a major cause of death in the world. Until now, however, real-time modeling of those deadly waveforms within millions of interacting heart cells required especially powerful computer clusters \u0026ndash; even supercomputers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers are using smartphones and laptop computers to model heart arrhythmias."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-03-27 18:02:58","changed_gmt":"2019-03-27 18:06:30","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-03-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-03-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"619739":{"id":"619739","type":"image","title":"Cardiac and fluid flow simulations","body":null,"created":"1553708602","gmt_created":"2019-03-27 17:43:22","changed":"1553708602","gmt_changed":"2019-03-27 17:43:22","alt":"Examining cardiac and fluid flow 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Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"180904","name":"arrhythmia"},{"id":"5221","name":"cardiac"},{"id":"2583","name":"heart"},{"id":"168908","name":"smartphone"},{"id":"10420","name":"graphics processing units"},{"id":"205","name":"GPU"},{"id":"167045","name":"simulation"},{"id":"2623","name":"modeling"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"618439":{"#nid":"618439","#data":{"type":"news","title":"When Sand-Slithering Snakes Behave Like Light Waves","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDesert snakes slithering across the sand at night can encounter obstacles such as plants or twigs that alter the direction of their travel. While studying that motion to learn how limbless animals control their bodies in such environments, researchers discovered that snakes colliding with these obstacles mimic aspects of light or subatomic particles when they encounter a diffraction grating.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe effect of this \u0026ldquo;mechanical diffraction\u0026rdquo; allowed researchers to observe how the snakes\u0026rsquo; trajectories were altered through passive mechanisms governed by the skeletal and muscular dynamics of the animals\u0026rsquo; propagating body waves. The researchers studied live snakes as they slithered through an obstacle made up of six force-sensitive rigid pegs that buckled the animals\u0026rsquo; bodies, changing their paths in predictable ways.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe results, described February 25 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E, indicate that the Western Shovel-nosed snakes (\u003Cem\u003EChionactis occipitalis\u003C\/em\u003E) do not deliberately change direction when they encounter obstacles while speeding across the sand. Understanding the movement of these limbless animals could help engineers improve the control of autonomous search and rescue robots designed to operate on sand, grass and other complex environments.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The idea behind passive dynamics is that there are waveform shape changes being made by the animal that are driven entirely by the passive properties of their bodies,\u0026rdquo; said Perrin Schiebel, a recent Ph.D. graduate of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;Instead of sending a signal to activate a muscle, the interaction of the snakes\u0026rsquo; bodies with the external environment is what causes the shape change. The forces of the obstacles are pushing the snake bodies into a new shape.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe colorful shovel-nosed snake normally uses a sinusoidal S-shaped wave to move across the deserts of the Southwest United States. Running into rigid pegs in a laboratory environment doesn\u0026rsquo;t lead it to actively change that waveform, which Schiebel and colleagues studied using high-speed video cameras with eight different animals.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a study supported by the National Science Foundation, Army Research Office, Defense Advanced Projects Agency, and a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, the researchers used 253 snake trips to build up a diffraction pattern. Remarkably, the pattern also revealed that the scattering directions were \u0026ldquo;quantized\u0026rdquo; such that the probability of finding a snake behind the array could be represented in a pattern mimicking wave interference. A computational model was able to capture the pattern, demonstrating how the snakes\u0026rsquo; direction would be altered by obstacle encounters via passive body buckling.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;One problem with robots moving in the real world is that we don\u0026rsquo;t yet have principles by which we can understand how best to control these robots on granular surfaces like sand, leaf litter, rubble or grass,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, Dunn Family Professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics and a researcher in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. \u0026ldquo;The point of this study was to try to understand how limbless locomotors, which have long bodies that can bend in interesting ways using potentially complicated neuromechanical control schemes, manage to move through complicated terrain.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe snake experiment was suggested by a robotic study done by postdoctoral fellow Jennifer Rieser, who found similar behavior among robots encountering obstacles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The robot tends to have aspects that mimic features of the subatomic world \u0026mdash; the quantum world,\u0026rdquo; Goldman explained. \u0026ldquo;When it collides with barriers, a robot propagates through those barriers using waves of body bending. Its trajectory deviates as it exits the barriers, and many repeated trials reveal a \u0026lsquo;lumpy\u0026rsquo; scattering pattern, analogous to experiments. We realized that we could use this surprising and beautiful phenomenon, classical physics but with self-propulsion a key feature, as a scattering experiment to interrogate the control scheme used by the snakes.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EExperimentally, the researchers used a \u0026ldquo;snake arena\u0026rdquo; covered with shag carpet to mimic sand. Undergraduate students Alex Hubbard and Lillian Chen released the snakes one at a time into the arena and encouraged them to slither through the grating.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe eyes of the desert snakes are naturally covered with scales to protect them. The researchers used children\u0026rsquo;s face paint to temporarily \u0026ldquo;blindfold\u0026rdquo; the animals so they would not be distracted by the researchers. The paint did not harm the animals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When we put the snakes down in the arena, they started moving using the same waveform they use on desert sand,\u0026rdquo; explained Schiebel. \u0026ldquo;They would then encounter the dowel grating, pass through it, and continue on the other side still using that waveform.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstead of continuing to travel through the arena in a straight line, the snakes would exit at a different angle, though they did not grab the posts or use them to assist their movement. Schiebel worked with Zeb Rocklin, a Georgia Tech assistant professor of physics, to model the directional changes. The model showed how simple interactions between the snakes\u0026#39; wave pattern and the grating produce patterns of favored scattering directions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We think the snake is essentially operating in a model that control engineers would consider \u0026lsquo;open loop,\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo; said Goldman. \u0026ldquo;It is setting a particular motor program on its body, which generates the characteristic wave pattern, and when it collides with the obstacle, its body mechanics allow it to deform and move the posts without degrading its speed.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGoldman believes the work could help developers of snake-like robots improve their control schemes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We think that our discoveries of the role of passive dynamics in the snake can facilitate new snake robot designs that will enable them to move through complex environments more fluidly,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;The goal would be to build search and rescue robots that can get into these complex environments and help first responders.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd as a bonus, Goldman said, \u0026ldquo;We find that the richness of interactions between self-propelled systems like snakes and robots with their environment is fascinating from the standpoint of \u0026lsquo;active matter\u0026rsquo; physics.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by National Science Foundation Physics of Living Systems program awards PHY-1205878, PHY-1150760 and CMMI-1361778; by the Army Research Office through award W911NF-11-1-0514; U.S. DoD National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) 32 CFR 168a; and by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor organizations.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Perrin E. Schiebel, et al., \u0026ldquo;Mechanical diffraction reveals the role of passive dynamics in a slithering snake,\u0026rdquo; (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDesert snakes slithering across the sand at night can encounter obstacles such as plants or twigs that alter the direction of their travel -- and cause them to mimic aspects of light or subatomic particles when they encounter a diffraction grating.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study shows how the motion of snakes moving across a sandy surface can be affected by obstacles."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-02-25 19:50:30","changed_gmt":"2019-02-28 17:02:50","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-02-25T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-02-25T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"618431":{"id":"618431","type":"image","title":"Studying snakes on granular surfaces","body":null,"created":"1551122968","gmt_created":"2019-02-25 19:29:28","changed":"1551122968","gmt_changed":"2019-02-25 19:29:28","alt":"studying snakes on a granular surface","file":{"fid":"235389","name":"snakes-as-waves-012.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-012.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-012.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":725086,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/snakes-as-waves-012.jpg?itok=XdD3TAIv"}},"618433":{"id":"618433","type":"image","title":"Snake moving through peg array","body":null,"created":"1551123245","gmt_created":"2019-02-25 19:34:05","changed":"1551123245","gmt_changed":"2019-02-25 19:34:05","alt":"Snake moving through peg array","file":{"fid":"235391","name":"snakes-as-waves-008.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-008.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-008.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":807876,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/snakes-as-waves-008.jpg?itok=de4SqhxO"}},"618432":{"id":"618432","type":"image","title":"Perrin Schiebel with snake arena","body":null,"created":"1551123114","gmt_created":"2019-02-25 19:31:54","changed":"1551123114","gmt_changed":"2019-02-25 19:31:54","alt":"Researcher Perrin Schiebel with snake","file":{"fid":"235390","name":"snakes-as-waves-007.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-007.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-007.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":476282,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/snakes-as-waves-007.jpg?itok=qikhebML"}},"618434":{"id":"618434","type":"image","title":"Snake research team","body":null,"created":"1551123354","gmt_created":"2019-02-25 19:35:54","changed":"1551123354","gmt_changed":"2019-02-25 19:35:54","alt":"Snake research team","file":{"fid":"235392","name":"snakes-as-waves-020.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-020.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snakes-as-waves-020.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":600495,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/snakes-as-waves-020.jpg?itok=QWXAQz90"}}},"media_ids":["618431","618433","618432","618434"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"},{"id":"169001","name":"Snake"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"169242","name":"sand"},{"id":"180635","name":"passive dynamics"},{"id":"180632","name":"light wave"},{"id":"7120","name":"wave"},{"id":"180631","name":"diffraction"},{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"616736":{"#nid":"616736","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Birth of Massive Black Holes in the Early Universe Revealed","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe light released from around the first massive black holes in the universe is so intense that it is able to reach telescopes across the entire expanse of the universe. Incredibly, the light from the most distant black holes (or quasars) has been traveling to us for more than 13 billion light years. However, we do not know how these monster black holes formed.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENew research led by researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.dcu.ie\/\u0022\u003EDublin City University\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/msu.edu\/\u0022\u003EMichigan State University\u003C\/a\u003E, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ucsd.edu\/\u0022\u003EUniversity of California at San Diego\u003C\/a\u003E, the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.sdsc.edu\/\u0022\u003ESan Diego Supercomputer Center\u003C\/a\u003E and IBM provides a new and extremely promising avenue for solving this cosmic riddle. The team showed that when galaxies assemble extremely rapidly \u0026ndash; and sometimes violently \u0026ndash; that can lead to the formation of very massive black holes. In these rare galaxies, normal star formation is disrupted and black hole formation takes over.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new study finds that massive black holes form in dense starless regions that are growing rapidly, turning upside down the long-accepted belief that massive black hole formation was limited to regions bombarded by the powerful radiation of nearby galaxies. Conclusions of the simulation-based study, reported January 23\u0026nbsp;in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature\u003C\/em\u003E and supported by funding from the National Science Foundation, the European Union and NASA, also finds that massive black holes are much more common in the universe than previously thought.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe key criteria for determining where massive black holes formed during the universe\u0026rsquo;s infancy relates to the rapid growth of pre-galactic gas clouds that are the forerunners of all present-day galaxies, meaning that most supermassive black holes have a common origin forming in this newly discovered scenario, said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/john-wise\u0022\u003EJohn Wise\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cra.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Relativistic Astrophysics\u003C\/a\u003E in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics and the paper\u0026rsquo;s corresponding author. Dark matter collapses into halos that are the gravitational glue for all galaxies. Early rapid growth of these halos prevented the formation of stars that would have competed with black holes for gaseous matter flowing into the area.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In this study, we have uncovered a totally new mechanism that sparks the formation of massive black holes in particular dark matter halos,\u0026rdquo; Wise said. \u0026ldquo;Instead of just considering radiation, we need to look at how quickly the halos grow. We don\u0026rsquo;t need that much physics to understand it \u0026ndash; just how the dark matter is distributed and how gravity will affect that. Forming a massive black hole requires being in a rare region with an intense convergence of matter.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen the research team found these black hole formation sites in the simulation they were at first stumped, said John Regan, research fellow in the Centre for Astrophysics and Relativity in Dublin City University. The previously accepted paradigm was that massive black holes could only form when exposed to high levels of nearby radiation.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Previous theories suggested this should only happen when the sites were exposed to high levels of star-formation killing radiation,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;As we delved deeper, we saw that these sites were undergoing a period of extremely rapid growth. That was the key. The violent and turbulent nature of the rapid assembly, the violent crashing together of the galaxy\u0026rsquo;s foundations during the galaxy\u0026rsquo;s birth prevented normal star formation and led to perfect conditions for black hole formation instead. This research shifts the previous paradigm and opens up a whole new area of research.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe earlier theory relied on intense ultraviolet radiation from a nearby galaxy to inhibit the formation of stars in the black hole-forming halo, said Michael Norman, director of the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego and one of the work\u0026rsquo;s authors. \u0026ldquo;While UV radiation is still a factor, our work has shown that it is not the dominant factor, at least in our simulations,\u0026rdquo; he explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was based on the Renaissance Simulation suite, a 70-terabyte data set created on the Blue Waters supercomputer between 2011 and 2014 to help scientists understand how the universe evolved during its early years. To learn more about specific regions where massive black holes were likely to develop, the researchers examined the simulation data and found ten specific dark matter halos that should have formed stars given their masses but only contained a dense gas cloud. Using the Stampede2 supercomputer, they then re-simulated two of those halos \u0026ndash; each about 2,400 light-years across \u0026ndash; at much higher resolution to understand details of what was happening in them 270 million years after the Big Bang.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It was only in these overly-dense regions of the universe that we saw these black holes forming,\u0026rdquo; Wise said. \u0026ldquo;The dark matter creates most of the gravity, and then the gas falls into that gravitational potential, where it can form stars or a massive black hole.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Renaissance Simulations are the most comprehensive simulations of the earliest stages of the gravitational assembly of the pristine gas composed of hydrogen and helium and cold dark matter leading to the formation of the first stars and galaxies. They use a technique known as adaptive mesh refinement to zoom in on dense clumps forming stars or black holes. In addition, they cover a large enough region of the early universe to form thousands of objects\u0026mdash;a requirement if one is interested in rare objects, as is the case here. \u0026ldquo;The high resolution, rich physics and large sample of collapsing halos were all needed to achieve this result,\u0026rdquo; said Norman.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe improved resolution of the simulation done for two candidate regions allowed the scientists to see turbulence and the inflow of gas and clumps of matter forming as the black hole precursors began to condense and spin. Their growth rate was dramatic.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Astronomers observe supermassive black holes that have grown to a billion solar masses in 800 million years,\u0026rdquo; Wise said. \u0026ldquo;Doing that required an intense convergence of mass in that region. You would expect that in regions where galaxies were forming at very early times.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother aspect of the research is that the halos that give birth to black holes may be more common than previously believed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;An exciting component of this work is the discovery that these types of halos, though rare, may be common enough,\u0026rdquo; said Brian O\u0026rsquo;Shea, a professor at Michigan State University.\u0026nbsp; \u0026ldquo;We predict that this scenario would happen enough to be the origin of the most massive black holes that are observed, both early in the universe and in galaxies at the present day.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFuture work with these simulations will look at the lifecycle of these massive black hole formation galaxies, studying the formation, growth and evolution of the first massive black holes across time. \u0026ldquo;Our next goal is to probe the further evolution of these exotic objects. Where are these black holes today? Can we detect evidence of them in the local Universe or with gravitational waves?\u0026rdquo; Regan asked.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor these new answers, the research team \u0026ndash; and others \u0026ndash; may return to the simulations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The Renaissance Simulations are sufficiently rich that other discoveries can be made using data already computed,\u0026rdquo; said Norman. \u0026ldquo;For this reason we have created a public archive at SDSC containing called the Renaissance Simulations Laboratory where others can pursue questions of their own.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation through grants PHY-1430152, AST-1514700, AST-161433 and OAC-1835213, by NASA grants NNX12AC98G, 147 NNX15AP39G, and NNX17AG23G, and by Hubble theory grants HST-AR-13261.01, HST-AR-14315.001, and HST-AR-14326. This project has received funding from the European Union\u0026#39;s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 699941 (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions \u0026ndash; \u0026ldquo;SmartStars). The simulation was performed on the Blue Waters supercomputer operated by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) with PRAC allocation support by the NSF (awards ACI-0832662, ACI-1238993 and ACI-1514580). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor organizations.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: John H. Wise, et al., \u0026ldquo;Formation of massive black holes in rapidly growing pre-galactic gas clouds,\u0026rdquo; (Nature 2019). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41586-019-0873-4\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41586-019-0873-4\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERenaissance Simulations Laboratory:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rensimlab.github.io\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/rensimlab.github.io\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe light released from around the first massive black holes in the universe is so intense that it is able to reach telescopes across the entire expanse of the universe. Incredibly, the light from the most distant black holes (or quasars) has been traveling to us for more than 13 billion light years. However, we do not know how these monster black holes formed.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New research shows that when galaxies assemble extremely rapidly \u2013 and sometimes violently \u2013 that can lead to the formation of very massive black holes."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2019-01-23 13:59:30","changed_gmt":"2019-01-24 17:48:39","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-01-23T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-01-23T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"616732":{"id":"616732","type":"image","title":"30 Years of Dark Matter Halo","body":null,"created":"1548250695","gmt_created":"2019-01-23 13:38:15","changed":"1548250695","gmt_changed":"2019-01-23 13:38:15","alt":"Closeup of dark matter halo","file":{"fid":"234730","name":"massive-black-hole-formation2.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/massive-black-hole-formation2.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/massive-black-hole-formation2.png","mime":"image\/png","size":722586,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/massive-black-hole-formation2.png?itok=rjWvMESF"}},"616733":{"id":"616733","type":"image","title":"30,000 Light-year Region of Simulation","body":null,"created":"1548250858","gmt_created":"2019-01-23 13:40:58","changed":"1548250858","gmt_changed":"2019-01-23 13:40:58","alt":"30,000 light-year region of simulation","file":{"fid":"234731","name":"massive-black-hole-formation1.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/massive-black-hole-formation1.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/massive-black-hole-formation1.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1644714,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/massive-black-hole-formation1.png?itok=WYU4eZm3"}}},"media_ids":["616732","616733"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"60491","name":"Black hole"},{"id":"180268","name":"dark matter halo"},{"id":"8312","name":"galaxy"},{"id":"180271","name":"Renaissance Simulation"},{"id":"12044","name":"John Wise"},{"id":"91741","name":"Center for Relativistic Astrophysics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"616388":{"#nid":"616388","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Brilliant Glow of Paint-On Semiconductors Comes from Ornate Quantum Physics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELED lights and monitors, and quality solar panels were born of a revolution in\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/topics\/chemistry\/optoelectronics\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Esemiconductors\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;that efficiently convert energy to light or vice versa. Now, next-generation semiconducting materials are on the horizon, and\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41563-018-0262-7\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein a new study\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E, researchers have uncovered eccentric physics behind their potential to transform lighting technology and photovoltaics yet again.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EComparing the quantum properties of these emerging so-called hybrid semiconductors with those of their established predecessors is about like comparing the Bolshoi Ballet to jumping jacks. Twirling troupes of quantum particles undulate through the emerging materials, creating, with ease, highly desirable optoelectronic (light-electronic) properties, according to a team of physical chemists led by\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/Silva%20\/Carlos\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eresearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThese same properties are impractical to achieve in established semiconductors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe particles moving through these new materials also engage the material itself in the quantum action, akin to dancers enticing the floor to dance with them. The researchers were able to measure patterns in the material caused by the dancing and relate them to the emerging material\u0026rsquo;s quantum properties and to energy introduced into the material.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThese insights could help engineers work productively with the new class of semiconductors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUnusually flexible semiconductors\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe emerging material\u0026rsquo;s ability to house diverse, eccentric quantum particle movements, analogous to the dancers, is directly related to its unusual flexibility on a molecular level, analogous to the dancefloor that joins in the dances. By contrast, established semiconductors have rigid, straight-laced molecular structures that leave the dancing to quantum particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe class of hybrid semiconductors the researchers examined is called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?biw=1532\u0026amp;bih=783\u0026amp;tbm=isch\u0026amp;sa=1\u0026amp;ei=9sI4XI-_LYGIggf-qbSACA\u0026amp;q=halide+organic-inorganic+perovskite+carlos+silva\u0026amp;oq=halide+organic-inorganic+perovskite+carlos+silva\u0026amp;gs_l=img.3...20279.21300..21580...0.0..0.52.338.7......1....1..gws-wiz-img.Yz18-ph1WLk#imgrc=r3vU05y-A4rlnM:\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehalide organic-inorganic perovskite\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(HOIP), which will be explained in more detail at bottom along with the \u0026ldquo;hybrid\u0026rdquo; semiconductor designation, which combines a crystal lattice -- common in semiconductors -- with a layer of innovatively flexing material.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond their promise of unique radiance and energy-efficiency, HOIPs are easy to produce and apply.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPaint them on\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;One compelling advantage is that HOIPs are made using low temperatures and processed in solution,\u0026rdquo; said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/Silva%20\/Carlos\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECarlos Silva, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;It takes much less energy to make them, and you can make big batches.\u0026rdquo; Silva co-led the study alongside\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iit.it\/index.php\/people\/srinivasa-srimath\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAjay Ram Srimath Kandada\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;from Georgia Tech and the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt takes high temperatures to make most semiconductors in small quantities, and they are rigid to apply to surfaces, but HOIPs could be painted on to make LEDs, lasers or even window glass that could glow in any color from aquamarine to fuchsia. Lighting with HOIPs may require very little energy, and solar panel makers could boost photovoltaics\u0026rsquo; efficiency and slash production costs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe team led by Georgia Tech included researchers from the Universit\u0026eacute; de Mons in Belgium and the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia. The results were published\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41563-018-0262-7\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eon January 14, 2019, in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ENature Materials\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E. The work was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, EU Horizon 2020, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Fond Qu\u0026eacute;b\u0026eacute;cois pour la Recherche, and the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch6\u003E[Thinking about grad school?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gradadmiss.gatech.edu\/apply-now\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EHere\u0026#39;s how to apply to Georgia Tech.\u003C\/a\u003E]\u003C\/h6\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQuantum jumping jacks\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESemiconductors in optoelectronic devices can either convert light into electricity or electricity into light. The researchers concentrated on processes connected to the latter: light emission.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe trick to getting a material to emit light is, broadly speaking, to apply energy to electrons in the material, so that they take a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/quantum_leap\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Equantum leap\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;up from their orbits around atoms then emit that energy as light when they hop back down to the orbits they had vacated. Established semiconductors can\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/trap-solid-state-physics\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Etrap\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;electrons in areas of the material that strictly limit the electrons\u0026rsquo; range of motion then apply energy to those areas to make electrons do quantum leaps in unison to emit useful light when they hop back down in unison.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;These are\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.rp-photonics.com\/quantum_wells.html\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Equantum wells\u003C\/a\u003E, two-dimensional parts of the material that confine these quantum properties to create these particular light emission properties,\u0026rdquo; Silva said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EImaginary particle excitement\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThere is a potentially more attractive way to produce the light, and it is a core strength of the new hybrid semiconductors.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAn electron has a negative charge, and an orbit it vacates after having been excited by energy is a positive charge called an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/whatis.techtarget.com\/definition\/hole\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eelectron hole\u003C\/a\u003E. The electron and the hole can gyrate around each other forming a kind of imaginary particle, or\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Quasiparticle\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Equasiparticle\u003C\/a\u003E, called an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/exciton\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eexciton\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The positive-negative attraction in an exciton is called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.euronuclear.org\/info\/encyclopedia\/bindingenergy.htm\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebinding energy\u003C\/a\u003E, and it\u0026rsquo;s a very high-energy phenomenon, which makes it great for light emitting,\u0026rdquo; Silva said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen the electron and the hole reunite, that releases the binding energy to make light. But usually, excitons are very hard to maintain in a semiconductor.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The excitonic properties in conventional semiconductors are only stable at extremely cold temperatures,\u0026rdquo; Silva said. \u0026ldquo;But in HOIPs the excitonic properties are very stable at room temperature.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOrnate quasiparticle twirling\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EExcitons get freed up from their atoms and move around the material. In addition, excitons in an HOIP can whirl around other excitons, forming quasiparticles called biexcitons. And there\u0026rsquo;s more.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EExcitons also spin around atoms in the material lattice. Much the way an electron and an electron hole create an exciton, this twirl of the exciton around an atomic nucleus gives rise to yet another quasiparticle called a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/polaron\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epolaron\u003C\/a\u003E. All that action can result in excitons transitioning to polarons back. One can even speak of some excitons taking on a \u0026ldquo;polaronic\u0026rdquo; nuance.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECompounding all those dynamics is the fact that HOIPs are full of positively and negatively charged ions. The ornateness of these quantum dances has an overarching effect on the material itself.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWave patterns resonate\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe uncommon participation of atoms of the material in these dances with electrons, excitons, biexcitons and polarons creates repetitive nanoscale indentations in the material that are observable as wave patterns and that shift and flux with the amount of energy added to the material.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In a ground state, these wave patterns would look a certain way, but with added energy, the excitons do things differently. That changes the wave patterns, and that\u0026rsquo;s what we measure,\u0026rdquo; Silva said. \u0026ldquo;The key observation in the study is that the wave pattern varies with different types of excitons (exciton, biexciton, polaronic\/less polaronic).\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe indentations also grip the excitons, slowing their mobility through the material, and all these ornate dynamics may affect the quality of light emission.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERubber band sandwich\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe material, a halide organic-inorganic perovskite, is a sandwich of two inorganic crystal lattice layers with some organic material in between them \u0026ndash; making HOIPs an organic-inorganic hybrid material. The quantum action happens in the crystal lattices.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe organic layer in between is like a sheet of rubber bands that makes the crystal lattices into a wobbly but stable dancefloor. Also, HOIPs are put together with many\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nwu_Dpizmsk\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Enon-covalent bonds\u003C\/a\u003E, making the material soft.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIndividual units of the crystal take a form called perovskite, which is a very even diamond shape, with a metal in the center and halogens such as chlorine or iodine at the points, thus \u0026ldquo;halide.\u0026rdquo; For this study, the researchers used a 2D prototype with the formula (PEA)\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003EPbI\u003Csub\u003E4\u003C\/sub\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlso READ: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/599811\/perking-and-crimping-bristles-polyelectrolyte-brushes\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EPerking up and Crimping the \u0026#39;Bristles\u0026#39; of Polyelectrolyte Brushes\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe study was co-authored by F\u0026eacute;lix Thouin (co-first author), David A. Valverde-Ch\u0026aacute;vez (co-first author), and Ilaria Bargigia, all of Georgia Tech; Claudio Quarti and David Beljonne of the Universit\u0026eacute; de Mons in Belgium; Daniele Cortecchia and Annamaria Petrozza of the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia. The research was funded by\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003EEU Horizon 2020 (project 705874); the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Eof Canada; Fond Qu\u0026eacute;b\u0026eacute;cois pour la Recherche: Nature et Technologies; the National Science Foundation (grant 1838276); Interuniversity Attraction Pole program of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (PAI 6\/27) and the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique de Belgique (FNRS-F.R.S.). Beljonne is an F.R.S. director. Any findings, opinions, and conclusions are those of the authors and not necessarily of the funding agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new wave of semiconductors that can be painted on is on the horizon. It bears the promise of revolutionizing lighting all over again and of transforming solar energy. Ornate quantum particle action, revealed here, that drives the new material\u0026#39;s properties defies the workings of established semiconductors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new revolution in semiconductors could transform lighting and solar energy, and this is what their crazy physics look like."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2019-01-14 23:00:05","changed_gmt":"2019-01-15 15:10:17","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"616386":{"id":"616386","type":"image","title":"Visible laser to study semiconductor properties close up","body":null,"created":"1547505628","gmt_created":"2019-01-14 22:40:28","changed":"1547505628","gmt_changed":"2019-01-14 22:40:28","alt":"","file":{"fid":"234613","name":"Vis.Laser2_.Silva_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Vis.Laser2_.Silva_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Vis.Laser2_.Silva_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5136618,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Vis.Laser2_.Silva_.jpg?itok=Ifrd_bwb"}},"616385":{"id":"616385","type":"image","title":"Carlos Silva and Felix Thouin in Silva\u0027s lab at Georgia Tech","body":null,"created":"1547505511","gmt_created":"2019-01-14 22:38:31","changed":"1547505511","gmt_changed":"2019-01-14 22:38:31","alt":"","file":{"fid":"234612","name":"Silva.Thouin.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Silva.Thouin.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Silva.Thouin.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4061246,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Silva.Thouin.jpg?itok=s6q2YQri"}},"616383":{"id":"616383","type":"image","title":"Visible laser to study semiconductor properties","body":null,"created":"1547504773","gmt_created":"2019-01-14 22:26:13","changed":"1547504773","gmt_changed":"2019-01-14 22:26:13","alt":"","file":{"fid":"234611","name":"Vis.laser_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Vis.laser_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Vis.laser_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":6580524,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Vis.laser_.jpg?itok=3BeUhFd4"}},"616387":{"id":"616387","type":"image","title":"HOIP, halide organic-inorganic perovskite","body":null,"created":"1547505771","gmt_created":"2019-01-14 22:42:51","changed":"1547505771","gmt_changed":"2019-01-14 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Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia relations assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 660-1408\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu?subject=Clownfish%20anemone%20story\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"614045":{"#nid":"614045","#data":{"type":"news","title":"\u0027Demolition Handshakes\u0027 Kill Precursor T Cells that Pose Autoimmune Dangers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA person reaches out for a handshake; the other person takes their hand with two hands and tugs then dies as a consequence. That\u0026rsquo;s a rough description of newly discovered cellular mechanisms that eliminate \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/T_cell\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ET cells\u003C\/a\u003E that may cause autoimmune disorders.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough the mechanisms are intertwined with biochemical processes, they also work mechanically, grasping, tugging and clamping, say researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who, for a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41590-018-0259-z\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Enew study in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ENature Immunology\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, measured responses to physical force acting upon these elimination mechanisms.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe mechanisms\u0026rsquo; purpose is to make dangerously aggressive developing immune cells called thymocytes destroy\u0026nbsp;themselves to keep them from attacking the\u0026nbsp;body,\u0026nbsp;while sparing healthy thymocytes as they mature into T cells. Understanding these selection mechanisms, which ensure T cells aggressively pursue hordes of infectors and cancers but not damage healthy human tissue, could someday lead to new immune-regulating therapies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETwo-handed handshake\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsually, researchers pursue such mechanisms using chemistry experiments, but Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Cheng Zhu, who led the study, makes atypical discoveries via physical experiments to observe effects of forces between key proteins in living cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Experiments where the proteins are isolated and used in chemical reactions\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Ein vitro\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;miss this force dynamic,\u0026rdquo; said Zhu, a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Cheng-Zhu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ERegents Professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;Before our work, force was not considered as a factor in\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thymocyte\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethymocyte\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;selection and now it is.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn this study, they discovered a loop of physical signals resembling a double-handed handshake that encourages cell apoptosis. It is described in more detail below.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe medical significance of this field of research was highlighted by the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/prizes\/medicine\/2018\/summary\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E2018 Nobel Prize in medicine\u003C\/a\u003E, which was awarded to other researchers at other institutions, James Allison of MD Anderson Cancer Center and Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University. Allison and Honjo received the prize for their cancer therapies exploiting T cell regulating mechanisms intertwined with those that the Georgia Tech researchers study.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026#39;s Zhu and first authors Jinsung Hong and Chenghao Ge published their new research paper on November 12, 2018. The research was funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The agencies are part of the National Institutes of Health.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThymocyte selection gauntlet\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELike blood cells, human thymocytes are born in bone marrow, but they travel to the thymus, a small organ just below the neck, where they run a gauntlet of selection tests. Failing any one selection means cell self-destruction; passing all selections promotes thymocytes to T cells that depart the thymus to battle our bodies\u0026rsquo; foes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne selection checks T cell receptors (TCR), which are on the thymocyte\u0026rsquo;s membrane, to ensure they are properly formed then to see if they recognize self-antigens, i.e. molecules that identify the body\u0026rsquo;s own cells. Then another selection, called negative selection, tests TCRs to make sure they don\u0026rsquo;t react too aggressively to self-antigens.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECells that pass these checks then have TCRs that tolerate self- yet react to enemy antigens.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You don\u0026rsquo;t want the cells with strongly grabbing receptor sites to turn against the body itself,\u0026rdquo; said Zhu, whose study focused on negative selection.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESelf-antigen grip\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn negative selection, other cells extend self-antigens on their membrane to interact with the thymocytes\u0026rsquo; T cell receptors. Those interactions seal the thymocytes\u0026rsquo; fate: advance or die.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStudying forces in those interactions revealed a new signaling loop with mechanical properties analogous to a two-handed grip and tug by the thymocyte.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe first hand would be the T cell receptor itself, and the other cell presenting the self-antigen would be like someone else\u0026rsquo;s hand holding a special ball out to the T cell\u0026rsquo;s first hand. The handshake begins as the self-antigen gives a signal to the T cell receptor.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIf the TCR reacts too strongly to the self-antigen, the thymocyte adds the second, assisting hand, which comes in from the side to make a two-handed handshake. The additional hand is a lever called CD8 (cluster of differentiation 8), which connects to key mechanisms inside the thymocyte and is considered part of the TCR site.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDemolition handshakes\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor about two weeks in the thymus, multiple T cell receptor sites engage in one- or two-handed handshakes, which send signals into the thymocyte that make it either mature into a T cell or begin the process of programmed cell death.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers found that the two-handedness markedly\u0026nbsp;resisted the force applied to break the grip between the T cell receptor and the self-antigen, thus prolonging the duration of the handshake. A long grip sent signals for the thymocyte to die.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;That\u0026rsquo;s the study\u0026rsquo;s elegant finding,\u0026rdquo; Zhu said. \u0026ldquo;That the force is significant for the selection to work.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENew signaling loop\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also made the novel discovery that CD8\u0026rsquo;s handshake participation constitutes a signal coming from inside the thymocyte back out to the self-antigen in answer to its initial signal.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The inside-out return signal had not yet been reported for this T cell receptor,\u0026rdquo; Zhu said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETogether, the outside-in and inside-out signals create a feedback loop that perpetuates the handshake:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Col\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003ESelf-antigen touches receptor.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EReceptor fires signal into cell and interacts with self-antigen too aggressively.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EInside cell membrane, signal pulls CD8 closer.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EOutside cell membrane, CD8 strengthens handshake.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EWhen the self-antigen slips a bit, the double-handed grip can coax it back into the receptor, kicking off another signal, restarting the signaling cycle again and again.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EMany feedback loops increase likelihood of programmed cell death.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ol\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELike this article?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/subscribe\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESubscribe to our email newsletter\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAlso READ:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/605259\/remote-control-shoots-laser-nano-gold-turn-cancer-killing-immune-cells\u0022\u003ERemote-Control Shoots Laser at Nano-Gold to Turn on Cancer-Killing T Cells\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ECoauthors on the study were: Prithiviraj Jothikumar, Zhou Yuan, Baoyu Liu, Ke Bai, Kaitao Li, William Rittase, all of Georgia Tech at the time of the research; Miho Shinzawa and Alfred Singer of the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health; Brian Evavold, Khalid Salaita and Yun Zhang of Emory University; Amy Palin and Paul Love of the NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development; and Xinhua Yu of University of Memphis. The research was funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) (grant CA214354), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) (grants AI124680, AI096879), the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) (grant NS071518). The funders belong to the National Institutes of Health. Hong and Bai now research at NIAID; Liu and Evavold now research at the University of Utah. Zhu is also in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. Any findings, opinions or recommendations are those of the authors and not necessarily of the funding agencies\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia relations assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404) 660-1408, ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe mechanisms that trigger the elimination of T cells that pose autoimmune dangers work very mechanically via physical forces. Nascent T cells must loosen their grip on human antigens within a reasonable time, in order to advance and defend the body. But if the nascent T cells, thymocytes, grip the human antigens too tightly, the immune cells must die. Here\u0026#39;s how the grip of death works.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A mechanism tries to stop our T cells from causing autoimmune disorders, and it\u0027s like a tight handshake that kills overly aggressive T cells."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2018-11-08 20:20:27","changed_gmt":"2018-12-08 19:47:33","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-11-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-11-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"614029":{"id":"614029","type":"image","title":"Human T cell","body":null,"created":"1541703100","gmt_created":"2018-11-08 18:51:40","changed":"1541703100","gmt_changed":"2018-11-08 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Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"87781","name":"autoimmune"},{"id":"179641","name":"autoimmunde disorders"},{"id":"179642","name":"autoimmune cells"},{"id":"9047","name":"T cell"},{"id":"179643","name":"T cell activation"},{"id":"179644","name":"t cell differentiation"},{"id":"179645","name":"TCR"},{"id":"179646","name":"CD8"},{"id":"179647","name":"Cd8 T Cells"},{"id":"7440","name":"membrane"},{"id":"179648","name":"biomechanic"},{"id":"179649","name":"protein forces"},{"id":"2076","name":"NIH"},{"id":"179650","name":"National Cancer Institute"},{"id":"179651","name":"National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases"},{"id":"179652","name":"national institute of neurological disorders and stroke"},{"id":"2252","name":"Nobel"},{"id":"179653","name":"Thymocyte"},{"id":"179654","name":"Thymus"},{"id":"4729","name":"marrow"},{"id":"179655","name":"self-antigen"},{"id":"179656","name":"Antigen 85B"},{"id":"179657","name":"Antigen Receptor Loci"},{"id":"179658","name":"Antigen Specific"},{"id":"179659","name":"antigen-presenting cells"},{"id":"179660","name":"antigen-T-cell"},{"id":"179661","name":"cluster of differentiation 8"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"615048":{"#nid":"615048","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Catalog of Cosmic Cataclysms Helps Establish Gravitational Wave Astronomy","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn February 2016, astronomers shook the scientific world with the announcement that they had observed gravitational waves from a cataclysmic event in the distant universe \u0026mdash; the collision of two massive black holes, celestial objects so dense that not even light can escape from them.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGravitational waves, hard-to-see ripples in the fabric of space-time, had been predicted by Albert Einstein\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/General_relativity\u0022\u003EGeneral Theory of Relativity\u003C\/a\u003E in 1915. These gravitational waves carry information about their origins, potentially offering a new way to observe the cosmos. Three years ago, however, researchers didn\u0026rsquo;t know if this first observation was merely an anomaly or part of a widespread phenomenon that could teach us about the population of black holes in the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA dozen Georgia Tech faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, and students participated with hundreds of other researchers in the National Science Foundation-sponsored \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ligo.caltech.edu\/\u0022\u003ELIGO\u003C\/a\u003E (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) Scientific Collaboration that reported the first gravitational waves. After the announcement, the work continued, and scientists from around the world have now observed 10 black hole collisions and a merger of two binary neutron stars using LIGO and the European-based Virgo gravitational wave detector.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECatalog of Coalescing Cosmic Objects\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe records of these cataclysmic cosmic events, including four black hole observations disclosed for the first time, have been collected into a catalog released December 1 at the Gravitational Wave Physics and Astronomy Workshop held in College Park, Maryland. Production of the catalog suggests that gravitational wave astronomy will indeed offer astronomers a new way to view the secrets of the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The individual black hole detections previously announced allow us to confirm, after many years of searching, that gravitational wave astronomy is a feasible endeavor,\u0026rdquo; said James Alexander Clark, a research scientist in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cra.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Relativistic Astrophysics\u003C\/a\u003E (CRA) in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E and a member of the LIGO collaboration. \u0026ldquo;We now know that pairs of massive black holes exist and collide frequently enough for us to detect gravitational waves within a human lifetime. We also know that the instruments and analysis procedures we use are capable of detecting and characterizing gravitational wave sources and we have been able to start probing some basic features of the theory of general relativity.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAstronomers do not have the luxury of repeating laboratory experiments to build confidence in their findings, Clark pointed out. \u0026ldquo;Instead, we rely on observing large samples of objects and phenomena spread throughout the universe. By building a \u0026lsquo;census\u0026rsquo; of this population, we are rapidly learning more about how common these objects are, what their general properties are like, and about the diversity of black holes in the universe.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EExpanding the Observations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat census should expand more rapidly starting in April 2019 when LIGO begins its next observing run. The two instruments, one in Livingston, Louisiana, and the other in Hanford, Washington, are shut down periodically for upgrades to improve sensitivity. \u0026ldquo;By observing a larger sample of binary black hole sources, we are more likely to find systems with more extreme configurations that allow more stringent tests of our models \u0026mdash; and of general relativity,\u0026rdquo; Clark added.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new Gravitational Wave Catalog shows that gravitational waves from powerful cosmic phenomena arrive at the Earth almost once every 15 days of observation, noted Karan Jani, a postdoctoral fellow in the CRA and also a member of the LIGO collaboration. \u0026ldquo;Future releases will provide much stronger tests of Einstein\u0026rsquo;s theory of gravity, and help provide a better understanding of how black holes are formed in the universe.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EData collected on the 10 black hole mergers describe objects that are as much as 100 times more massive than our own sun. Among the reports is a July 29, 2017, signal that represents the most distant, most energetic, and most massive black hole collision detected so far. That collision happened about five billion years ago \u0026mdash; even before the birth of our sun \u0026mdash; and released an amount of energy equivalent to converting almost five solar masses to gravitational radiation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat We Learn from Black Hole Observations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBlack holes are among the few objects in the universe massive and dense enough to produce gravitational waves that can be measured, said Sudarshan Ghonge, a CRA graduate student and also a member of the collaboration. But those measurements can be quite worthwhile.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;These waves have signatures that depend on the properties of the black holes from which they originated,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;By measuring these waves, we can infer the masses, spin, sky location, and distance from us. It\u0026rsquo;s similar to how you can listen to a sound and roughly figure out where it\u0026rsquo;s coming from, how far away it is, and what\u0026rsquo;s causing it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELIGO works by observing infinitesimally small changes caused by gravitational waves passing through the Earth. The changes affect laser beams traveling through twin four-kilometer arms of the L-shaped observatories. The Hanford and Livingston facilities, separated by 1,865 miles, confirm the observations, as both facilities should detect the waves. Additional information comes from the Virgo facility in Italy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EObserving Runs Produce New Records\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFrom September 12, 2015, to January 19, 2016, during the first LIGO observing run since undergoing upgrades in a program called Advanced LIGO, gravitational waves from three binary black hole mergers were detected. The second observing run, which lasted from November 30, 2016, to August 25, 2017, yielded one binary neutron star merger and seven additional binary black hole mergers, including the four new gravitational wave events reported December 1. The new events are known as GW170729, GW170809, GW170818 and GW170823, in reference to the dates they were detected.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGW170814 was the first binary black hole merger measured by the three-detector network made possible by collaboration between LIGO and Virgo, and allowed for the first tests of gravitational wave polarization, which is analogous to light polarization.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of the new events, GW170818, detected by the global network formed by the LIGO and Virgo observatories, was very precisely pinpointed in the sky. The position of the binary black holes, located 2.5 billion light-years from Earth, was identified in the sky with a precision of 39 square degrees. That makes it the next-best localized gravitational wave source after the GW170817 neutron star merger.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe event GW170817, detected three days after GW170814, represented the first time that gravitational waves were observed from the merger of a binary neutron star system. What\u0026#39;s more, this collision was seen in gravitational waves and light, marking an exciting new chapter in multi-messenger astronomy, in which cosmic objects are observed simultaneously in different forms of radiation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvancing Gravitational Wave Observation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The release of four additional binary black hole mergers further informs us of the nature of the population of these binary systems in the universe and better constrains the event rate for these types of events,\u0026rdquo; said Caltech\u0026rsquo;s Albert Lazzarini, deputy director of the LIGO Laboratory.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;In just one year, LIGO and Virgo working together have dramatically advanced gravitational wave science, and the rate of discovery suggests the most spectacular findings are yet to come,\u0026rdquo; said Denise Caldwell, director of NSF\u0026#39;s Division of Physics. \u0026quot;The accomplishments of NSF\u0026#39;s LIGO and its international partners are a source of pride for the agency, and we expect even greater advances as LIGO\u0026#39;s sensitivity becomes better and better in the coming year.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;The next observing run, starting in Spring 2019, should yield many more gravitational wave candidates, and the science the community can accomplish will grow accordingly,\u0026rdquo; said David Shoemaker, spokesperson for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and senior research scientist in MIT\u0026rsquo;s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s an incredibly exciting time.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It is gratifying to see the new capabilities that become available through the addition of Advanced Virgo to the global network,\u0026rdquo; said Jo van den Brand of Nikhef (the Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics) and VU University Amsterdam, who is the spokesperson for the Virgo Collaboration. \u0026ldquo;Our greatly improved pointing precision will allow astronomers to rapidly find any other cosmic messengers emitted by the gravitational wave sources.\u0026rdquo; The enhanced pointing capability of the LIGO-Virgo network is made possible by exploiting the time delays of the signal arrival at the different sites and the so-called antenna patterns of the interferometers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe scientific papers describing these new findings, which are being initially published on the arXiv repository of electronic preprints, present detailed information in the form of a catalog of all the gravitational wave detections and candidate events of the two observing runs as well as describing the characteristics of the merging black hole population. Most notably, we find that almost all black holes formed from stars are lighter than 45 times the mass of the sun. Thanks to more advanced data processing and better calibration of the instruments, the accuracy of the astrophysical parameters of the previously announced events increased considerably.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAdded Georgia Tech professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cadonati.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ELaura Cadonati\u003C\/a\u003E, deputy spokesperson for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, \u0026ldquo;These new discoveries were only made possible through the tireless and carefully coordinated work of the detector commissioners at all three observatories, and the scientists around the world responsible for data quality and cleaning, searching for buried signals, and parameter estimation for each candidate \u0026mdash; each a scientific specialty requiring enormous expertise and experience.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout LIGO and Virgo\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELIGO is funded by NSF and operated by Caltech and MIT, which conceived and built the project. Financial support for the Advanced LIGO project was led by the NSF with Germany (Max Planck Society), the United Kingdom (Science and Technology Facilities Council) and Australia (Australian Research Council-OzGrav) making significant commitments and contributions to the project. More than 1,200 scientists from around the world participate in the effort through the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. A list of additional partners is available at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ligo.org\/partners.php\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/ligo.org\/partners.php\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Virgo Collaboration consists of more than 300 physicists and engineers belonging to 28 different European research groups: six from Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France; 11 from the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare in Italy; two in the Netherlands with Nikhef; the MTA Wigner RCP in Hungary; the POLGRAW group in Poland; Spain with IFAE and the Universities of Valencia and Barcelona; two in Belgium with the Universities of Liege and Louvain; Jena University in Germany; and the European Gravitational Observatory, the laboratory hosting the Virgo detector near Pisa in Italy, funded by CNRS, INFN and Nikhef. A list of the Virgo Collaboration can be found at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/public.virgo-gw.eu\/the-virgo-collaboration\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/public.virgo-gw.eu\/the-virgo-collaboration\/\u003C\/a\u003E. More information is available on the Virgo website at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.virgo-gw.eu\u0022\u003Ewww.virgo-gw.eu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: LIGO Scientific Collaboration \/ John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientists from around the world have now observed 10 black hole collisions and a merger of two binary neutron stars using LIGO and the European-based Virgo gravitational wave detector. A new catalog inventories those events.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new catalog of cataclysmic events supports the development of gravitational wave astronomy."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-12-06 01:06:28","changed_gmt":"2018-12-06 17:51:37","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-12-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-12-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"615044":{"id":"615044","type":"image","title":"Merger of black holes","body":null,"created":"1544057097","gmt_created":"2018-12-06 00:44:57","changed":"1544057097","gmt_changed":"2018-12-06 00:44:57","alt":"Simulation of binary black hole merger","file":{"fid":"234198","name":"bbh-merger.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bbh-merger.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bbh-merger.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2840753,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bbh-merger.png?itok=y3O2GpDL"}},"615045":{"id":"615045","type":"image","title":"LIGO collaborators","body":null,"created":"1544057278","gmt_created":"2018-12-06 00:47:58","changed":"1544057278","gmt_changed":"2018-12-06 00:47:58","alt":"LIGO, black hole, gravitational wave, astronomy, universe","file":{"fid":"234199","name":"ligo-2018-002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ligo-2018-002.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ligo-2018-002.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":659976,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ligo-2018-002.jpg?itok=zGI-jYbq"}},"615047":{"id":"615047","type":"image","title":"Gravitational wave signals","body":null,"created":"1544057773","gmt_created":"2018-12-06 00:56:13","changed":"1544057773","gmt_changed":"2018-12-06 00:56:13","alt":"Signals from gravitational waves","file":{"fid":"234201","name":"GWTC1-POSTER-DARK-med.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GWTC1-POSTER-DARK-med.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GWTC1-POSTER-DARK-med.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2113474,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/GWTC1-POSTER-DARK-med.png?itok=-AO9yGUm"}},"615046":{"id":"615046","type":"image","title":"LIGO collaborators-2","body":null,"created":"1544057422","gmt_created":"2018-12-06 00:50:22","changed":"1544057422","gmt_changed":"2018-12-06 00:50:22","alt":"LIGO collaborators at Georgia Tech","file":{"fid":"234200","name":"ligo-2018-004.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ligo-2018-004.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ligo-2018-004.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":629096,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ligo-2018-004.jpg?itok=TB625OZr"}}},"media_ids":["615044","615045","615047","615046"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"120161","name":"LIGO"},{"id":"10881","name":"black holes"},{"id":"179942","name":"binary black holes"},{"id":"25211","name":"universe"},{"id":"99091","name":"Gravitational waves"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"613266":{"#nid":"613266","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How the Elephant Uses its Trunk to Eat","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study demonstrates the physics that elephants use to feed themselves the massive quantities of leaves, fruit and roots needed to sustain their multi-ton bodies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA human can pick up multiple objects at once by squeezing them together with both hands and arms. An African elephant also picks up many items at once but with only one appendage\u0026mdash;its soft, heavy trunk. How the elephant solves this challenge could provide inspiration for future robotics.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA wild African elephant eats rapidly, consuming 190 grams of food a minute, to provide adequate fuel for its vast bulk. \u0026ldquo;Elephants are in a rush when they are eating,\u0026rdquo; said David L. Hu, associate professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Biology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The elephant diet consists of large volumes of plant materials such as leaves, fruit and roots. To eat these, elephants sweep loose items into a pile and crush them into a manageable solid that can be picked up by the trunk.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;They don\u0026rsquo;t just use the trunk\u0026rsquo;s strong muscles to squeeze the plants together,\u0026rdquo; said Hu. \u0026ldquo;The elephants also use the weight of the trunk, and they do that by forming a joint in the trunk. The trunk below the joint becomes a stiff pillar that applies weight to the pile of plant materials.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAbout 30 percent of the applied force is derived from the pillar\u0026rsquo;s weight alone, and about 70 percent from exerting muscular effort, according to a new study published in the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of the Royal Society Interface\u003C\/em\u003E by Hu and colleagues at Georgia Tech, the Rochester Institute of Technology and Zoo Atlanta.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe African elephant can raise or lower the trunk joint\u0026rsquo;s height by up to 11 centimeters to increase or reduce the applied force. \u0026ldquo;When elephants need more force, the joint is higher up on the trunk,\u0026rdquo; Hu said. Elephant trunks weigh about 150 kilograms and have 40,000 muscles. \u0026ldquo;The huge number of muscles in the trunk allows the elephant great freedom for where it puts this joint.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHu and his colleagues studied a 34-year-old female African elephant (Loxodonta africana) over several weeks in the summer of 2017. All experiments were supervised by the staff at Zoo Atlanta. Food was arranged by hand into a pile in the center of a force plate to measure how much force the animal generated.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe elephant\u0026rsquo;s trunk is similar to other boneless organs in nature such as the octopus\u0026rsquo;s arm and the human tongue. But unlike an octopus\u0026rsquo;s arm, an elephant\u0026rsquo;s trunk is heavy enough to provide significant force on an object without muscular pressure. This is the first study to show that an animal can use the weight of its own appendage to help apply force and the first with a live elephant to understand forces that it can apply to materials.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing mathematical models, the researchers found that the greater the number of objects to be squeezed and picked up, the greater the force that must be applied.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Picking up two objects requires very little force to press them together, while picking up 40,000 objects requires a lot of force,\u0026rdquo; Hu said. This principle was tested experimentally with the live elephant by presenting multiple food items varying in number from four to 40,000 in number. The experiments showed that the elephant could vary forces applied with its trunk by a factor of four depending on the number of food items to be picked up.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis research could have applications in robotics, where heavier machines would appear to have few advantages over smaller ones. But, in the future, heavy robotic manipulators could be designed with several adjustable joints that use the device\u0026rsquo;s own weight to provide adjustable pressure and save energy. There are currently no commercial robots designed to apply their own weight to objects, Hu noted.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You could have future robots with several joints, which could apply various weight pressures below joints to help compress objects together for lifting them efficiently,\u0026rdquo; said Hu. \u0026ldquo;This would allow you to use the weight of the joints themselves to provide force instead of relying on batteries and extra motors to apply these forces, and that would mean using less energy. For instance, you could have a heavy robot with four joints, and by bending the top joint, the weight below it could apply a load. If you wanted to provide less weight pressure, you could instead bend the second-from-the-top joint. This study shows that there are some advantages for robots in being big and heavy.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfrican elephants like the ones in this study have two muscular extensions at the tip of their trunk resembling a pair of fingers that also could be studied as models for future robotics. It\u0026rsquo;s not well known that elephants have such projections, and this understanding could inform work that is already underway. \u0026ldquo;The elephant\u0026rsquo;s technique with these extensions might be used to develop soft robotic grippers that can pick up delicate items such as fruit without damaging them,\u0026rdquo; Hu noted.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the U.S. Army Research Office Mechanical Sciences Division, Complex Dynamics and Systems Program, under contract W911NF-12-R-0011.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Jianing Wu, et al., \u0026ldquo;Elephant trunks form joints to squeeze together small objects,\u0026rdquo; (Journal of the Royal Society Interface 15, 2018) \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1098\/rsif.2018.0377\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1098\/rsif.2018.0377\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Tibbetts\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study demonstrates the physics that elephants use to feed themselves the massive quantities of leaves, fruit and roots needed to sustain their multi-ton bodies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study shows how elephants use the trunks to compress food before eating it."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-10-25 01:06:44","changed_gmt":"2018-10-25 12:07:13","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-10-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-10-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"613263":{"id":"613263","type":"image","title":"Elephant at Zoo Atlanta","body":null,"created":"1540429042","gmt_created":"2018-10-25 00:57:22","changed":"1540429042","gmt_changed":"2018-10-25 00:57:22","alt":"Elephant at Zoo Atlanta","file":{"fid":"233471","name":"elephant_tara_ZA_2488-b.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/elephant_tara_ZA_2488-b.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/elephant_tara_ZA_2488-b.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1017010,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/elephant_tara_ZA_2488-b.jpg?itok=u_srUbd_"}},"613264":{"id":"613264","type":"image","title":"Elephant research enclosure","body":null,"created":"1540429170","gmt_created":"2018-10-25 00:59:30","changed":"1540429170","gmt_changed":"2018-10-25 00:59:30","alt":"Elephant in experimental enclosure at Zoo Atlanta","file":{"fid":"233472","name":"elephant.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/elephant.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/elephant.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1353077,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/elephant.jpg?itok=DJQ43k7S"}},"613265":{"id":"613265","type":"image","title":"Elephant trunk","body":null,"created":"1540429265","gmt_created":"2018-10-25 01:01:05","changed":"1540429265","gmt_changed":"2018-10-25 01:01:05","alt":"Closeup of elephant trunk","file":{"fid":"233473","name":"eleplant-trunk_5340.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/eleplant-trunk_5340.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/eleplant-trunk_5340.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3082693,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/eleplant-trunk_5340.jpg?itok=f6YtujWf"}}},"media_ids":["613263","613264","613265"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"96651","name":"elephant"},{"id":"179490","name":"elephant trunk"},{"id":"6765","name":"zoo atlanta"},{"id":"297","name":"David Hu"},{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"613174":{"#nid":"613174","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Material, Manufacturing Use Sun\u0027s Heat for Cheaper Renewable Electricity ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESolar power accounts for less than two percent of U.S. electricity, but could make up more than that if the cost of electricity generation and energy storage for use on cloudy days and at nighttime were cheaper.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA Purdue University-led team that included researchers from Georgia Tech have developed a new material and manufacturing process that would make one way to use solar power \u0026ndash; as heat energy \u0026ndash; more efficient in generating electricity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe innovation is an important step for putting solar heat-to-electricity generation in direct cost competition with fossil fuels, which generate more than 60 percent of electricity in the U.S.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Storing solar energy as heat can already be cheaper than storing energy via batteries, so the next step is reducing the cost of generating electricity from the sun\u0026#39;s heat with the added benefit of zero greenhouse gas emissions,\u0026rdquo; said Kenneth Sandhage, Purdue\u0026rsquo;s Reilly Professor of Materials Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, which was done at Purdue in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, published in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature\u003C\/em\u003E on October 18.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESolar power doesn\u0026#39;t only generate electricity via panels in farms or on rooftops. Another option is concentrated power plants that run on heat energy.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EConcentrated solar power plants convert solar energy into electricity by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a lot of light onto a small area, which generates heat that is transferred to a molten salt. Heat from the molten salt is then transferred to a \u0026quot;working\u0026quot; fluid, supercritical carbon dioxide, that expands and works to spin a turbine for generating electricity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo make solar-powered electricity cheaper, the turbine engine would need to generate even more electricity for the same amount of heat, which means the engine needs to run hotter.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe problem is that heat exchangers, which transfer heat from the hot molten salt to the working fluid, are currently made of stainless steel or nickel-based alloys that get too soft at the desired higher temperatures and at the elevated pressure of supercritical carbon dioxide.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInspired by the materials his group had previously combined to make composite materials that can handle high heat and pressure for applications like solid-fuel rocket nozzles, Sandhage worked with Asegun Henry \u0026ndash; formerly at Georgia Tech, but now at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology \u0026ndash; to conceive of a similar composite for more robust heat exchangers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETwo materials showed promise together as a composite: The ceramic zirconium carbide, and the metal tungsten.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPurdue researchers created plates of the ceramic-metal composite. The plates host customizable channels for tailoring the exchange of heat, based on simulations of the channels conducted at Georgia Tech by \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/ranjan\u0022\u003EDevesh Ranjan\u0026#39;s\u003C\/a\u003E team.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We simulated the printed circuit heat exchanger, which contains channels that are straight and parallel with semi-circular cross sections two millimeters in diameter,\u0026rdquo; said Ranjan, associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;The thickness of each plate in the printed circuit heat exchanger stack and the spacing between the channels were then determined from the maximum allowed stresses for each type of material, with a factor of safety added.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMechanical tests by Edgar Lara-Curzio\u0026rsquo;s team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and corrosion tests by Mark Anderson\u0026rsquo;s team at Wisconsin-Madison helped show that this new composite material could be tailored to successfully withstand the higher temperature, high-pressure supercritical carbon dioxide needed for generating electricity more efficiently than today\u0026rsquo;s heat exchangers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAn economic analysis by Georgia Tech and Purdue researchers also showed that the scaled-up manufacturing of these heat exchangers could be conducted at comparable or lower cost than for stainless steel or nickel alloy-based ones.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Ultimately, with continued development, this technology would allow for large-scale penetration of renewable solar energy into the electricity grid,\u0026rdquo; Sandhage said. \u0026ldquo;This would mean dramatic reductions in man-made carbon dioxide emissions from electricity production.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA patent application has been filed for this advancement. The work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, which has also recently awarded additional funding for further development and scaling up the technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThis story was provided by Purdue University.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Purdue (Kayla Wiles, 765-494-2432, wiles5@purdue.edu); Georgia Tech (John Toon, 404-894-6986, (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Kayla Wiles, Purdue University\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESolar power accounts for less than two percent of U.S. electricity, but could make up more than that if the cost of electricity generation and energy storage for use on cloudy days and at nighttime were cheaper.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new heat exchanger technology could boost the use of solar power."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-10-24 02:03:10","changed_gmt":"2018-10-24 02:04:01","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-10-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-10-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"613171":{"id":"613171","type":"image","title":"High Temperature Heat Exchanger","body":null,"created":"1540346030","gmt_created":"2018-10-24 01:53:50","changed":"1540346030","gmt_changed":"2018-10-24 01:53:50","alt":"heat exchanger illustration","file":{"fid":"233432","name":"heat-exchanger-image.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/heat-exchanger-image.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/heat-exchanger-image.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":241794,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/heat-exchanger-image.jpg?itok=0EEXa0z-"}},"613173":{"id":"613173","type":"image","title":"Heat Exchanger for Solar Power","body":null,"created":"1540346114","gmt_created":"2018-10-24 01:55:14","changed":"1540346114","gmt_changed":"2018-10-24 01:55:14","alt":"Heat exchanger for solar power","file":{"fid":"233433","name":"heat-exchanger-image.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/heat-exchanger-image_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/heat-exchanger-image_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":241794,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/heat-exchanger-image_0.jpg?itok=oBMo_mKW"}}},"media_ids":["613171","613173"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"179477","name":"heat exchanger"},{"id":"213","name":"energy"},{"id":"167364","name":"solar power"},{"id":"4174","name":"renewable"},{"id":"436","name":"electricity"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39461","name":"Manufacturing, Trade, and Logistics"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"612823":{"#nid":"612823","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How Animals Use Their Tails to Swish and Swat Away Insects","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn adult elephant weighs in at nearly five tons. Its peskiest threat is a fraction of that. But in order for a pachyderm to slap away a tiny mosquito once it lands on its backside, an elephant must generate the same amount of torque it takes to accelerate a car.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0026rsquo;s one finding in a new Georgia Institute of Technology study that looked at how animals use their tails to keep mosquitoes at bay. The researchers also discovered that mammals swish the tips of their tails at a velocity of one meter per second, nearly the same speed as a mosquito flies.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study and its findings could help engineers discover new methods of building robots and energy-efficient machines that protect humans and animals from mosquitoes.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Most people assume that animals use their tails to swat at bugs, but we wanted to know how they do it,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/hu\u0022\u003EDavid Hu\u003C\/a\u003E, the Georgia Tech professor who supervised the study. \u0026ldquo;They basically have two methods of attack: the swish and swat.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESwishing at one meter per second, an animal creates enough wind to keep nearly 50 percent of mosquitoes from landing on its rear end.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech team determined that success rate by building their own mammal tail simulator. They placed a fan atop an acrylic cylinder filled with 10 mosquitoes, then spun the machine at different speeds to see how many insects reached the top.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Running the fan faster than an animal\u0026rsquo;s tail kept even more mosquitoes away, but it takes a lot more energy to spin that quickly,\u0026rdquo; said Marguerite Matherne, a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emechanical engineering\u003C\/a\u003E Ph.D. student who led the study. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s more efficient to swing their tails at just the right speed.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe swish isn\u0026rsquo;t perfect, with about 15 percent of the biters finding their way to the animal\u0026rsquo;s skin. That\u0026rsquo;s why they also rely on the swat, the second layer of defense.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMatherne went to Zoo Atlanta and pointed a video camera at elephants, zebras and giraffes. She also went to a horse farm. With hours of footage of animals\u0026rsquo; backsides, she noticed that their tails have two parts that sway back and forth: the top part is bone and skin, and the bottom part is mostly hair. She found that the researchers could accurately model the tail as a double pendulum. That\u0026rsquo;s what the mammals use to accurately swat mosquitoes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our model shows that the swatting movement of both segments of the tail can be reproduced by only controlling the hinge at the top. Roboticists have struggled to accurately control double pendulums,\u0026rdquo; said Matherne. \u0026ldquo;By adjusting the torque during our simulations, we could control both movements.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAn elephant\u0026rsquo;s tail weighs about 25 pounds. To lift it up and snap it sideways in 1.3 seconds, the huge animal must generate the same amount of torque as the engine of a sedan \u0026mdash; 350 Newton meters to be exact.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHumans have used some kind of fly deterrent for centuries. Matherne and Hu\u0026rsquo;s paper also looked at one of the more recent devices \u0026mdash; the ShooAway \u0026mdash; that uses two spinning arms to thwart flying mosquitos. The Georgia Tech team replaced their fan with a ShooAway and found that the product is just as effective as an animal\u0026rsquo;s tail, although it spins faster than necessary.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHu has previously studied how dogs shake to stay dry, how frogs use their sticky tongues to grab prey and how mosquitoes fly in the rain. He chose animal tails after hearing Matherne talk about being hit in the face while riding horses as a child.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;She\u0026rsquo;s been swatted enough times to know that horses can deliver a pretty good sting,\u0026rdquo; said Hu. \u0026ldquo;We wanted to know why the swat had to be so powerful. It turns out they swish their tails at a tip speed that generates a small air flow, then swat away those that manage to land by activating only the muscles at the base of the tail.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe paper, \u0026ldquo;Mammals repel mosquitoes with their tails,\u0026rdquo; is published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation through award PHY-1255127.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Marguerite E. Matherne, Kasey Cockerill, Yiyang Zhou, Mihir Bellamkonda, and David L. Hu, \u0026ldquo;Mammals repel mosquitoes with their tails,\u0026rdquo; (Journal of Experimental Biology 2018) http:\/\/jeb.biologists.org\/content\/221\/20\/jeb178905\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Jason Maderer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Findings could help engineers build better devices to repel mosquitoes"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study shows how animals use their tails to keep mosquitoes at bay by combining a swish that blows away most of the biting bugs and a swat that kills the ones that get through.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study shows how animals use their tails to keep mosquitoes at bay."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-10-16 17:38:29","changed_gmt":"2018-10-16 19:02:16","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"612817":{"id":"612817","type":"image","title":"Mammal tail simulator","body":null,"created":"1539710617","gmt_created":"2018-10-16 17:23:37","changed":"1539710617","gmt_changed":"2018-10-16 17:23:37","alt":"Researchers with mammal tail 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simulator","file":{"fid":"233298","name":"animal-tails-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/animal-tails-003.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/animal-tails-003.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":468047,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/animal-tails-003.jpg?itok=s27OmY1Y"}},"612820":{"id":"612820","type":"image","title":"Horse swatting an insect","body":null,"created":"1539710878","gmt_created":"2018-10-16 17:27:58","changed":"1539710878","gmt_changed":"2018-10-16 17:27:58","alt":"Horse swatting an insect","file":{"fid":"233299","name":"Horse_swat.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Horse_swat.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Horse_swat.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":456468,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Horse_swat.jpg?itok=_F1jbRZx"}},"612822":{"id":"612822","type":"image","title":"Mosquito close-up","body":null,"created":"1539711249","gmt_created":"2018-10-16 17:34:09","changed":"1539711249","gmt_changed":"2018-10-16 17:34:09","alt":"Mosquito in horse tail","file":{"fid":"233300","name":"mosquito-tail.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mosquito-tail.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mosquito-tail.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":273215,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mosquito-tail.jpg?itok=Ojvl5HYb"}}},"media_ids":["612817","612819","612820","612822"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"35131","name":"mosquitoes"},{"id":"170499","name":"animal"},{"id":"179398","name":"animal tail"},{"id":"7470","name":"insect"},{"id":"179401","name":"insect repellent"},{"id":"297","name":"David Hu"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"611727":{"#nid":"611727","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Looking Back in Time to Watch for a Different Kind of Black Hole","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBlack holes form when stars die, allowing the matter in them to collapse into an extremely dense object from which not even light can escape. Astronomers theorize that massive black holes could also form at the birth of a galaxy, but so far nobody has been able to look far enough back in time to observe the conditions creating these direct collapse black holes (DCBH).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in 2021, might be able look far enough back into the early Universe to see a galaxy hosting a nascent massive black hole. Now, a simulation done by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology has suggested what astronomers should look for if they search the skies for a DCBH in its early stages.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe first-of-its-kind simulation, reported September 10 in the journal Nature Astronomy, suggests that direct formation of these black holes would be accompanied by specific kinds of intense radiation, including X-rays and ultraviolet emission that would shift to infrared by the time they reach the telescope. The black holes would also likely spawn massive metal-free stars, a finding that was unexpected.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was supported by NASA, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the National Science Foundation, the Southern Regional Education Board and two Hubble theory grants.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There are supermassive black holes at the center of many large galaxies, but we haven\u0026rsquo;t been able to observe the way they form or how they got that large,\u0026rdquo; said Kirk S. S. Barrow, the paper\u0026rsquo;s first author and a recent Ph.D. graduate of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics. \u0026ldquo;Scientists have theorized that these supermassive black holes could have formed at the birth of a galaxy, and we wanted to turn these theoretical predictions into observational predictions that could be seen by the James Webb Space Telescope.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDCBH formation would be initiated by the collapse of a large cloud of gas during the early formation of a galaxy, said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/john-wise\u0022\u003EJohn H. Wise\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics \u003C\/a\u003Eand the Center for Relativistic Astrophysics. But before astronomers could hope to catch this formation, they would have to know what to look for in the spectra that the telescope could detect, which is principally infrared.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe formation of a black hole could require a million years or so, but to envision what that might have looked like, former postdoctoral researcher Aycin Aykutalp \u0026ndash; now at Los Alamos National Laboratory \u0026ndash; used the National Science Foundation-supported Stampede Supercomputer at the University of Texas at Austin to run a simulation focusing on the aftermath of DCBH formation. The simulation used physics first principles such as gravity, radiation and hydrodynamics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If the galaxy forms first and then the black hole forms in the center, that would have one type of signature,\u0026rdquo; said Wise, who is the Dunn Family Associate Professor in the School of Physics. \u0026ldquo;If the black hole formed first, would that have a different signature? We wanted to find out whether there would be any physical differences, and if so, whether that would translate into differences we could observe with the James Webb Space Telescope.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe simulations provided information such as densities and temperatures, and Barrow converted that data into predictions for what might be observed through the telescope \u0026ndash; the light likely to be observed and how it would affected by gas and dust it would have encountered on its long journey to Earth. \u0026ldquo;At the end, we had something that an observer could hopefully see,\u0026rdquo; Barrow said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBlack holes take about a million years to form, a blip in galactic time. In the DCBH simulation, that first step involves gas collapsing into a supermassive star as much as 100,000 times more massive than our sun. The star then undergoes gravitational instability and collapses into itself to form a massive black hole. Radiation from the black hole then triggers the formation of stars over period of about 500,000 years, the simulation suggested.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The stars of this first generation are usually much more massive, so they live for a shorter period of time,\u0026rdquo; Wise said. \u0026ldquo;In the first five to six million years after their formation, they die and go supernova. That\u0026rsquo;s another one of the signatures that we report in this study.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter the supernovae form, the black hole quiets down but creates a struggle between electromagnetic emissions \u0026ndash; ultraviolet light and X-rays trying to escape \u0026ndash; and the black hole\u0026rsquo;s own gravity. \u0026ldquo;These cycles go on for another 20 or 30 million years,\u0026rdquo; Wise said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBlack holes are relatively common in the universe, so the hope is that with enough snapshots, astronomers could catch one being born, and that could lead to a new understanding of how galaxies evolve over time.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStar formation around the DCBH was unexpected, but in hindsight, it makes sense, Barrow said. The ionization produced by the black holes would produce photochemical reactions able to trigger the formation of the stars. Metal-free stars tend to be larger than others because the absence of a metal such as iron prevents fragmentation. But because they are so large, these stars produce tremendous amounts of radiation and end their lives in supernovae, he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is one of the last great mysteries of the early universe,\u0026rdquo; Barrow said. \u0026ldquo;We hope this study provides a good step toward figuring out how these supermassive black holes formed at the birth of a galaxy.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by a Southern Regional Education Board doctoral fellowship, a LANL LDRD Exploratory Research Grant 20170317ER, National Science Foundation (NSF) grants AST-1333360 and AST-1614333, Hubble theory grants HST-AR-13895 and HST-AR-14326, and NASA grant NNX-17AG23G.\u0026nbsp;Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors\u0026nbsp;and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring organizations.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Kirk S. S. Barrow, Aycin Aykutalp \u0026amp; John H. Wise, \u0026ldquo;Observational signatures of massive black hole formation in the early Universe,\u0026rdquo; (Nature Astronomy, 2018). \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41550-018-0569-y\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41550-018-0569-y\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBlack holes form when stars die, allowing the matter in them to collapse into an extremely dense object from which not even light can escape. Astronomers theorize that massive black holes could also form at the birth of a galaxy, but so far nobody has been able to look far enough back in time to observe the conditions creating these direct collapse black holes (DCBH).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new simulation may help astronomers watch for signals indicating the formation of black holes in early galaxies."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-09-20 15:16:11","changed_gmt":"2018-09-20 15:25:17","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-09-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-09-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"611723":{"id":"611723","type":"image","title":"Heated gas spiraling from a black hole","body":null,"created":"1537455721","gmt_created":"2018-09-20 15:02:01","changed":"1537455721","gmt_changed":"2018-09-20 15:02:01","alt":"Simulation showing heated gas spiraling into a black hole","file":{"fid":"232876","name":"GTpress2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GTpress2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/GTpress2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":377305,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/GTpress2.jpg?itok=dS04TRQa"}},"611724":{"id":"611724","type":"image","title":"Simulation of direct collapse black hole","body":null,"created":"1537455901","gmt_created":"2018-09-20 15:05:01","changed":"1537455901","gmt_changed":"2018-09-20 15:05:01","alt":"Simulation of direct collapse black hole","file":{"fid":"232877","name":"direct-collapse.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/direct-collapse.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/direct-collapse.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":132254,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/direct-collapse.jpg?itok=HtkwhVRh"}}},"media_ids":["611723","611724"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"60491","name":"Black hole"},{"id":"179150","name":"direct collapse black hole"},{"id":"4188","name":"astronomy"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"609817":{"#nid":"609817","#data":{"type":"news","title":"More Workers Working Might Not Get More Work Done, Ants (and Robots) Show","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor ants and robots operating in confined spaces like tunnels, having more workers does not necessarily mean getting more work done. Just as too many cooks in a kitchen get in each other\u0026rsquo;s way, having too many robots in tunnels creates clogs that can bring the work to a grinding halt.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA study published August 17 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E shows that in fire ant colonies, a small number of workers does most of the digging, leaving the other ants to look somewhat less than industrious. For digging nest tunnels, this less busy approach gets the job done without ant traffic jams \u0026ndash; ensuring smooth excavation flow. Researchers found that applying the ant optimization strategy to autonomous robots avoids mechanized clogs and gets the work done with the least amount of energy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOptimizing the activity of autonomous underground robots could be useful for tasks such as disaster recovery, mining or even digging underground shelters for future planetary explorers. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation\u0026rsquo;s Physics of Living Systems program, the Army Research Office and the Dunn Family Professorship.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We noticed that if you have 150 ants in a container, only 10 or 15 of them will actually be digging in the tunnels at any given time,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;We wanted to know why, and to understand how basic laws of physics might be at work. We found a functional, community benefit to this seeming inequality in the work environment. Without it, digging just doesn\u0026rsquo;t get done.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy monitoring the activities of 30 ants that had been painted to identify each individual, Goldman and colleagues, including former postdoctoral fellow Daria Monaenkova and Ph.D. student Bahnisikha Dutta, discovered that just 30 percent of the ants were doing 70 percent of the work \u0026ndash; an inequality that seems to keep the work humming right along. However, that is apparently not because the busiest ants are the most qualified. When the researchers removed the five hardest working ants from the nest container, they saw no productivity decline as the remaining 25 continued to dig.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHaving a nest is essential to fire ants, and if a colony is displaced \u0026ndash; by a flood, for instance \u0026ndash; the first thing the ants will do upon reaching dry land is start digging. Their tunnels are narrow, barely wide enough for two ants to pass, a design feature hypothesized to give locomotion advantages in the developing vertical tunnels. Still, the ants know how to avoid creating clogs by retreating from tunnels already occupied by other workers \u0026ndash; and sometimes by not doing anything much at all.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo avoid clogs and maximize digging in the absence of a leader, robots built by Goldman\u0026rsquo;s master\u0026rsquo;s degree student Vadim Linevich were programmed to capture aspects of the dawdling and retreating ants. The researchers found that as many as three robots could work effectively in a narrow horizontal tunnel digging 3D printed magnetic plastic balls that simulated sticky soil. If a fourth robot entered the tunnel, however, that produced a clog that stopped the work entirely.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When we put four robots into a confined environment and tried to get them to dig, they immediately jammed up,\u0026rdquo; said Goldman, who is the Dunn Family Professor in the School of Physics. \u0026ldquo;While observing the ants, we were surprised to see that individuals would sometimes go to the tunnel and if they encountered even a small amount of clog, they\u0026rsquo;d just turn around and retreat. When we put those rules into combinations with the robots, that created a good strategy for digging rapidly with low amounts of energy use per robot.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EExperimentally, the research team tested three potential behaviors for the robots, which they termed \u0026ldquo;eager,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;reversal\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;lazy.\u0026rdquo; Using the eager strategy, all four robots plunged into the work \u0026ndash; and quickly jammed up. In the reversal behavior, robots gave up and turned around when they encountered delays reaching the work site. In the lazy strategy, dawdling was encouraged.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Eager is the best strategy if you only have three robots, but if you add a fourth, that behavior tanks because they get in each other\u0026rsquo;s way,\u0026rdquo; said Goldman. \u0026ldquo;Reversal produces relatively sane and sensible digging. It is not the fastest strategy, but there are no jams. If you look at energy consumed, lazy is the best course.\u0026rdquo; Analysis techniques based on glassy and supercooled fluids, led by former Ph.D. student Jeffrey Aguilar, gave insight into how the different strategies mitigated and prevented clog-forming clusters.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo understand what was going on and experiment with the parameters, Goldman and colleagues \u0026ndash; including Will Savoie, a Georgia Tech Ph.D. student, Research Assistant Hui-Shun Kuan and Professor Meredith Betterton from the Department of Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder \u0026ndash; used computer modeling known as cellular automata that has similarities to the way in which traffic engineers model the movement of cars and trucks on a highway.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;On highways, too few cars don\u0026rsquo;t provide much flow, while too many cars create a jam,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said. \u0026ldquo;There is an intermediate level where things are best, and that is called the fundamental diagram. From our modeling, we learned that the ants are working right at the peak of the diagram. The right mix of unequal work distributions and reversal behaviors has the benefit of keeping them moving at maximum efficiency without jamming.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe ability to avoid clumping seems to meet a need that many systems have, Betterton noted. \u0026ldquo;The ants work in a sweet spot where they can dig quickly without too many clogs. We see the same physics in ant digging, simulation models, and digging by robots, which suggests that for groups of animals that need to excavate, avoiding clogs is crucial.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers used robots designed and built for the research, but they were no match for the capabilities of the ants. The ants are flexible and robust, able to squeeze past each other in confines that would cause the inflexible robots to jam. In some cases, the robots in Goldman\u0026rsquo;s lab even damaged each other while jostling into position for digging.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research findings could be useful for space exploration where tunnels might be needed to quickly shield humans from approaching dust storms or other threats. \u0026ldquo;If you were a robot swarm on Mars and needed to dig deeply in a hurry to get away from dust storms, this strategy might help provide shelter without having perfect information about what everybody was doing,\u0026rdquo; Goldman explained.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond the potential robotics applications, the work provides insights into the complex social skills of ants and adds to the understanding of active matter.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Ants that live in complex subterranean environments have to develop sophisticated social rules to avoid the bad things that can happen when you have a lot of individuals in a crowded environment,\u0026rdquo; Goldman said. \u0026ldquo;We are also contributing to understanding the physics of task-oriented active matter, putting more experimental knowledge into phenomenon such as swarms.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the research included Michael Goodisman, associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Biological Sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation through grant numbers PoLS-0957659, PHY-1205878 and DMR-1551095 as well as a grant W911NF-13-1-0347 from the Army Research Office, and the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or Army Research Office.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: J. Aguilar, et. al., \u0026ldquo;Collective clog control: optimizing traffic flow in confined biological and robophysical excavation,\u0026rdquo; (Science 2018).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor ants and robots operating in confined spaces like tunnels, having more workers does not necessarily mean getting more work done. Just as too many cooks in a kitchen get in each other\u0026rsquo;s way, having too many robots in tunnels creates clogs that can bring the work to a grinding halt.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study shows that ants have a lot to teach robots about working in confined spaces."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-08-16 13:29:55","changed_gmt":"2018-08-17 14:32:02","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-08-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-08-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"609802":{"id":"609802","type":"image","title":"Ants digging tunnels","body":null,"created":"1534424710","gmt_created":"2018-08-16 13:05:10","changed":"1534424710","gmt_changed":"2018-08-16 13:05:10","alt":"Ants digging tunnels in simulated soil","file":{"fid":"232231","name":"ants-digging-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ants-digging-003.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ants-digging-003.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":323606,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ants-digging-003.jpg?itok=Psb8_Ygw"}},"609805":{"id":"609805","type":"image","title":"Researchers with excavating robots","body":null,"created":"1534424847","gmt_created":"2018-08-16 13:07:27","changed":"1534424847","gmt_changed":"2018-08-16 13:07:27","alt":"Dan Goldman and Bahnisikha Dutta with robots","file":{"fid":"232232","name":"dan-goldman-006.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dan-goldman-006.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dan-goldman-006.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":824218,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dan-goldman-006.jpg?itok=r63iaUd9"}},"609807":{"id":"609807","type":"image","title":"Autonomous robotic digger","body":null,"created":"1534425020","gmt_created":"2018-08-16 13:10:20","changed":"1534425020","gmt_changed":"2018-08-16 13:10:20","alt":"Autonomous robotic digger","file":{"fid":"232234","name":"robot-digger-001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robot-digger-001.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robot-digger-001.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":615225,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robot-digger-001.jpg?itok=wTP3MjvQ"}},"609808":{"id":"609808","type":"image","title":"Painting ants","body":null,"created":"1534425133","gmt_created":"2018-08-16 13:12:13","changed":"1534425133","gmt_changed":"2018-08-16 13:12:13","alt":"Ant being painted so it could be tracked","file":{"fid":"232235","name":"ant-painting2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ant-painting2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ant-painting2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":374554,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ant-painting2.jpg?itok=ogB0vnJi"}},"609812":{"id":"609812","type":"image","title":"3D magnetic particles","body":null,"created":"1534425363","gmt_created":"2018-08-16 13:16:03","changed":"1534425363","gmt_changed":"2018-08-16 13:16:03","alt":"Image shows 3D magnetic balls used to simulate soil","file":{"fid":"232238","name":"magnetic-particles-007.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/magnetic-particles-007.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/magnetic-particles-007.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":347338,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/magnetic-particles-007.jpg?itok=kcQXWUGA"}},"609811":{"id":"609811","type":"image","title":"Robot traffic","body":null,"created":"1534425241","gmt_created":"2018-08-16 13:14:01","changed":"1534425241","gmt_changed":"2018-08-16 13:14:01","alt":"Robots moving in confined spaces","file":{"fid":"232236","name":"robot-traffic2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robot-traffic2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robot-traffic2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":549537,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robot-traffic2.jpg?itok=y3IVmgmY"}}},"media_ids":["609802","609805","609807","609808","609812","609811"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"170450","name":"robophysics"},{"id":"2352","name":"robots"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"20471","name":"Ants"},{"id":"66511","name":"confined spaces"},{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"7264","name":"autonomous"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"607671":{"#nid":"607671","#data":{"type":"news","title":"IceCube Neutrinos Point to Long-Sought Cosmic Ray Accelerator","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn international team of scientists, including two researchers from Georgia Tech, has found the first evidence of a source of high-energy cosmic neutrinos, ghostly subatomic particles that can travel unhindered for billions of light years from the most extreme environments in the universe to Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe observations, made by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the Amundsen\u0026ndash;Scott South Pole Station and in coordination with telescopes around the globe and in Earth\u0026rsquo;s orbit, help resolve a more than a century-old riddle about what sends subatomic particles such as neutrinos and cosmic rays speeding through the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince they were first detected over one hundred years ago, cosmic rays\u0026mdash;highly energetic particles that continuously rain down on Earth from space\u0026mdash;have posed an enduring mystery: What creates and launches these particles across such vast distances? Where do they come from?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause cosmic rays are charged particles, their paths cannot be traced directly back to their sources due to the magnetic fields that fill space and warp their trajectories. But the powerful cosmic accelerators that produce them will also produce neutrinos. Neutrinos are uncharged particles, unaffected by even the most powerful magnetic field. Because they rarely interact with matter and have almost no mass\u0026mdash;hence their sobriquet \u0026ldquo;ghost particle\u0026rdquo;\u0026mdash;neutrinos travel nearly undisturbed from their accelerators, giving scientists an almost direct pointer to their source.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETwo papers published July 13 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E have for the first time provided evidence for a known blazar as a source of high-energy neutrinos detected by the National Science Foundation-supported IceCube observatory. This blazar, designated by astronomers as TXS 0506+056, was first singled out following a neutrino alert sent by IceCube on September 22, 2017.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The evidence for the observation of the first known source of high-energy neutrinos and cosmic rays is compelling,\u0026rdquo; said Francis Halzen, a University of Wisconsin\u0026ndash;Madison professor of physics and principal investigator for the IceCube Neutrino Observatory.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The era of multi-messenger astrophysics is here. Each messenger gives us a more complete understanding of the universe and important new insights into the most powerful objects and events in the sky,\u0026rdquo; said NSF Director France C\u0026oacute;rdova. \u0026ldquo;Such breakthroughs are only possible through a long-term commitment to fundamental research and investment in superb research facilities.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA blazar is a galaxy with a super-massive, rapidly spinning black hole at its core. A signature feature of blazars is that twin jets of light and elementary particles, one of which is pointing to Earth, are emitted from the poles along the axis of the black hole\u0026rsquo;s rotation. This blazar is situated in the night sky just off the left shoulder of the constellation Orion and is about four billion light years from Earth.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Scientifically, this is very good news,\u0026rdquo; said Ignacio Taboada, an associate professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics and member of the Center for Relativistic Astrophysics also at Georgia Tech. As leader of the \u0026ldquo;Transients Science Working Group\u0026rdquo; within IceCube, he oversaw all the studies that inquired on the correlation TXS 0506+056\u0026rsquo;s gamma ray flare and the neutrino alert of September 22, 2017. \u0026ldquo;For years, we\u0026rsquo;ve had a long list of potential sources for high-energy neutrinos. Now we have a specific source \u0026ndash; blazars \u0026ndash; that we can look at very carefully.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESee the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/ghostly-visitors\u0022\u003Efull feature article and video\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn international team of scientists, including two researchers from Georgia Tech, has found the first evidence of a source of high-energy cosmic neutrinos, ghostly subatomic particles that can travel unhindered for billions of light years from the most extreme environments in the universe to Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"An international team of scientists has found the first evidence of a source of high-energy cosmic neutrinos."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2018-07-11 23:34:15","changed_gmt":"2018-07-12 20:48:27","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-07-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-07-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"607668":{"id":"607668","type":"image","title":"IceCube digital optical module","body":null,"created":"1531351488","gmt_created":"2018-07-11 23:24:48","changed":"1531351488","gmt_changed":"2018-07-11 23:24:48","alt":"Ignacio Taboada and digital optical module","file":{"fid":"231800","name":"taboada-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/taboada-003.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/taboada-003.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1154639,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/taboada-003.jpg?itok=Y8nKUQCY"}},"607688":{"id":"607688","type":"image","title":"IceCube Observatory at night","body":null,"created":"1531411027","gmt_created":"2018-07-12 15:57:07","changed":"1531411027","gmt_changed":"2018-07-12 15:57:07","alt":"IceCube observatory","file":{"fid":"231810","name":"MartinW6-cropped.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MartinW6-cropped.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MartinW6-cropped.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2102990,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/MartinW6-cropped.jpg?itok=I-ddqwGN"}}},"media_ids":["607668","607688"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"30741","name":"IceCube"},{"id":"178529","name":"IceCube Neutrino Observatory"},{"id":"30751","name":"neutrino"},{"id":"30801","name":"cosmic ray"},{"id":"60491","name":"Black hole"},{"id":"178528","name":"blazar"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"606647":{"#nid":"606647","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Spooky Quantum Particle Pairs Fly Like Weird Curveballs","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECurvy baseball pitches have surprising things in common with quantum particles described in a \u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/journals.aps.org\/pra\/abstract\/10.1103\/PhysRevA.97.053601\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Enew physics study\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E, though the latter fly much more weirdly.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn fact, ultracold paired particles called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/simple.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fermion\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Efermions\u003C\/a\u003E must behave even weirder than physicists previously thought, according to theoretical physicists from the Georgia Institute of Technology, who mathematically studied their flight patterns. The researchers even predicted that the particles can\u0026nbsp;act like different quantum balls called bosons to mimic the manner that photons, or particles of light, fly.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlready, flying quantum particles were renowned for their weirdness. To understand why, start with\u0026nbsp;similarities to a baseball then add significant differences.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA pitcher imparts spin, momentum, and energy to a baseball when throwing a curveball, a change-up, or a slider. Fermions\u0026rsquo; funny flights are likewise carved by spins, momenta, and energies, but also by powerful quantum eccentricities like entanglement, which Albert Einstein once called \u0026ldquo;spooky action at a distance\u0026rdquo; between quantum particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA simplified explanation of these ultracold paired particles and their odd flights is below.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELight-matter modeling\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThose influences all combine\u0026nbsp;to give fermions a trajectory repertoire much odder than that of any master baseball pitcher, and the new study maps it out and opens new ways to observe it experimentally. The Georgia Tech team took the offbeat approach of adding quantum optical -- or light-like \u0026ndash; ideas to their predictive calculations of these specks of matter and arrived at eyebrow-raising, insightful results.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The particle behavior we predicted is just schizophrenic,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/uzi-landman\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EUzi Landman, Regents\u0026rsquo; and Institute Professor and F.E. Callaway Endowed Chair\u003C\/a\u003E in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMathematical and theoretical details can be found in the study\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/journals.aps.org\/pra\/abstract\/10.1103\/PhysRevA.97.053601\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ein the journal\u003Cem\u003E Physical Review A\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;which Landman, first author Benedikt Brandt, who is a graduate research assistant, and senior scientist Constantine Yannouleas published on May 4, 2018. Their research was \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/463871\/entering-strange-world-ultra-cold-chemistry\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Efunded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFlying fermions explained\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETracing quantum curveballs is counterintuitive by nature with concepts like\u0026nbsp;fermions, bosons, spins, spooky entanglement, and particle-wave duality. So, let\u0026rsquo;s go step-by-step to understand them and\u0026nbsp;the study\u0026rsquo;s insights.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis\u0026nbsp;ballgame revolves around fermion pairs. Fermions can be subatomic particles or whole atoms. In this case, the physicists modeled using atoms.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe term fermion refers to quantum-statistical\u0026nbsp;properties that the particle has as opposed the properties of\u0026nbsp;its counterpart particle called a boson, in particular, the particle\u0026rsquo;s spin, which is called half-integer for fermions and full-integer for bosons. (These spins aren\u0026rsquo;t exactly like those on a ball. For more, see: \u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.dummies.com\/education\/science\/quantum-physics\/fermions-and-bosons\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EFermions and Bosons for Dummies\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E.)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Photons and Higgs bosons are examples of bosons,\u0026quot; Landman said. \u0026quot;Bosons are gregarious: Two or more bosons can share the exact same space. This allows many of them to be superimposed onto each other on the same tiny spot.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Fermions, on the other hand, are standoffish. They lay\u0026nbsp;claim to their own space, and don\u0026#39;t share it with other particles. Fermions can be stacked upon each other but do not occupy the same space.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EElectrons, protons, neutrons, and many atoms are common examples of fermions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELaser-tweezing baseballs\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe theoretical study envisions two fermionic atoms starting out carefully held next to each other by two pairs of \u0026ldquo;tweezers\u0026rdquo; made of intersecting laser beams, as is\u0026nbsp;actually done in applicable physics experiments. In the study\u0026#39;s theoretical setup, lasers and special magnetic fields would also be used to slow the fermions to a near halt, making them \u0026ldquo;ultracold\u0026rdquo; at 0.000000001 degrees Kelvin, or -273.15 degrees Celsius (-459.67 degrees Fahrenheit).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0026rsquo;s a sliver above absolute zero, the lowest possible temperature in the universe, and particles that cold do strange things.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A particle\u0026rsquo;s motion is usually frantic, but the cooling slows it down almost to a stand-still,\u0026rdquo; said Landman, who is also director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/projects\/ihpcl\/people\/projects\/cms.html\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Center for Computational Materials Science\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;And these particles also have wave properties, and at that temperature, the wavelength grows enormously long.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The waves become microns in size. That would be like a pebble growing to be a third of the size of this country. When that happens, the atom actually becomes visible under an optical microscope.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe inflated size makes it easier for researchers to know the two particles\u0026rsquo; starting locations. When they turn the laser tweezers off, the fermions fly away. The particles\u0026rsquo; wave properties also have a lot to do with their weird flights.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A particle in motion will act as a projectile under certain circumstances. But in others, it will behave like a wave,\u0026rdquo; Landman said. \u0026ldquo;We call it the quantum world duality.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETogether or apart\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you set up two detectors at different positions but the same distance from the particle pair, how often the two fly into the same detector or how often they fly into separate ones says a lot about those particles,\u0026rdquo; Landman said. \u0026ldquo;And that\u0026rsquo;s where our weird findings come in.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFermions are expected to fly differently from\u0026nbsp;bosons, but the theoretical physicists\u0026rsquo; study on fermions revises this idea. Depending on the degree of quantum entanglement between the two fermions before they\u0026rsquo;re released and depending on their energy level, they can act like fermions \u003Cem\u003Eor \u003C\/em\u003Eact like bosons.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This adds new weirdness to the already established schizophrenic particle-wave duality,\u0026rdquo; Landman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A pair of photons (which are bosons) fly to the same place. They stay as a pair,\u0026rdquo; Landman said. \u0026ldquo;They\u0026rsquo;re social animals, and you find them either both in the one detector or both in the other. We call this phenomenon \u0026lsquo;bunching.\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWeirdo flight paths\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFermions are often expected to do the opposite, referred to as anti-bunching, but according to the study, how they fly depends on whether or not they have spooky interaction and, if so, whether the interaction is attractive or repulsive.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If they\u0026rsquo;re interacting, and depending on the starting energy level, we predict that they may do strange things when they fly,\u0026rdquo; Landman said. \u0026ldquo;That\u0026rsquo;s new.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;At the base energy level, called ground state, our two fermions that interact with ultra-strong repulsion behave fermionically, meaning they avoid each other. Now, if they interact with strong attraction, they aggregate the way bosons do,\u0026rdquo; Landman said. \u0026ldquo;So far, all as expected.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut bumping up the trapped particles\u0026rsquo; level of energy, or excitation, via an additional laser or a magnetic field, would appear to heighten the particles\u0026rsquo; weirdness. The excitation levels can twist the rules of what interactions do to a fermion\u0026rsquo;s flight, according to the theoretical study.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor example, the above mentioned fermionic behavior usually connected with strong repulsive interaction could turn bosonic, according to the physicists\u0026rsquo; calculations. In other words, the two particles would fly to the same detector the way bosons do.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOrderly quantum schizophrenia\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;As crazy as all this looks, there appears to be strong reliability in these behaviors that could even be predictably and practically manipulated,\u0026rdquo; Landman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs with a pitcher who finesses a screwball\u0026rsquo;s path,\u0026nbsp;physicists could determine a fermion\u0026rsquo;s weird flight using\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mathematical_formulation_of_quantum_mechanics\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Equantum mechanical formulation\u003C\/a\u003E,\u0026nbsp;advanced computational simulation, and experimentation, the study said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It looks like you may even be able to engineer what this quantum weirdness does,\u0026rdquo; Landman said. \u0026quot;If you know particle states reliably, you may be able to use them as a resource for quantum computations and information storage and retrieval.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003ELike this article?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/subscribe\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGet our email newsletter here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research was funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (award # FA9550-418 15-1-0519). Findings and opinions are those of the authors and not necessarily of the sponsoring agency. Georgia Tech\u0026#39;s Brice Zimmerman contributed baseball background to this report.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEmail:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EKnow those particles that can be in two places at the same time and are not just particles but also waves? They appear to move in\u0026nbsp;even weirder ways than previously thought. Theoretical physicists at Georgia Tech applied a week\u0026#39;s worth of extreme computing power to\u0026nbsp;predict the movements of fermions by including quantum optics, or light-like, ideas in their mathematical, theoretical modeling of how these specks of ultracold\u0026nbsp;matter take flight.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"It\u0027s well-known that quantum particles are just plain weird, but some now appear much weirder than previously thought."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2018-05-31 17:28:53","changed_gmt":"2018-06-26 15:17:33","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-06-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-06-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"606646":{"id":"606646","type":"image","title":"NASA ultracold matter experiment on the ISS","body":null,"created":"1527786758","gmt_created":"2018-05-31 17:12:38","changed":"1527870635","gmt_changed":"2018-06-01 16:30:35","alt":"","file":{"fid":"231368","name":"NASA ultracold.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/NASA%20ultracold.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/NASA%20ultracold.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":230073,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/NASA%20ultracold.jpg?itok=cEgSk2-d"}},"606680":{"id":"606680","type":"image","title":"Uzi Landman Regents\u0027 Professor in Physics in Computer Racks","body":null,"created":"1527869268","gmt_created":"2018-06-01 16:07:48","changed":"1527870827","gmt_changed":"2018-06-01 16:33:47","alt":"","file":{"fid":"231384","name":"Uzi12.sm_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Uzi12.sm_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Uzi12.sm_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":430528,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Uzi12.sm_.jpg?itok=io9iWjTo"}},"606644":{"id":"606644","type":"image","title":"Wave matter","body":null,"created":"1527785677","gmt_created":"2018-05-31 16:54:37","changed":"1527870717","gmt_changed":"2018-06-01 16:31:57","alt":"","file":{"fid":"231366","name":"Wave matter.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Wave%20matter.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Wave%20matter.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":646246,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Wave%20matter.jpeg?itok=OIq8x47r"}},"606682":{"id":"606682","type":"image","title":"Trapped ultracold fermions in double-wells","body":null,"created":"1527869770","gmt_created":"2018-06-01 16:16:10","changed":"1527871099","gmt_changed":"2018-06-01 16:38:19","alt":"","file":{"fid":"231386","name":"DOUBLE WELL_ HIGH RESOLUTION  copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DOUBLE%20WELL_%20HIGH%20RESOLUTION%20%20copy.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/DOUBLE%20WELL_%20HIGH%20RESOLUTION%20%20copy.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1004294,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/DOUBLE%20WELL_%20HIGH%20RESOLUTION%20%20copy.jpg?itok=hMtZY2uz"}},"606645":{"id":"606645","type":"image","title":"particles gone to wave form","body":null,"created":"1527786373","gmt_created":"2018-05-31 17:06:13","changed":"1527870012","gmt_changed":"2018-06-01 16:20:12","alt":"","file":{"fid":"231367","name":"Matter wave.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Matter%20wave.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Matter%20wave.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":26553,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Matter%20wave.jpg?itok=uTUQSnfA"}},"606681":{"id":"606681","type":"image","title":"Physics Regents\u0027 Professor Uzi Landman","body":null,"created":"1527869464","gmt_created":"2018-06-01 16:11:04","changed":"1527870870","gmt_changed":"2018-06-01 16:34:30","alt":"","file":{"fid":"231385","name":"Uzi5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Uzi5.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Uzi5.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":636995,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Uzi5.jpg?itok=BIvT6OB3"}}},"media_ids":["606646","606680","606644","606682","606645","606681"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"178145","name":"ultracold"},{"id":"178146","name":"cold matter"},{"id":"178147","name":"fermions"},{"id":"3278","name":"Bosons"},{"id":"7566","name":"photons"},{"id":"178148","name":"Higgs"},{"id":"7292","name":"light"},{"id":"8174","name":"matter"},{"id":"178149","name":"computational quantum physics"},{"id":"1744","name":"quantum"},{"id":"178150","name":"particle spin"},{"id":"178151","name":"particle-wave duality"},{"id":"178152","name":"full-integer spin"},{"id":"178153","name":"half-integer spin"},{"id":"178154","name":"momentum correlations"},{"id":"178155","name":"Houng-Ou-Mandel"},{"id":"178156","name":"double-well-trapped"},{"id":"83201","name":"Hubbard"},{"id":"178157","name":"Hamiltonian"},{"id":"178158","name":"fundamental symmetries"},{"id":"178159","name":"bunching"},{"id":"178160","name":"antibunching"},{"id":"178161","name":"interaction dependent interference patterns"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"603890":{"#nid":"603890","#data":{"type":"news","title":"A Future Colorfully Lit by the Mystifying Physics of Paint-On Semiconductors","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E[Yes, HOIP quantum properties look extremely robust, and their physics are mystifying]\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESome novel materials that sound too good to be true turn out to be true and good. An emergent class of semiconductors, which could affordably light up our future with nuanced colors emanating from lasers, lamps, and even window glass, could be the latest example.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThese materials are very radiant, easy to process from solution, and energy-efficient. The nagging question of whether hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (HOIPs) could really work just received a very affirmative answer \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/journals.aps.org\/prmaterials\/abstract\/10.1103\/PhysRevMaterials.2.034001\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein a new international study\u003C\/a\u003E led by physical chemists at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith significant effort, researchers succeeded in testing an existing HOIP and observed a \u0026ldquo;richness\u0026rdquo; of semiconducting physics created by what could be described as electrons dancing on chemical underpinnings that wobble like a funhouse floor in an earthquake. That bucks conventional wisdom because established \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/whatis.techtarget.com\/definition\/semiconductor\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Esemiconductors\u003C\/a\u003E rely upon rigidly stable chemical foundations, that is to say, quieter molecular frameworks, to produce the desired quantum properties.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We don\u0026rsquo;t know yet how it works to have these stable quantum properties in this intense molecular motion,\u0026rdquo; said first author Felix Thouin, a graduate research assistant at Georgia Tech. \u0026ldquo;It defies physics models we have to try to explain it. It\u0026rsquo;s like we need some new physics.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQuantum properties surprise\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETheir gyrating jumbles have made HOIPs challenging to examine, but the team of researchers from a total of five research institutes in four countries succeeded in measuring a prototypical HOIP and found its quantum properties on par with those of established, molecularly rigid semiconductors, many of which are \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/591366\/high-temperature-step-step-process-makes-graphene-ethene\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Egraphene\u003C\/a\u003E-based.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The properties were at least as good as in those materials and may be even better,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/Silva%20\/Carlos\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECarlos Silva, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E. Not all semiconductors also absorb and emit light well, but HOIPs do, making them \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/subjects\/optoelectronic-devices-and-components\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eoptoelectronic\u003C\/a\u003E and thus potentially useful in lasers, LEDs, other lighting applications, and also in photovoltaics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe lack of molecular-level rigidity in HOIPs also plays into them being more flexibly produced and applied.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESilva co-led the study with physicist \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iit.it\/index.php\/people\/srinivasa-srimath\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EAjay Ram Srimath Kandada\u003C\/a\u003E. Their team published the results of their study on two-dimensional HOIPs on March 8, 2018, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/journals.aps.org\/prmaterials\/abstract\/10.1103\/PhysRevMaterials.2.034001\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review Materials\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. Their research was funded by EU Horizon 2020, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Fond Qu\u0026eacute;b\u0026eacute;cois pour la Recherche, the Research Council of Canada, and the National Research Foundation of Singapore.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe \u0026lsquo;solution solution\u0026rsquo;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECommonly, semiconducting properties arise from static crystalline lattices of neatly interconnected atoms. In silicon, for example, which is used in most commercial solar cells, they are interconnected silicon atoms. The same principle applies to graphene-like semiconductors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;These lattices are structurally not very complex,\u0026rdquo; Silva said. \u0026ldquo;They\u0026rsquo;re only one atom thin, and they have strict two-dimensional properties, so they\u0026rsquo;re much more rigid.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You forcefully limit these systems to two dimensions,\u0026rdquo; said Srimath Kandada, who is a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/research\/mariecurieactions\/actions\/individual-fellowships_en\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMarie Curie International Fellow\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech and the Italian Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;The atoms are arranged in infinitely expansive, flat sheets, and then these very interesting and desirable optoelectronic properties emerge.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThese proven materials impress. So, why pursue HOIPs, except to explore their baffling physics? Because they may be more practical in important ways.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;One of the compelling advantages is that they\u0026rsquo;re all made using low-temperature processing from solutions,\u0026rdquo; Silva said. \u0026ldquo;It takes much less energy to make them.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy contrast, graphene-based materials are produced at high temperatures in small amounts that can be tedious to work with. \u0026ldquo;With this stuff (HOIPs), you can make big batches in solution and coat a whole window with it if you want to,\u0026rdquo; Silva said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFunhouse in an earthquake\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor all an HOIP\u0026rsquo;s wobbling, it\u0026rsquo;s also a very ordered lattice with its own kind of rigidity, though less limiting than in the customary two-dimensional materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s not just a single layer,\u0026rdquo; Srimath Kandada said. \u0026ldquo;There is a very specific perovskite-like geometry.\u0026rdquo; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Perovskite_(structure)\u0022\u003EPerovskite\u003C\/a\u003E refers to the shape of an HOIPs crystal lattice, which is a layered scaffolding.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The lattice self-assembles,\u0026rdquo; Srimath Kandada said, \u0026ldquo;and it does so in a three-dimensional stack made of layers of two-dimensional sheets. But HOIPs still preserve those desirable 2D quantum properties.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThose sheets are held together by interspersed layers of another molecular structure that is a bit like a sheet of rubber bands. That makes the scaffolding wiggle like a funhouse floor.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;At room temperature, the molecules wiggle all over the place. That disrupts the lattice, which is where the electrons live. It\u0026rsquo;s really intense,\u0026rdquo; Silva said. \u0026ldquo;But surprisingly, the quantum properties are still really stable.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHaving quantum properties work at room temperature without requiring ultra-cooling is important for practical use as a semiconductor.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGoing back to what HOIP stands for -- hybrid organic-inorganic \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Perovskite_(structure)\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eperovskites\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026ndash; this is how the experimental material fit into the HOIP chemical class: It was a hybrid of inorganic layers of a lead iodide (the rigid part) separated by organic layers (the rubber band-like parts) of phenylethylammonium (chemical formula (PEA)\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003EPbI\u003Csub\u003E4\u003C\/sub\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe lead in this prototypical material could be swapped out for a metal safer for humans to handle before the development of an applicable material.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EElectron choreography\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHOIPs are great semiconductors because their electrons do an acrobatic square dance.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsually, electrons live in an orbit around the nucleus of an atom or are shared by atoms in a chemical bond. But HOIP chemical lattices, like all semiconductors, are configured to share electrons more broadly.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEnergy levels in a system can free the electrons to run around and participate in things like the flow of electricity and heat. The orbits, which are then empty, are called electron holes, and they want the electrons back.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The hole is thought of as a positive charge, and of course, the electron has a negative charge,\u0026rdquo; Silva said. \u0026ldquo;So, hole and electron attract each other.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe electrons and holes race around each other like dance partners pairing up to what physicists call an \u0026ldquo;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Exciton\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eexciton\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026rdquo; Excitons act and look a lot like particles themselves, though they\u0026rsquo;re not really particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHopping biexciton light\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn semiconductors, millions of excitons are correlated, or choreographed, with each other, which makes for desirable properties, when an energy source like electricity or laser light is applied. Additionally, excitons can pair up to form biexcitons, boosting the semiconductor\u0026rsquo;s energetic properties.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In this material, we found that the biexciton binding energies were high,\u0026rdquo; Silva said. \u0026ldquo;That\u0026rsquo;s why we want to put this into lasers because the energy you input ends up to 80 or 90 percent as biexcitons.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBiexcitons bump up energetically to absorb input energy. Then they contract energetically and pump out light. That would work not only in lasers but also in LEDs or other surfaces using the optoelectronic material.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You can adjust the chemistry (of HOIPs) to control the width between biexciton states, and that controls the wavelength of the light given off,\u0026rdquo; Silva said. \u0026ldquo;And the adjustment can be very fine to give you any wavelength of light.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat translates into any color of light the heart desires.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ELike this article?\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/subscribe\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGet our email newsletter here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/603738\/turbocharging-fuel-cells-multifunctional-catalyst\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EALSO read this materials article:\u0026nbsp;Turbocharging Fuel Cells with a Multifunctional NanoCatalyst\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ECoauthors of this paper were Stefanie Neutzner and Annamaria Petrozza from the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT); Daniele Cortecchia from IIT and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore; Cesare Soci from the Centre for Disruptive Photonic Technologies, Singapore; Teddy Salim and Yeng Ming Lam from NTU; and Vlad Dragomir and Richard Leonelli from the University of Montreal. The research was funded \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003Eby:\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003E The EU Horizon 2020\u0026rsquo;s Curie Fellowship (project 705874); the EU 2020 Research and Innovation Program (Grant #643238 SYNCHRONICS); the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Fond Qu\u0026eacute;b\u0026eacute;cois pour la Recherche: Nature et Technologies; the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada; and the National Research Foundation of Singapore (NRF-CRP14-2014-03). Any findings and opinions are those of the authors and not necessarily of the funding agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIt defies conventional wisdom about semiconductors. It\u0026#39;s baffling that it even works. It eludes physics models that try to explain it. This newly tested class of light-emitting semiconductors is so easy to produce from solution that it could be painted onto surfaces to light up our future in myriad colors shining from affordable lasers, LEDs, and even window glass.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Bucking conventional wisdom about semiconductors, a new class of light-emitting materials is flexible, easily produced from solution, and could be painted onto a surface."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2018-03-16 16:45:18","changed_gmt":"2018-04-02 16:58:18","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-03-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-03-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"603886":{"id":"603886","type":"image","title":"Laser light in the visible range processed for materials measurements","body":null,"created":"1521216947","gmt_created":"2018-03-16 16:15:47","changed":"1521216947","gmt_changed":"2018-03-16 16:15:47","alt":"","file":{"fid":"230168","name":"Silva.laser_.detail.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Silva.laser_.detail.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Silva.laser_.detail.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":501149,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Silva.laser_.detail.jpg?itok=2VsHByfb"}},"603883":{"id":"603883","type":"image","title":"Felix Thouin in Carlos Silva lab with visible-range laser","body":null,"created":"1521215315","gmt_created":"2018-03-16 15:48:35","changed":"1521215315","gmt_changed":"2018-03-16 15:48:35","alt":"","file":{"fid":"230165","name":"Thouin.opt_.laser_.SM_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Thouin.opt_.laser_.SM_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Thouin.opt_.laser_.SM_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3668208,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Thouin.opt_.laser_.SM_.jpg?itok=hkfWtDMY"}},"603879":{"id":"603879","type":"image","title":"Optoelectronic material HOIP illustration","body":null,"created":"1521214309","gmt_created":"2018-03-16 15:31:49","changed":"1521214309","gmt_changed":"2018-03-16 15:31:49","alt":"","file":{"fid":"230161","name":"PbI4.PEA_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PbI4.PEA_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/PbI4.PEA_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":14421,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/PbI4.PEA_.jpg?itok=iu0SKrQ1"}},"603885":{"id":"603885","type":"image","title":"Laser in the visible range to test materials properties","body":null,"created":"1521216859","gmt_created":"2018-03-16 16:14:19","changed":"1521216859","gmt_changed":"2018-03-16 16:14:19","alt":"","file":{"fid":"230167","name":"Silva.lab_.laser_.detail.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Silva.lab_.laser_.detail.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Silva.lab_.laser_.detail.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":536926,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Silva.lab_.laser_.detail.jpg?itok=HijgWdnv"}},"603880":{"id":"603880","type":"image","title":"Felix Thouin in Carlos Silva lab","body":null,"created":"1521214956","gmt_created":"2018-03-16 15:42:36","changed":"1521215000","gmt_changed":"2018-03-16 15:43:20","alt":"","file":{"fid":"230162","name":"Thouin.main_.laser_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Thouin.main_.laser_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Thouin.main_.laser_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":629629,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Thouin.main_.laser_.jpg?itok=p0MDZ0iW"}}},"media_ids":["603886","603883","603879","603885","603880"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"177427","name":"HOIP"},{"id":"177428","name":"metal-halide"},{"id":"177429","name":"lead iodide"},{"id":"177430","name":"PbI4"},{"id":"167609","name":"semiconductor"},{"id":"1815","name":"optoelectronics"},{"id":"177431","name":"semiconductor for optoelectronics"},{"id":"174838","name":"perovskite"},{"id":"177432","name":"hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite"},{"id":"177433","name":"exciton"},{"id":"177434","name":"biexciton"},{"id":"4260","name":"laser"},{"id":"167182","name":"solar"},{"id":"177435","name":"photoelectric"},{"id":"1073","name":"photovoltaic"},{"id":"167355","name":"silicon"},{"id":"58031","name":"Graphene Electronics and Photonics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter \u0026amp;\u0026nbsp;Media Representative\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"599147":{"#nid":"599147","#data":{"type":"news","title":"When Physics Gives Evolution a Leg Up by Breaking One","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGenetic mutation may drive evolution, but not all by itself. Physics can be a powerful co-pilot, sometimes even setting the course.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41567-017-0002-y\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ea new study\u003C\/a\u003E, physicists and evolutionary biologists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have shown how physical stress may have significantly advanced the evolutionary path from single-cell to multicellular organisms. In experiments with clusters of yeast cells called snowflake yeast, forces in the clusters\u0026rsquo; physical structures pushed the snowflakes to evolve.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The evolution of multicellularity is as much a matter of physics as it is biology,\u0026rdquo; said biologist\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/will-ratcliff\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EWill Ratcliff, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch5\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe bigger they are\u0026hellip;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELike the first ancestors of multicellular organisms, in this study the snowflake yeast found itself in a conundrum: As it got bigger, physical stresses tore it into smaller pieces. So, how to sustain the growth needed to evolve into a complex multicellular organism?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the lab, those shear forces played right into evolution\u0026rsquo;s hands, laying down a track to direct yeast evolution toward bigger, tougher snowflakes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In just eight weeks, the snowflake yeast evolved larger, more robust bodies by figuring out\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ph.ed.ac.uk\/icmcs\/research-themes\/soft-matter-physics\u0022\u003Esoft matter physics\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;that took humans hundreds of years to learn,\u0026rdquo; said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/peter-yunker\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EPeter Yunker, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. He and Ratcliff collaborated on the research that documented the evolution and measured the physical properties of mutated snowflake yeast.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41567-017-0002-y\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epublished their results on November 27, 2017, in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. The work was funded by the NASA Exobiology program, the National Science Foundation, and a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/582586\/freeing-scientific-mind-envision-big-research-packard-fellowship-will-ratcliff\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EPackard Foundation Fellowship to Ratcliff\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch5\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQuestions and answers\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHere are some questions and answers to illuminate the study and its significance.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut first, some background: Baker\u0026rsquo;s yeast, which was used in these experiments, is usually a single-cell organism. Yeast cells\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sciencetech\/article-3137758\/One-gene-create-Single-mutation-DNA-responsible-evolution-multicellular-life.html\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ewith a well-known mutation stick together\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in groups called snowflakes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat was not the focus of the experiments, but the yeast snowflakes were the starting point in this study on the evolution of multicellularity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch5\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy is this study significant?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESuch a cell cluster like a yeast snowflake is not a well-integrated multicellular organism yet. To make it\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/astrobiology.nasa.gov\/news\/how-did-multicellular-life-evolve\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eto even simple multicellularity\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;like that of some algae is a very long evolutionary haul.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a journey of a thousand steps,\u0026rdquo; Ratcliff said. \u0026ldquo;The key change is for this group of cells not to evolve as a gang of single cells but as one multicellular individual.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn this work, the researchers showed how snowflake yeast took first steps in that direction by evolving more resilient multicellular bodies that sustained growth. The process was mainly driven by physical forces, as the simple snowflakes did not have complex inner biological workings that were capable of being the main drivers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This is an amazing example of multicellular adaptation around physical constraints well before the evolution of a cellular developmental program,\u0026rdquo; Yunker said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch5\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow does this evolution via physical stress work?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Yeast snowflakes grew by adding cells end to end to form branches kind of like those of a bush,\u0026rdquo; Yunker said. \u0026ldquo;But the branches crowded each other, and the stresses that result made some break off.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe breakage chopped down the size of individual yeast snowflakes, but after multiple generations, the snowflakes evolved to reduce the crowding of branches by elongating its individual cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a result, the overall snowflakes were less stressed and could grow larger and more robust.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, Georgia Tech researchers discovered that physics made the snowflakes basically have babies. Specifically, the pieces that broke off became\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/propagule\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epropagules\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;that grew into snowflakes of their own.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis reproduction was created by physical force and not by a biological program. Ratcliff published a separate study about the reproduction aspect on October 23, 2017, in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org\/content\/process-and-pattern-innovations-cells-societies\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Physics does a lot for multicellularity,\u0026rdquo; Ratcliff said. \u0026ldquo;It also gives it a lifecycle.\u0026rdquo; Lifecycle refers to birth, growth, reproduction, and death.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A consensus is forming that for something to really evolve to multicellularity, very early on, a multicellular lifecycle has to develop.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/595443\/was-primordial-soup-hearty-pre-protein-stew\u0022\u003EAlso READ: Evolution, What was the Primordial Stew?\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch5\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did the experiments select for these specific adaptations?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERatcliff and Yunker streamlined evolution in the lab by creating a consistent selection regime for the yeast snowflakes to evolve in. In this case, they\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/01\/17\/science\/yeast-reveals-how-fast-a-cell-can-form-a-body.html\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eselected for snowflakes that were best at sinking\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe snowflakes that sank better were heavier, because they grew larger than others in the manner described above, giving them more mass. \u0026ldquo;The clusters that evolved to grow bigger were therefore also heavier,\u0026rdquo; Ratcliff said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis experimental selection setup befitted natural evolution, which also had to select for size to arrive at complex multicellular bodies, which are much, much larger than single cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch5\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMutation of branches is genetic. Is physics really so important here?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0026rsquo;s correct: Random genetic mutations resulted in the better, longer branches in some yeast snowflakes giving them a cumulative weight advantage.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut the propagation of the superior snowflake mutations was the result of physical stresses not breaking the snowflakes until they had grown larger.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe pieces that eventually did break off, due purely to physical force, were the propagules. Some of them carried mutations forward that made the new snowflakes even better at sinking.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd that was a critical step in the multicellular evolution.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch5\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow was stress corroborated as the cause of snowflakes splitting apart?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers put the material properties of the snowflakes to the test under an\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nanoscience.gatech.edu\/zlwang\/research\/afm.html\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eatomic force microscope\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;We squished the clusters and measured how much force and energy you needed to break them,\u0026rdquo; Yunker said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The physical measurement indicated closely the size the clusters would attain before they broke off a branch due to stress,\u0026rdquo; Ratcliff said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/news\/594967\/you-and-some-cavemen-get-genetic-health-check\u0022\u003EAlso READ: \u0026#39;Cavemen\u0026#39; had better mental health genes?\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ECoauthors of this study were Shane Jacobeen, Jennifer Pentz, Elyes Graba, and Colin G. Brandys of Georgia Tech. The research was funded by the NASA Exobiology program (grant #NNX15AR33G), the National Science Foundation (grant #IOS-1656549), and a Packard Foundation Fellowship.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAny opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of those sponsors.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith no biological program to drive it, nascent multicellular clusters adopt a lifecycle thanks to the physics of their stresses. The accidental reproduction drives them to evolve as multicellular life.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"With no biological program to drive it, physics forces multicellular clusters to reproduce and evolve."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2017-11-27 15:59:31","changed_gmt":"2017-11-27 16:10:47","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-11-27T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-11-27T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"599137":{"id":"599137","type":"image","title":"Yeast snowflake in test tube","body":null,"created":"1511796914","gmt_created":"2017-11-27 15:35:14","changed":"1511796914","gmt_changed":"2017-11-27 15:35:14","alt":"","file":{"fid":"228413","name":"multicell.yeast_.tube_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/multicell.yeast_.tube_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/multicell.yeast_.tube_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":441904,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/multicell.yeast_.tube_.jpg?itok=DyURG4Fj"}},"599139":{"id":"599139","type":"image","title":"Yunker and Ratcliff in Yunker physics lab","body":null,"created":"1511797212","gmt_created":"2017-11-27 15:40:12","changed":"1511797212","gmt_changed":"2017-11-27 15:40:12","alt":"","file":{"fid":"228416","name":"Yunker.Ratcliff.yeast_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Yunker.Ratcliff.yeast_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Yunker.Ratcliff.yeast_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":519688,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Yunker.Ratcliff.yeast_.jpg?itok=OFoUoPZR"}},"599133":{"id":"599133","type":"image","title":"Yeast snowflake graphics","body":null,"created":"1511796603","gmt_created":"2017-11-27 15:30:03","changed":"1511796603","gmt_changed":"2017-11-27 15:30:03","alt":"","file":{"fid":"228412","name":"Snowfl.many_red.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Snowfl.many_red.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Snowfl.many_red.png","mime":"image\/png","size":360228,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Snowfl.many_red.png?itok=D5mbU6te"}}},"media_ids":["599137","599139","599133"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3028","name":"evolution"},{"id":"3525","name":"LifeCycle"},{"id":"176336","name":"tension"},{"id":"9871","name":"reproduction"},{"id":"176339","name":"multicellularity"},{"id":"176338","name":"multicellular evolution"},{"id":"176334","name":"Yunker"},{"id":"176333","name":"Ratcliff"},{"id":"5230","name":"Biophysics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter and Media Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"598974":{"#nid":"598974","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Advancing the Path to Organic Electronics Beyond Cell Phone Screens","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA discovery by an international team of researchers from Princeton University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Humboldt University in Berlin points the way to more widespread use of an advanced technology generally known as organic electronics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/nmat5027\u0022\u003Epublished\u003C\/a\u003E November 13, 2017, in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Materials\u003C\/em\u003E, focused on organic semiconductors, a class of materials prized for their applications in emerging technologies such as flexible electronics, solar energy conversion, and high-quality color displays for smartphones and televisions. In the short term, the advancement could particularly help with organic light-emitting diodes that operate at high energy to emit colors such as green and blue.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Organic semiconductors are ideal materials for the fabrication of mechanically flexible devices with energy-saving, low-temperature processes,\u0026rdquo; said Xin Lin, a doctoral student and a member of the Princeton research team. \u0026ldquo;One of their major disadvantages has been their relatively poor electrical conductivity. In some applications, this can lead to difficulties and inefficient devices. We are working to improve the electrical properties of organic semiconductors.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESemiconductors, typically made of silicon, are the foundation of modern electronics because engineers can take advantage of their unique properties to control electrical currents. Among many applications, semiconductor devices are used for computing, signal amplification, and switching. They are used in energy-saving devices such as light-emitting diodes and devices that convert energy such as solar cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEssential to these functionalities is a process called doping, in which the semiconductor\u0026rsquo;s chemical makeup is modified by adding a small amount of chemicals or impurities. By carefully choosing the type and amount of dopant, researchers can alter semiconductors\u0026rsquo; electronic structure and electrical behavior in a variety of ways.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn their \u003Cem\u003ENature Materials\u003C\/em\u003E paper, the researchers have described a new approach for greatly increasing the conductivity of organic semiconductors, formed of carbon-based molecules rather than silicon atoms. The dopant, a ruthenium-containing compound, was a reducing agent, which means it added electrons to the organic semiconductor as part of the doping process. The addition of the electrons was the key to increasing the semiconductor\u0026rsquo;s conductivity. The compound belongs to a newly-introduced class of dopants called dimeric organometallic dopants. Unlike many other powerful reducing agents, these dopants are stable when exposed to air but still work as strong electron donors both in solution and solid state.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/marder.gatech.edu\/frontpage\u0022\u003ESeth Marder\u003C\/a\u003E, a Regents Professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Stephen Barlow, a research scientist in the school, led the development of the new dopant. They called the ruthenium compound a \u0026ldquo;hyper-reducing dopant.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey said it was unusual, not only in its combination of electron donation strength and air stability but also in its ability to work with a class of organic semiconductors that have previously been very difficult to dope. In studies conducted at Princeton, the researchers found that the new dopant increased the conductivity of these semiconductors by about a million times.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe ruthenium compound was a dimer, meaning it consisted of two identical molecules, or monomers, connected by a chemical bond. \u0026nbsp;As is, the compound proved relatively stable and, when added to these difficult-to-dope semiconductors, it did not react and remained in its equilibrium state. That posed a problem because to increase the conductivity of the organic semiconductor, the ruthenium dimer needed to split and release its two identical monomers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPrinceton\u0026rsquo;s Lin, the study\u0026rsquo;s lead author, said the researchers looked for different ways to break up the ruthenium dimer and activate the doping. Eventually, he and Berthold Wegner, a visiting graduate student from the group of Norbert Koch at Humboldt University, took a hint from how photosynthetic systems work. They irradiated the system with ultraviolet light, which excited molecules in the semiconductor and initiated the reaction. Under exposure to the light, the dimers were able to dope the semiconductor, leading to a roughly 100,000 times increase in the conductivity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter that, the researchers made an interesting observation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Once the light was turned off, one might naively expect the reverse reaction to occur and the increased conductivity to disappear,\u0026rdquo; said Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Marder, who is also associate director of the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cope.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECOPE\u003C\/a\u003E) at Georgia Tech. \u0026ldquo;However, this was not the case.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers found that the ruthenium monomers remained isolated in the semiconductor, increasing conductivity, even though thermodynamics should have returned the molecules to their original configuration as dimers. Antoine Kahn, a Princeton professor who led the research team, said the physical layout of the molecules inside the doped semiconductor provides a likely answer to this puzzle. The hypothesis is that the monomers are scattered in the semiconductor in such a way that it was very difficult for them to return to their original configuration and re-form the ruthenium dimer. To recombine, he said, the monomers would have to have faced in the correct orientation, but in the mixture, they remained askew. So, even though thermodynamics showed that dimers should reform, most never snapped back together.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The question is why aren\u0026rsquo;t these things moving back together into equilibrium,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ee.princeton.edu\/people\/faculty\/antoine-kahn\u0022\u003EKahn\u003C\/a\u003E, who is Stephen C. Macaleer \u0026#39;63 Professor in Engineering and Applied Science. \u0026ldquo;The answer is they are kinetically trapped.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn fact, the researchers observed the doped semiconductor for over a year and found very little decrease in the electrical conductivity. Also, by observing the material in light-emitting diodes fabricated by the group of Barry Rand, an \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ee.princeton.edu\/people\/faculty\/barry-p-rand\u0022\u003Eassistant professor\u003C\/a\u003E of electrical engineering at Princeton and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, the researchers discovered that doping was continuously re-activated by the light produced by the device.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The light activates the system more, which leads to more light production and more activation until the system is fully activated, said Marder, who is Georgia Power Chair in Energy Efficiency. \u0026ldquo;This alone is a novel and surprising observation.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe paper was co-authored by Kyung Min Lee, Michael A. Fusella, and Fengyu Zhang, of Princeton, and Karttikay Moudgil of Georgia Tech. \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch was funded by the \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENational Science Foundation (grants DMR-1506097, DMR-1305247), the Department of Energy\u0026rsquo;s Energy Efficiency \u0026amp; Renewable Energy Solid-State Lighting program (award DE-EE0006672) and the DoE\u0026rsquo;s Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering (award DE-SC0012458), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (project SFB 951) and the Helmholtz Energy-Alliance Hybrid Photovoltaics project.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EN-doping achieved with the help of ultraviolet light, improving organic semiconductor conductivity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"N-doping achieved with the help of ultraviolet light, improving organic semiconductor conductivity."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2017-11-20 15:53:11","changed_gmt":"2017-11-20 16:41:44","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-11-20T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-11-20T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"598970":{"id":"598970","type":"image","title":"N-doping of a semiconductor with the aid of ultraviolet light","body":null,"created":"1511192003","gmt_created":"2017-11-20 15:33:23","changed":"1511192003","gmt_changed":"2017-11-20 15:33:23","alt":"","file":{"fid":"228371","name":"n-doping art.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/n-doping%20art.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/n-doping%20art.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2875628,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/n-doping%20art.jpg?itok=Q6Z3UC9d"}},"598979":{"id":"598979","type":"image","title":"Seth Marder Regents Professor, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry","body":null,"created":"1511196039","gmt_created":"2017-11-20 16:40:39","changed":"1511196039","gmt_changed":"2017-11-20 16:40:39","alt":"","file":{"fid":"228376","name":"Seth Marder.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Seth%20Marder.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Seth%20Marder.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1150222,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Seth%20Marder.jpeg?itok=SOOTVezx"}},"585070":{"id":"585070","type":"image","title":"Seth Marder","body":null,"created":"1481746858","gmt_created":"2016-12-14 20:20:58","changed":"1481898150","gmt_changed":"2016-12-16 14:22:30","alt":"","file":{"fid":"223096","name":"SRM photo.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/SRM%20photo.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/SRM%20photo.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2641807,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/SRM%20photo.jpg?itok=2zpxxrcr"}}},"media_ids":["598970","598979","585070"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"176315","name":"organic semiconductor"},{"id":"176314","name":"n-doping"},{"id":"9856","name":"ultraviolet light"},{"id":"7430","name":"light emitting diode"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter: John Sullivan\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJohn Sullivan, media representative, Princeton University\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMobile: 609-439-2310\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBen Brumfield, media representative, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMobile: 404-660-1408\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["js29@princeton.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"597696":{"#nid":"597696","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Wriggling Microtubules Help Explain Coupling of \u201cActive\u201d Defects and Curvature","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EImagine a tiny donut-shaped droplet, covered with wriggling worms. The worms are packed so tightly together that they must locally line up with respect to each other. In this situation, we would say the worms form a nematic liquid crystal, an ordered phase similar to the materials used in many flat panel displays.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, the nematic phase formed by the worms is filled with tiny regions where the local alignment is lost \u0026ndash; defects in the otherwise aligned material. In addition, because the worms are constantly moving and changing their configuration, this nematic phase is active and far from equilibrium.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn research reported October 23 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E, scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Leiden University in The Netherlands have described the results of a combined theoretical and experimental examination of such an active nematic on the surface of donut-shaped \u0026ndash; toroidal \u0026ndash; droplets. However, the researchers didn\u0026rsquo;t use actual worms, but an active nematic composed of flexible filaments covered with microscopic engines that are constantly converting energy into motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis particular active material, originally developed at Brandeis University, borrows elements of cellular machinery, with bundles of rod-like microtubules forming the filaments, kinesin motor proteins acting as the engines, and ATP as the fuel. When this activity is combined with defects, the defects come to life, moving around like swimming microorganisms to explore space \u0026ndash; in this case, exploring the surface of the toroidal droplets.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy studying toroidal droplets covered by this active nematic, the researchers confirmed a longstanding theoretical prediction about liquid crystals at equilibrium, first discussed by Bowick, Nelson and Travesset [Phys.Rev. E 69, 041102 (2004)] that nematic defects on the curved surface of such droplets will be sensitive to the local curvature. However, since the active nematic used in this work is far from equilibrium, the researchers also found how the internal activity changed and enriched the expectations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There have been predictions that say defects are very sensitive to the space they inhabit, specifically to the curvature of the space,\u0026rdquo; said Perry Ellis, a graduate student in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E and the paper\u0026rsquo;s first author. \u0026ldquo;The torus is a great place to investigate this because the outside of the torus, the part that looks locally like a sphere, has positive curvature while the inner part of a torus, the part that looks like a saddle, has negative curvature.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The quantity that characterizes a defect is what we call its topological charge or winding number,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/alberto-fernandez-nieves\u0022\u003EAlberto Fernandez-Nieves\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics and another of the paper\u0026rsquo;s co-authors. \u0026ldquo;It expresses how the alignment direction of the nematic liquid crystal changes as we go around the defect. This topological charge is quantized, meaning that it can only take values from a discrete set that are multiples of one-half. \u0026ldquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn these experiments, each defect has a topological charge of +1\/2 or -1\/2. To determine the charge and location of every defect, Ellis observed the toroidal droplets over time using a confocal microscope and then analyzed the resulting video using techniques borrowed from computer vision. The researchers found that even with the molecular motors driving the system out of equilibrium, the defects were still able to sense the curvature, with the +1\/2 defects migrating towards the region of positive curvature and the -1\/2 defects migrating towards the region of negative curvature.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn this new work, the scientists took a step forward in understanding how to control and guide defects in an ordered material.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We have learned that we can control and guide partially ordered active matter using the curvature of the underlying substrate,\u0026rdquo; said Fernandez-Nieves. \u0026ldquo;This work opens opportunities to study how the defects in these materials arrange on surfaces that do not have constant curvature. This opens the door for controlling active matter using curvature.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAn unexpected finding of the study was that the constant motion of the defects causes the average topological charge to become continuous, no longer taking only values that are multiples of one-half.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In the active limit of our experiments, we found that the topological charge becomes a continuous variable that can now take on any value,\u0026rdquo; said Fernandez-Nieves. \u0026ldquo;This is reminiscent of what happens to many quantum systems at high temperature, where the quantum, discrete nature of the accessible states and associated variables is lost. Instead of being characterized by quantized properties, the system becomes characterized by continuum properties.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEllis\u0026rsquo; observations of the droplets compared well with those of numerical simulations done by Assistant Professor Luca Giomi and postdoctoral researcher Daniel Pearce at the Instituut-Lorentz for Theoretical Physics at the Universiteit Leiden in The Netherlands.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our theoretical model helped us decipher the experimental results and fully understand the physical mechanism governing defect motion,\u0026rdquo; said Pearce, \u0026ldquo;but also allowed us to go beyond the current experimental evidence.\u0026rdquo; Added Giomi: \u0026ldquo;Activity changes the nature of the interaction between defects and curvature. In weakly active systems, defects are attracted by regions of like-sign Gaussian curvature. But in strongly active systems, this effect becomes less relevant and defects behave as persistent random-walkers confined in a closed and inhomogeneous space\u0026rdquo;.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThere are many examples of active systems driven by internal activity, including swimming microorganisms, bird flocks, robot swarms and traffic flows. \u0026ldquo;Active materials are everywhere, so our results aren\u0026rsquo;t limited to just this system on a torus,\u0026rdquo; Ellis added. \u0026ldquo;You could see the same behavior in any active system with defects.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research sets the stage for future work in active fluids. \u0026ldquo;Our results introduce a new framework to explore the mechanical properties of active fluids and suggest that partially ordered active matter can be guided and controlled via gradients in the intrinsic geometry of the underlying substrate,\u0026rdquo; the authors wrote in a summary of their paper.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation under award 1609841 and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Perry W. Ellis, Daniel J. G. Pearce, Ya-Wen Chang, Guillermo Goldsztein, Luca Giomi, and Alberto Fernandez-Nieves, \u0026ldquo;Curvature-induced Defect Unbinding and Dynamics in Active Nematic Toroids,\u0026rdquo; (Nature Physics, 2017). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nphys4276\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nphys4276\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EImagine a tiny donut-shaped droplet, covered with wriggling worms. The worms are packed so tightly together that they locally line up, forming a nematic liquid crystal similar to those found in flat panel displays. In the journal Nature Physics, scientists are reporting on an examination of such an active nematic \u0026ndash; but with flexible filaments and microscopic engines rather than worms.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Scientists have examined an active nematic built with components borrowed from living cells."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-10-22 23:40:38","changed_gmt":"2017-10-23 16:27:26","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-10-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-10-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"597694":{"id":"597694","type":"image","title":"Toroidal structures","body":null,"created":"1508714980","gmt_created":"2017-10-22 23:29:40","changed":"1508714980","gmt_changed":"2017-10-22 23:29:40","alt":"Toroidal structure observed with confocal microscope","file":{"fid":"227843","name":"toroid1_2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toroid1_2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toroid1_2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":108719,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/toroid1_2.jpg?itok=jSeHNGj-"}},"597695":{"id":"597695","type":"image","title":"Toroidal structure2","body":null,"created":"1508715085","gmt_created":"2017-10-22 23:31:25","changed":"1508715085","gmt_changed":"2017-10-22 23:31:25","alt":"Toroidal structure observed with confocal microscope","file":{"fid":"227844","name":"toroid2_3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toroid2_3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toroid2_3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":99892,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/toroid2_3.jpg?itok=PUccmU2j"}}},"media_ids":["597694","597695"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"169780","name":"microtubules"},{"id":"176011","name":"kinesin"},{"id":"176009","name":"toroid"},{"id":"176012","name":"toroidal surfaces"},{"id":"176013","name":"active nematic"},{"id":"66681","name":"Alberto Fernandez-Nieves"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"597073":{"#nid":"597073","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Paper-Based Supercapacitor Uses Metal Nanoparticles to Boost Energy Density","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a simple layer-by-layer coating technique, researchers from the U.S. and Korea have developed a paper-based flexible supercapacitor that could be used to help power wearable devices. The device uses metallic nanoparticles to coat cellulose fibers in the paper, creating supercapacitor electrodes with high energy and power densities \u0026ndash; and the best performance so far in a textile-based supercapacitor.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy implanting conductive and charge storage materials in the paper, the technique creates large surface areas that function as current collectors and nanoparticle reservoirs for the electrodes. Testing shows that devices fabricated with the technique can be folded thousands of times without affecting conductivity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This type of flexible energy storage device could provide unique opportunities for connectivity among wearable and internet of things devices,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/lee_seungwoo\u0022\u003ESeung Woo Lee\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EWoodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0026ldquo;We could support an evolution of the most advanced portable electronics. We also have an opportunity to combine this supercapacitor with energy-harvesting devices that could power biomedical sensors, consumer and military electronics, and similar applications.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, done with collaborators at Korea University, was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea and reported September 14 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEnergy storage devices are generally judged on three properties: their energy density, power density and cycling stability. Supercapacitors often have high power density, but low energy density \u0026ndash; the amount of energy that can be stored \u0026ndash; compared to batteries, which often have the opposite attributes. In developing their new technique, Lee and collaborator Jinhan Cho from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Korea University set out to boost energy density of the supercapacitors while maintaining their high power output.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey began by dipping paper samples into a beaker of solution containing an amine surfactant material designed to bind the gold nanoparticles to the paper. Next they dipped the paper into a solution containing gold nanoparticles. Because the fibers are porous, the surfactants and nanoparticles enter the fibers and become strongly attached, creating a conformal coating on each fiber.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy repeating the dipping steps, the researchers created a conductive paper on which they added alternating layers of metal oxide energy storage materials such as manganese oxide. The ligand-mediated layer-by-layer approach helped minimize the contact resistance between neighboring metal and\/or metal oxide nanoparticles. Using the simple process done at room temperatures, the layers can be built up to provide the desired electrical properties.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s basically a very simple process,\u0026rdquo; Lee said. \u0026ldquo;The layer-by-layer process, which we did in alternating beakers, provides a good conformal coating on the cellulose fibers. We can fold the resulting metallized paper and otherwise flex it without damage to the conductivity.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the research involved small samples of paper, the solution-based technique could likely be scaled up using larger tanks or even a spray-on technique. \u0026ldquo;There should be no limitation on the size of the samples that we could produce,\u0026rdquo; Lee said. \u0026ldquo;We just need to establish the optimal layer thickness that provides good conductivity while minimizing the use of the nanoparticles to optimize the tradeoff between cost and performance.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers demonstrated that their self-assembly technique improves several aspects of the paper supercapacitor, including its areal performance, an important factor for measuring flexible energy-storage electrodes. The maximum power and energy density of the metallic paper-based supercapacitors are estimated to be 15.1 mW\/cm2 and 267.3 uW\/cm2, respectively, substantially outperforming conventional paper or textile supercapacitors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe next steps will include testing the technique on flexible fabrics, and developing flexible batteries that could work with the supercapacitors. The researchers used gold nanoparticles because they are easy to work with, but plan to test less expensive metals such as silver and copper to reduce the cost.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring his Ph.D. work, Lee developed the layer-by-layer self-assembly process for energy storage using different materials. With his Korean collaborators, he saw a new opportunity to apply that to flexible and wearable devices with nanoparticles.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We have nanoscale control over the coating applied to the paper,\u0026rdquo; he added. \u0026ldquo;If we increase the number of layers, the performance continues to increase. And it\u0026rsquo;s all based on ordinary paper.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the research team included Yongmin Ko and Minseong Kwon from Korea University, Wan Ki Bae from the Photoelectronic Hybrids Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, and Byeongyong Lee from Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by National Research Foundation (NRF) grants funded by the Korean government (NRF-2015R1A2A1A01004354 and NRF-2016M3A7B4910619).\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Yongmin Ko, Minseong Kwon, Wan Ki Bae, Byeongyong Lee, Seung Woo Lee \u0026amp; Jinhan Cho, \u0026ldquo;Flexible supercapacitor electrodes based on real metal-like cellulose papers,\u0026rdquo; (Nature Communications, 2017) \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-017-00550-3\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-017-00550-3\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a simple layer-by-layer coating technique, researchers from the U.S. and Korea have developed a paper-based flexible supercapacitor that could be used to help power wearable devices. The device uses metallic nanoparticles to coat cellulose fibers in the paper, creating supercapacitor electrodes with high energy and power densities \u0026ndash; and the best performance so far in a textile-based supercapacitor.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a paper-based flexible supercapacitor that could be used to help power wearable devices. "}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-10-06 18:49:51","changed_gmt":"2017-10-06 18:53:20","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-10-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-10-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"597071":{"id":"597071","type":"image","title":"Paper metallized with gold nanoparticles","body":null,"created":"1507315219","gmt_created":"2017-10-06 18:40:19","changed":"1507315219","gmt_changed":"2017-10-06 18:40:19","alt":"Paper metallized with gold nanoparticles","file":{"fid":"227559","name":"supercapacitor-paper.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/supercapacitor-paper.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/supercapacitor-paper.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":380551,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/supercapacitor-paper.jpg?itok=BH6T0qkY"}},"597072":{"id":"597072","type":"image","title":"Metallized paper retains its properties","body":null,"created":"1507315352","gmt_created":"2017-10-06 18:42:32","changed":"1507315352","gmt_changed":"2017-10-06 18:42:32","alt":"Crumpled paper remains conductive","file":{"fid":"227560","name":"paper-testing.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/paper-testing.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/paper-testing.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":476939,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/paper-testing.jpg?itok=AvRpLb6L"}}},"media_ids":["597071","597072"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"175831","name":"supercapacitor"},{"id":"2106","name":"Paper"},{"id":"213","name":"energy"},{"id":"175832","name":"energy density"},{"id":"175833","name":"layer-by-layer"},{"id":"2054","name":"nanoparticle"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"596207":{"#nid":"596207","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Running Roaches, Flapping Moths Create a New Physics of Organisms","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESand-swimming lizards, slithering robotic snakes, dusk-flying moths and running roaches all have one thing in common: They\u0026#39;re increasingly being studied by physicists interested in understanding the shared strategies these creatures have developed to overcome the challenges of moving though their environments.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy analyzing the rules governing the locomotion of these creatures, \u0026quot;physics of living systems\u0026quot; researchers are learning how animals successfully negotiate unstable surfaces like wet sand, maintain rapid motion on flat surfaces using the advantageous mechanics of their bodies, and fly in ways that would never work for modern aircraft. The knowledge these researchers develop could be useful to the designers of robots and flying vehicles of all kinds.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Locomotion is a very natural access point for understanding how biological systems interact with the world,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/simon-sponberg\u0022\u003ESimon Sponberg\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;When they move, animals change the environment around them so they can push off from it and move through it in different ways. This capability is a defining feature of animals.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESponberg has spent his career bridging the gap between physics and organismal biology \u0026ndash; the study of complex creatures. His work includes studying how hawk moths slow their nervous systems to maintain vision during low-light conditions, and how muscle is a versatile material able to change function from a brake to a motor or spring.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe recently published a feature article, the cover story for the September issue of the American Institute of Physics magazine \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/physicstoday.scitation.org\/doi\/10.1063\/PT.3.3691\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPhysics Today\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, on the role of physics in animal locomotion. The article was not intended as a review of the entire field, but rather to show how organismal physics \u0026ndash; integrating complex physiological systems, the mechanics and the surrounding environment into a whole animal \u0026ndash; has inspired his career.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The intersection of physics and organismal biology is a very exciting one right now,\u0026rdquo; said Sponberg, who is also a researcher with the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/petitinstitute.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EPetit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech said. \u0026ldquo;The assembly and interaction of multiple natural components manifests new behaviors and dynamics. The collection of these natural components manifests different patterns than the individual parts, and that\u0026rsquo;s fascinating.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESupported by new initiatives at such organizations as the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.arl.army.mil\u0022\u003EArmy Research Office\/Army Research Laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nsf.gov\u0022\u003ENational Science Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026ndash; which are embracing these frontiers \u0026ndash; Georgia Tech scientists are learning the equations that dictate how snakes move, understanding how the hair spacing on the bodies of bees help them stay clean, and using X-ray equipment to see how an unusual African lizard \u0026ldquo;swims\u0026rdquo; through dry sand.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s a really exciting time to be working at the intersection of evolutionary organismal biology that is realized in these living systems that have come about through the process of evolution, composed of seemingly very complex systems,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;Biological systems are inescapably complex, but that doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean there aren\u0026rsquo;t simple patterns of behavior that we can understand. We now have the modern tools, approaches and theory that we need to be able to extract physical patterns from biological systems.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn his article, Sponberg makes predictions about the research that will be needed for the physics of living systems to advance as a field:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EHow feedback transforms physiological dynamics,\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EHow aggregations of living components, from humans to ants to molecular motors, arise at multiple scales, and\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EHow robo-physical models of these complex systems can lead to new discoveries and advance engineering.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEngineered systems use feedback about the effects of their actions to adjust their future activities, and animals do the same to control their movement. Scientists can manipulate this feedback to understand how complex systems are put together and use the feedback to design experiments rather than just analyzing what is there.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We use feedback all the time to move through our environment, and feedback is a really special thing that fundamentally affects how dynamics occur,\u0026rdquo; said Sponberg. \u0026ldquo;But using feedback to design experiments is really sort of new.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor example, in the study of how hawk moths track flowers during low-light conditions, he and his colleagues used feedback dynamics to isolate how the moth\u0026rsquo;s brain adjusts its processing in dim light. The moths can still accurately track flower movements that occur less than two times per second \u0026ndash; which matches the frequency at which the flowers sway in the wind.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnimals are composed of many systems operating at multiple time scales simultaneously \u0026ndash; brain neurons, nerves and the individual fibers of muscles with molecular motors. These muscle fibers are arranged in an active crystalline lattice such that X-rays fired through them create a regular diffraction pattern. Understanding these multiscale living assemblages provides new insights into how animals manage complex actions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFinally, Sponberg notes in his article that robots are playing a larger and larger role in the physics laboratory as functional models that can examine principles of movement by interacting with the real world. In the laboratory of Georgia Tech Associate Professor Dan Goldman \u0026ndash; one of Sponberg\u0026rsquo;s colleagues \u0026ndash; robotic snakes, turtles, crabs and other creatures help scientists understand what they\u0026rsquo;re observing in the natural world.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Moving physical models \u0026ndash; robots \u0026ndash; can be very powerful tools for understanding these complex systems,\u0026rdquo; Sponberg said. \u0026ldquo;They can allow us to do experiments on robots that we couldn\u0026rsquo;t do on animals to see how they interact with complex environments. We can see what physics in these systems is essential to their behaviors.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESponberg was inspired to study the interaction of organismal biology and physics by the remarkable diversity of animal movement and by nonlinear dynamics, a field made popular when he was a young student by the 1987 best-selling book \u003Cem\u003EChaos: Making a New Science,\u003C\/em\u003E authored by former New York Times reporter James Gleick. Sponberg hopes today\u0026rsquo;s students \u0026ndash; readers of \u003Cem\u003EPhysics Today\u003C\/em\u003E \u0026ndash; will also be inspired.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I voted on this with my career choice, so I think this is a very exciting areas of science,\u0026rdquo; he added.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408) (ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESand-swimming lizards, slithering robotic snakes, dusk-flying moths and running roaches all have one thing in common: They\u0026#39;re increasingly being studied by physicists interested in understanding the shared strategies these creatures have developed to overcome the challenges of moving though their environments.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers are interested in the strategies creatures have developed to overcome the challenges of moving though their environments."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-09-19 20:47:43","changed_gmt":"2017-09-27 20:52:05","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-09-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-09-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"596193":{"id":"596193","type":"image","title":"Hawk moth on robotic flower2","body":null,"created":"1505852306","gmt_created":"2017-09-19 20:18:26","changed":"1505852306","gmt_changed":"2017-09-19 20:18:26","alt":"Hawk moth landing on robotic flower","file":{"fid":"227209","name":"hawkmoth6.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth6_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth6_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":327015,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth6_0.jpg?itok=Skh2wLnZ"}},"596194":{"id":"596194","type":"image","title":"Hawk moth on natural flower","body":null,"created":"1505853283","gmt_created":"2017-09-19 20:34:43","changed":"1505853283","gmt_changed":"2017-09-19 20:34:43","alt":"Hawk moth and natural flower","file":{"fid":"227211","name":"Manduca and flower.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Manduca%20and%20flower.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Manduca%20and%20flower.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":237321,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Manduca%20and%20flower.jpg?itok=GXf9DWHs"}},"596196":{"id":"596196","type":"image","title":"Simon Sponberg and hawk moth","body":null,"created":"1505853417","gmt_created":"2017-09-19 20:36:57","changed":"1505853417","gmt_changed":"2017-09-19 20:36:57","alt":"Simon Sponberg holds hawk moth","file":{"fid":"227212","name":"hawkmoth12.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth12.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth12.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":285420,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth12.jpg?itok=NK0ULvGv"}}},"media_ids":["596193","596194","596196"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"175601","name":"haw moth"},{"id":"129701","name":"physics of living systems"},{"id":"175602","name":"living systems"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"377","name":"locomotion"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"596214":{"#nid":"596214","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Rogue Wave Analysis Supports Investigation of the El Faro Sinking","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new analysis done to support the investigation into the 2015 sinking of the \u003Cem\u003EEl Faro\u003C\/em\u003E cargo ship has calculated the likelihood of a massive rogue wave during Hurricane Joaquin in October of that year \u0026ndash; and demonstrated a new technique for evaluating the probability of rogue waves over space and time.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing weather and sea data from the time of the sinking, along with a new theoretical model, a Georgia Institute of Technology researcher has calculated that there was as much as a one-in-130 chance \u0026ndash; over a period of time and area \u0026ndash; that a rogue wave 46 feet high (14 meters) could have occurred during the hurricane. The research, reported September 11 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScientific Reports\u003C\/em\u003E, may help improve the prediction of rogue waves to help shipping companies and others understand the risks posed by these unusual wave patterns.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe container ship \u003Cem\u003EEl Faro\u003C\/em\u003E was bound for Puerto Rico from Jacksonville, Florida ahead of Hurricane Joaquin when it sank east of the Bahamas, taking the lives of 33 crew members. The rogue wave study was done for the National Transportation Safety Board as part of its investigation into the disaster.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Hurricanes produce very extreme conditions with strong winds, so you have very energetic sea states that can increase the probability of these events,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ce.gatech.edu\/people\/Faculty\/511\/overview\u0022\u003EFrancesco Fedele\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cee.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;We believe this first study of rogue waves occurring over space and time during hurricanes will help improve real-time forecasting for shipping companies and other organizations that need to understand the risk of extreme events in the oceans.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERogue ocean waves can develop seemingly out of nowhere to sink ships and overwhelm oil platforms with walls of water as much as 25 meters high. The waves stem from a combination of constructive interference \u0026ndash; a known wave phenomenon \u0026ndash; and nonlinear effects specific to the complex dynamics of ocean waves. The waves have been observed in oceans around the world, typically lasting only 20 seconds or so before disappearing. They are different from tsunami waves that can travel great distances after being created by underwater earthquakes or landslides.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFedele and his colleagues have studied rogue waves for several years, and in 2016 used advanced mathematical techniques to develop a new understanding of how the waves form. After the \u003Cem\u003EEl Faro\u003C\/em\u003E sinking, Fedele was asked to evaluate the probability that a rogue wave could have occurred during the hurricane when the ship sank while drifting in violent seas after losing engine power.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EKey to the new prediction technique is accounting for space-time effects that can increase the likelihood of a ship encountering a rogue wave.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFedele compared this space-time analysis to the efforts of surfers to find a large wave to ride. Surfers increase their probability of finding an unusually large wave by paddling around area of smaller waves near a beach. If they remain in one place, they would ultimately come across such a wave, but that could take much longer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe theoretical model developed by Fedele takes into account the size of the vessel, which also boosts the chances of encountering such a wave. The \u003Cem\u003EEl Faro\u003C\/em\u003E was 240 meters long, comparable to the typical wavelength of a rogue wave. Earlier rogue wave models had not considered the size of the vessel in calculating the probability of encountering a potentially catastrophic wave.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;A ship moving along a navigation route covers more space-time area, increasing the probability that it would encounter a large wave,\u0026rdquo; Fedele said. \u0026ldquo;We simulated the ocean state at the time of the sinking, and to that we added predictions of the ocean conditions. We did wave simulations based on those to understand the kind of conditions the ship encountered.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EData and simulations of weather and sea conditions were provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The researchers studied the chances of the ship encountering a wave 14 meters high \u0026ndash; about 46 feet. That measurement included only the height above the average level of the sea and did not consider the depth of the wave trough.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn future work, the researchers would like to improve the accuracy of their predictions to enhance the rogue wave prediction algorithms used by NOAA.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The space-time model developed for this study could provide the basis for the next generation of wave forecast models to predict wave extremes and provide early warnings to shipping companies and others to help them avoid dangerous areas at risk of rogue waves,\u0026rdquo; Fedele said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Fedele, the paper\u0026rsquo;s co-authors include Claudio Lugni from the CNR-INSEAN \u0026amp; Marine Technology Center of the Italian Research Council, and Arun Chawla of NOAA\u0026rsquo;s National Center for Weather \u0026amp; Climate prediction, Marine Modeling \u0026amp; Analysis Branch.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Francesco Fedele, Claudio Lugni and Arun Chawla, \u0026ldquo;The sinking of the \u003Cem\u003EEl Faro\u003C\/em\u003E: predicting real world rogue waves during Hurricane Joaquin,\u0026rdquo; (Scientific Reports, 2017).\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41598-017-11505-5#Sec10\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41598-017-11505-5#Sec10\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408) (ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new analysis done to support the investigation into the 2015 sinking of the El Faro cargo ship has calculated the likelihood of a massive rogue wave during Hurricane Joaquin in October of that year \u0026ndash; and demonstrated a new technique for evaluating the probability of rogue waves over space and time.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new analysis of the potential for rogue waves could help shipping companies understand the risks."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-09-19 21:35:49","changed_gmt":"2017-09-19 21:37:05","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-09-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-09-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"596210":{"id":"596210","type":"image","title":"Rogue wave simulation","body":null,"created":"1505855612","gmt_created":"2017-09-19 21:13:32","changed":"1505855612","gmt_changed":"2017-09-19 21:13:32","alt":"Simulation of rogue wave","file":{"fid":"227214","name":"spatial_shape_wave.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/spatial_shape_wave.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/spatial_shape_wave.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":203619,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/spatial_shape_wave.jpg?itok=VMHmQIa6"}},"596211":{"id":"596211","type":"image","title":"Stern of El Faro","body":null,"created":"1505855707","gmt_created":"2017-09-19 21:15:07","changed":"1505855707","gmt_changed":"2017-09-19 21:15:07","alt":"Image shows stern of the El Faro","file":{"fid":"227215","name":"stern.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/stern.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/stern.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":158521,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/stern.jpg?itok=E1u4UlJm"}},"596213":{"id":"596213","type":"image","title":"NTSB investigators visit sister ship to El Faro","body":null,"created":"1505856234","gmt_created":"2017-09-19 21:23:54","changed":"1505856234","gmt_changed":"2017-09-19 21:23:54","alt":"Investigators prepare to visit sister ship to the El Faro","file":{"fid":"227216","name":"Yunque-ship.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Yunque-ship.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Yunque-ship.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":675840,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Yunque-ship.jpg?itok=G2vHl7Rg"}}},"media_ids":["596210","596211","596213"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"175605","name":"rogue waves"},{"id":"175606","name":"sinking"},{"id":"175604","name":"El Faro"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"591280":{"#nid":"591280","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Find New Source of Dangerous Electrical Instability in the Heart","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESudden cardiac death resulting from fibrillation \u0026ndash; erratic heartbeat due to electrical instability \u0026ndash; is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Now, researchers have discovered a fundamentally new source of that electrical instability, a development that could potentially lead to new methods for predicting and preventing life-threatening cardiac fibrillation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA steady heartbeat is maintained by electrical signals that originate deep within the heart and travel through the muscular organ in regular waves that stimulate the coordinated contraction of muscle fibers. But when those waves are interrupted by blockages in electrical conduction \u0026ndash; such as scar tissue from a heart attack \u0026ndash; the signals can be disrupted, creating chaotic spiral-shaped electrical waves that interfere with one another. The resulting electrical turbulence causes the heart to beat ineffectively, quickly leading to death.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EScientists have known that instabilities at the cellular level, especially variation in the duration of each electrical signal \u0026ndash; known as an action potential \u0026ndash; are of primary importance in creating chaotic fibrillation. By analyzing electrical signals in the hearts of an animal model, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have found an additional factor \u0026ndash; the varying amplitude of the action potential \u0026ndash; that may also cause dangerous electrical turbulence within the heart.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, supported by the National Science Foundation, was reported April 20 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review Letters\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Mathematically, we can now understand some of these life-threatening instabilities and how they develop in the heart,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/flavio-fenton\u0022\u003EFlavio Fenton\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics.\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026ldquo;We have proposed a new mechanism that explains when fibrillation will occur, and we have a theory that can predict, depending on physiological parameters, when this will happen.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe voltage signal that governs the electrically-driven heartbeat is mapped by doctors from the body surface using electrocardiogram technology, which is characterized by five main segments (P-QRS-T), each representing different activations in the heart. T waves occur at the end of each heartbeat, and indicate the back portion of each wave. Researchers have known that abnormalities in the T wave can signal an increased risk of a potentially life-threatening heart rhythm.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFenton and his collaborators studied the cellular action potential amplitude, which is controlled by sodium ion channels that are part of the heart\u0026rsquo;s natural regulatory system. Sodium ions flowing into the cells boost the concentration of cations \u0026ndash; which carry a positive charge \u0026ndash; leading to a phenomena known as depolarization, in which the action potential of the cell rises above its resting level. The sodium channels then close at the peak of the action potential.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile variations in the duration of the action potential indicate problems with the heart\u0026rsquo;s electrical system, the researchers have now associated dynamic variations in the amplitude of the action potential with conduction block and the onset of fibrillation.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We have shown for the first time that a fundamentally different instability related to amplitude may underlie or additionally affect the risk of cardiac instabilities leading to fibrillation,\u0026rdquo; said Richard Gray, one of the study\u0026rsquo;s co-authors and a biomedical engineer in the Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe mathematical analysis provides a simple explanation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You can have one wave with a long amplitude followed by one wave with a short amplitude, and if the short one becomes too short, the next wave will not be able to propagate,\u0026rdquo; said Diana Chen, a Georgia Tech graduate student and first author of the study. \u0026ldquo;The waves going through the heart have to move together to maintain an effective heartbeat. If one of them breaks, the first wave can collide with the next wave, initiating the spiral waves.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIf similar results are found in human hearts, this new understanding of how electrical turbulence forms could allow doctors to better predict who would be at risk of fibrillation. The information might also lead to the development of new drugs for preventing or treating the condition.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;One next scientific step would be to investigate pharmaceuticals that would reduce or eliminate the cellular amplitude instability,\u0026rdquo; said Gray. \u0026ldquo;At the present time, most pharmaceutical approaches are focused on the action potential duration.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe critical role of electrical waves in governing the heart\u0026rsquo;s activity allows physics \u0026ndash; and mathematics \u0026ndash; to be used for understanding what is happening in this most critical organ, Fenton said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We have derived a mathematical explanation for how this happens, why it is dangerous and how it initiates an arrhythmia,\u0026rdquo; he explained. \u0026ldquo;We now have a mechanism that provides a better understanding of how these electrical disturbances originate. It\u0026rsquo;s only when you have these changes in wave amplitude that the signals cannot propagate properly.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EChen studied at the FDA\u0026rsquo;s Center for Devices and Radiological Health through the NSF\/FDA Scholar-in- Residence Program. Operated in collaboration with the National Science Foundation\u0026rsquo;s Directorate for Engineering\u0026rsquo;s Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems, the program enables investigators in science, engineering and mathematics to develop research collaborations within the intramural research environment at the FDA.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the paper included work from Ilija Uzelac, a postdoctoral fellow, and Conner Herndon, a graduate research assistant. All are from the Georgia Tech School of Physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under awards CNS-1347015 and CNS-1446675. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Fibrillation image provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and does not depict the research reported in this paper.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Diandian Diana Chen, et al., \u0026ldquo;A Mechanism for QRS Amplitude Alternans in Electrocardiograms and the Initiation of Spatiotemporal Chaos,\u0026rdquo; (Physical Review Letters, 2017). https:\/\/journals.aps.org\/prl\/abstract\/10.1103\/PhysRevLett.118.168101\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Ben Brumfield (404-385-1933) (ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESudden cardiac death resulting from fibrillation \u0026ndash; erratic heartbeat due to electrical instability \u0026ndash; is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Now, researchers have discovered a fundamentally new source of that electrical instability, a development that could potentially lead to new methods for predicting and preventing life-threatening cardiac fibrillation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have discovered a fundamentally new source of electrical instability in the heart that can lead to dangerous rhythms."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-05-03 14:21:37","changed_gmt":"2017-05-04 18:16:16","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-05-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-05-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"591278":{"id":"591278","type":"image","title":"Heart spiral waves","body":null,"created":"1493820804","gmt_created":"2017-05-03 14:13:24","changed":"1493820804","gmt_changed":"2017-05-03 14:13:24","alt":"","file":{"fid":"225306","name":"spiral waves2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/spiral%20waves2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/spiral%20waves2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":172059,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/spiral%20waves2_0.jpg?itok=dJPihI3F"}},"591285":{"id":"591285","type":"image","title":"Tracing of electrocardiogram","body":null,"created":"1493827212","gmt_created":"2017-05-03 16:00:12","changed":"1493827212","gmt_changed":"2017-05-03 16:00:12","alt":"Electrocardiogram trace of the heart","file":{"fid":"225309","name":"iStock-528814333.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/iStock-528814333.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/iStock-528814333.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2160951,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/iStock-528814333.jpg?itok=idsRX20i"}}},"media_ids":["591278","591285"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"174315","name":"fibrillation"},{"id":"174320","name":"cardiac instability"},{"id":"2583","name":"heart"},{"id":"174313","name":"heartbeat"},{"id":"174321","name":"electrical wave"},{"id":"4020","name":"chaotic"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"591366":{"#nid":"591366","#data":{"type":"news","title":"High Temperature Step-by-Step Process Makes Graphene from Ethene","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn international team of scientists has developed a new way to produce single-layer graphene from a simple precursor: ethene \u0026ndash; also known as ethylene \u0026ndash; the smallest alkene molecule, which contains just two atoms of carbon.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBy heating the ethene in stages to a temperature of slightly more than 700 degrees Celsius -- hotter than had been attempted before \u0026ndash; the researchers produced pure layers of graphene on a rhodium catalyst substrate. The stepwise heating and higher temperature overcame challenges seen in earlier efforts to produce graphene directly from hydrocarbon precursors.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause of its lower cost and simplicity, the technique could open new potential applications for graphene, which has attractive physical and electronic properties. The work also provides a novel mechanism for the self-evolution of carbon cluster precursors whose diffusional coalescence results in the formation of the graphene layers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, reported as the cover article in the May 4 issue of the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Physical Chemistry C\u003C\/em\u003E, was conducted by scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Technische Universit\u0026auml;t M\u0026uuml;nchen in Germany, and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. In the United States, the research was supported by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the U.S. Department of Energy\u0026rsquo;s Office of Basic Energy Sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Since graphene is made from carbon, we decided to start with the simplest type of carbon molecules and see if we could assemble them into graphene,\u0026rdquo; explained Uzi Landman, a Regents\u0026rsquo; Professor and F.E. Callaway endowed chair in the Georgia Tech School of Physics who headed the theoretical component of the research. \u0026ldquo;From small molecules containing carbon, you end up with macroscopic pieces of graphene.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGraphene is now produced using a variety of methods including chemical vapor deposition, evaporation of silicon from silicon carbide \u0026ndash; and simple exfoliation of graphene sheets from graphite. A number of earlier efforts to produce graphene from simple hydrocarbon precursors had proven largely unsuccessful, creating disordered soot rather than structured graphene.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGuided by a theoretical approach, the researchers reasoned that the path from ethene to graphene would involve formation of a series of structures as hydrogen atoms leave the ethene molecules and carbon atoms self-assemble into the honeycomb pattern that characterizes graphene. To explore the nature of the thermally-induced rhodium surface-catalyzed transformations from ethene to graphene, experimental groups in Germany and Scotland raised the temperature of the material in steps under ultra-high vacuum. They used scanning-tunneling microscopy (STM), thermal programed desorption (TPD) and high-resolution electron energy loss (vibrational) spectroscopy (HREELS) to observe and characterize the structures that form at each step of the process.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUpon heating, ethene adsorbed onto the rhodium catalyst evolves via coupling reactions to form segmented one-dimensional polyaromatic hydrocarbons (1D-PAH). Further heating leads to dimensionality crossover \u0026ndash; one dimensional to two dimensional structures \u0026ndash; and dynamical restructuring processes at the PAH chain ends with a subsequent activated detachment of size-selective carbon clusters, following a mechanism revealed through first-principles quantum mechanical \u0026nbsp;simulations. \u0026nbsp;Finally, rate-limiting diffusional coalescence of these dynamically self-evolved cluster-precursors leads to condensation into graphene with high purity.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the final stage before the formation of graphene, the researchers observed nearly round disk-like clusters containing 24 carbon atoms, which spread out to form the graphene lattice. \u0026ldquo;The temperature must be raised within windows of temperature ranges to allow the requisite structures to form before the next stage of heating,\u0026rdquo; Landman explained. \u0026ldquo;If you stop at certain temperatures, you are likely to end up with coking.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAn important component is the dehydrogenation process which frees the carbon atoms to form intermediate shapes, but some of the hydrogen resides temporarily on, or near, the metal catalyst surface and it assists in subsequent bond-breaking process that lead to detachment of the 24-carbon cluster-precursors. \u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;All along the way, there is a loss of hydrogen from the clusters,\u0026rdquo; said Landman. \u0026ldquo;Bringing up the temperature essentially \u0026lsquo;boils\u0026rsquo; the hydrogen out of the evolving metal-supported carbon structure, culminating in graphene.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe resulting graphene structure is adsorbed onto the catalyst. It may be useful attached to the metal, but for other applications, a way to remove it will have to be developed. Added Landman: \u0026ldquo;This is a new route to graphene, and the possible technological application is yet to be explored.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond the theoretical research, carried out by Bokwon Yoon and Landman at the Georgia Tech Center for Computational Materials Science, the experimental work was done in the laboratory of Professor Renald Schaub at the University of St. Andrews and in the laboratory of Professor Ueli Heiz and Friedrich Esch at the Technische Universit\u0026auml;t M\u0026uuml;nchen. Other co-authors included Bo Wang, Michael K\u0026ouml;nig, Catherine J. Bromley, Michael-John Treanor, Jos\u0026eacute; A. Garrido Torres, Marco Caffio, Federico Grillo, Herbert Fr\u0026uuml;cht, and Neville V. Richardson.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe work at the Georgia Institute of Technology was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research through Grant FA9550-14-1-0005 and by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the U.S. Department of Energy through Grant FG05-86ER45234. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring organizations.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Bo Wang, et al., \u0026ldquo;Ethene to Graphene: Surface Catalyzed Chemical Pathways, Intermediates, and Assembly,\u0026rdquo; (Journal of Physical Chemistry C). http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1021\/acs.jpcc.7b01999\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Ben Brumfield (404-385-1933) (ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn international team of scientists has developed a new way to produce single-layer graphene from a simple precursor: ethene \u0026ndash; also known as ethylene \u0026ndash; the smallest alkene molecule, which contains just two atoms of carbon.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a new way to produce single-layer graphene from a simple precursor: ethene."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-05-04 17:39:48","changed_gmt":"2017-05-04 18:12:52","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-05-04T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-05-04T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"591362":{"id":"591362","type":"image","title":"Ethene changing to graphene","body":null,"created":"1493918994","gmt_created":"2017-05-04 17:29:54","changed":"1493918994","gmt_changed":"2017-05-04 17:29:54","alt":"Sequence shows graphene formed from ethene","file":{"fid":"225354","name":"ethene-graphene-fig3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ethene-graphene-fig3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ethene-graphene-fig3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":297857,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ethene-graphene-fig3.jpg?itok=ySyy25v8"}},"591365":{"id":"591365","type":"image","title":"Dehydrogenation process","body":null,"created":"1493919215","gmt_created":"2017-05-04 17:33:35","changed":"1493919215","gmt_changed":"2017-05-04 17:33:35","alt":"Dehydrogenation process for creating graphene","file":{"fid":"225356","name":"ethene-graphene-fig1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ethene-graphene-fig1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ethene-graphene-fig1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":809194,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ethene-graphene-fig1.jpg?itok=0ZzqveYK"}}},"media_ids":["591362","591365"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"174348","name":"precursor"},{"id":"174347","name":"ethene"},{"id":"174350","name":"alkene"},{"id":"9180","name":"Uzi Landman"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"590681":{"#nid":"590681","#data":{"type":"news","title":"College of Sciences Professor Appointed to Top Role in Search for Gravitational Waves","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENow that scientists have observed and confirmed the existence of gravitational waves, the community is preparing for what it calls a \u0026ldquo;new dawn\u0026rdquo; of exploration. This next step will enable a better understanding of the universe and create the directions for the development of future generations of instruments.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo help guide them into this new chapter of discovery, members of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) have appointed Georgia Tech Professor Laura Cadonati as their first-ever deputy spokesperson of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC). Together with the spokesperson, she will speak on behalf of LIGO when new detections are announced and oversee the management of a number of divisions, including data analysis and astrophysics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am proud and honored to be a member of the LSC. We\u0026rsquo;ve already done something great by detecting two black hole collisions from billions of years ago,\u0026rdquo; said Cadonati, a professor in the the College of Sciences and School of Physics. \u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m eager to work with the astronomy and astrophysics community to create this new dawn of gravitational wave astrophysics that will continue to decode the mysteries of the universe.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECadonati will collaborate closely with MIT\u0026rsquo;s David Shoemaker, LIGO\u0026rsquo;s newly elected spokesperson, as they restructure the 1,000-member organization.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u0026ldquo;Dr. Cadonati has extensive expertise in data analysis, as well as experience in creating and leading a National Science Foundation-supported LIGO group as a single investigator,\u0026rdquo; said Shoemaker, a senior research scientist at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. \u0026ldquo;She covers both the research and the leadership sides of the house, which are integral for our continued success in cultivating the scientific advances from the LSC.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECadonati previously served as chair of the LIGO Data Analysis Council. She coordinated and guided the activities of hundreds of scientists around the world who work together to analyze the data coming out of the LIGO detectors in Louisiana and Washington.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELIGO detected the first-ever gravitational wave in September of 2015, the result of two black holes crashing into each other nearly 1.5 billion years ago. The waves, ripples in the fabric of spacetime, were originally predicted in 1915 by Albert Einstein in his general theory of relativity. LIGO captured a second wave in December of 2015, again from colliding back holes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Those were huge milestones. These initial detections opened a new window of the universe and gave us our first glimpse,\u0026rdquo; said Cadonati. \u0026ldquo;This new chapter will allow us to create a path that will bring our field to its full potential.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt includes preparing for two things that excite Cadonati. The first would be the discovery of gravitational waves from binary coalescences that include neutron stars. Scientists believe a collision of neutron stars would result in the production of electromagnetic waves (or light), absent when black holes come together.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Detecting that type of event would allow us to combine the information encoded in gravitational and electromagnetic waves,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;It would also reveal more clues about the properties of neutron stars, which are related to nuclear matter here on Earth.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe second signature on Cadonati\u0026rsquo;s wish list is a core-collapse supernova explosion in our galaxy, an event that marks the final moments of a star\u0026rsquo;s life. These explosions, which are expected to occur every 20-30 years, leave behind a black hole or neutron star and emit gravitational waves, electromagnetic waves and neutrinos. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWitnessing either of these events would give scientists a better understanding of the early universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELIGO is roughly halfway through its second advanced science run. It will continue to monitor the universe until the end of August. The group will then take a year off to upgrade and increase the sensitivity of the detectors and begin again in late summer 2018.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECadonati is part of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cra.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ECenter for Relativistic Astrophysics\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E. She and Professors Deirdre Shoemaker and Pablo Laguna are the Institute\u0026rsquo;s LIGO faculty members. They are joined by more than a dozen Georgia Tech undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the worldwide collaboration. \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Laura Cadonati will serve as LIGO\u2019s Deputy Spokesperson"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMembers of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) have appointed Georgia Tech Professor Laura Cadonati as their first-ever deputy spokesperson of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC). Together with the spokesperson, Cadonati will speak on behalf of LIGO when new gravitational wave detections are announced and oversee the management of a number of divisions, including data analysis and astrophysics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Laura Cadonati is elected as the first-ever deputy spokesperson of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. "}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2017-04-20 10:49:07","changed_gmt":"2017-04-20 11:11:53","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-04-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-04-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"590680":{"id":"590680","type":"image","title":"Laura Cadonati","body":null,"created":"1492684302","gmt_created":"2017-04-20 10:31:42","changed":"1492684302","gmt_changed":"2017-04-20 10:31:42","alt":"Laura Cadonati","file":{"fid":"225038","name":"Laura Cadonati.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Laura%20Cadonati.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Laura%20Cadonati.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":776434,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Laura%20Cadonati.jpg?itok=WEb-kHap"}}},"media_ids":["590680"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/cra.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech\u0027s Center for Relativistic Astrophysics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ligo.org\/","title":"LIGO"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Physics"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1183","name":"Home"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"120191","name":"Laura Cadonati"},{"id":"99091","name":"Gravitational waves"},{"id":"120161","name":"LIGO"},{"id":"174099","name":"College of Physics"},{"id":"4079","name":"astrophysics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nNational Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nmaderer@gatech.edu\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"589542":{"#nid":"589542","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Warped Reality: Virtual Trip to Hyperbolic Space","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHold tight for a psychedelic trip to hyperbolic space, where the floor drops out from beneath your feet.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMath just met \u0026ldquo;warp drive\u0026rdquo; in a virtual reality headset to transport anyone who dons the visor to a reality twisted by hyperbolic geometry. The program was co-created by Sabetta Matsumoto, a physicist and applied mathematician at the Georgia Institute of Technology as a visual aid to researchers exploring geometries that deviate from the everyday norm.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESplashed in color, the virtual space\u0026rsquo;s graphics can seduce even the most math-phobic mind to roam, crawl or slither about. But\u0026nbsp;mathematicians and physicists can make great use of it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/warped-reality\u0022 target=\u0022_self\u0022\u003ERead the story here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMindbending geometry comes to life in a virtual reality program splashed in color. Hyperbolic geometry helped in the development of the Theory of Relativity, but it usually eludes perceptual grasp. Georgia Tech applied mathematician and physicist Sabetta Matsumoto has helped change this, giving anyone a view of hyperbolically twisted space.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Anyone can experience hyperbolic space in this colorful virtual reality program co-created by a Georgia Tech applied mathematician"}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2017-03-30 16:03:23","changed_gmt":"2017-03-30 16:04:34","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-03-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-03-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"589539":{"id":"589539","type":"image","title":"Multi-colored tiling in hyperbolic geometry virtual reality","body":null,"created":"1490888653","gmt_created":"2017-03-30 15:44:13","changed":"1490888653","gmt_changed":"2017-03-30 15:44:13","alt":"","file":{"fid":"224614","name":"Screen Shot 2017-03-29 at 11.55.15.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202017-03-29%20at%2011.55.15.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202017-03-29%20at%2011.55.15.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2390785,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202017-03-29%20at%2011.55.15.png?itok=gVxh62-y"}},"589540":{"id":"589540","type":"image","title":"Sabetta Matsumoto School of Physics virtual reality","body":null,"created":"1490889022","gmt_created":"2017-03-30 15:50:22","changed":"1490889951","gmt_changed":"2017-03-30 16:05:51","alt":"","file":{"fid":"224615","name":"Screen Shot 2017-03-29 at 14.56.09.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202017-03-29%20at%2014.56.09.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202017-03-29%20at%2014.56.09.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2204537,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202017-03-29%20at%2014.56.09.png?itok=wYCFweec"}}},"media_ids":["589539","589540"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"168509","name":"hyperbolic geometry"},{"id":"173906","name":"Sabetta"},{"id":"173907","name":"Matsumoto"},{"id":"256","name":"math"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"145251","name":"virtual reality"},{"id":"148381","name":"vr"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"588807":{"#nid":"588807","#data":{"type":"news","title":"From the Butterfly\u0027s Wing to the Tornado: Predicting Turbulence","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn old adage holds that the flap of a butterfly\u0026rsquo;s wing in Brazil can trigger a tornado in Texas weeks later. Though chaos theory says it\u0026rsquo;s basically impossible to compute exactly how that might happen, Georgia Tech scientists are making new advances in getting math around the swirly phenomenon behind it called turbulence.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERecent progress by physicists from the Georgia Institute of Technology could one day help sharpen weather forecasts and extend their range by making better use of masses of weather and climate data.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETurbulence can curve as a puff of air, swirl past a river bend or churn as a hurricane, and though its curlicues may appear random, turbulence lays down signature patterns that the physicists are investigating.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/journals.aps.org\/prl\/abstract\/10.1103\/PhysRevLett.118.114501\u0022\u003EThey have developed a simple mathematical model that has helped them show how turbulent flows will evolve over intervals\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd, in a novel experiment, they verified their predictions physically in a two-dimensional turbulent flow produced in a lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003E\u0026lsquo;Butterfly Effect\u0026rsquo; catchphrase\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new Georgia Tech research befits the origins of that adage.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt was coined more than 55 years ago by\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/s\/422809\/when-the-butterfly-effect-took-flight\/\u0022\u003EMIT meteorology professor Edward Lorenz\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;after he established that tiny forces influenced major weather enough to throw long-range forecasts for a loop. The title of his paper, \u0026ldquo;Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly\u0026rsquo;s Wing in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?\u0026rdquo; morphed into the well-known catchphrase.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/michael-schatz\u0022\u003EMichael Schatz\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/roman-grigoriev\u0022\u003ERoman Grigoriev\u003C\/a\u003E,\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;professors in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E, along with graduate researchers Balachandra Suri and Jeffrey Tithof, published their research results online in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/journals.aps.org\/prl\/abstract\/10.1103\/PhysRevLett.118.114501\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review Letters\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;on Wednesday March 15, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EOrder in chaos\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor hundreds of years, while scientists used math to get a grip on\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physicsclassroom.com\/class\/circles\/Lesson-3\/Newton-s-Law-of-Universal-Gravitation\u0022\u003ENewton\u0026rsquo;s falling apple\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E, substantiate the\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hW7DW9NIO9M\u0022\u003ETheory of Relativity\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;and theorize the existence of\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KWj00MCqSxs\u0022\u003Ethe Higgs boson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E, turbulence has been like wet soap in math\u0026rsquo;s grasp. But for all its elusiveness, turbulence impresses with visibly coherent, recurring, recognizable shapes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFluid swirls quickly establish themselves then shift or disappear, but they reappear persistently at different locations, producing transient and varying, yet repeating patterns.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;People have seen these patterns in turbulent flows for centuries, but we\u0026rsquo;re finding ways to relate the patterns to mathematical equations describing fluid flows,\u0026rdquo; Grigoriev said. Some recurrent patterns, in particular, interest Grigoriev and Schatz. They\u0026rsquo;re called\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Eexact coherent structures (ECSs).\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey give the physicists convenient entry points into computing predictions about what turbulence will do next.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003ETurbulent flow snapshots\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut what are these\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Eexact coherent structures\u003C\/em\u003E? Visually, in turbulence, they may show up as fleeting moments when the patterns stop changing. And it can look like the flow is temporarily slowing down.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo the untrained eye, an ECS doesn\u0026rsquo;t look much different from the rest of the swirls and curls, but one can learn to spot them. \u0026ldquo;That\u0026rsquo;s exactly how we go about finding them,\u0026rdquo; Schatz said. \u0026ldquo;We watch the turbulence, continually taking snapshots. The flow is moving around, moving around. We look for the instant when it slows down the most, and we pick out a snapshot.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We feed that into the mathematical model,\u0026rdquo; Schatz said, \u0026ldquo;and it indicates that we\u0026rsquo;re close, and shows what the math looks like at that point.\u0026rdquo; That math solution describes a point in the turbulent flow that can be worked with to compute a prediction of what the turbulence will do next.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo understand what an\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Eexact coherent structure\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;is dynamically, we need to step back from what turbulence looks like visually with bunches of curls and swirls. Instead, let\u0026rsquo;s look at a turbulent flow as a single physical entity by translating it into a crude metaphor, a swinging pendulum -- with some marked oddities.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EPendulum on its head\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis is going to get a bit abstract: First,\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rFbF2ibk5bI\u0022\u003Einvert the pendulum\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstead of picturing the bottom point of a normal pendulum\u0026rsquo;s swing, the equilibrium, as a stable point in a stable swing, now, with the upside-down pendulum, the equilibrium is the top-most point. And it\u0026rsquo;s unstable. Also, it doesn\u0026rsquo;t swing in just two directions but in all directions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA turbulent flow\u0026rsquo;s reliable patterns reflect dynamics that are back-and-forth-to-and-fro but in all kinds of variations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs the metaphorical pendulum swings up toward its peak, it comes to a near but never complete stop. Instead it flops over to some other side. That near-halt point is analogous to an\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Eexact coherent structure\u003C\/em\u003E, but there are a few more kinks in the metaphor.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If we change initial dynamics ever so slightly, an inverted pendulum can swing past its\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.uci.edu\/~demos\/images\/Demos\/1j20.10.gif\u0022\u003Eunstable equilibrium\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;at the peak, or it can stop and then start moving in the opposite direction. In the same way, the turbulent flow can evolve in various different ways after passing by an ECS,\u0026rdquo; Grigoriev said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMultiple\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Eexact coherent structures\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;with varying qualities turn up in a turbulent flow.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003ETurbulence roads to ECS cities\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat all may feel unusual for a reason.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Usually, people like to look at stable things that are unchanging like the even, symmetric normal pendulum,\u0026rdquo; Schatz said. \u0026ldquo;It turns out it\u0026rsquo;s really these unstable patterns that form a rough core alphabet that we use to build a sort of predictive theory.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStaying with the dynamics of that floppy inverted pendulum, now picture each\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Eexact coherent structure\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;as being a city on a map. There are paths that guide the turbulent flow \u0026ldquo;traffic\u0026rdquo; toward, from, and around each city just like roadways. \u0026ldquo;This road map around and between cities does not change in time, which enables us to predict the evolution of the flow,\u0026rdquo; Grigoriev said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EECSs occur regularly, almost like clockwork, opening up the possibility of refining predictions at regular intervals.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EExact coherent structures\u003C\/em\u003E\u0026nbsp;were already known to exist, Schatz said. \u0026ldquo;What no one has done before is demonstrate in a lab experiment how they can be harnessed to describe dynamics, the behavior evolving in time, which is really what you need for prediction.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch3\u003EMining weather data\u003C\/h3\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the 19\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E\u0026nbsp;century, math equations were developed to describe the basic flow of fluids. Those who took high school physics may remember\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physicsclassroom.com\/class\/newtlaws\/Lesson-3\/Newton-s-Second-Law\u0022\u003ENewton\u0026rsquo;s Second Law\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;relating forces, acceleration and mass. The\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.comsol.com\/multiphysics\/navier-stokes-equations\u0022\u003ENavier-Stokes equations\u003C\/a\u003E,\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;used in this study, apply it to fluids.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETurbulence is challenging to describe mathematically because its swirls contain myriad dimensions, with the flow in each small region appearing to dance to its own tune. But there is clear order that emerges upon finding\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003Eexact coherent structures\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo make their predictions, Schatz and Grigoriev\u0026rsquo;s research team devised a way to mathematically connect that high dimensionality to the much simpler roadway concept.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey broke down the turbulent flow into regions, each small enough to apply the equations, then used their solutions to precisely place the flows on the road map.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EToday, the compendium of\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov\/overview\/\u0022\u003Edata on weather and climate\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E, the shape of ocean floors, dimensions of the atmosphere, effects of gravity, rotation, or concentrations of dissolved minerals is impressive and growing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPredictive methods like those in this research offer paths into that data to extract better predictions from it.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research was funded by the National Science Foundation under grants\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003ECMMI-1234436 and DMS-1125302. DOI: 10.1103\/PhysRevLett.118.114501\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Scientists predict future behavior of turbulent fluid flow"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWill\u0026nbsp;we even ever know if a flapping butterfly wing can trigger a tornado a continent away? Chaos theory says calculating and predicting turbulence\u0026nbsp;must be impossible. But physicists are latching onto turbulent patterns with digital optics and math, and their resulting forecasts closely jibe with actual turbulent flows. Their work offers possible paths into growing mounds of\u0026nbsp;weather and climate data to make better\u0026nbsp;use\u0026nbsp;of them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Remember the adage about a flapping butterfly\u0027s wing triggering a tornado? Physicists are getting better at predicting the wiles of turbulence."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2017-03-15 18:55:08","changed_gmt":"2017-03-20 13:24:43","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-03-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-03-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"588808":{"id":"588808","type":"image","title":"Tornado NOAA","body":null,"created":"1489604289","gmt_created":"2017-03-15 18:58:09","changed":"1489608422","gmt_changed":"2017-03-15 20:07:02","alt":"","file":{"fid":"224399","name":"tornado.FONT 2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tornado.FONT%202.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tornado.FONT%202.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":801525,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tornado.FONT%202.jpg?itok=ryuUBlr_"}},"588809":{"id":"588809","type":"image","title":"Still image of analyzed turbulent flow moment","body":null,"created":"1489605568","gmt_created":"2017-03-15 19:19:28","changed":"1489605568","gmt_changed":"2017-03-15 19:19:28","alt":"","file":{"fid":"224393","name":"flow_plot_exp_07_ben.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flow_plot_exp_07_ben.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flow_plot_exp_07_ben.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":163810,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/flow_plot_exp_07_ben.jpg?itok=QI_haPR9"}}},"media_ids":["588808","588809"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"68221","name":"Mike Schatz"},{"id":"170035","name":"Roman Grigoriev"},{"id":"173756","name":"Balachandra Suri"},{"id":"1255","name":"turbulence"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"173757","name":"Navier-Stoke equations"},{"id":"12718","name":"Isaac Newton"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter and contact: Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 660-1408\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"588377":{"#nid":"588377","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Understanding What\u2019s Happening Inside Liquid Droplets","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor most people, the drip, drip, drip of a leaking faucet would be an annoyance. But for Georgia Institute of Technology Ph.D. candidate Alexandros Fragkopoulos, what happens inside droplets is the stuff of serious science.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the laboratory of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/alberto-fernandez-nieves\u0022\u003EAlberto Fernandez-Nieves\u003C\/a\u003E in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, Fragkopoulos is studying how toroidal droplets \u0026ndash; which initially take the shape of a donut \u0026ndash; evolve into spherical droplets by collapsing into themselves or breaking up into smaller droplets.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWork with droplets has implications for the life sciences, where biological materials, including cells, undergo shape changes reminiscent of droplet behavior. And the findings could improve industrial processes ranging from fuel injectors to chemical processes that depend on droplet formation. In the work, researchers in the Fernandez-Nieves lab have developed a new understanding of the processes that control the evolution of unstable, donut-shaped droplets, helping them clarify the complex interplay of forces relevant to the problem.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Surface tension drives the evolution of the droplets,\u0026rdquo; said Fragkopoulos. \u0026ldquo;Fluids tend to minimize their surface area for a given volume because that minimizes the energy required to have an interface between different fluids. Spherical shapes minimize that energy, and as a result, toroidal droplets want to evolve to become spherical. We\u0026rsquo;re studying how that transition occurs.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing a sheet of laser light to observe the scattering from polystyrene particles placed into droplets formed within thick silicone oil, the researchers have observed in detail how droplets change shape \u0026ndash; and which factors set the droplets on the path to either collapse or breakup. The research, which was supported by the National Science Foundation, was reported March 1 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The viscous forcing as the torus collapses exerts stress on the interface, which causes it to both have a circulation inside the torus and deform its surface,\u0026rdquo; said Fragkopoulos. \u0026ldquo;We need to take into account these stresses to completely understand the evolution of the droplets.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe impetus for the experimental work was inconsistencies between theoretical predictions and computer simulation of toroidal droplet transitions. What the Georgia Tech researchers found tends to back up the simulation results. \u0026ldquo;However, the earlier theoretical work was essential in guiding the theory efforts and in illustrating what the problem was in order to correctly describe the experimental results,\u0026rdquo; said Fernandez-Nieves.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Parameters such as the aspect ratio \u0026ndash; the overall dimension of the torus divided by the dimensions of the tube \u0026ndash; determine whether the toroidal droplet can break up, or if it will simply collapse into itself,\u0026rdquo; said Fragkopoulos. \u0026ldquo;We found that the toroidal droplet deforms a lot from the donut shape as it collapses. It flattens as it develops, which was initially unexpected. We had expected the torus to be symmetrical and nicely circular, which is not what we found.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe breakup or collapse of ordinary raindrops is known to involve the formation of a donut-like rim. However, the process is rather uncontrolled and takes place quickly, so quickly that only high-speed cameras could see it. To allow detailed study of the transition and imaging the flow field within the drops, Fragkopoulos dramatically slowed down the evolution by creating droplets within a type of silicone oil that is six times more viscous than honey. Instead of ordinary water, he used distilled water into which polyethylene glycol has been mixed to further slow the dynamics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe water is introduced into a rotating bath of the silicone oil using a tiny needle injector. By controlling the pumping rate and where the needle inserts the water, the researchers can control the geometrical parameters of the toroidal droplets, specifically the thickness of the ring and the relative size of the hole inside it. The droplets they study range in size up to about a centimeter in diameter. \u0026ldquo;This simple strategy affords exquisite control,\u0026rdquo; said Fernandez-Nieves.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPolystyrene beads in the water allow the researchers to use particle image velocimetry (PIV) to see the flow fields within the droplets, showing how the cross section deviates from circular over time.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are using the difference in viscosity to generate the torus,\u0026rdquo; Fragkopoulos explained. \u0026ldquo;We are using viscous forces to generate the droplets, because it\u0026rsquo;s important to slow down the dynamics of the torus collapse so we can have enough time and resolution to see the flow fields developing inside it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch into droplet formation has tended to be applications-focused. Now Fragkopoulos and Fernandez-Nieves are using their experimental and theoretical work to address other science problems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We are now using the methods for creating toroidal objects made from different materials to study problems in condensed matter and bioengineering,\u0026rdquo; said Fernandez-Nieves. \u0026ldquo;We started working on toroidal droplets with the idea of studying how topology and geometry affected how ordered materials are affected by these aspects, and later to address how curvature affects cell behavior. We wanted to make nontrivial geometries so we could study how this affects behavior,\u0026rdquo; added Fragkopoulos.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe next step in the work is to study electrically-charged droplets, which are widely used industrially. The electrical charges add a new wrinkle to the flow fields and change how the toroidal droplets transform. In addition to those already mentioned, the research included former graduate and undergraduate students in the Fernandez-Nieves lab, Ekapop Pairam and Eric Berger, and Prof. Phil Segre at Oxford College, Georgia.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research was supported by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Alexandros A. Fragkopoulos, et al., \u0026ldquo;The shrinking instability of toroidal droplets,\u0026rdquo; (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1619073114\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1619073114\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu) or Ben Brumfield (404-385-1933) (ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor most people, the drip, drip, drip of a leaking faucet would be an annoyance. But for Georgia Institute of Technology Ph.D. candidate Alexandros Fragkopoulos, what happens inside droplets is the stuff of serious science.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers are studying how unstable toroidal droplets evolve."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-03-07 15:20:35","changed_gmt":"2017-03-07 15:23:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-03-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-03-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"588367":{"id":"588367","type":"image","title":"Laser illumination of a droplet","body":null,"created":"1488899019","gmt_created":"2017-03-07 15:03:39","changed":"1488899019","gmt_changed":"2017-03-07 15:03:39","alt":"Laser illuminating a droplet","file":{"fid":"224218","name":"droplets_5296.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/droplets_5296.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/droplets_5296.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":505360,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/droplets_5296.jpg?itok=rU13yMCd"}},"588368":{"id":"588368","type":"image","title":"Creating toroidal droplets","body":null,"created":"1488899130","gmt_created":"2017-03-07 15:05:30","changed":"1488899130","gmt_changed":"2017-03-07 15:05:30","alt":"Creating toroidal droplets","file":{"fid":"224219","name":"droplets_5212.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/droplets_5212.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/droplets_5212.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1230767,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/droplets_5212.jpg?itok=1wLcl5xN"}},"588369":{"id":"588369","type":"image","title":"Toroidal droplet forms","body":null,"created":"1488899246","gmt_created":"2017-03-07 15:07:26","changed":"1488899246","gmt_changed":"2017-03-07 15:07:26","alt":"Toroidal droplet forms","file":{"fid":"224220","name":"droplets_5277.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/droplets_5277.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/droplets_5277.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":428579,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/droplets_5277.jpg?itok=s66xevX8"}},"588373":{"id":"588373","type":"image","title":"Shrinking toroidal droplet","body":null,"created":"1488899382","gmt_created":"2017-03-07 15:09:42","changed":"1488899382","gmt_changed":"2017-03-07 15:09:42","alt":"Shrinking toroidal droplet","file":{"fid":"224221","name":"droplets_00039.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/droplets_00039.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/droplets_00039.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":388417,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/droplets_00039.jpg?itok=2nrD8gvp"}}},"media_ids":["588367","588368","588369","588373"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"173677","name":"toroidal droplets"},{"id":"14705","name":"droplets"},{"id":"173679","name":"torus"},{"id":"173680","name":"surface tension"},{"id":"66681","name":"Alberto Fernandez-Nieves"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"587025":{"#nid":"587025","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Cholera Bacteria Stab and Poison Enemies so Predictably","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe enemies were thrown together, so the killing began.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBrandishing harpoon-like appendages covered in poison, two armies of cholera bacteria stabbed each other, rupturing victims like water balloons. Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology tracked the battle over sustenance and turf mathematically to gain insights that could, someday, lead to new, targeted therapies to fight infections.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut dueling bacteria would not be the infectors in that scenario; they\u0026rsquo;d be the remedy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EConceivably, specially engineered assassin bacteria friendly to humans could kill harmful bacteria while sparing hordes of microbes that keep people healthy. By contrast, the antibiotics we use today vanquish harmful and helpful bacteria alike.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you could target harmful bacteria in the human gut, you could use engineered bacteria as a living antibiotic,\u0026rdquo; said Brian Hammer, an \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/brian-hammer\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eassociate professor at Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E. He cautioned, \u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re not anywhere near that right now.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECalculating bacteria\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut to harness bacteria for use in medicine or industry, or just to better understand how they thrive and spread, it\u0026rsquo;s helpful to determine the consistency of their actions over time. That\u0026rsquo;s where the math comes in.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers applied to the bacteria existing physics equations developed to precisely describe the interactions of atoms and molecules. They found that those calculations could also precisely predict that two cholera armies would separate from each other into phases, like oil and water, when they met on the battlefield.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The models predicted pretty much exactly when the phase separation would occur, and then we observed it happening just like the math said it would,\u0026rdquo; Hammer said. The predictive models were based what\u0026#39;s called a \u0026ldquo;Model A\u0026rdquo; equation.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Empirically, it\u0026#39;s been used to describe metals that undergo phase separation,\u0026rdquo; Hammer said. \u0026ldquo;The type of curve we observed describing our results had never been used to describe living systems before.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHammer and Georgia Tech biologists \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ratclifflab.biology.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EWill Ratcliff, an assistant professor\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/sam-brown\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESamuel Brown, an associate professor\u003C\/a\u003E, teamed up with Peter Yunker, an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/peter-yunker\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eassistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E for the research. They published their results in \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/ncomms14371\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe journal Nature Communications\u003C\/a\u003E on Monday, February 6, 2017.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFirst authors were Hammer\u0026rsquo;s former graduate student \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.hammerlab.biology.gatech.edu\/people\/eryn-bernardy\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebiologist Eryn Bernardy\u003C\/a\u003E, and Brown\u0026rsquo;s former postdoctoral assistant \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/lukemcnally.wordpress.com\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ELuke McNally\u003C\/a\u003E. Their research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the NASA Exobiology program, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Human Frontier Science Program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERotting crab shells\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECholera bacteria are commonly found in water attached with other microbes to the shells of crabs and tiny krill, and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/diseases-conditions\/cholera\/basics\/symptoms\/con-20031469\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epeople who drink that water can die\u003C\/a\u003E within hours due to the severe vomiting and diarrhea the germs cause. The impetus for doing math on dueling cholera came from how they wage turf war on crab shells, which contain a material called chitin that switches on the harpoon function in \u003Cem\u003EVibrio cholerae\u003C\/em\u003E. No chitin, no stabbing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I was studying this amazing biological system,\u0026rdquo; Hammer said, \u0026ldquo;and I was looking for a way to visualize it.\u0026rdquo; Ratcliff and Yunker had been applying microscopy and mathematics to study the dynamics of yeast evolution and suggested Hammer give the method a try.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut before getting to the math itself, it\u0026rsquo;s important to understand a few things about \u003Cem\u003EVibrio cholerae\u003C\/em\u003E. First of all, most microbiologists think cholera bacteria use the harpoons to kill competing bacteria and not to destroy human cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe poisonous weapon is called a Type VI secretion system (T6SS), and is common. \u0026ldquo;This harpoon system is in about one quarter of Gram-negative bacteria,\u0026rdquo; Hammer said. \u0026ldquo;So, this bacterial dueling is going on all around you.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGram-negative bacteria have thinner walls, which can be punctured more easily. Gram-positive bacteria have thicker walls less susceptible to the harpoons, and human cells may be even more difficult to penetrate.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd the stabbing mechanism is not limited to pathogens like cholera. Many harmless bacteria use it, too. But more is known about the mechanism in pathogens, because harmful bacteria are more often the focus of scientific study than harmless bacteria, Hammer said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EArmed and generous\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHarpooning cholera stab randomly at all bacteria they come into contact with, including each other, but \u003Cem\u003EVibrio cholerae\u003C\/em\u003E of the same strain are immune to each other\u0026rsquo;s stabs. So, they kill their enemies but not their own kind.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe killing also appears to go hand in hand with cooperative social behavior. The researchers found that bacteria that are good at killing together are also good at sharing with each other and building a community.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt starts with creating a common pool of food. \u0026ldquo;Bacteria do a lot of their digestion outside their cells,\u0026rdquo; Hammer said. But having all that food lying around is risky.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You need a strategy for ensuring that all the effort of chewing up and digesting food benefits you and your relatives, and not someone else who comes and plunders it.\u0026rdquo; When a strain of bacteria kills invaders, it preserves the fruits of its labor, and multiplies, passing on its genes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBrown\u0026rsquo;s postdoctoral researcher Luke McNally examined the genomes of many types of bacteria (in addition to cholera) that use poison harpoons. Some strains had six or seven harpoons, and some harpoons had multiple poisons. And there appeared to be a correlation between weapons and cooperation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We found that the more weaponry a bacteria strain had in its genome, the more it looked like it was apt to share,\u0026rdquo; Hammer said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPurple, red, blue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUnder the microscope, the battling bacteria strains actually did look a little like beads of oil and water separating out on a flat surface. They were stained two different colors like red and blue, so they could be told apart.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We start with two strains well mixed,\u0026rdquo; Hammer said. \u0026ldquo;We jokingly call this the salad dressing model, because you shake oil and water, and they\u0026rsquo;re well mixed, and you let it sit, and they phase separate.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen they\u0026rsquo;re well mixed, the two strains of cholera appear as one purple mass, but as they kill each other and conquer separate territories, they divide into red blotches and blue blotches.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThere are significant differences between how chemical and living systems operate. For example, the bacteria also reproduce and multiply; molecules don\u0026rsquo;t. But the basic math that worked for materials\u0026nbsp;also worked for the bacteria.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFuture applications?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In your gut, a lot of useful bacteria are Gram-positive,\u0026rdquo; Hammer said. \u0026ldquo;But there might be a small number of Gram-negative bacteria messing up your gut community, and perhaps engineered bacteria with spears could get rid of just those Gram-negative.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlso, an external material like chitin, which switches the harpoon function on in cholera bacteria, could be given along with assassin bacteria to trigger their weaponry, and then deactivate it when the chitin is gone.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EArben \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003EKalziqi\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003E and Jennifer Pentz, and Jacob Thomas all of Georgia Tech, also co-authored the research paper. The work was funded by the National Science Foundation (grants DEB-1456652, MCB-1149925), the NASA Exobiology program (grant NNX15AR33G), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (grant 4308.07), the Wellcome Trust (grant WT095831) and the Human Frontier Science Program (grant RGP0011\/2014). Findings and opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the funding agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Scientists use physics equations that describe molecular interactions to predict bacterial battles; find correlation in genomes between weaponry and resource sharing"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECould bacteria with aggressive\u0026nbsp;weapons someday replace some antibiotics? Perhaps. Researchers are using math to predict cholera strains\u0026#39; effectiveness against competing cholera, as they stab and poison each other on the battlefield. Being able to calculate the\u0026nbsp;action\u0026nbsp;virtually as well as a chemical reaction helps open the door to biomedical and other engineering uses.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The actions of bacteria locked in battle are nearly as calculable as a chemical reaction."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2017-02-06 22:10:16","changed_gmt":"2017-02-07 19:46:34","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-02-06T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-02-06T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"587016":{"id":"587016","type":"image","title":"Peter Yunker watching stabbing cholera","body":null,"created":"1486416699","gmt_created":"2017-02-06 21:31:39","changed":"1486417786","gmt_changed":"2017-02-06 21:49:46","alt":"","file":{"fid":"223704","name":"YU.bac_.glass_.small_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/YU.bac_.glass_.small_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/YU.bac_.glass_.small_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":698281,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/YU.bac_.glass_.small_.jpg?itok=zk9Qrwbo"}},"587018":{"id":"587018","type":"image","title":"Mixed competing cholera bacteria phase separating","body":null,"created":"1486417075","gmt_created":"2017-02-06 21:37:55","changed":"1486417822","gmt_changed":"2017-02-06 21:50:22","alt":"","file":{"fid":"223708","name":"Phasing.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Phasing.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Phasing.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3577202,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Phasing.jpg?itok=CkQ1oan_"}},"587020":{"id":"587020","type":"image","title":"Yunker, Hammer, Ratcliff, and dueling cholera","body":null,"created":"1486417407","gmt_created":"2017-02-06 21:43:27","changed":"1486417441","gmt_changed":"2017-02-06 21:44:01","alt":"","file":{"fid":"223709","name":"YUHARA.bac_.screen.SM_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/YUHARA.bac_.screen.SM_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/YUHARA.bac_.screen.SM_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1684468,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/YUHARA.bac_.screen.SM_.jpg?itok=N3Pm_XIL"}},"587023":{"id":"587023","type":"image","title":"Yunker, Hammer, Ratcliff, and cholera cultures","body":null,"created":"1486417613","gmt_created":"2017-02-06 21:46:53","changed":"1486417693","gmt_changed":"2017-02-06 21:48:13","alt":"","file":{"fid":"223711","name":"YUHARA.dish_.SM_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/YUHARA.dish_.SM_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/YUHARA.dish_.SM_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1234567,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/YUHARA.dish_.SM_.jpg?itok=gAFLk60U"}},"587024":{"id":"587024","type":"image","title":"Competing strains of cholera bacteria in petri dish","body":null,"created":"1486418130","gmt_created":"2017-02-06 21:55:30","changed":"1486418130","gmt_changed":"2017-02-06 21:55:30","alt":"","file":{"fid":"223712","name":"Cholera.petri_.SM_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cholera.petri_.SM_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Cholera.petri_.SM_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1502995,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Cholera.petri_.SM_.jpg?itok=zpADqLNG"}}},"media_ids":["587016","587018","587020","587023","587024"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"168707","name":"Peter Yunker"},{"id":"108591","name":"Will Ratcliff"},{"id":"12952","name":"Brian Hammer"},{"id":"173410","name":"T6SS"},{"id":"171897","name":"Vibrio cholerae"},{"id":"170084","name":"cholera"},{"id":"173408","name":"Model A equation"},{"id":"173407","name":"phase separation"},{"id":"173409","name":"dueling bacteria"},{"id":"73201","name":"Gram-negative"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter and media contact: Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E404-660-1408\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"586828":{"#nid":"586828","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Looking for Entangled Atoms in a Bose-Einstein Condensate","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a Bose-Einstein condensate composed of millions of sodium atoms, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have observed a sharp magnetically-induced quantum phase transition where they expect to find entangled atomic pairs. The work moves scientists closer to an elusive entangled state that would have potential sensing and computing applications beyond its basic science interests.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe use of entangled atoms from a condensate could improve the sensitivity and reduce the noise in sensing very small changes in physical properties such as magnetic fields or rotation. And it could also provide a foundation for quantum computers able to perform certain calculations much faster than conventional digital computers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESponsored by the National Science Foundation, the research was reported January 23 as a rapid communication in the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review A\u003C\/em\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We have defined a window where we expect to be able to observe entanglement,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/chandra-raman\u0022\u003EChandra Raman\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;We now know where to look for it, and we know how to look for it.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERaman and former graduate student Anshuman Vinit have been studying Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) as a source of entanglement, seeking to take advantage of the system\u0026rsquo;s quantum purity to create conditions where correlation between atoms might occur. BECs don\u0026rsquo;t normally contain entangled atoms.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We found ways to engineer the system to create entanglement,\u0026rdquo; Raman explained. \u0026ldquo;We looked at the behavior of the system as we tuned the magnetic field very close to the phase boundary and showed that the boundary had a very sharply defined point. We were able to resolve that boundary with a level of uncertainty we didn\u0026rsquo;t think we could get until we did the experiment.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETheoretical predictions have suggested that at the boundary between different magnetic phases of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate, scientists would find an entangled quantum state of all the atoms. In spinor Bose-Einstein condensates, the individual magnetic moments do not need to have a well-defined orientation in space, but rather, can exist in a superposition of different orientations. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn their experiment, the researchers identified two phases: antiferromagnetic and polar. In the polar phase, the atoms all align their moments vertically, while in the antiferromagnetic phase, they are horizontally aligned. \u0026nbsp;In a BEC exactly at the boundary between these phases, theorists had predicted the existence of a quantum mechanical superposition of all possible alignments, an entangled state.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers haven\u0026rsquo;t yet observed that entangled state yet, but their work so far has defined an experimental window within which to look for new physical effects governing different magnetic phases, or to generate entangled states that are relevant for quantum-based systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEarlier research in Raman\u0026rsquo;s lab had produced the two phases, but the boundary between them was \u0026ldquo;smeared out\u0026rdquo; by magnetic field inhomogeneities. By smoothing out the magnetic field so that it was more uniform, the researchers were able to eliminate the variations to produce a sharp boundary between the phases.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the narrowly-defined transition area identified in the research, atoms are torn between the two phases, causing entangled pairs to form, Raman said. The state may be stable enough to find practical applications, though scientists won\u0026rsquo;t know for sure until they actually can observe and measure the properties.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers measured the boundary in their system by \u0026ldquo;jumping\u0026rdquo; the magnetic field from one part of the BEC to another. The move created a dynamical instability in the atomic system; the larger the instability, the less time the system required to return to equilibrium, as predicted by quantum theory.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers now believe they\u0026rsquo;ve set the stage for observing entanglement in a smaller groups of atoms, perhaps no more than a thousand.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;At our current sensitivity, we think we could observe these spin-correlated states with a reasonable number of particles,\u0026rdquo; Raman said. \u0026ldquo;We think that is experimentally feasible, and since we can measure the boundary with precision, we can begin to test the theories governing behavior in this regime.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce that\u0026rsquo;s shown, the large ensemble of atoms could be broken down into many smaller groups operating independently, each with phase boundaries containing entangled atoms.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough Raman finds the basic science and quantum computing interesting, he is equally excited about potential sensing applications. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you could reduce the noise level through the clever use of quantum mechanical superpositions, you could realize sensors that are more precise and could detect smaller effects,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;In quantum sensing you could use entanglement to increase the precision of measurements to levels that, in classical sensor systems, would have a higher noise level.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn classical oscillating systems such as coin tosses, each flip is an independent system and has a certain level of noise. But because of the correlation, the atomic pairs would no longer be independent systems.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In an ordinary classical system, there\u0026rsquo;s a certain amount of noise that has to do with the fact that you are making measurements on independent systems,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;In quantum systems, it is possible to suppress that noise if the atoms are correlated. It\u0026rsquo;s as if the coins were talking to one another.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EQuantum sensors might therefore be able to detect changes in rotation or magnetic variation that are too small for today\u0026rsquo;s sensors. Other applications could be found in spectroscopic measurement, Raman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1100179. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: A. Vinit and C. Raman, \u0026ldquo;Precise measurements on a quantum phase transition in antiferromagnetic spinor Bose-Einstein condensates,\u0026rdquo; (Physical Review A, 2017). \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevA.95.011603\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevA.95.011603\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a Bose-Einstein condensate composed of millions of sodium atoms, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have observed a sharp magnetically-induced quantum phase transition where they expect to find entangled atomic pairs. The work moves scientists closer to an elusive entangled state that would have potential sensing and computing applications beyond its basic science interests.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Using a Bose-Einstein condensate composed of sodium atoms, Georgia Tech researchers have observed a sharp magnetically-induced quantum phase transition where they expect to find entangled atomic pairs. "}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2017-02-02 19:15:05","changed_gmt":"2017-02-06 22:37:02","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-02-02T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2017-02-02T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"586823":{"id":"586823","type":"image","title":"Associate Professor Chandra Raman","body":null,"created":"1486062036","gmt_created":"2017-02-02 19:00:36","changed":"1486062036","gmt_changed":"2017-02-02 19:00:36","alt":"Associate professor Chandra Raman","file":{"fid":"223635","name":"bec-entanglement1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bec-entanglement1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bec-entanglement1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":563399,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bec-entanglement1.jpg?itok=n3KIINER"}},"586826":{"id":"586826","type":"image","title":"Studying Bose-Einstein condensates","body":null,"created":"1486062163","gmt_created":"2017-02-02 19:02:43","changed":"1486062163","gmt_changed":"2017-02-02 19:02:43","alt":"Studying Bose-Einstein condensates","file":{"fid":"223638","name":"bec-entanglement3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bec-entanglement3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bec-entanglement3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":508006,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bec-entanglement3.jpg?itok=3MJ_0sef"}}},"media_ids":["586823","586826"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"63761","name":"Bose-Einstein condensate"},{"id":"173381","name":"entangled"},{"id":"173380","name":"quantum entanglement"},{"id":"169638","name":"sensing"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"584639":{"#nid":"584639","#data":{"type":"news","title":"\u2018Spooky\u2019 Sightings in Crystal Point to Extremely Rare Quantum Spin Liquid","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EInside a new exotic crystal, physicist Martin Mourigal has observed strong indications of \u0026ldquo;spooky\u0026rdquo; action, and lots of it. \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nphys3971\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EThe results of his experiments\u003C\/a\u003E, if corroborated over time, would mean that the type of crystal is a rare new material that can produce a quantum spin liquid.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, only a small handful of materials are believed to possibly have these properties. This new crystal was synthesized for the first time only a year ago. Corroboration by other physicists of Mourigal\u0026rsquo;s newly produced experimental data could take a decade or more.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EConfused? Meet quantum physics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA \u0026ldquo;liquid\u0026rdquo; found inside a solid object may sound confusing to many people.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWelcome to quantum materials, part of the twilight zone called quantum physics, which scientists have been struggling for a century to grasp a nanometer at a time, and where they use terms like \u0026quot;liquid\u0026quot; and \u0026quot;solid\u0026quot; to mean things other than water and rocks. Though much about it is yet undiscovered, quantum physics describes the underlying reality of matter.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EComputers, smart phones, superconductors and MRI machines are engineered from it. But its laws about the atomic realm defy human perception of what is real, and some sound so preposterous that they have become popular science brain teasers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026lsquo;Spooky\u0026rsquo; entanglement bonanza\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETake quantum entanglement,\u0026nbsp;the core of Mourigal\u0026rsquo;s research on the apparent spin liquid in the crystal: If two particles, electrons, for example, become entangled, they can be physically separated by many miles, and still be intimately linked to one another. Actions applied to one particle then instantaneously effect the other.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt first, this theory was too odd even for the father of relativity, Albert Einstein, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/s\/427174\/einsteins-spooky-action-at-a-distance-paradox-older-than-thought\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ewho lampooned it\u003C\/a\u003E as \u0026ldquo;spooky action at a distance.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EEntanglement has since been proven in experiments, but now scientists like \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/mourigal.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMourigal, an experimental physicist at the Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/a\u003E, and his team, have taken it much farther. The synthetic crystal he has examined, an ytterbium compound with the formula YbMgGaO\u003Csub\u003E4\u003C\/sub\u003E, is likely brimming with observable \u0026lsquo;spooky\u0026rsquo; connections.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Imagine a state of matter where this entanglement doesn\u0026rsquo;t involve two electrons but involves, three, five, 10 or 10 billion particles all in the same system,\u0026rdquo; Mourigal said. \u0026ldquo;You can create a very, very exotic state of matter based on the fact that all these particles are entangled with each other. There are no individual particles anymore, but one huge electron ensemble acting collectively.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMourigal, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chu.cam.ac.uk\/people\/view\/joe-paddison\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eformer postdoctoral fellow Joseph Paddison\u003C\/a\u003E and graduate student \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/mourigal.gatech.edu\/members.php\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EMarcus Daum\u003C\/a\u003E published their observations \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nphys3971\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ein the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E on Monday, December 5, 2016. They collaborated with colleagues at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Work was funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EQuantum computing dreams\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis massive \u0026quot;spooky\u0026quot; entanglement makes a system of electrons a quantum spin \u0026ldquo;liquid.\u0026rdquo; The term is not meant in the everyday sense, as in water. Here, it describes the collective nature of electrons\u0026rsquo; spins in the crystal.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In a spin \u0026lsquo;liquid,\u0026rsquo; the directions of the spins are not tidily aligned, but frenzied, although the spins are interconnected, whereas in a spin \u0026lsquo;solid\u0026rsquo; the spin directions have a neat organization,\u0026rdquo; Mourigal said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIf the discovery stands, it could open a door to hundreds of yet unknown quantum spin liquid materials that physicists say must exist according to theory and mathematical equations. In the distant future, new quantum materials could become, by today\u0026rsquo;s standards, veritable sorcerer\u0026rsquo;s stones in quantum computing engineers\u0026rsquo; hands.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBeijing\u0026rsquo;s ytterbium crystal success?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe ytterbium crystal was first synthesized a year ago \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevLett.115.167203\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eby scientists in China\u003C\/a\u003E, where the government in Beijing has invested heavily in hopes of creating synthetic quantum materials with novel properties. It appears they may have now succeeded, said Mourigal, an assistant professor at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOne of the only previously observed apparent quantum spin liquids occurs in a natural crystal called \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.mcmaster.ca\/~imai\/Spin_liquid.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eherbertsmithite, an emerald green stone found in 1972\u003C\/a\u003E in a mine in Chile. It was named after mineralogist Herbert Smith, who died nearly 20 years prior to the discovery.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nist.gov\/news-events\/news\/2012\/12\/newly-discovered-quantum-spin-liquid-beauty-its-simplicity\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eobserved its apparent spin liquid nature in 2012\u003C\/a\u003E after Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists succeeded at reproducing a purified piece of the crystal in their lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEncyclopedia of spin liquids\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat initial discovery was just the beginning of an Odyssey. Because of its chemical makeup, herbertsmithite produces just one single entanglement scheme. Physics math says there must be myriads more.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Finding herbertsmithite was like saying, \u0026lsquo;animals exist.\u0026rsquo; But there are so many different species of animals, or mammals, or fish, reptiles and birds,\u0026rdquo; Mourigal said. \u0026ldquo;Now that we have found one, we are looking for different kinds of spin liquids.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe more spin liquids experimental physicists confirm, the more theoretical physicists will be able to use them to bend their minds around quantum physics. \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s important to create the encyclopedia of them,\u0026rdquo; Mourigal said. \u0026ldquo;This new crystal may be only our second or third entry.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat neutron scattering revealed\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.phys.utk.edu\/faculty\/faculty-zhou.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EPhysicists from the University of Tennessee\u003C\/a\u003E succeeded in replicating the original ytterbium crystal, and Mourigal examined it at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/neutrons.ornl.gov\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EOak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL),\u003C\/a\u003E where it was cooled down to a temperature of -273.09 degrees Celsius (0.06 degrees Kelvin).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe cooling slowed the natural motion of the atoms to a near stop, which allowed the researchers to observe the electron spins\u0026rsquo; dance around the Ytterbium (Yb) atoms in the YbMgGaO\u003Csub\u003E4 \u003C\/sub\u003Ecrystal. They used a powerful superconducting magnet to line the spins up in an orderly fashion to create a starting point for their observations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Then we removed the magnetic field, and let them go back to their special kind of wiggling,\u0026rdquo; Mourigal said. His team carried out the observations at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/neutrons.ornl.gov\/content\/how-sns-works\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EORNL Spallation Neutron Source\u003C\/a\u003E, a Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility. The SNS has about the power and size of a particle supercollider, and allowed the scientists to watch the concert of electrons\u0026rsquo; spins by bombarding them with neutrons.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENormally, when one electron flips its spin, researchers would expect it to create a neat chain reaction, resulting in a wave going through the crystal. The wave of electron spins flipping in sequence might look something like fans at a football game standing and sitting back down to make a wave go around the stadium.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut something odd happened. \u0026ldquo;This jumbly kind of spin wave broke down into many other waves, because everything is collective, everything is entangled,\u0026rdquo; Mourigal said. \u0026ldquo;It was a continuum of excitations, but breaking down across many electrons at once.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIt was qualitatively similar to what was observed using the same technique on herbertsmithite.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENobel Prize topology donut\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETo authenticate the observations made by Mourigal\u0026#39;s team, theoretical physicists will have to crunch the data with methods that, in part, rely on topology,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/nobel_prizes\/physics\/laureates\/2016\/popular-physicsprize2016.pdf\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ea focus of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. Mourigal thinks chances are they will pass muster. \u0026ldquo;At first glance, this material is screaming, \u0026lsquo;I\u0026rsquo;m a quantum spin liquid,\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo; he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut it must undergo a years-long battery of stringent mathematical tests. The theoretical physicists will wrap the data around a mathematical \u0026ldquo;donut\u0026rdquo; to confirm whether or not it is a quantum spin liquid.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;That\u0026rsquo;s meant seriously,\u0026rdquo; Mourigal said. \u0026ldquo;As a mathematical mental exercise, they virtually spread the spin liquid around a donut shape, and the way it responds to being on a donut tells you something about the nature of that spin liquid.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThough entangled particles appear to defy space and time, the shape of space they occupy affects the nature of the entanglement pattern.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe possibility of a quantum spin liquid was first demonstrated in the 1930s, but only using atoms placed in a straight line. Physicists have been searching in the decades since for materials containing them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EZhiling Dun and Haidong Zhou from the University of Tennessee, and Georg Ehlers, Yaohua Liu and Matthew Stone from Oak Ridge National Laboratory coauthored the paper (\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003E10.1038\/nphys3971)\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003E. Reproduction of the ytterbium crystal at UT was funded by a National Science Foundation grant (DMR-1350002). ORNL, which provided the neutron scattering is part of the U.S. Department of Energy. \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAny opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agency.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Science synopsis: Strong signs of quantum spin liquid observed in YbMgGaO4 crystals by neutron scattering off ytterbium electrons"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Spooky action at a distance\u0026quot; is how Albert Einstein initially lampooned quantum entanglement, the intimate connection of two subatomic particles -- like electrons -- even when separated by long distances. Now, experimental physicist Martin Mourigal has observed strong indications in a crystal of perhaps billions of electrons interconnected in one massive entanglement at a distance -- an extremely rare quantum spin liquid.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Strong experimental indications of a rare quantum phenomenon could open doors into understanding the mystery of matter."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2016-12-05 16:58:00","changed_gmt":"2016-12-06 20:16:17","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-12-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-12-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"584615":{"id":"584615","type":"image","title":"ORNL Spallation Neutron Source","body":null,"created":"1480953046","gmt_created":"2016-12-05 15:50:46","changed":"1480953046","gmt_changed":"2016-12-05 15:50:46","alt":"","file":{"fid":"222898","name":"ORNL.SNS_.chamber.small_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ORNL.SNS_.chamber.small_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ORNL.SNS_.chamber.small_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1311280,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ORNL.SNS_.chamber.small_.jpg?itok=eskfwN-X"}},"584620":{"id":"584620","type":"image","title":"Ytterbium crystal produces lots of apparent \u0027spooky\u0027 actions","body":null,"created":"1480953297","gmt_created":"2016-12-05 15:54:57","changed":"1480953297","gmt_changed":"2016-12-05 15:54:57","alt":"","file":{"fid":"222903","name":"Yb crystal 2.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Yb%20crystal%202.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Yb%20crystal%202.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":191682,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Yb%20crystal%202.jpeg?itok=-osm8JBf"}},"584626":{"id":"584626","type":"image","title":"Quantum spin liquid in ytterbium","body":null,"created":"1480953898","gmt_created":"2016-12-05 16:04:58","changed":"1480953898","gmt_changed":"2016-12-05 16:04:58","alt":"","file":{"fid":"222910","name":"Mourigal_NatPhys_4a_MM.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Mourigal_NatPhys_4a_MM.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Mourigal_NatPhys_4a_MM.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":36326,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Mourigal_NatPhys_4a_MM.jpg?itok=10IGCRvP"}},"584628":{"id":"584628","type":"image","title":"Physicist Martin Mourigal","body":null,"created":"1480954191","gmt_created":"2016-12-05 16:09:51","changed":"1480954191","gmt_changed":"2016-12-05 16:09:51","alt":"","file":{"fid":"222911","name":"MMourigal2014_pic1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MMourigal2014_pic1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/MMourigal2014_pic1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1329064,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/MMourigal2014_pic1.jpg?itok=kkiB5r-v"}},"584633":{"id":"584633","type":"image","title":"Marcus Daum and Joseph Paddison in Mourigal lab","body":null,"created":"1480955146","gmt_created":"2016-12-05 16:25:46","changed":"1480955146","gmt_changed":"2016-12-05 16:25:46","alt":"","file":{"fid":"222915","name":"mourigal.lab_.work_.small_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mourigal.lab_.work_.small_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mourigal.lab_.work_.small_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3899790,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mourigal.lab_.work_.small_.jpg?itok=ovIUKdeu"}},"584623":{"id":"584623","type":"image","title":"ORNL Spallation Neutron Source particle acceleration","body":null,"created":"1480953482","gmt_created":"2016-12-05 15:58:02","changed":"1480953482","gmt_changed":"2016-12-05 15:58:02","alt":"","file":{"fid":"222907","name":"Linac_July2014_-116_sm.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Linac_July2014_-116_sm.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Linac_July2014_-116_sm.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":66058,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Linac_July2014_-116_sm.jpg?itok=UsYGPCSQ"}},"541401":{"id":"541401","type":"image","title":"Aerial view of ORNL\u2019s Spallation Neutron Source facility. Photo courtesy of Ian Anderson\/ORNL.","body":null,"created":"1464876000","gmt_created":"2016-06-02 14:00:00","changed":"1475895331","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:31","alt":"Aerial view of ORNL\u2019s Spallation Neutron Source facility. Photo courtesy of Ian Anderson\/ORNL.","file":{"fid":"89826","name":"ornl.sns_.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ornl.sns_.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ornl.sns_.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1174097,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ornl.sns_.png?itok=geav6iNo"}},"584630":{"id":"584630","type":"image","title":"Joseph Paddison in Mourigal lab","body":null,"created":"1480954526","gmt_created":"2016-12-05 16:15:26","changed":"1480954647","gmt_changed":"2016-12-05 16:17:27","alt":"","file":{"fid":"222913","name":"mourigal.group_.small_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mourigal.group_.small__0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mourigal.group_.small__0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3344312,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mourigal.group_.small__0.jpg?itok=MZ6NS_Yw"}},"584632":{"id":"584632","type":"image","title":"Dilution refrigerator ","body":null,"created":"1480954925","gmt_created":"2016-12-05 16:22:05","changed":"1480954925","gmt_changed":"2016-12-05 16:22:05","alt":"","file":{"fid":"222914","name":"dilution.refrigerator.small_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dilution.refrigerator.small_.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dilution.refrigerator.small_.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2938963,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dilution.refrigerator.small_.jpg?itok=dooQTwA4"}}},"media_ids":["584615","584620","584626","584628","584633","584623","541401","584630","584632"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"172865","name":"quantum spin liquid"},{"id":"168235","name":"quantum materials"},{"id":"25101","name":"quantum physics"},{"id":"172877","name":"spooky action"},{"id":"172875","name":"ytterbium crystal"},{"id":"172881","name":"YbMgGaO4"},{"id":"3135","name":"entanglement"},{"id":"172876","name":"Martin Mourigal"},{"id":"172884","name":"solid state physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30332-0181 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield (404-660-1408) (ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"584273":{"#nid":"584273","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Hybrid Approach Predicts and Confirms Structure of Complex Metal Nanoparticles","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA combined theoretical and experimental approach has allowed researchers to predict and verify the full structure of a monolayer-coated molecular metal nanoparticle. The methodology was tested on silver-thiolate nanoparticles, expanding on earlier knowledge about gold nanoparticles, and is expected to be applicable to a broad range of sizes of nanoparticles made of different elements.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a paper published Friday, November 25, 2016, in \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/advances.sciencemag.org\/content\/2\/11\/e1601609\u0022\u003Ethe journal \u003Cem\u003EScience Advances\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Toledo report on an X-ray-determined structure that authenticates the \u003Cem\u003Ea priori\u003C\/em\u003E prediction, and in conjunction with first-principles theoretical analysis, supports the underlying forecasting methodology.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Metal nanoparticles capped by organic ligands have fundamental and applied significance for understanding the physical and chemical principles controlling the assembly and atomic organization in nanocrystalline materials, and to their potential usage in fields as quantum dots, sensors, nanocatalysts, biomedical imaging, nanocrystalline superlattices and plasmonics,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/uzi-landman\u0022\u003EUzi Landman, Regent\u0026rsquo;s Professor and F.E. Callaway Chair in the Georgia Tech School of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026ldquo;We have been engaged in investigations of the principles underlying the structures of atomic and molecular nanoclusters, with some of our earlier predictions made over two decades ago, and thus, in some sense, the achievement demonstrated in this paper closes a circle for us, pointing the way toward future science governing atomically-precise structures at this scale.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the U.S. Department of Energy\u0026rsquo;s Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Computational research was carried out at the Georgia Tech Center for Computational Materials Science.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince the 1990s, researchers have been investigating the unique properties of metallic nanoparticles whose surfaces have been passivated using, mainly, sulfur-based organic materials. These thiol-capped structures, composed of dozens to hundreds of atoms, have unique optical and electrical properties depending on the metals\u0026rsquo; chemical identities, the number of metal atoms in the nanoparticle core, and the type and number of capping organic ligands \u0026ndash; all of which determine the nanoparticle\u0026rsquo;s structure.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPredicting the structure of such nanoparticles is a formidable theoretical goal, and an experimental challenge. Nanoparticles made of different metals \u0026ndash; gold, silver, platinum, copper, and their alloys \u0026ndash; can be formed with sizes ranging from dozens up to hundreds of atoms, being characterized by metal-specific discrete sequences of numbers of atoms reflecting preferential stabilities and higher abundances of nanoparticles of specific sizes. The atomic constituents in such stable nanoparticles are organized in structures that differ from the corresponding bulk atomic arrangements of the constituent metals. The plethora of different structures thus formed accounts for the variability and diversity in the physical and chemical properties of such finite-size nanomaterials. Moreover, the metal nanoparticles are capped by sulfur-containing ligands, whose bonding to the metal constituents further complicates the structural predictions, Landman noted.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There is often something that underlies the abundance and atomic organization in such particles that is subtle and unusual,\u0026rdquo; Landman said. \u0026ldquo;The interactions vary based on competing effects. We learned how complicated the effects of the ligand binding can be, and how to integrate this knowledge into a structure-forecasting strategy.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing concepts from nucleation theory and judiciously chosen trial structural motifs, taken in part from earlier studies, in conjunction with first-principles quantum-mechanical structure-optimization computational techniques, the researchers advanced in an earlier study (published in 2015 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society) a\u003Cem\u003E de novo \u003C\/em\u003Epredicted structure for the capped silver nanoparticle. This prediction was largely borne out by the subsequent experimentally determined structure accomplished by a group of researchers headed by \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.utoledo.edu\/nsm\/chemistry\/people\/Webpages\/Bigioni.html\u0022\u003EProfessor Terry Bigioni from the department of Chemistry at the University of Toledo\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the \u003Cem\u003EScience Advances\u003C\/em\u003E paper, the researchers present an experimental X-ray total structure determination and theoretical optimization and analysis of the atomic arrangement in the nanoparticle whose chemical formula is (TOA)\u003Csub\u003E3\u003C\/sub\u003EAuAg\u003Csub\u003E16\u003C\/sub\u003E (TBBT)\u003Csub\u003E12\u003C\/sub\u003E, where TBBT (4-tert-butylbenzenethiol) denotes the organic thiol ligand molecules, and TOA (tetraoctylammonium) serves as a counterion. The inner part of the nanoparticle consists of a central gold atom surrounded by twelve silver atoms, forming a 13-atom five-fold-symmetric icosahedral metal core. The organic ligands have been predicted, and experimentally confirmed, to be anchored to the metal core though bonding to additional four silver atoms, forming four-Ag (TBBT)\u003Csub\u003E3 \u003C\/sub\u003Ecapping mounts. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlong with the emergence of the novel mount-motif family for silver-thiolate nanoparticles, the study compares in detail the observed and predicted structural, electronic and spectral properties of the monolayer-protected gold-atom-doped silver nanoparticle, largely confirms the \u003Cem\u003Ede novo\u003C\/em\u003E structure prediction as well as identifies accessible rotational isomeric ligand-shell conformations, validates the structure forecasting methodology, and provides impetus for further experimental and theoretical developments.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the highlights of the reported research was the growing cognition concerning the possible role of the organic ligands in controlling the structure of the nanoparticle.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;If you modify the capping agent, you may modify structures, and that is a radical paradigm change,\u0026rdquo; Landman said. \u0026ldquo;Usually, you would expect the metal nanoparticles to arrange in ways dictated by their intermetallic interactions, with only mild influence from the capping organic molecules.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother highlight pertains to ordering within the ligand shell, which was theoretically predicted 20 years ago in the context of investigations of capped gold nanoparticles, known as \u0026ldquo;ligand bundling.\u0026rdquo; Subsequently, such ligand orderings have been confirmed in various instances. The identification of intermolecular ligand bundling in the present work, with the emergence of perennial noncovalent phenyl-ring assemblies in the form of a cyclic trimer and T-shape-like dimers, is of relevance to molecular recognition, self-assembled supramolecular architecture, crystal packing, biomolecule (DNA and protein) structures, and quantum-chemistry benchmark studies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;These findings demonstrate key principles underlying ligand-shell anchoring to the metal core, as well as unique T-like benzene-dimer and cyclic-benzene-trimer ligand bundling configurations, opening vistas for rational design of metal and alloy nanoparticles,\u0026rdquo; the authors said in the paper. The study \u0026ldquo;provides an impetus and guidance for continued efforts toward formulation and implementation of structure prediction methodologies for such complex materials systems.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe principles underlying the ligand-shell structure also imply that the structure of bimetallic nanoparticles could be influenced by the coordination of the metal atoms in the ligand shell. For example, if the coordination of the heteroatoms is not compatible with the ligand shell structure, then those heteroatoms will be located in the metal core. Indeed, heteroatom substitution can be used in this sense as a structural probe. If the incompatible metal atoms are located in the ligand shell, however, then the structure of the nanoparticle will not be conserved, due to structural changes in the ligand shell necessitated by the different heteroatom bonding requirements.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAlong with those mentioned above, others who contributed to the research are graduate students Brian E. Conn and Aydar Atnagulov from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toledo, Ohio, and Bokwon Yoon and Robert N. Barnett, senior research scientists in the Georgia Tech School of Physics.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by NSF grant CBET-0955148, grant FA9550-14-1-0005 from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the U.S. Department of Energy under contract FG05-86ER45234. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECITATION: Brian E. Conn, Aydar Atnagulov, Bokwon Yoon, Robert N. Barnett, Uzi Landman, Terry P. Bigioni\u0026nbsp; \u0026ldquo;Confirmation of a de novo Structure Prediction for an Atomically Precise Monolayer Coated Silver Nanoparticle,\u0026rdquo; (Sci. Adv. \u003Cstrong\u003E2\u003C\/strong\u003E, e1601609 (2016)). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/sciadv.1601609\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/sciadv.1601609\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Combining experimental and theoretical methods accurately describes complex nanoparticle"}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2016-11-28 16:00:31","changed_gmt":"2016-11-28 16:01:43","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-11-28T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-11-28T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"584272":{"id":"584272","type":"image","title":"Structure organic thiol-capped AuAg16(SR)12 cluster","body":null,"created":"1480347891","gmt_created":"2016-11-28 15:44:51","changed":"1480347891","gmt_changed":"2016-11-28 15:44:51","alt":"","file":{"fid":"222753","name":"figure2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/figure2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/figure2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":223682,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/figure2.jpg?itok=sQQOq8UI"}},"584271":{"id":"584271","type":"image","title":"Structure evolution spiral of the AuAg16(SR)12 cluster","body":null,"created":"1480347717","gmt_created":"2016-11-28 15:41:57","changed":"1480347717","gmt_changed":"2016-11-28 15:41:57","alt":"","file":{"fid":"222752","name":"figure1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/figure1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/figure1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":438026,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/figure1.jpg?itok=VDWcd6SY"}}},"media_ids":["584272","584271"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7289","name":"thiol"},{"id":"172794","name":"ligand"},{"id":"172795","name":"counterion"},{"id":"2185","name":"gold"},{"id":"169009","name":"silver"},{"id":"172796","name":"monolayer-coated molecular metal nanoparticle"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Assistance: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["john.toon@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"556041":{"#nid":"556041","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Molten Storage and Thermophotovoltaics Offer New Solar Power Pathway","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new wrinkle on an old technology \u2013 solid-state thermophotovoltaics (TPV) \u2013 could provide a high-efficiency alternative for directly converting high-temperature heat from concentrated solar thermal to utility-scale electricity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENew computer modeling suggests that high temperature TPV conversion \u2013 which captures infrared radiation from very hot surfaces \u2013 could one day rival combined-cycle turbine systems when combined with thermal storage using liquid metal at temperatures around 1,300 degrees Celsius. Advances in high-temperature components and improved system modeling, combined with the potential for conversion costs an order of magnitude lower than those of turbines, suggest that TPV could offer a pathway for efficiently storing and producing electrical power from solar thermal sources, a new study suggests.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe underlying technologies of high temperature storage and thermophotovoltaic conversion could also be used to produce grid-scale batteries able to rapidly supplement other power sources by storing heat for quick conversion to electricity. The research, supported by ARPA-E, was reported July 4 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EEnergy and Environmental Science\u003C\/em\u003E by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe goal for our study was to provide a heat transfer and thermodynamic perspective on a system that combines concentrated solar power (CSP) with thermal storage and TPV to show that such a system is worthy of renewed attention,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/henry-a\u0022\u003EAsegun Henry\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech. \u201cIn the context of the full system, we suggest that the efficiency could one day rival the best heat engines available on planet today.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETPV operates on the same principle as solar cells in wide use today, but converts photons at infrared wavelengths rather than those in the visible spectrum. Infrared is the predominant kind of heat and light emitted by heaters that glow red-hot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMost research reported in the energy literature suggests that the conversion rate of TPV would be less than 20 percent, not competitive with other heat engines. But Henry believes those calculations do not properly consider the conversion wavelengths or account for efficiencies possible when the full heat delivery system is considered.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe entire system could be quite efficient if we understand where the heat is flowing and design appropriately,\u201d Henry said. \u201cWe believe there is a pathway to make these TPV cells an order of magnitude cheaper than turbines for converting thermal energy to electricity.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe heat would be supplied by a CSP system collecting the sun\u2019s thermal energy using reflectors. The heat would be used to melt silicon, which could be stored in large insulated reservoirs until needed; the heat would then be released as the silicon solidifies. By moving the TPV cells when their power isn\u2019t needed, the system could be rapidly switched on and off to supplement electricity from wind or direct solar PV sources, Henry said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s the dream of utility companies to have a resource that could go from zero to full power in a matter of seconds,\u201d he said. \u201cWith the right insulation and shading of the cells, we could switch them on and off faster than any other conversion technology.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe critical challenge to making renewable energy competitive with fossil fuels at the utility scale is making the electricity dispatchable. The cost advantages of thermal storage over electrochemical storage also make a TPV with thermal energy storage (TES) system attractive for converting and storing energy for use on the grid, said Hamid Reza Seyf, a graduate research assistant who did the system modeling.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are combining the great economic advantages of TES with the potential for low cost and high performance derived from TPV cells fabricated on reusable substrates, with high reflectivity back reflectors for photon recycling,\u201d he said. \u201cIf solar energy is produced and not needed, you could use it to produce thermal energy that could be stored and discharged to TPV power block when needed. The extremely long lifetimes, high round-trip efficiency, and low cost of the thermal storage compared to electrochemical batteries make the TES very attractive.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf the TPV power block could be made 60 percent efficient, it could compete with most cost effective and efficient heat engine that has ever been achieved commercially, which is accomplished through a tandem turbine based cycle. The cost of turbines is well established and unlikely to see significant decrease, hence the only way to reduce their cost is by increasing their efficiency. However, because current turbines are extremely efficient and operate near their thermodynamic limit, there is little room for efficiency enhancement. TPV power block not only has the potential for lowering the cost but also has much more room for efficiency improvement, Seyf said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe computational model shows that a TPV system coupled with concentrated solar and storage could be as much as 65 percent efficient. But attaining that would require a long-term research initiative.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn their model, the group studied the effects of a silver-based back surface reflector (BSR) to bounce unused light back to the emitter. The study quantified the importance of the BSR reflectivity to the overall system performance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHenry\u2019s research group has recently demonstrated pumps, storage containers and other components that can operate at extreme temperatures of 1,300 degrees Celsius and above.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers hope their new paper encourages others to pursue TPV improvements \u2013 including fabrication of TPV cells on reusable substrates \u2013 that could lead to development of real-world systems at costs competitive with fossil fuels.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMy hope is that this paper will help bring together the thermophotovoltaics and PV community with the CSP community to realize that the thermal and PV system takes advantage of both sides,\u201d said Henry. \u201cThis is a heat engine that realistically may have a shot at beating the current record. This is a completely different technology, and there is a lot of research yet to be done.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis project was supported by DOE ARPA-E, grant number DEAR0000339. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Hamid Reza Seyf and Asegun Henry, \u201cThermophotovoltaics: A Potential Pathway to High Efficiency Concentrated Solar Power,\u201d (Energy \u0026amp; Environmental Science, 2016). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1039\/c6ee01372d\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1039\/c6ee01372d\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1039\/c6ee01372d\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986) or Ben Brumfield (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-385-1933).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new wrinkle on an old technology \u2013 solid-state thermophotovoltaics (TPV) \u2013 could provide a high-efficiency alternative for directly converting high-temperature heat from concentrated solar thermal to utility-scale electricity.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Thermophotovoltaic technology could directly convert heat from solar thermal to electricity."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-07-26 22:04:15","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:12","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-07-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-07-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"555971":{"id":"555971","type":"image","title":"Molten tin transport","body":null,"created":"1469584420","gmt_created":"2016-07-27 01:53:40","changed":"1475895355","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:55","alt":"Molten tin transport","file":{"fid":"206608","name":"tin-storage4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tin-storage4.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tin-storage4.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1614396,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tin-storage4.jpg?itok=rvP8etyT"}},"556001":{"id":"556001","type":"image","title":"Thermophotovoltaic power","body":null,"created":"1469584563","gmt_created":"2016-07-27 01:56:03","changed":"1475895355","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:55","alt":"Thermophotovoltaic power","file":{"fid":"206611","name":"thermophotovoltaics-schematic.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thermophotovoltaics-schematic_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thermophotovoltaics-schematic_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":156552,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/thermophotovoltaics-schematic_0.jpg?itok=5hSXxeE0"}},"556021":{"id":"556021","type":"image","title":"Molten tin transport2","body":null,"created":"1469584653","gmt_created":"2016-07-27 01:57:33","changed":"1475895355","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:55","alt":"Molten tin transport2","file":{"fid":"206613","name":"tin-storage5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tin-storage5.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tin-storage5.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1254584,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tin-storage5.jpg?itok=20VD8A8O"}}},"media_ids":["555971","556001","556021"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"51571","name":"Asegun Henry"},{"id":"170517","name":"concentrated solar"},{"id":"77201","name":"PV"},{"id":"167182","name":"solar"},{"id":"146521","name":"thermal energy"},{"id":"170519","name":"thermophotovoltaic"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"552541":{"#nid":"552541","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Engineered \u201cSand\u201d May Help Cool Electronic Devices","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBaratunde Cola would like to put sand into your computer. Not beach sand, but silicon dioxide nanoparticles coated with a high dielectric constant polymer to inexpensively provide improved cooling for increasingly power-hungry electronic devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe silicon dioxide doesn\u0027t do the cooling itself. Instead, the unique surface properties of the coated nanoscale material conduct the heat at potentially higher efficiency than existing heat sink materials. The theoretical physics behind the phenomenon is complicated, involving nanoscale electromagnetic effects created on the surface of the tiny silicon dioxide particles acting together.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe bottom line could be a potentially new class of high thermal conductivity materials useful for heat dissipation from power electronics, LEDs and other applications with high heat fluxes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We have shown for the first time that you can take a packed nanoparticle bed that would typically act as an insulator, and by causing light to couple strongly into the material by engineering a high dielectric constant medium like water or ethylene glycol at the surfaces, you can turn the nanoparticle bed into a conductor,\u0022 said Cola, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0022Using the collective surface electromagnetic effect of the nanoparticles, the thermal conductivity can increase 20-fold, allowing it to dissipate heat.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research, which involved both theory and experiment, has been published online in the journal \u003Cem\u003EMaterials Horizons\u003C\/em\u003E, and was highlighted in the July 8 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E. The work was supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory and the U.S. Air Force. Co-authors include Professor James Hammonds at Howard University, and graduate students Eric Tervo from Georgia Tech and Olalekan Adewuyi from Howard University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the last several years, theoretical papers have predicted the ability of surface phonon polaritons to increase thermal conduction in nanomaterials made from polar materials like silicon dioxide. Polaritons are quantum quasiparticles produced by strong coupling of electromagnetic waves with an electric or magnetic dipole-carrying excitation. In the specific case of surface phonon polaritons, the electromagnetic waves are coupled to a certain frequency and polarization of vibrating atoms in the material known as optical phonons. When materials are reduced to sizes below 100 nanometers, the surface properties of the material dominate over bulk properties, allowing phonons of heat to flow from particle to particle in the closely packed bed with the assistance of the coupled electromagnetic waves.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough researchers could not previously measure heat flow from surface phonon polaritons due to experimental difficulties, they have observed their wave propagation when light hits the surface of a nanostructure material, suggesting a potential role in heat dissipation. In addition to the first measurement of heat flow, Cola and his collaborators also found that the effect can occur when thermal energy is added to a packed bed of nanoparticles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat we are also showing for the first time is that when you have nanoparticles of the right type in a packed bed, that you don\u2019t have to shine light on them,\u201d he explained. \u201cYou can just heat up the nanoparticles and the thermal self-emission activates the effect. You create an electrical field around the nanoparticles from this thermal radiation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers decided to experiment with those special properties, first using water to coat the nanoparticles and turn the silicon dioxide nanoparticle bed into a conductor. But the water coating was not robust, so the researchers switched to ethylene glycol, a fluid commonly used in vehicle antifreeze. The new combination increased the heat transfer by a factor of 20 to approximately one watt per meter-kelvin, which is higher than the value ethylene glycol or silicon dioxide nanoparticles could produce alone, and competitive with expensive polymer composites used for heat dissipation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou could basically take an electronic device, pack these ethylene glycol-coated nanoparticles in the air space, and it would be useful as a heat dissipation material that at the same time, won\u2019t conduct electricity,\u201d said Cola. \u201cThe material has the potential to be very inexpensive and easy to work with.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESilicon dioxide was chosen because its crystalline lattice can generate resonant optical phonons \u2013 necessary for the effect \u2013 at approximately room temperature. Other materials could also be used, but the silicon dioxide nanoparticles provide a good compromise of properties and cost.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe resonance frequency, converted into the thermal radiation temperature for silicon dioxide, is around 50 degrees Celsius,\u201d said Cola. \u201cWith this material, we can turn on this effect at a temperature range that a microelectronic device is likely to see.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough the ethylene glycol works well, it will eventually evaporate. For that reason, Cola plans to identify polymeric materials that could be adsorbed to the silicon dioxide nanoparticles to provide a more stable coating with a reasonable product lifetime.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe effect depends on the collective action of the silicon dioxide nanoparticles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are basically showing a macroscopic translation of a nanoscale effect,\u201d Cola said. \u201cEven though the nanoparticle bed is a bulk assembly, it is a bulk assembly that has a lot of internal surface area. The internal surface area is the gateway by which it interacts with the electromagnetic field \u2013 the light and the heat.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo far, the effect has been demonstrated in small amounts of silicon dioxide nanoparticles. Another step would be to scale up the study to demonstrate that heat can be transferred longer distances in larger volumes of the material, Cola said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe rate at which the thermal energy goes from one side of the particle to the other side of the particle is constant throughout the nanoparticle bed, so it shouldn\u2019t matter how thick the nanoparticle bed is,\u201d he explained. \u201cWhen these particles are close enough together, their modes are coupled, which allows the energy to transport.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFurther testing would be needed to ensure the long-term efficiency and to confirm that there are no impacts on the reliability of the electronic devices cooled with the technique, Cola said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory Minority Leaders Program contract FA8650-11-D-5800 through a subcontract from United Technologies Corporation. Support is acknowledged from U.S. Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowships. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: E.J. Tervo, et al., \u201cHigh thermal conductivity in polaritonic SiO2 nanoparticle beds, (Materials Horizons, 2016). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1039\/c6mh00098c\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1039\/c6mh00098c\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1039\/c6mh00098c\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30221-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Ben Brumfield (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBaratunde Cola would like to put sand into your computer. Not beach sand, but silicon dioxide nanoparticles coated with a high dielectric constant polymer to inexpensively provide improved cooling for increasingly power-hungry electronic devices.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Engineered \u0022sand\u0022 may offer the potential for improved cooling of electronic devices."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-07-13 09:11:45","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:08","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-07-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-07-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"552491":{"id":"552491","type":"image","title":"Thermal probe testing silicon dioxide","body":null,"created":"1468415700","gmt_created":"2016-07-13 13:15:00","changed":"1475895350","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:50","alt":"Thermal probe testing silicon dioxide","file":{"fid":"95910","name":"silicon-dioxide-5764.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/silicon-dioxide-5764.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/silicon-dioxide-5764.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1357634,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/silicon-dioxide-5764.jpg?itok=3hnuq0cE"}},"552511":{"id":"552511","type":"image","title":"Thermal probe testing silicon dioxide2","body":null,"created":"1468415700","gmt_created":"2016-07-13 13:15:00","changed":"1475895350","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:50","alt":"Thermal probe testing silicon dioxide2","file":{"fid":"95912","name":"silicon-dioxide-5767.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/silicon-dioxide-5767.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/silicon-dioxide-5767.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1381175,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/silicon-dioxide-5767.jpg?itok=r09O-r7J"}},"552521":{"id":"552521","type":"image","title":"Silicon dioxide nanoparticles","body":null,"created":"1468415700","gmt_created":"2016-07-13 13:15:00","changed":"1475895350","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:50","alt":"Silicon dioxide nanoparticles","file":{"fid":"95917","name":"silicon-dioxide-5739.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/silicon-dioxide-5739.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/silicon-dioxide-5739.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1034284,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/silicon-dioxide-5739.jpg?itok=xx4xvyD_"}},"552531":{"id":"552531","type":"image","title":"Cooling electronic devices","body":null,"created":"1468415700","gmt_created":"2016-07-13 13:15:00","changed":"1475895350","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:50","alt":"Cooling electronic devices","file":{"fid":"95918","name":"silicon-dioxide-5712.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/silicon-dioxide-5712.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/silicon-dioxide-5712.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1471740,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/silicon-dioxide-5712.jpg?itok=UdnGHWdQ"}}},"media_ids":["552491","552511","552521","552531"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"8875","name":"Baratunde Cola"},{"id":"611","name":"conduction"},{"id":"437","name":"cooling"},{"id":"609","name":"electronics"},{"id":"435","name":"heat"},{"id":"170466","name":"silicon dioxide"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"553481":{"#nid":"553481","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Light-Trapping 3-D Solar Cells Undergo Space Testing","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA novel three-dimensional solar cell design developed at Georgia Tech will soon get its first testing in space aboard the International Space Station. An experimental module containing 18 test cells was launched to the ISS on July 18, and will be installed on the exterior of the station to study the cells\u2019 performance and their ability to withstand the rigors of space.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to testing the three-dimensional format, the module will also study a low-cost copper-zinc-tin-sulfide (CZTS) solar cell formulation. In all, the module launched to the ISS contains four types of PV devices: 3-D cells based on conventional cadmium telluride, 3-D cells based on CZTS materials, traditional planar solar cells produced at Georgia Tech, and planar cells based on CZTS.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe experiment was aboard SpaceX\u0027s Falcon 9 rocket that blasted off\u0026nbsp;at 12:45 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to see both the light-trapping performance of our 3-D solar cells and how they are going to respond to the harshness of space,\u201d said Jud Ready, a principal research engineer at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI) and an adjunct professor in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Materials Science and Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWe will also measure performance against temperature, because temperature has an influence on the performance of a solar cell.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBuilt by coating miniature carbon nanotube \u201ctowers\u201d with a photo-absorber that captures sunlight from all angles, the 3-D cells developed by Ready\u2019s lab could boost the amount of power obtained from the small surface areas many spacecraft have. The cells would absorb light from any direction, eliminating the need for mechanical devices to aim PV modules toward the sun.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe PV cell experiment will be installed on the NanoRacks External Platform (NREP), where robustness of the solar cells will be studied under harsh space conditions for six months. The project is sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), and the Space Station opportunity was provided by NanoRacks via its Space Act Agreement with NASA\u2019s U.S. National Labs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The CZTS photovoltaic arrays were built using the readily available elements copper, zinc, tin and sulfur to replace rarer CIGS \u2013 copper, indium, gallium and selenium \u2013 which are used in similar thin-film solar cells,\u0022 said Ready. \u0022The CZTS approach produces an efficient photo-absorber using earth-abundant materials that cost around a thousand times less than rare-earth elements like indium, gallium and selenium.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne virtue of CZTS photovoltaic material is its electron band structure, Ready explained. Like CIGS, CZTS is a direct band gap material. In semiconductor physics, this means incoming solar photons are able to emit current-producing electrons directly, rather than moving through power-robbing intermediate states as indirect band gap materials, like silicon, require.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMoreover, Ready said, direct band gap materials have good resistance to the powerful ionizing radiation encountered in space. That\u0027s because direct band gaps are larger than indirect band gaps; it\u0027s harder for radiation to damage these larger gaps so severely that functionality is seriously impaired.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe 3-D capability could prove especially valuable on the International Space Station, which is exposed daily to 15-16 sunrises and sunsets as it orbits Earth every 92 minutes at 17,150 m.p.h. The 3-D towers can exploit the sun\u0027s rays for longer periods than conventional 2-D planar \u2013 or flat \u2013 designs, which work most efficiently only when the sun is directly overhead.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022With our 3-D design, as the sun\u0027s angle increases more surface is exposed and there\u0027s a growing chance that photons will enter,\u0022 Ready said. \u0022Also, 3-D technology provides more opportunity for photons to bounce around between the towers, increasing the likelihood they will be converted to electron hole pairs and produce mobile charge carriers.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs the ISS orbits, the 3-D arrays\u0027 performance will be compared to a high quality commercial 2-D planar cell array installed nearby. If things go as expected, GTRI\u0027s cells will provide relatively better performance than the other cells as they move away from high noon. The new CZTS 3-D arrays will also be tested in space against an older 3-D design made by GTRI using cadmium telluride.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the GTRI development team\u2019s key achievements to date has been identifying the best ways to manufacture CZTS solar cells. The team has pinpointed techniques for successfully processing the four Earth-abundant elements into an efficient photo absorber.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In manufacturing you have to heat these elements, and one major issue is that they evaporate at different rates,\u0022 Ready explained. \u0022Getting them to blend in the desired ratios, so that the stoichiometry is retained and electron levels of the constituent elements match up as they should, has been a challenge.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI\u0027s photovoltaic arrays will be encased in Lexan containers aboard the ISS. Lexan, a clear yet strong polymer, produces minimal interference with incoming solar rays but can protect the delicate arrays from astronauts and space debris \u2013 and also protect the crew from any pieces of the arrays that might separate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter the six-month mission, the solar cells will be sent back to Earth via a cargo ship. The research team will assess the cells\u2019 post-mission performance and look for damage from radiation and other space hazards.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If it can survive in space, which is the harshest of environments from the standpoint of wide temperature swings, radiation and numerous other factors, then we can be confident it will work well down on Earth,\u0022 Ready said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EReady\u2019s novel 3-D photovoltaic technology (U.S. Patent # 8,350,146) is licensed for commercial manufacture by Bloo Solar of El Dorado Hills, CA.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986) or Ben Brumfield (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-385-1933)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA novel three-dimensional solar cell design developed at Georgia Tech will soon get its first testing in space aboard the International Space Station. An experimental module containing 18 test cells was launched to the ISS on July 18, and will be installed on the exterior of the station to study the cells\u2019 performance and their ability to withstand the rigors of space.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A novel three-dimensional solar cell design will soon get its first testing in space aboard the International Space Station."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-07-16 12:26:21","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:08","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-07-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-07-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"553421":{"id":"553421","type":"image","title":"PV Cell Produced for Testing","body":null,"created":"1468685264","gmt_created":"2016-07-16 16:07:44","changed":"1475895350","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:50","alt":"PV Cell Produced for Testing","file":{"fid":"206525","name":"solar4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/solar4.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/solar4.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":612137,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/solar4.jpg?itok=EQGumLWG"}},"553451":{"id":"553451","type":"image","title":"Microscope Image of PV","body":null,"created":"1468685698","gmt_created":"2016-07-16 16:14:58","changed":"1475895350","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:50","alt":"Microscope Image of PV","file":{"fid":"206528","name":"solar6.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/solar6.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/solar6.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":956082,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/solar6.jpg?itok=z7_o5xzI"}},"553431":{"id":"553431","type":"image","title":"Wire Bonding PV Cell","body":null,"created":"1468685452","gmt_created":"2016-07-16 16:10:52","changed":"1475895350","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:50","alt":"Wire Bonding PV Cell","file":{"fid":"206526","name":"solar7.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/solar7.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/solar7.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1140877,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/solar7.jpg?itok=r_maF7Ri"}},"553461":{"id":"553461","type":"image","title":"GTRI 3-D PV Group","body":null,"created":"1468685832","gmt_created":"2016-07-16 16:17:12","changed":"1475895350","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:50","alt":"GTRI 3-D PV Group","file":{"fid":"206529","name":"solar1_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/solar1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/solar1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1194418,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/solar1_0.jpg?itok=8kdAej8K"}},"553441":{"id":"553441","type":"image","title":"Jud Ready and PV Cell","body":null,"created":"1468685593","gmt_created":"2016-07-16 16:13:13","changed":"1475895350","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:50","alt":"Jud Ready and PV Cell","file":{"fid":"206527","name":"solar2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/solar2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/solar2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1233834,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/solar2.jpg?itok=JosiqPMX"}},"553471":{"id":"553471","type":"image","title":"Wire Bonding PV Cell2","body":null,"created":"1468685995","gmt_created":"2016-07-16 16:19:55","changed":"1475895350","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:50","alt":"Wire Bonding PV Cell2","file":{"fid":"206530","name":"solar9_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/solar9_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/solar9_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":876766,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/solar9_0.jpg?itok=nj_EcZ0y"}}},"media_ids":["553421","553451","553431","553461","553441","553471"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"170472","name":"CZTS"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"2798","name":"International Space Station"},{"id":"14209","name":"Jud Ready"},{"id":"1073","name":"photovoltaic"},{"id":"77201","name":"PV"},{"id":"170473","name":"PV cell"},{"id":"169729","name":"solar cell"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"550391":{"#nid":"550391","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Robot Helps Study How First Land Animals Moved 360 Million Years Ago","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen early terrestrial animals began moving about on mud and sand 360 million years ago, the powerful tails they used as fish may have been more important than scientists previously realized. That\u2019s one conclusion from a new study of African mudskipper fish and a robot modeled on the animal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnimals analogous to the mudskipper would have used modified fins to move around on flat surfaces, but for climbing sandy slopes, the animals could have benefitted from using their tails to propel themselves forward, the researchers found. Results of the study, reported July 8 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E, could help designers create amphibious robots able to move across granular surfaces more efficiently \u2013 and with less likelihood of getting stuck in the mud.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Office and the Army Research Laboratory, the project involved a multidisciplinary team of physicists, biologists and roboticists from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Clemson University and Carnegie Mellon University. In addition to a detailed study of the mudskipper and development of a robot model that used the animal\u2019s locomotion techniques, the study also examined flow and drag conditions in representative granular materials, and applied a mathematical model incorporating new physics based on the drag research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMost robots have trouble moving on terrain that includes sandy slopes,\u201d said Dan Goldman, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics. \u201cWe noted that not only did the mudskippers use their limbs to propel themselves in a kind of crutching motion on sand and sandy slopes, but that when the going got tough, they used their tails in concert with limb propulsion to ascend a slope. Our robot model was only able to climb sandy slopes when it similarly used its tail in coordination with its appendages.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBased on fossil records, scientists have long studied how early land animals may have gotten around, and the new study suggests their tails \u2013 which played a key role in swimming as fish \u2013 may have helped supplement the work of fins, especially on sloping granular surfaces such as beaches and mudflats.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe were interested in examining one of the most important evolutionary events in our history as animals: the transition from living in water to living on land,\u201d said Richard Blob, alumni distinguished professor of biological sciences at Clemson University. \u201cBecause of the focus on limbs, the role of the tail may not have been considered very strongly in the past. In some ways, it was hiding in plain sight. Some of the features that the animals used were new, such as limbs, but some of them were existing features that they simply co-opted to allow them to move into a new habitat.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith Ph.D. student Sandy Kawano, now a researcher at the National Institute for \u0026nbsp;Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, Blob\u2019s lab recorded how the mudskippers (\u003Cem\u003EPeriopthalmus barbaratus\u003C\/em\u003E) moved on a variety of loose surfaces, providing data and video to Goldman\u2019s laboratory. The small fish, which uses its front fins and tail to move on land, lives in tidal areas near shore, spending time in the water and on sandy and muddy surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBenjamin McInroe was a Georgia Tech undergraduate when he analyzed the mudskipper data provided by the Clemson team. He applied the principles to a robot model known as MuddyBot that has two limbs and a powerful tail, with motion provided by electric motors. Information from both the mudskipper and robotic studies were also factored into a mathematical model provided by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe used three complementary approaches,\u201d said McInroe, who is a now a Ph.D. student at the University of California Berkeley. \u201cThe fish provided a morphological, functional model of these early walkers. With the robot, we are able to simplify the complexity of the mudskipper and by varying the parameters, understand the physical mechanisms of what was happening. With the mathematical model and its simulations, we were able to understand the physics behind what was going on.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoth the mudskippers and the robot moved by lifting themselves up to reduce drag on their bodies, and both needed a kick from their tails to climb 20-degree sandy slopes. Using their \u201cfins\u201d alone, both struggled to climb slopes and often slid backward if they didn\u2019t use their tails, McInroe noted. Early land animals likely didn\u2019t have precise control over their limbs, and the tail may have compensated for that limitation, helping the animals ascend sandy slopes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Carnegie Mellon University researchers, who have worked with Goldman on relating the locomotion of other animals to robots, demonstrated that theoretical models developed to describe the complex motion of robots can also be used to understand locomotion in the natural world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur computer modeling tools allow us to visualize, and therefore better understand, how the mudskipper incorporates its tail and flipper motions to locomote,\u201d said Howie Choset, a professor in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. \u201cThis work also will advance robotics in those cases where a robot needs to surmount challenging terrains with various inclinations.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe model was based on a framework proposed to broadly understand locomotion by physicist Frank Wilczek \u2013 a Nobel Prize winner \u2013 and his then student Alfred Shapere in the 1980s. The so-called \u201cgeometric mechanics\u201d approach to locomotion of human-made devices (like satellites) was largely developed by engineers, including those in Choset\u2019s group. To provide force relationships as inputs to the mudskipper robot model, Georgia Tech postdoctoral fellow Jennifer Rieser and Georgia Tech graduate student Perrin Schiebel measured drag in inclined granular materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInformation from the study could help in the design of robots that may need to move on surfaces such as sand that flows around limbs, said Goldman. Such flow of the substrate can impede motion, depending on the shape of the appendage entering the sand and the type of motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the study\u2019s most significant impact may be to provide new insights into how vertebrates made the transition from water to land.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to ultimately know how natural selection can act to modify structures already present in organisms to allow for locomotion in a fundamentally different environment,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cSwimming and walking on land are fundamentally different, yet these early animals had to make the transition.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project also represents a combination of physics, biology and engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cProfessor Goldman and his collaborators are combining physics and engineering prototyping approaches to understand the physical principles that allow animals to move in different environments,\u201d said Krastan Blagoev, program director in the National Science Foundation\u2019s Division of Physics. \u201cThis novel approach to living organisms promises to bring to biological sciences higher predictive power and at the same time uncover engineering principles that we have never imagined before.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the project also included co-first author Henry Astley, a Georgia Tech postdoctoral researcher when the project was done, and Chaohui Gong, a postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the NSF Physics of Living Systems program through grants PHY-1205878, PHY-1150760, CMMI-1361778; the Army Research Office through grant W911NF-11-1-0514, and the Army Research Laboratory MAST CTA program. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Office or the Army Research Laboratory. The Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance also supported this work.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Benjamin McInroe, et al., \u201cTail use improves soft substrate performance in models of early vertebrate land locomotors,\u201d (Science, 2016).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Ben Brumfield (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen early terrestrial animals began moving about on mud and sand 360 million years ago, the powerful tails they used as fish may have been more important than scientists previously realized. That\u2019s one conclusion from a new study of African mudskipper fish and a robot modeled on the animal.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study used a robot to help understand how the first land animals moved about."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-07-04 11:19:27","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:04","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"550231":{"id":"550231","type":"image","title":"Mudskipper","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"Mudskipper","file":{"fid":"218158","name":"mudskipper10.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mudskipper10.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mudskipper10.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1952755,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mudskipper10.jpg?itok=oqlg93iY"}},"550261":{"id":"550261","type":"image","title":"MuddyBot robot","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"MuddyBot robot","file":{"fid":"218161","name":"terrestrial-animals7.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals7_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals7_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1571007,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terrestrial-animals7_0.jpg?itok=-bXh3wO6"}},"550271":{"id":"550271","type":"image","title":"Dan Goldman and MuddyBot","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"Dan Goldman and MuddyBot","file":{"fid":"218162","name":"muddybot-36.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/muddybot-36.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/muddybot-36.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2013666,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/muddybot-36.jpg?itok=4BpM8Sf6"}},"550331":{"id":"550331","type":"image","title":"MuddyBot in trackway","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"MuddyBot in trackway","file":{"fid":"218168","name":"terrestrial-animals8.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals8.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals8.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2190786,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terrestrial-animals8.jpg?itok=MtiKWm0h"}},"550291":{"id":"550291","type":"image","title":"Researchers and MuddyBot","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"Researchers and MuddyBot","file":{"fid":"218164","name":"terrestrial-animals6.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals6_2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals6_2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1692602,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terrestrial-animals6_2.jpg?itok=C1nHYLuv"}},"550311":{"id":"550311","type":"image","title":"Researchers and MuddyBot2","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"Researchers and MuddyBot2","file":{"fid":"218166","name":"terrestrial-animals5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals5.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terrestrial-animals5.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1698116,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terrestrial-animals5.jpg?itok=AN_U33w3"}},"550351":{"id":"550351","type":"image","title":"Mudskipper2","body":null,"created":"1467727200","gmt_created":"2016-07-05 14:00:00","changed":"1475895345","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:45","alt":"Mudskipper2","file":{"fid":"218170","name":"mudskipper9.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mudskipper9.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mudskipper9.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1851738,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mudskipper9.jpg?itok=t8FWhsj8"}}},"media_ids":["550231","550261","550271","550331","550291","550311","550351"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"144361","name":"granular surface"},{"id":"170448","name":"MuddyBot"},{"id":"170449","name":"mudskipper"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"170451","name":"terrestrial animal"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"545081":{"#nid":"545081","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Gravitational Waves Detected Again","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration, which includes Georgia Tech researchers, and the Virgo collaboration have observed a second gravitational wave event.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe observation was made in the early morning hours (UTC) of December 26, 2015. It is smaller than the initial, historic detection made in September 2015, but was also produced by a pair of colliding black holes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGravitational waves, or ripples in the fabric of spacetime, carry information about their origins and the nature of gravity that cannot otherwise be obtained. Physicists say the December waves were produced during the final moments of the merger of two black holes\u201414 and eight times the mass of the sun\u2014to produce a single, more massive spinning black hole that is 21 times the mass of the sun. LIGO estimated the September black holes were 29 and 36 times the mass of the sun.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt is very significant that these black holes were much less massive than those observed in the first detection,\u201d said Gabriela Gonzalez, LIGO Scientific Collaboration spokesperson. \u201cBecause of their lighter masses compared to the first detection, they spent more time\u2014about one second\u2014in the sensitive band of the detectors. It is a promising start to mapping the populations of black holes in our universe.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe signal was detected by both of the twin LIGO detectors located in Louisiana and the state of Washington.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring the merger, which occurred approximately 1.4 billion years ago, a quantity of energy roughly equivalent to the mass of the sun was converted into gravitational waves. The detected signal comes from the last 27 orbits of the black holes before their merger.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOnce again, the collaborative work of hundreds of scientists and engineers has allowed us to pull the curtains and peek into the new window of the universe that was opened last September,\u201d said Laura Cadonati, Georgia Tech professor and chair of LIGO\u2019s data analysis council. \u201cWe now have two strong signals from merging black holes and we are now excitingly awaiting for more discoveries to come in the next months as the detectors improve and our analysis is robust.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECadonati is one of 12 Georgia Tech faculty members, postdoctoral researchers and students in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. The team continues to develop tools and techniques to detect, analyze and characterize sources from the first science run of Advanced LIGO, including this second event.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWith this second discovery of a binary black hole merger, we begin to unveil a population of black holes in the universe,\u201d said Professor Deirdre Shoemaker, director of Georgia Tech\u2019s\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cra.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E Center for Relativistic Astrophysics\u003C\/a\u003E and a member of LIGO. \u201cThis hints at the excitement to come as we probe deeper into the sky, listening to the story gravity is telling us about the universe.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe first detection of gravitational waves, announced on February 11, 2016, was a milestone in physics and astronomy. It confirmed a major prediction of Albert Einstein\u2019s 1915 general theory of relativity and marked the beginning of the new field of gravitational-wave astronomy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELIGO research is carried out by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, a group of more than 1,000 scientists from universities around the United States and in 14 other countries. More than 90 universities and research institutes in the LSC, including Georgia Tech, develop detector technology and analyze data. Approximately 250 students are strong contributing members of the collaboration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe LIGO Observatories are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and were conceived, built and are operated by Caltech and MIT. The new discovery, accepted for publication in the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review Letters\u003C\/em\u003E, was made by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (which includes the GEO Collaboration and the Australian Consortium for Interferometric Gravitational Astronomy) and the Virgo Collaboration using data from the two LIGO detectors.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Pair of colliding black holes send signal from 1.4 billion years ago"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe\u0026nbsp;Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)\u0026nbsp;Scientific Collaboration, which includes Georgia Tech researchers, and the Virgo collaboration have observed a second gravitational wave event.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026nbsp;","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Second Gravitational Wave detected by LIGO, which includes Georgia Tech researchers."}],"uid":"28797","created_gmt":"2016-06-15 13:27:31","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:53","author":"Lance Wallace","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-06-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-06-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"545041":{"id":"545041","type":"image","title":"Spiral Dance of Black Holes","body":null,"created":"1466092800","gmt_created":"2016-06-16 16:00:00","changed":"1475895336","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:36","alt":"Spiral Dance of Black Holes","file":{"fid":"217443","name":"gravity_waves_stillimage.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gravity_waves_stillimage_2.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/gravity_waves_stillimage_2.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1118648,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/gravity_waves_stillimage_2.jpeg?itok=3lXmG2So"}},"499171":{"id":"499171","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech LIGO Group","body":null,"created":"1455303600","gmt_created":"2016-02-12 19:00:00","changed":"1475895258","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:18","alt":"Georgia Tech LIGO Group","file":{"fid":"204666","name":"original_3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/original_3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/original_3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3123215,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/original_3_0.jpg?itok=Nq34ZFAT"}}},"media_ids":["545041","499171"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/cra.gatech.edu\/","title":"Center for Relativistic Astrophysics"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"120181","name":"gravitational wave"},{"id":"120191","name":"Laura Cadonati"},{"id":"120161","name":"LIGO"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jason.maderer@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejason.maderer@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jason.maderer@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"538511":{"#nid":"538511","#data":{"type":"news","title":"40-Year Math Mystery and Four Generations of Figuring","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThis may sound like a familiar kind of riddle: How many brilliant mathematicians does it take to come up with and prove the Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the answer is no joke, because arriving at it took mental toil that spanned four decades until this year, when mathematicians at the Georgia Institute of Technology \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/1511.05020\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Efinally announced a proof\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/1602.07557\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eof that conjecture in Graph Theory.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir research was funded by the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGraph Theory is a field of mathematics that\u2019s instrumental in complex tangles. It helps you make more connecting flights, helps get your GPS unstuck in traffic, and helps manage your Facebook posts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBack to the question. How many? Six (at least).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne made the conjecture. One tried for years to prove it and failed but passed on his insights. One advanced the mathematical basis for 10 more years. One helped that person solve part of the proof. And two more finally helped him complete the rest of the proof.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EElapsed time: 39 years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo, what is the Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture, anyway? Its name comes from Paul Seymour from Princeton University, who came up with the notion in 1977. Then another mathematician named Alexander Kelmans, arrived at the same conjecture in 1979.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd though the Georgia Tech proof fills some 120 pages of math reasoning, the conjecture itself is only one short sentence:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIf a graph G is 5-connected and non-planar, then G has a TK\u003Csub\u003E5\u003C\/sub\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe devil called \u2018TK\u003Csub\u003E5\u003C\/sub\u003E\u2019\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYou could call a TK\u003Csub\u003E5\u003C\/sub\u003E the devil in the details. TK\u003Csub\u003E5\u003C\/sub\u003Es are larger relatives of K\u003Csub\u003E5\u003C\/sub\u003E, a very simple formation that looks like a 5-point star fenced in by a pentagon. It resembles an occult or Anarchy symbol, and that\u2019s fitting. A TK\u003Csub\u003E5\u003C\/sub\u003E in a \u201cgraph\u201d is guaranteed to thwart any nice, neat \u201cplanar\u201d status.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGraph Theory. Planar. Non-planar. TK\u003Csub\u003E5\u003C\/sub\u003E. Let\u2019s go to the real world to understand them better.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGraph Theory is used, for example, in designing microprocessors and the logic behind computer programs,\u201d said Georgia Tech mathematician Xingxing Yu, who has shepherded the Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture\u2019s proof to completion. \u201cIt\u2019s helpful in detailed networks to get quick solutions that are reasonable and require low computational complexity.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo picture a graph, draw some cities as points on a whiteboard and lines representing interstate highways connecting them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the resulting drawings are not geometrical figures like squares and trapezoids. Instead, the lines, called \u201cedges,\u201d are like wires connecting points called \u201cvertices.\u201d For a planar graph, there is always some way to draw it so that the lines from point to point do not cross.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the real world, a microprocessor is sending electrons from point to point down myriad conductive paths. Get them crossed, and the processor shorts out.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn such intricate scenarios, optimizing connections is key. Graphs and graph algorithms play a role in modeling them. \u201cYou want to get as close to planar as you can in these situations,\u201d Yu said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn Graph Theory, wherever K\u003Csub\u003E5\u003C\/sub\u003E or its sprawling relatives TK\u003Csub\u003E5\u003C\/sub\u003Es show up, you can forget planar. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to know where one may be hiding in a very large graph.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe human connections\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe human connections that led to the proof of the Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture are equally interesting, if less complicated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESeymour had a collaborator, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.math.gatech.edu\/users\/thomas\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ERobin Thomas, a Regent\u2019s Professor at Georgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E who heads a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.aco.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eprogram that includes a concentration on Graph Theory\u003C\/a\u003E. His team has a track record of cracking decades-old math problems. One was even more than a century old.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI tried moderately hard to prove the Kelmans-Seymour conjecture in the 1990s, but failed,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cYu is a rare mathematician, and this shows it. I\u2019m delighted that he pushed the proof to completion.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYu, once Thomas\u2019 postdoc and now a professor at the School of Mathematics, picked up on the conjecture many years later.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAround 2000, I was working on related concepts and around 2007, I became convinced that I was ready to work on that conjecture,\u201d Yu said. He planned to involve graduate students but waited a year. \u201cI needed to have a clearer plan of how to proceed. Otherwise, it would have been too risky,\u201d Yu said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThen he brought in graduate student Jie Ma in 2008, and together they proved the conjecture part of the way.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETwo years later, Yu brought graduate students Yan Wang and Dawei He into the picture. \u201cWang worked very hard and efficiently full time on the problem,\u201d Yu said. The team delivered the rest of the proof quicker than anticipated and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/1511.05020\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecurrently have two\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/1602.07557\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Esubmitted papers\u003C\/a\u003E and two more in the works.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to the six mathematicians who made and proved the conjecture, others tried but didn\u2019t complete the proof but left behind useful cues.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENearly four decades after Seymour had his idea, the fight for its proof is still not over. Other researchers are now called to tear at it for about two years like an invading mob. Not until they\u2019ve thoroughly failed to destroy it, will the proof officially stand.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESeymour\u2019s first reaction to news of the proof reflected that reality. \u201cCongratulations! (If it\u2019s true\u2026),\u201d he wrote.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGraduate student Wang is not terribly worried. \u201cWe spent lots and lots of our time trying to wreck it ourselves and couldn\u2019t, so I hope things will be fine,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf so, the conjecture will get a new name: Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture Proved by He, Wang and Yu.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd it will trigger a mathematical chain reaction, automatically confirming a past conjecture, Dirac\u2019s Conjecture Proved by Mader, and also putting within reach proof of another conjecture, Hajos\u2019 Conjecture.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor Princeton mathematician Seymour, it\u2019s nice to see an intuition he held so strongly is now likely to enter into the realm of proven mathematics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSometimes you conjecture some pretty thing, and it\u0027s just wrong, and the truth is just a mess,\u201d he wrote in an email message. \u201cBut sometimes, the pretty thing is also the truth; that that does happen sometimes is basically what keeps math going I suppose. There\u2019s a profound thought.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe National Science Foundation funded this research under grants DMS-1265564 and AST-1247545. \u0026nbsp;Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Proof of Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture in Graph Theory, a math field applicable to social media"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn 1977, Princeton mathematician Paul Seymour made a conjecture about certain large graphs. Nearly 40 years later, Georgia Tech mathematicians have come up with a proof he was right. The conjecture is 13 words long; the proof covers 120 pages of math reasoning.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"In social media and much computer technology, a field of math called Graph Theory is used to make networks work. Georgia Tech mathematicians have solved a 40-year Graph Theory mystery."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2016-05-23 09:46:53","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:42","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-05-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-05-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"538601":{"id":"538601","type":"image","title":"Yu, Wang, He offer proof for Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture","body":null,"created":"1464703200","gmt_created":"2016-05-31 14:00:00","changed":"1475895326","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:26","alt":"Yu, Wang, He offer proof for Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture","file":{"fid":"216413","name":"math_group_001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/math_group_001.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/math_group_001.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1414250,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/math_group_001.jpg?itok=-cFLlKKG"}}},"media_ids":["538601"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2612","name":"Graph Theory"},{"id":"170744","name":"He"},{"id":"172048","name":"K5"},{"id":"169181","name":"Kelmans-Seymour conjecture"},{"id":"256","name":"math"},{"id":"2748","name":"mathematics"},{"id":"172049","name":"TK5"},{"id":"6944","name":"Wang"},{"id":"170745","name":"Yu"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Ben Brumfield,\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E, 404-660-1408\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"529411":{"#nid":"529411","#data":{"type":"news","title":"It Takes More than Peer Pressure to Make Large Microgels Fit In","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen an assembly of microgel particles includes one particle that\u0027s significantly larger than the rest, that oversized particle spontaneously shrinks to match the size of its smaller neighbors. This self-healing nature of the system allows the microparticles to form defect-free colloidal crystals, an unusual property not seen in systems made up of \u201chard\u201d particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2009, Andrew Lyon, then a professor of chemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology, observed this dynamic resizing in a microgel system he had created, but the mechanism behind the self-healing process remained uncertain. Now, researchers believe they\u0027ve finally solved the mystery, and what they\u0027ve learned could also have implications for biological systems made up of soft organic particles not unlike the polymer microgels.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering techniques, the researchers carefully studied the structures formed by dense concentrations of the microparticles. They also used tiny piezoelectric pressure transducers to measure osmotic pressure changes in the system. Their conclusion: In dense assemblies of microparticles, counter ions bound to the microgels by electrostatic attraction come to be shared by multiple particles, increasing the osmotic pressure which then works to shrink the oversized particle.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen the particles are close enough together, there is a point at which the cloud of ions can no longer be associated with individual particles because they overlap other particles,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/alberto-fernandez-nieves\u0022\u003EAlberto Fernandez-Nieves\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cThe ions create an imbalance between osmotic pressure inside and outside the larger particles, pushing them to de-swell \u2013 expel solvent to change size \u2013 to match the pressure of the system given by these delocalized ions. This is only possible because the microgel particles are compressible.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research is reported April 25 in the early edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E. The work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, and the research partnership between Georgia Tech and Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe presence of non-uniform particles normally creates point defects in the crystals or prevents the formation of crystalline structures altogether. That\u2019s true for structures formed from atoms, but not those formed from the microgels, which are soft cross-linked polymer particles immersed in a solvent. The microgels, which range in size from about 100 nanometers up to several microns in diameter, can exist in either swollen or non-swollen states, depending on such external conditions as temperature.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELyon and his research group reported the self-healing nature of the colloidal crystals in the journal \u003Cem\u003EAngewandte Chemie International\u003C\/em\u003E in 2009. They initially believed that what they were seeing resulted from energetic issues associated with formation of the crystals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe interpreted the phenomenon in terms of the overall lattice energy \u2013 the propensity of the microgels to form an ordered array \u2013 perhaps being larger than the energy required to collapse the defect microgels,\u201d he said. \u201cIn other words, we believed there was an energetic penalty associated with disruption of the crystalline lattice that was greater than the energetic penalty associated with individual microgel de-swelling.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFernandez-Nieves initially supported that hypothesis, but later came believe there was more at work. For instance, the shrunken microgels, which are identifiable because of their higher optical density, freely move about just like the smaller ones, suggesting that the shrinkage doesn\u2019t result from being crowded by the smaller particles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a collaboration with Researcher Urs Gasser and Ph.D. student Andrea Scotti at the Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland, the researchers used X-ray and neutron scattering techniques to study the structure of the suspended microgels and the degree of swelling in the large microparticles of the colloidal crystals. The work confirmed that these larger particles had indeed de-swollen, even at concentrations far larger than those initially used by Lyon\u2019s research team.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe system is able to make point defects disappear, and the mechanism we have proposed allows us to understand why this occurs,\u201d said Fernandez-Nieves. \u201cWhat we have proposed is a mechanism to explain what we see happening, and we think this is a general mechanism that could potentially apply to a wider range of soft particles.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a next step, the research group expects to determine the ionic structure to confirm what the existing research has suggested. Fernandez-Nieves believes the work will generate more research with soft particle suspensions, for both experimentalists and theoreticians.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere is indeed much more theory and simulation work needed to confirm what we propose and to fully understand how this self-healing process occurs,\u201d he said. \u201cThis principle could be at play in a large number of contexts, including biological systems, in which there is a subtle balance between rigidity, osmotic pressure and ionic balance. This is a mechanism that doesn\u2019t really involve the other particles in the assembly. It involves the ions.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELyon, now dean of the Schmid College of Science and Technology at Chapman University, believes the findings might go beyond creating better colloidal systems to provide insights into how living cells operate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy obtaining a deeper insight into microgel assemblies, we may be able to take advantage of the subtle energetic balances that determine the overall structures to create more complex, defect-tolerant assemblies,\u201d he said. \u201cThe physics we uncovered here could be relevant for other crowded, soft-materials systems, such as the interior of the eukaryotic cells. Perhaps an extension of this knowledge will provide a better understanding of how the interior of a cell is organized, and how material is transported through this complex and crowded environment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: A. Scotti, et al., \u201cSelf-healing colloidal crystals: Why soft particles feel the squeeze,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E, 2016).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Ben Brumfield (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen an assembly of microgel particles includes one particle that\u0027s significantly larger than the rest, that oversized particle spontaneously shrinks to match the size of its smaller neighbors. This self-healing nature of the system allows the microparticles to form defect-free colloidal crystals, an unusual property not seen in systems made up of \u201chard\u201d particles.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers believe they now understand why oversized microgels shrink to fit in with colloidal crystals."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-04-26 09:47:35","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:28","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-04-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-04-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"529361":{"id":"529361","type":"image","title":"Alberto Fernandez-Nieves in Lab","body":null,"created":"1461895200","gmt_created":"2016-04-29 02:00:00","changed":"1475895307","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:07","alt":"Alberto Fernandez-Nieves in Lab","file":{"fid":"206202","name":"colloidal-crystals_3235.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/colloidal-crystals_3235.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/colloidal-crystals_3235.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1593124,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/colloidal-crystals_3235.jpg?itok=ghApFQy0"}},"529381":{"id":"529381","type":"image","title":"Colloidal crystals","body":null,"created":"1461895200","gmt_created":"2016-04-29 02:00:00","changed":"1475895307","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:07","alt":"Colloidal crystals","file":{"fid":"206204","name":"colloidal-crystals_3231.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/colloidal-crystals_3231.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/colloidal-crystals_3231.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1129743,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/colloidal-crystals_3231.jpg?itok=43JzgPLM"}},"529401":{"id":"529401","type":"image","title":"Colloidal crystals2","body":null,"created":"1461895200","gmt_created":"2016-04-29 02:00:00","changed":"1475895307","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:07","alt":"Colloidal crystals2","file":{"fid":"206206","name":"colloidal-crystals-figure.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/colloidal-crystals-figure.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/colloidal-crystals-figure.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":162461,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/colloidal-crystals-figure.jpg?itok=6Fwrn1d7"}}},"media_ids":["529361","529381","529401"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"66681","name":"Alberto Fernandez-Nieves"},{"id":"4912","name":"Andrew Lyon"},{"id":"89","name":"chemistry"},{"id":"170174","name":"colloidal"},{"id":"170175","name":"colloidal crystals"},{"id":"171973","name":"migrogel"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"170178","name":"self-healing"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"525321":{"#nid":"525321","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Contrarian Dance of DNA","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHave a close-up look at DNA; you\u2019ll see it wiggles in the oddest way.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPut more scientifically, a piece of DNA\u2019s movements are often counterintuitive to those of objects in our everyday grasp.\u0026nbsp; Take a rod of rubber, for example. Bend it until its ends meet, and you can count on the elastic tension to snap it back straight when you let go, said biological physicist Harold Kim.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThat doesn\u2019t always work that way with a piece of DNA. When you bend it into a loop, the elastic energy more often than not wants to bend the chain further in instead of pushing it back out,\u201d said Kim, an associate professor at the\u0026nbsp;Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the School of Physics, Kim is fine-tuning the observation of how biopolymers behave, in particular DNA at short lengths. He published his latest results on \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/link.aps.org\/doi\/10.1103\/PhysRevE.93.043315\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u201cForce distribution in a semiflexible loop\u201d in the journal Physical Review E\u003C\/a\u003E on April 18, 2016.\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EThe research is funded by National Institutes of Health. Georgia Tech\u2019s James T. Waters coauthored the research paper.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn complex simulations, Kim studied the motions of DNA chains at lengths where they still have springy qualities, in order to understand their mechanochemical properties, or how they work as microscopic objects.\u0026nbsp;In particular, he has illuminated the forces acting upon DNA bound up in short\u0026nbsp;loops.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s a common and important shape that keeps DNA from expressing when it shouldn\u2019t and then possibly messing up cell functioning.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKim\u2019s most significant counterintuitive find could improve understanding of how DNA snaps free from the proteins that bind them into those loops. He has observed that looped DNA, though on average very gentle in its motions, is beset by moments of\u0026nbsp;unusually high force.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt would be a little like a\u0026nbsp;chaotic spring drawn up to a loop making pretty even jumbly movements\u0026nbsp;then\u0026nbsp;suddenly whipping out violently,\u201d Kim said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe range of observed forces on DNA loops breaks the bounds of what thermodynamics predicts. Even though the mean of the force distribution does indeed equal the thermodynamic force, the distribution of forces pushes past the anticipated norm, falling broadly outside a Gaussian distribution on both ends.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s a key determination.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt could help scientists in various disciplines predict the lifespans of many DNA loops and understand the frequency and likelihood of their undoing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe forces contributing to those momentary jerks and snaps work on the whole contrary to one another. While that elastic energy works on DNA pieces in its ways, the forces of entropy push hard in their own ways.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EReflective of the universe overall, in Kim\u2019s observations of springy DNA loops, entropy, here too, wins. Entropic forces slightly outdo the elastic forces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd they, too, defy intuition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo understand how, let\u2019s take a look back at that rubber bar. When a short DNA chain is not looped but only bent, it acts more like the rubber bar. The elastic force dominates and mostly wants to push it back straight, while entropy mostly wants to keep it curvy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThen, as the DNA chain lengthens a bit and loops: That relation starkly turns on its head.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe elastic force then pulls inward with vehemence, and the entropic force then pushes the chain outward with even more vigor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe length of a DNA loop appears to contribute strongly to how likely these intermittent extreme forces are to destabilize its bond with the protein holding it shut.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat, incidentally, plays right into many scientists\u2019 current discussions on other biopolymers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of speculation right now that the kinds of force-peaks we observed actually regulate the length of some biopolymers, so, in an interesting way, our observations and methods may help colleagues explore this idea more closely,\u201d Kim said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKim\u2019s group augmented thermodynamic calculations with a novel simulation method, \u201cphase-space sampling.\u201d It not only establishes the positon of molecular components in space but also their momentum at a given time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis took into account the constant bombardment by water molecules, i.e. the \u201cheat bath.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis way, Kim was better able to access the fluctuating forces on looped DNA chains \u2013 and see more closely how they really wriggle.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe work is funded by the National Institutes of Health, grant number R01GM112882. Any conclusions or opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Insitute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30032-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Ben Brumfield (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-385-1933)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Ben Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHarold Kim studies DNA and other biomolecules to fine-tune observations of their mechanochemical properties, that is, how they act as microscopic objects. At a length and formation often seen in gene non-expression, a short loop of DNA moves in a counterintuitive way with moments of extreme stress, as elastic forces and entropy act upon it.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Short DNA loops play a role in gene non-expression, but how force acts on them defies expectations, creating moments of extreme stress."}],"uid":"31759","created_gmt":"2016-04-15 14:56:58","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:21","author":"Ben Brumfield","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-04-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-04-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"525291":{"id":"525291","type":"image","title":"DNA double helix black background istock","body":null,"created":"1461074400","gmt_created":"2016-04-19 14:00:00","changed":"1475895296","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:56","alt":"DNA double helix black background istock","file":{"fid":"205487","name":"small.istock_000054497160_medium.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/small.istock_000054497160_medium_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/small.istock_000054497160_medium_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":174896,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/small.istock_000054497160_medium_0.jpg?itok=BLJvinhg"}}},"media_ids":["525291"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1041","name":"dna"},{"id":"12337","name":"DNA Elasticity"},{"id":"171924","name":"entropy"},{"id":"7092","name":"gene expression"},{"id":"15109","name":"harold kim"},{"id":"171925","name":"mechanochemistry"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBen Brumfield\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 385-1933\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ben.brumfield@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"496271":{"#nid":"496271","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Physics: It\u0027s What\u0027s Happening Inside Your Body Right Now","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESimple physics may play a larger role than previously thought in helping control key bodily processes \u2013 such as how the body fights infection.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing a model blood vessel system built on a polymer microchip, researchers have shown that the relative softness of white blood cells determines whether they remain in a dormant state along vessel walls or enter blood circulation to fight infection. Changes in these cell mechanical properties \u2013 from stiff to soft \u2013 can be triggered as a side effect of drugs commonly used to fight inflammation or boost blood pressure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOther researchers have found that blood flow affects the cells that line arteries and that particles within cells tend to congregate near cell walls. Better understanding the role of physics in fine-tuning such biological processes could give researchers new approaches for both diagnosing and treating disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe work, believed the first to show how biophysical effects can control where white blood cells are located within the blood circulation, was reported February 8 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the American Heart Association.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are showing that white blood cells, also known as leukocytes, respond physically to these drugs and that there is a biological consequence to that response,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Wilbur-A.-Lam\u0022\u003EWilbur Lam\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech and Emory University. \u201cThis may suggest new ways to treat disease, and new places to look for diagnostic information. There may be physics-based disease biomarkers that we can use in addition to the common biological and biochemical markers we have been using.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELam\u2019s research group began studying the issue to better understand a common side effect of glucocorticoid drugs such as hydrocortisone used to treat inflammatory disorders such as asthma and allergic reactions. These hormonal drugs prompt an increase in white blood cell counts, a change that had been attributed to biological processes, including a reduced \u201cstickiness\u201d between the cells and blood vessel walls. The increase in white cell count is also seen with drugs that support blood pressure, such as epinephrine, also known as adrenaline.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe biological explanation for this seemed to fall short, so we thought maybe some of what was happening could be attributed to other factors \u2013 such as physical and mechanical issues,\u201d said Lam, who is also a physician in the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Children\u2019s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Department of Pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo examine the theory, graduate student Meredith Fay and postdoctoral researcher David Myers fabricated model blood vessel systems that include artificial blood vessels with diameters as narrow as the smallest capillaries in the body. To isolate effects attributable only to physics, the systems \u2013 which were fabricated in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ien.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInstitute for Electronics and Nanotechnology\u003C\/a\u003E \u2013 did not include the endothelial cells that normally line blood vessels in the body.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing blood samples taken from a healthy human volunteer, they studied the behavior of white blood cells in the presence \u2013 and absence \u2013 of the drugs dexamethasone \u2013 a glucocorticoid drug \u2013 and epinephrine. Working with Georgia Tech Professor of Mechanical Engineering Todd Sulchek, they also used atomic force microscopy to characterize the stiffness of individual white blood cells before and after they had been exposed to the drugs, and determined that the drugs cause the cells to become significantly softer than before exposure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen we fluorescently label the white blood cells and perfuse them into the artificial vessels, the white blood cells are always flowing along the edge, on the walls of these artificial blood vessels,\u201d said Lam. \u201cBut when they are exposed to the drugs, they go to the center of the channel and enter the main blood flow. Then, we discovered that the drugs cause the cells to remodel actin, which comprises the \u2018skeleton\u2019 of all mammalian cells.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe group\u2019s overall hypothesis is that the body uses the mechanical properties of these cells to help control their activity and where they are located within the circulation. The relative softness or stiffness of the cells, which collide constantly with billions of other cells in the bloodstream, including red and white blood cells, causes the cells to self-sort and determines where they end up physically within both the model blood vessels and in the human body.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe soft cells are always flowing in the middle of the bloodstream, while the stiff ones are sequestered on the edges,\u201d Lam said. \u201cWe believe this is how white blood cells traffic in the body and get to the site of an infection. This may be a way that the body very efficiently sorts and directs its white blood cells to get them where they\u2019re needed.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a next step, Lam hopes to study how physical properties affect the movement of hematopoietic stem cells used in bone marrow transplants. Once injected intravenously into the body, the cells quickly move from the circulation to bone marrow sites where they belong, and he believes mechanical properties may also play a role in this homing process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhenever there is a change in some cellular activity or physiological activity, we tend to try to explain everything at the genetic level \u2013 which genes turn off and which genes turn on,\u201d he said. \u201cGene expression is a relatively complex process, and our hypothesis is that there are probably a lot of cellular processes that are much simpler and more efficient than the typical paradigm of DNA expression, then RNA translation, and then protein production. A little tweak of a white blood cell\u2019s actin will allow it to change from stiff to soft, and that small change, in and of itself, may have profound physiologic consequences and enable it to be transported from one part of the body to another.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the research also included Amit Kumar and Michael Graham from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Cory Turbyfield, Rebecca Byler and Kaci Crawford from the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University and the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech; Robert Mannino, Alvin Laohapant, Erika Tyburski, Yumiko Sakurai and Micahel Rosenbluth from the Coulter Department, the AflacCancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children\u0027s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University School of Medicine, the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University, the Parker E. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Georgia Tech, and the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology at Georgia Tech; and Neil Switz of The Evergreen State College.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under grant 5R01HL121264-03, the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant CBET-1436082 and the American Heart Association. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Meredith E. Fay, et al., \u201cCellular softening mediates leukocyte demargination and trafficking, thereby increasing clinical blood counts,\u201d (PNAS 2016). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1508920113\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1508920113\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a model blood vessel system built on a polymer microchip, researchers have shown that the relative softness of white blood cells determines whether they remain in a dormant state along vessel walls or enter blood circulation to fight infection.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have shown that the relative softness of white blood cells determines whether they remain in a dormant state."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-02-06 21:11:44","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:35","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-02-08T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-02-08T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"496251":{"id":"496251","type":"image","title":"Blood vessel on a chip2","body":null,"created":"1455120000","gmt_created":"2016-02-10 16:00:00","changed":"1475895253","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:13","alt":"Blood vessel on a chip2","file":{"fid":"204584","name":"microfluidic-device5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microfluidic-device5_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microfluidic-device5_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":945783,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/microfluidic-device5_0.jpg?itok=KpYxxX8N"}},"496241":{"id":"496241","type":"image","title":"Blood vessel on a chip","body":null,"created":"1455120000","gmt_created":"2016-02-10 16:00:00","changed":"1475895253","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:13","alt":"Blood vessel on a chip","file":{"fid":"204583","name":"microfluidic-device6.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microfluidic-device6_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microfluidic-device6_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":738889,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/microfluidic-device6_0.jpg?itok=v8RDwnSf"}},"496261":{"id":"496261","type":"image","title":"Studying blood flow in microchip vessels","body":null,"created":"1455120000","gmt_created":"2016-02-10 16:00:00","changed":"1475895253","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:13","alt":"Studying blood flow in microchip vessels","file":{"fid":"204585","name":"microfluidic-device2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microfluidic-device2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/microfluidic-device2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1547915,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/microfluidic-device2_0.jpg?itok=a9Fta7q4"}}},"media_ids":["496251","496241","496261"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1440","name":"blood"},{"id":"37591","name":"blood flow"},{"id":"25301","name":"circulation"},{"id":"171634","name":"hematology"},{"id":"10660","name":"infection"},{"id":"11008","name":"leukocyte"},{"id":"7342","name":"microchip"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"171635","name":"white blood cell"},{"id":"14681","name":"Wilbur Lam"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"492001":{"#nid":"492001","#data":{"type":"news","title":"For this Nanocatalyst, One Atom Makes a Big Difference","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECombining experimental investigations and theoretical simulations, researchers have explained why platinum nanoclusters of a specific size range facilitate the hydrogenation reaction used to produce ethane from ethylene. The research offers new insights into the role of cluster shapes in catalyzing reactions at the nanoscale, and could help materials scientists optimize nanocatalysts for a broad class of other reactions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the macro-scale, the conversion of ethylene has long been considered among the reactions insensitive to the structure of the catalyst used. However, by examining reactions catalyzed by platinum clusters containing between 9 and 15 atoms, researchers in Germany and the United States found that at the nanoscale, that\u2019s no longer true. The shape of nanoscale clusters, they found, can dramatically affect reaction efficiency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the study investigated only platinum nanoclusters and the ethylene reaction, the fundamental principles may apply to other catalysts and reactions, demonstrating how materials at the very smallest size scales can provide different properties than the same material in bulk quantities. Supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Department of Energy, the research was reported January 28 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have re-examined the validity of a very fundamental concept on a very fundamental reaction,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/uzi-landman\u0022\u003EUzi Landman\u003C\/a\u003E, a Regents\u2019 Professor and F.E. Callaway Chair in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cWe found that in the ultra-small catalyst range, on the order of a nanometer in size, old concepts don\u2019t hold. New types of reactivity can occur because of changes in one or two atoms of a cluster at the nanoscale.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe widely-used conversion process actually involves two separate reactions: (1) dissociation of H2 molecules into single hydrogen atoms, and (2) their addition to the ethylene, which involves conversion of a double bond into a single bond. In addition to producing ethane, the reaction can also take an alternative route that leads to the production of ethylidyne, which poisons the catalyst and prevents further reaction.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project began with Professor Ueli Heiz and researchers in his group at the Technical University of Munich experimentally examining reaction rates for clusters containing 9, 10, 11, 12 or 13 platinum atoms that had been placed atop a magnesium oxide substrate. The 9-atom nanoclusters failed to produce a significant reaction, while larger clusters catalyzed the ethylene hydrogenation reaction with increasingly better efficiency. The best reaction occurred with 13-atom clusters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBokwon Yoon, a research scientist in Georgia Tech\u2019s Center for Computational Materials Science, and Landman, the center\u2019s director, then used large-scale first-principles quantum mechanical simulations to understand how the size of the clusters \u2013 and their shape \u2013 affected the reactivity. Using their simulations, they discovered that the 9-atom cluster resembled a symmetrical \u201chut,\u201d while the larger clusters had bulges that served to concentrate electrical charges from the substrate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThat one atom changes the whole activity of the catalyst,\u201d Landman said. \u201cWe found that the extra atom operates like a lightning rod. The distribution of the excess charge from the substrate helps facilitate the reaction. Platinum 9 has a compact shape that doesn\u2019t facilitate the reaction, but adding just one atom changes everything.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENanoclusters with 13 atoms provided the maximum reactivity because the additional atoms shift the structure in a phenomena Landman calls \u201cfluxionality.\u201d This structural adjustment has also been noted in earlier work of these two research groups, in studies of clusters of gold which are used in other catalytic reactions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDynamic fluxionality is the ability of the cluster to distort its structure to accommodate the reactants to actually enhance reactivity,\u201d he explained. \u201cOnly very small aggregates of metal can show such behavior, which mimics a biochemical enzyme.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe simulations showed that catalyst poisoning also varies with cluster size \u2013 and temperature. The 10-atom clusters can be poisoned at room temperature, while the 13-atom clusters are poisoned only at higher temperatures, helping to account for their improved reactivity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSmall really is different,\u201d said Landman. \u201cOnce you get into this size regime, the old rules of structure sensitivity and structure insensitivity must be assessed for their continued validity. It\u2019s not a question anymore of surface-to-volume ratio because everything is on the surface in these very small clusters.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the project examined only one reaction and one type of catalyst, the principles governing nanoscale catalysis \u2013 and the importance of re-examining traditional expectations \u2013 likely apply to a broad range of reactions catalyzed by nanoclusters at the smallest size scale. Such nanocatalysts are becoming more attractive as a means of conserving supplies of costly platinum.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s a much richer world at the nanoscale than at the macroscopic scale,\u201d added Landman. \u201cThese are very important messages for materials scientists and chemists who wish to design catalysts for new purposes, because the capabilities can be very different.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlong with the experimental surface characterization and reactivity measurements, the first-principles theoretical simulations provide a unique practical means for examining these structural and electronic issues because the clusters are too small to be seen with sufficient resolution using most electron microscopy techniques or traditional crystallography.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have looked at how the number of atoms dictates the geometrical structure of the cluster catalysts on the surface and how this geometrical structure is associated with electronic properties that bring about chemical bonding characteristics that enhance the reactions,\u201d Landman added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already named, the research team included first-author Andrew Crampton, Marian Rotzer, Claron Ridge and Florian Schweinberger from the Catalysis Research Center at the Technical University of Munich.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe experimental work has been supported by the European Research Council (ERC) through the advanced research grant (246645-ASC3), and by the DFG through project HE3454\/23-1. Support was also provided by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and by grant FG05\u201386ER45234 from the Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the US Department of Energy (DOE). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Andrew S. Crampton, et al., \u201cStructure sensitivity in the nonscalable regime explored via catalyzed ethylene hydrogenation on supported platinum nanoclusters,\u201d (Nature Communications 2016). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/ncomms10389\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/ncomms10389\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have explained why platinum nanoclusters of a specific size range facilitate the hydrogenation reaction used to produce ethane from ethylene. The research offers new insights into the role of cluster shapes in catalyzing reactions at the nanoscale, and could help materials scientists optimize nanocatalysts for a broad class of other reactions.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have explained why platinum nanoclusters of a specific size range facilitate the hydrogenation reaction used to produce ethane from ethylene."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2016-01-27 22:51:23","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:31","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-01-28T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-01-28T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"491971":{"id":"491971","type":"image","title":"Nanocatalyst platinum","body":null,"created":"1454083200","gmt_created":"2016-01-29 16:00:00","changed":"1475895248","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:08","alt":"Nanocatalyst platinum","file":{"fid":"204473","name":"nanocatalyst_platinum.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nanocatalyst_platinum_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nanocatalyst_platinum_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":974096,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/nanocatalyst_platinum_0.jpg?itok=FDGo10ow"}},"491981":{"id":"491981","type":"image","title":"One-atom","body":null,"created":"1454083200","gmt_created":"2016-01-29 16:00:00","changed":"1475895248","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:08","alt":"One-atom","file":{"fid":"204474","name":"one-atom.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/one-atom_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/one-atom_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":412615,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/one-atom_0.jpg?itok=-9VvxkeB"}},"491991":{"id":"491991","type":"image","title":"Cluster comparison","body":null,"created":"1454083200","gmt_created":"2016-01-29 16:00:00","changed":"1475895248","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:08","alt":"Cluster comparison","file":{"fid":"204475","name":"multiple-catalysts.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/multiple-catalysts_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/multiple-catalysts_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":619521,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/multiple-catalysts_0.jpg?itok=HmbgbDVv"}}},"media_ids":["491971","491981","491991"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2506","name":"catalyst"},{"id":"2529","name":"cluster"},{"id":"63631","name":"nanocatalyst"},{"id":"2528","name":"nanocluster"},{"id":"7531","name":"platinum"},{"id":"9180","name":"Uzi Landman"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"480171":{"#nid":"480171","#data":{"type":"news","title":"3D \u201cNanobridges\u201d Formed Using Electron Beam Writing with Tiny Jets of Liquid Precursor","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have demonstrated a new process for rapidly fabricating complex three-dimensional nanostructures from a variety of materials, including metals. The new technique uses nanoelectrospray to provide a continuous supply of liquid precursor, which can include metal ions that are converted to high-purity metal by a focused electron beam.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new process generates structures that would be impossible to make using gas-phase focused electron beam-induced deposition (FEBID) techniques, and allows fabrication at rates up to five orders of magnitude faster than the gas-phase technique. And because it uses standard liquid solvents, the new process could take advantage of a broad range of precursor materials. Multiple materials can also be deposited simultaneously.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy allowing us to grow structures much faster with a broad range of precursors, this technique really opens up a whole new direction for making a hierarchy of complex three-dimensional structures with nanoscale resolution at the rate that is demanded for manufacturing scalability,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/fedorov\u0022\u003EAndrei Fedorov\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cThis could provide a fundamental shift in the way this field will go.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Office of Science and reported in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENano Letters\u003C\/em\u003E. Applications for the rapid electron beam writing of topologically complex 3D nanostructures could include new types of electrode topologies for batteries and fuel cells, vertically-stacked electronic memory, substrates for controlling cell differentiation and tiny electrochemical conversion devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the established FEBID process, an electron beam is used to write structures from molecules adsorbed onto a solid surface that provides support and nucleation sites for deposit growth. The precursors are introduced into the high-vacuum electron microscope chamber in gas phase. High-energy electrons in the beam interact with the substrate to produce the low-energy secondary electrons, which dissociate the adsorbed precursor molecules, resulting in deposition of solid material onto the substrate surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough it enables precise atom-by-atom fabrication of nanostructures, the process is very slow because the low density of adsorbed gas molecules in the vacuum environment limits the amount of material available for fabrication. And structures must be fabricated from the substrate surface up at continually decreasing growth rate and from a limited number of precursor gases available.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFedorov and his collaborators have dramatically accelerated the process by introducing electrically-charged liquid-phase precursors directly into high vacuum of the electron microscope chamber. Liquid-phase precursors had been demonstrated before, but the materials had to be enclosed in a tiny capsule where the reaction took place, limiting fabrication flexibility, capacity and utility of the approach for 3D nanofabrication.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team \u2013 including graduate student and first author Jeffrey Fisher, postdoctoral fellow Songkil Kim and senior research engineer Peter Kottke \u2013 used low volatility solvents such as ethylene glycol, dissolving a salt of silver in the liquid. In solution, the salt dissociates into silver cations, allowing production of silver metal deposits by electrochemical reduction reaction using solvated secondary electrons rather direct molecular decomposition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe solvent containing the desired material ions is introduced into the chamber using a nanoelectrospray system composed of a tiny nozzle just a few microns in diameter. By applying the focused electric field to the nozzle, the fluid jet is drawn and delivers to the substrate forming a precisely controlled thin liquid film.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe electrospray produces nanometer-scale charged droplets from a Taylor cone jet just 100 nanometers in diameter, which coalesce upon impingement and form a thin film of the precursor on the solid substrate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team used the electron beam itself to visualize the Taylor cone jet in the vacuum environment, the first time this has ever demonstrated, as well as to measure the thickness of the liquid film in situ by using a nanoscale \u201cruler\u201d prefabricated on the deposition substrate. The electron beam then scans over the liquid film following a desired pattern, producing suitable energy electrons which solvate and reduce the cations, writing structures in precise formation from the precursor delivered by the electrified jet. Though evaporation of the solvent does occur, the nanoelectrospray can maintain a stable film long enough for the structures to form.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe combination of a denser precursor, reduction in material surface transfer problems and elimination of the need to break chemical bonds with the electron beam allows fabrication up to five orders of magnitude \u2013 a factor of 5,000 \u2013 faster than the earlier gas-phase technique.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy changing the energy of the beam and current, we can preferentially grow nanostructures in 3D at much faster rate,\u201d Fedorov said. \u201cAll of a sudden, there are a whole host of different applications that were not possible before.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVarying the precursor type, film thickness, concentration of ions and the energy and current of the electron beam controls the kinds of structures that can be made, Fedorov said. Structures such as bridges connecting posts become possible because material can be written atop the thin films.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers have fabricated carbon nanopillars five microns tall, wall-like nanostructures connecting two nanopillars, and suspended bridge-like arch nanostructures connecting nanopillars. The structures required growth times ranging from 2 to 40 seconds. Silver micropillars have also been fabricated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new process allows considerable flexibility in fabrication, opening the possibility of depositing more than one material simultaneously. That could allow production of alloys and composites, such as combinations of silver and gold. Or, one material could be used as a template to be coated by another material with the simple substitution of precursor materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo far, the Georgia Tech team has produced structures of silver and carbon, but the process could be used to fabricate a wide range of metallic and non-metallic nanomaterials. Metals produced using the technique can be highly pure because a carbon-producing precursor dissociation step can be mitigated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe next step will be to understand the physics and chemistry governing the fabrication process to allow more precise control and to guide others who may wish to use it for their own specific applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe expect that the role of the solvents is going to be very important in the kinds of kinetic pathways that we can control to produce many different kinds of structures with desired chemical make-up,\u201d said Fedorov. \u201cThis gives us an opportunity to explore a regime of chemistry and physics that had previously been outside what we could study. We want to establish an understanding of the basic physics and chemistry of the process.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFuture work will include a study of how the interaction of beams with different energies, vacuum environments, solvents and concentrations of ionic species affect the outcome.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have demonstrated that we can electrospray liquid precursors inside a high vacuum environment of an electron microscope and then use electrons to facilitate useful chemical transformations,\u201d said Fedorov. \u201cWe think this will enable scientists and engineers to make structures they had only been able to dream of before.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, under award number DE-SC0010729. The comments contained in this article are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Energy.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: \u003C\/em\u003EJeffrey S. Fischer, Peter A. Kottke, Songkil Kim and Andrei G. Fedorov, \u201cRapid Electron Beam Writing of Topologically Complex 3D Nanostructures Using Liquid Phase Precursor,\u201d (Nano Letters, 15 (12), 8385\u20138391, 2015).\u003Cem\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1021\/acs.nanolett.5b04225\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1021\/acs.nanolett.5b04225\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have demonstrated a new process for rapidly fabricating complex three-dimensional nanostructures from a variety of materials, including metals. The new technique uses nanoelectrospray to provide a continuous supply of liquid precursor, which can include metal ions that are converted to high-purity metal by a focused electron beam.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have demonstrated a new process for rapidly fabricating complex three-dimensional nanostructures from a variety of materials, including metals."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-12-18 11:53:16","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:20","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-12-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-12-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"480121":{"id":"480121","type":"image","title":"Nanobridges schematic","body":null,"created":"1450468800","gmt_created":"2015-12-18 20:00:00","changed":"1475895232","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:52","alt":"Nanobridges schematic","file":{"fid":"204174","name":"schematic.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/schematic_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/schematic_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":137279,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/schematic_1.jpg?itok=sL9zWEDq"}},"480141":{"id":"480141","type":"image","title":"Nanobridges deposition","body":null,"created":"1450468800","gmt_created":"2015-12-18 20:00:00","changed":"1475895232","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:52","alt":"Nanobridges deposition","file":{"fid":"204176","name":"deposition.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/deposition_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/deposition_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":56821,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/deposition_0.jpg?itok=A2nOiq0E"}},"480161":{"id":"480161","type":"image","title":"Nanobridges researchers","body":null,"created":"1450468800","gmt_created":"2015-12-18 20:00:00","changed":"1475895232","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:52","alt":"Nanobridges researchers","file":{"fid":"204177","name":"nanobridges-2534.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nanobridges-2534_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nanobridges-2534_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1259379,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/nanobridges-2534_0.jpg?itok=7llWBYT4"}}},"media_ids":["480121","480141","480161"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2781","name":"Andrei Fedorov"},{"id":"7339","name":"deposition"},{"id":"143091","name":"electron beam"},{"id":"541","name":"Mechanical Engineering"},{"id":"169798","name":"nanobridges"},{"id":"1786","name":"nanostructures"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"480521":{"#nid":"480521","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Acoustic Technique Reveals Structural Information in Nanoscale Materials","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUnderstanding where and how phase transitions occur is critical to developing new generations of the materials used in high-performance batteries, sensors, energy-harvesting devices, medical diagnostic equipment and other applications. But until now there was no good way to study and simultaneously map these phenomena at the relevant length scales.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a new nondestructive technique for investigating these material changes by examining the acoustic response at the nanoscale. Information obtained from this technique \u2013 which uses electrically-conductive atomic force microscope (AFM) probes \u2013 could guide efforts to design materials with enhanced properties at small size scales.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe approach has been used in ferroelectric materials, but could also have applications in ferroelastics, solid protonic acids and materials known as relaxors. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy\u2019s Office of Science, the research was reported December 15 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EAdvanced Functional Materials\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have developed a new characterization technique that allows us to study changes in the crystalline structure and changes in materials behavior at substantially smaller length scales with a relatively simple approach,\u201d said Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb, an associate professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. \u201cKnowing where these phase transitions happen and at which length scales can help us design next-generation materials.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn ferroelectric materials such as PZT (lead zirconate titanate), phase transitions can occur at the boundaries between one crystal type and another, under external stimuli. Properties such as the piezoelectric and dielectric effects can be amplified at the boundaries, which are caused by the multi-element \u201cconfused chemistry\u201d of the materials. Determining when these transitions occur can be done in bulk materials using various techniques, and at the smallest scales using an electron microscope.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers realized they could detect these phase transitions using acoustic techniques in samples at size scales between the bulk and tens of atoms. Using band-excitation piezoresponse force microscopy (BE-PFM) techniques developed at ORNL, they analyzed the resulting changes in resonant frequencies to detect phase changes in sample sizes relevant to the material applications. To do that, they applied an electric field to the samples using an AFM tip that had been coated with platinum to make it conductive, and through generation and detection of a band of frequencies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019ve had very good techniques for characterizing these phase changes at the large scale, and we\u2019ve been able to use electron microscopy to figure out almost atomistically where the phase transition occurs, but until this technique was developed, we had nothing in between,\u201d said Bassiri-Gharb. \u201cTo influence the structure of these materials through chemical or other means, we really needed to know where the transition breaks down, and at what length scale that occurs. This technique fills a gap in our knowledge.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe changes the researchers detect acoustically are due to the elastic properties of the materials, so virtually any material with similar changes in elastic properties could be studied in this way. Bassiri-Gharb is interested in ferroelectrics such as PZT, but materials used in fuel cells, batteries, transducers and energy-harvesting devices could also be examined this way.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis new method will allow for much greater insight into energy-harvesting and energy transduction materials at the relevant length sales,\u201d noted Rama Vasudeven, the first author of the paper and a materials scientist at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, a U.S. Department of Energy user facility at ORNL.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also modeled the relaxor-ferroelectric materials using thermodynamic methods, which supported the existence of a phase transition and the evolution of a complex domain pattern, in agreement with the experimental results.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUse of the AFM-based technique offers a number of attractive features. Laboratories already using AFM equipment can easily modify it to analyze these materials by adding electronic components and a conductive probe tip, Bassiri-Gharb noted. The AFM equipment can be operated under a range of temperature, electric field and other environmental conditions that are not easily implemented for electron microscope analysis, allowing scientists to study these materials under realistic operating conditions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis technique can probe a range of different materials at small scales and under difficult environmental conditions that would be inaccessible otherwise,\u201d said Bassiri-Gharb. \u201cMaterials used in energy applications experience these kinds of conditions, and our technique can provide the information we need to engineer materials with enhanced responses.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough widely used, relaxor-ferroelectrics and PZT are still not well understood. In relaxor-ferroelectrics, for example, it\u2019s believed that there are pockets of material in phases that differ from the bulk, a distortion that may help confer the material\u2019s attractive properties. Using their technique, the researchers confirmed that the phase transitions can be extremely localized.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey also learned that high responses of the materials occurred at those same locations.\u003Cbr \/\u003ENext steps would include varying the chemical composition of the material to see if those transitions \u2013 and enhanced properties \u2013 can be controlled. The researchers also plan to examine other materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt turns out that many energy-related materials have electrical transitions, so we think this is going to be very important for studying functional materials in general,\u201d Bassiri-Gharb added. \u201cThe potential for gaining new understanding of these materials and their applications are huge.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through grant DMR-1255379. A portion of this research was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility at ORNL. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF or DOE.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rama K. Vasudevan, et al., \u201cAcoustic Detection of Phase Transitions at the Nanoscale,\u201d (Advanced Functional Materials, 2015). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1002\/adfm.201504407\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1002\/adfm.201504407\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a new nondestructive technique for investigating phase transitions in materials by examining the acoustic response at the nanoscale.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a new technique for investigating phase transitions in materials by examining the acoustic response at the nanoscale."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-12-28 15:07:54","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:20","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-12-28T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-12-28T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"480491":{"id":"480491","type":"image","title":"AFM Cantilever Horizontal","body":null,"created":"1451937600","gmt_created":"2016-01-04 20:00:00","changed":"1475895234","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:54","alt":"AFM Cantilever Horizontal","file":{"fid":"204189","name":"cantilever-schematic-horizonal.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cantilever-schematic-horizonal_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cantilever-schematic-horizonal_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":384620,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cantilever-schematic-horizonal_0.jpg?itok=CpvkdLia"}},"480501":{"id":"480501","type":"image","title":"AFM Cantilever Vertical","body":null,"created":"1451937600","gmt_created":"2016-01-04 20:00:00","changed":"1475895234","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:54","alt":"AFM Cantilever Vertical","file":{"fid":"204190","name":"cantilever-schematic.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cantilever-schematic_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cantilever-schematic_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":704851,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cantilever-schematic_0.jpg?itok=V3Zz39Up"}},"480511":{"id":"480511","type":"image","title":"Energy Levels","body":null,"created":"1451937600","gmt_created":"2016-01-04 20:00:00","changed":"1475895234","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:54","alt":"Energy Levels","file":{"fid":"204191","name":"energy_plots.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/energy_plots_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/energy_plots_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":137722,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/energy_plots_0.jpg?itok=q4tKi0jK"}}},"media_ids":["480491","480501","480511"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1501","name":"acoustic"},{"id":"2779","name":"AFM"},{"id":"171553","name":"AFM cantilever"},{"id":"7826","name":"Batteries"},{"id":"431","name":"nanoscale"},{"id":"13686","name":"Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb"},{"id":"169799","name":"phase transition"},{"id":"167066","name":"sensors"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"463871":{"#nid":"463871","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Entering the Strange World of Ultra-Cold Chemistry","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have received a $900,000 grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) to study the unusual chemical and physical properties of atoms and molecules at ultra-cold temperatures approaching absolute zero \u2013 the temperature at which all thermal activity stops.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDeveloping and employing advanced computational methodologies, they will explore the formation of novel types of molecular aggregates at these extreme conditions, where quantum mechanical principles govern and dramatically alter the ways that atoms and molecules interact. The work could help provide a better understanding of the reaction processes underlying strongly correlated atoms and molecular quantum systems in conditions unlike those seen in conventional chemistry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBringing atoms together to make a new material is the basis of chemistry, but here we are synthesizing new materials through quantum mechanical forces,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/uzi-landman\u0022\u003EUzi Landman\u003C\/a\u003E, a Regent\u2019s and Institute Professor and Callaway Chair Professor in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWe expect to help lay the foundation for a new theory describing the chemistry of ultra-cold atoms. To do this, we will develop a different type of computational theory.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAbsolute zero is the temperature at which all thermal activity stops. The researchers will be studying matter at ultra-cold temperatures, which are in the micro-kelvin or nano-kelvin ranges closely approaching that level. At these extremely low temperatures, atoms and molecules move much more slowly and have different kinds of interactions. These atoms and molecules interact via their wave nature, with interference between waves either destroying or amplifying one another.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt these ultra-cold temperatures, the wave nature of matter also changes. For instance, the size of the de Broglie wavelength is inversely proportional to the square of the temperature, meaning wavelengths become larger as the temperature drops. \u201cThe wavelength of a particle, say a lithium atom, taken from room temperature to one nano-kelvin, grows by a factor of about 600,000, from about 0.04 nanometers at room temperature to 24,000 nanometers (24 microns) at the lower temperature \u2013 which is a very dramatic change,\u201d Landman explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn conventional chemistry, activation barriers must be overcome before atoms can exchange electrons to bind together. Because they have so little energy at ultra-cold temperatures, atoms cannot overcome this activation barrier, meaning interactions must occur through other mechanisms \u2013 including quantum tunneling effects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd at these conditions, quantum mechanical effects become more pronounced, with the long-distance entanglement of atoms affecting the physical and chemical states of the matter. \u201cThese are pure and deep quantum mechanical objects, and they exist only at these low temperatures because the wave effect takes over,\u201d noted Landman, who is also director of the Georgia Tech Center for Computational Materials Science (CCMS).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt Georgia Tech, Landman\u2019s group will study first the activity of small numbers of atoms and molecules \u2013 a phenomenon that CCMS Senior Research Scientist Constantine Yannouleas calls \u201cfew-body interactions.\u201d The calculations will begin with just two atoms and build into larger groups of atoms and molecules. \u201cOne of the things that is most interesting to us is how smaller systems combine to make larger systems,\u201d Landman added. \u201cWe will study this from the bottom up.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe ultra-cold temperatures will allow study of synthetic solids created by the formation of optical lattices that control the location of atoms at ultra-cold temperatures. Over the past two decades, scientists have learned to trap neutral atoms by lowering their temperature and building optical structures from laser beams to capture these slow-moving atoms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy constructing layers of atoms held together in this way, scientists can create synthetic solids that are unlike any materials that can be created at conventional chemical reaction temperatures. \u201cInstead of chemical bonds, what holds them together are photons of light from the laser beams,\u201d Landman noted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn conventional systems, thermal noise acts as a veil to prevent direct study of certain phenomena. By nearly eliminating thermal energy at these ultra-cold temperatures, researchers will be able to study interactions without these complicating effects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELandman\u2019s research group has been studying for over three decades the interactions of matter using advanced computational techniques. In this new research, those techniques often complement experimental work, enabling an iterative process that more rapidly leads to results. Studying matter in these extreme conditions will require new computational techniques.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe can apply these methodologies of ultra-cold atom simulations to solve problems that we cannot solve otherwise,\u201d said Landman. \u201cWe will attempt to revolutionize the ability to compute things that aren\u2019t computable at this point. Experiments with ultra-cold atoms emulate an analog-simulator mapping onto the requisite microscopic Hamiltonian, approaching realization of Richard Feynman\u2019s vision of quantum simulators that \u2018will do exactly the same as nature.\u2019 In our work, we develop and implement exact benchmark computational microscopy solutions of the system Hamiltonian, uncovering the spectral evolution, wave function anatomy, and entanglement properties of the interacting fermions in the entire system parameter range. In this way we may address some outstanding problem, like high-temperature superconductivity, quantum magnetism, highly correlated quantum systems, and chemistry at the ultra-cold extreme,\u201d he added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAll of this makes for exciting new science that is being explored both experimentally and theoretically at nearly a dozen laboratories around the world. Landman and Yannouleas hope to use the strong background and expertise of the CCMS in computational physics and materials science to make contributions to the computational techniques and modeling used to study these effects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe reason this is so exciting is that it will push our ability to calculate interactions a notch farther, advancing beyond what\u2019s known right now,\u201d Landman said. \u201cWe\u2019re especially interested in entanglement of atoms, which Einstein called \u2018spooky action at a distance.\u2019 The higher the degree of entanglement we have, the more robust the system is and the more certain we can be of the results. This is likely to be of importance for future progress in the areas of quantum information and computations.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe CCMS recently published a paper on this topic, \u201cDouble-Well Ultra-cold Fermions Computational Microscopy: Wave-Function Anatomy of Attractive Pairing and Wigner-Molecule Entanglement and Natural Orbitals.\u201d The paper was co-authored by graduate student Benedikt Brandt, Yannouleas, and Landman.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: B.B. Brandt, C. Yannouleas, U. Landman, \u201cDouble-Well Ultra-cold-Fermions Computational Microscopy: Wave-Function Anatomy of Attractive Pairing and Wigner Molecule Entanglement and Natural Orbitals.\u201d Nano Letters 15, 7105?7111 (2015).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFigure 1 Description\u003C\/strong\u003E: In this figure, we show results obtained for two and three ultra-cold fermionic atoms (Li) trapped in a double-well (2000 nanometer). Each quadrant of the figure shows the ground (below) and first excited (above) states. In the upper left and lower right of the figure we display illustrative configurations for two ultra-cold atoms in a symmetric double well (blue), and in the lower left and upper right we display examples of three particle configurations in a tilted double well (purple). The atoms are depicted by yellow and red balls, with corresponding down and up spins (up\/down-pointing black arrows). The calculated total atom densities are shown in green.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe atomic configuration in the ground state of the strong attraction regime favors maximum overlap of the wave functions (lower plot in the top left and bottom left quadrants), whereas the atom configuration in the ground state of the strong repulsion regime favors a separation of the atoms into different wells (lower plot in the top right and bottom right quadrant). Left-right symmetry of the solutions for the two-atom system reflects the symmetry of the double well confinement (blue) for this system. Furthermore, higher energy, excited states where all particles are located on the same side of the double well confinement, exhibit double-humped atomic densities for the two-atom system (blue), and triple-humped densities for the case of the three particles one (purple). These states are present even in the case of infinite interatomic repulsion and form in this regime the so-called Wigner Molecules (see upper states in the very strong repulsion regime of both the two and three atom systems.) These highly correlated states are also found for very strong attraction, a regime in which they are known as Super Tonks states. Such strongly correlated states, are of significant theoretical and experimental interest and a better understanding of their properties is likely to lead to the development of future applications in quantum information and computation, quantum magnetism and advances in ultra-cold chemistry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFigure 2 Description\u003C\/strong\u003E: The two diagrams on the right serve to illustrate the concept and different modes of entanglement (three-atom entanglement, in particular). The diagram at the top displays the coat of arm of the Borromean family, owners of the Borromean islands on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy. The rings express the idea of \u2018united we stand, divided we fall\u2019 \u2013 indeed, the rings are entangled with each other, in a manner that if one of the rings gets broken, the other two will not remain linked as well. On the other hand in the case of the Hopf rings, the three rings are entangled in a way that if one of the rings is broken the other two remain interlocked. These diagrams point to connections between quantum mechanical entangled states and topological characteristics of knots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe physical phenomenon of quantum entanglement occurs when groups of two or more particles (for example: photons, electrons, atoms) are prepared or interact in ways such that the quantum state of each individual particle cannot be described independently. Instead, in the entangled state the quantum state may be given for the system as a whole; mathematically, such states cannot be expressed as the product of the states of the individual constituents of the system. A two-atom maximally entangled state (called a Bell state after the Irish physicist John S. Bell who described it first in the 1960s) is shown as a superposition of two states in the first row; the total density distribution of the atoms is shown in green, and atoms with up and down spins (white arrows) are depicted by the red and yellow balls, respectively. In the second row we display a N00N [here (20-02)] state, where in each of the four superposed configurations, the two atoms are either in the left or right potential well, with the strong repulsive interatomic interaction bringing about formation of a Wigner molecule in each of the four configurations; the 2-atom Wigner molecule corresponds to the two-humped density distribution (green); pairs of Wigner molecule configurations form Bell states. Such entangled states are of importance in quantum information. A three-atom entangled state (named a W-state) is shown in the bottom row; here too the strong repulsive interatomic contact interaction leads to formation a 3-atom Wigner molecule.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have received a $900,000 grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) to study the unusual chemical and physical properties of atoms and molecules at ultra-cold temperatures approaching absolute zero \u2013 the temperature at which all thermal activity stops.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech has received a grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research to study the unusual chemical and physical properties of atoms and molecules at ultra-cold temperatures."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-10-28 20:58:55","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:51","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-10-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-10-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"463851":{"id":"463851","type":"image","title":"Ultra-cold Figure 1","body":null,"created":"1449256385","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:13:05","changed":"1475895209","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:29","alt":"Ultra-cold Figure 1","file":{"fid":"205671","name":"ultra-cold-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ultra-cold-1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ultra-cold-1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1160490,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ultra-cold-1.jpg?itok=bmob01Ok"}},"463861":{"id":"463861","type":"image","title":"Ultra-cold Figure 2","body":null,"created":"1449256385","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:13:05","changed":"1475895209","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:29","alt":"Ultra-cold Figure 2","file":{"fid":"205672","name":"ultra-cold-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ultra-cold-2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ultra-cold-2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1589344,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ultra-cold-2.jpg?itok=f2fYaKdR"}}},"media_ids":["463851","463861"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"146141","name":"absolute zero"},{"id":"89","name":"chemistry"},{"id":"5637","name":"Computational"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"146131","name":"ultra-cold chemistry"},{"id":"9180","name":"Uzi Landman"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"457941":{"#nid":"457941","#data":{"type":"news","title":"A Light Touch May Help Animals and Robots Move on Sand and Snow","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHaving a light touch can make a hefty difference in how well animals and robots move across challenging granular surfaces such as snow, sand and leaf litter. Research reported October 9 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EBioinspiration \u0026amp; Biomimetics\u003C\/em\u003E shows how the design of appendages \u2013 whether legs or wheels \u2013 affects the ability of both robots and animals to cross weak and flowing surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing an air fluidized bed trackway filled with poppy seeds or glass spheres, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology systematically varied the stiffness of the ground to mimic everything from hard-packed sand to powdery snow. By studying how running lizards, geckos, crabs \u2013 and a robot \u2013 moved through these varying surfaces, they were able to correlate variables such as appendage design with performance across the range of surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe key measure turned out to be how far legs or wheels penetrated into the surface. What the scientists learned from this systematic study might help future robots avoid getting stuck in loose soil on some distant planet.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou need to know systematically how ground properties affect your performance with wheel shape or leg shape, so you can rationally predict how well your robot will be able to move on the surfaces where you have to travel,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDan Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWhen the ground gets weak, certain animals seem to still be able to move around independently of the surface properties. We want to understand why.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was supported by National Science Foundation, Army Research Laboratory and Burroughs Wellcome Fund.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor years, Goldman and colleagues have been using trackways filled with granular media to study the locomotion of animals and robots, but in the past, they had used fluidized bed only to set the initial compaction of the media. In this study, however, they used variations in continuous air flow \u2013 introduced through the bottom of the device \u2013 to vary the substrate\u2019s resistance to penetration by a leg or wheel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGoldman compares the trackway to the wind tunnels used for aerodynamic studies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy varying the air flow, we can create ground that is very, very weak \u2013 so that you sink into it quite easily, like powdery snow, and we can have ground that is very strong, like sand,\u201d he explained. \u201cThis gives us the ability to study the mechanism by which animals and robots either succeed or fail.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing a bio-inspired hexapedal robot known as Sandbot as a physical model, the researchers studied average forward speed as a factor of ground penetration resistance \u2013 the \u201cstiffness\u201d of the sand \u2013 and the frequency of leg movement. The average speed of the robot declined as the increased air flow through the trackway made the surface weaker. Increasing the leg frequency makes the speed decrease more rapidly with increasing air flow.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe five animals \u2013 with different body plans and appendage features \u2013 all did better than the robot, with the best performer being a lizard collected in a California desert. The speed of the \u003Cem\u003EC. draconoides\u003C\/em\u003E wasn\u2019t slowed at all as the surface became easier to penetrate, while other animals saw performance losses of between 20 and 50 percent on the loosening surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe think that this particular lizard is well suited to the variety of terrain because it has these ridiculously long feet and toes,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cThese feet and toes really enable it to maintain high performance and reduce its penetration into the surface over a wide range of substrate conditions. On the other hand, we see animals like ghost crabs that experience a tremendous loss of performance as the substrate changes, something that was surprising to us.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe robot lost 70 percent of its speed even with wheels designed to lighten its pressure on the surface.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESkiers and beachcombers can certainly understand why. As the surface becomes easier for a ski or foot to penetrate, more energy is required to move and forward progress slows. Human and skiers haven\u2019t evolved solutions to that problem, but desert-dwelling creatures have. The research, Goldman says, will help us understand how they do it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe magic for us is how the animals are so good at this,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a clear practical application to this. If you can get the controls and morphology right, you could have a robot that could move anywhere, but you have to know what you are doing under different conditions.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs part of the research, Georgia Tech graduate students Feifei Qian and Tingnan Zhang used a terradynamics approach based on resistive force theory to perform numerical simulations of the robots and animals. They found that their model successfully predicted locomotor performance for low resistance granular states.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis work expands the general applicability of our resistive force theory of terradynamics,\u201d said Goldman. \u201cThe resistive force theory, which allows us to compute forces on limbs intruding into the ground, continues to work even in situations where we didn\u2019t think it would work. It expands the applicability of terradynamics to even weaker states of material.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, co-authors include Wyatt Korff from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Virginia, Paul Umbanhowar from Northwest University, and Robert Full from the University of California at Berkeley.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance (CTA) under cooperative agreement number W911NF-08-2-0004, and by the National Science Foundation Physics of Living Systems CAREER and Student Research Network and ARO Grant No. W911NF-11-1-0514. Any conclusions or opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECITATION: Feifei Qian, et al., \u201cPrinciples of appendage design in robots and animals determining terradynamic performance on flowable ground,\u201d (Bioinspiration \u0026amp; Biomimetics, 2015). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1088\/1748-3190\/10\/5\/056014\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1088\/1748-3190\/10\/5\/056014\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHaving a light touch can make a hefty difference in how well animals and robots move across challenging granular surfaces such as snow, sand and leaf litter. Research shows how the design of appendages \u2013 whether legs or wheels \u2013 affects the ability of both robots and animals to cross weak and flowing surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A light touch can make a hefty difference in how well animals and robots move across challenging granular surfaces."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-10-10 20:11:53","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:43","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-10-10T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-10-10T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"457871":{"id":"457871","type":"image","title":"Sandbot robot","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Sandbot robot","file":{"fid":"203523","name":"appendage-design2171.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2171_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2171_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1243339,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/appendage-design2171_1.jpg?itok=EcAuo7ge"}},"457891":{"id":"457891","type":"image","title":"Preparing Sandbot robot","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Preparing Sandbot robot","file":{"fid":"203525","name":"appendage-design2185.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2185_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2185_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1355229,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/appendage-design2185_0.jpg?itok=PxtGKPzz"}},"457901":{"id":"457901","type":"image","title":"Preparing Sandbot robot2","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Preparing Sandbot robot2","file":{"fid":"203526","name":"appendage-design2179.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2179_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2179_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1302450,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/appendage-design2179_0.jpg?itok=kuna70Qo"}},"457911":{"id":"457911","type":"image","title":"Sandbot in trackway","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Sandbot in trackway","file":{"fid":"203527","name":"appendage-design2195.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2195_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2195_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1491585,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/appendage-design2195_1.jpg?itok=LjDUmdEw"}},"457931":{"id":"457931","type":"image","title":"Sandbot closeup","body":null,"created":"1449256347","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:27","changed":"1475895202","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:22","alt":"Sandbot closeup","file":{"fid":"203529","name":"appendage-design2224.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2224_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/appendage-design2224_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1192809,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/appendage-design2224_0.jpg?itok=XsJn8lwz"}}},"media_ids":["457871","457891","457901","457911","457931"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"144361","name":"granular surface"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"62221","name":"terradynamics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"452781":{"#nid":"452781","#data":{"type":"news","title":"First Optical Rectenna \u2013 Combined Rectifier and Antenna \u2013 Converts Light to DC Current","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing nanometer-scale components, researchers have demonstrated the first optical rectenna, a device that combines the functions of an antenna and a rectifier diode to convert light directly into DC current.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBased on multiwall carbon nanotubes and tiny rectifiers fabricated onto them, the optical rectennas could provide a new technology for photodetectors that would operate without the need for cooling, energy harvesters that would convert waste heat to electricity \u2013 and ultimately for a new way to efficiently capture solar energy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the new devices, developed by engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the carbon nanotubes act as antennas to capture light from the sun or other sources. As the waves of light hit the nanotube antennas, they create an oscillating charge that moves through rectifier devices attached to them. The rectifiers switch on and off at record high petahertz speeds, creating a small direct current.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBillions of rectennas in an array can produce significant current, though the efficiency of the devices demonstrated so far remains below one percent. The researchers hope to boost that output through optimization techniques, and believe that a rectenna with commercial potential may be available within a year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe could ultimately make solar cells that are twice as efficient at a cost that is ten times lower, and that is to me an opportunity to change the world in a very big way\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/cola\u0022\u003EBaratunde Cola\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech. \u201cAs a robust, high-temperature detector, these rectennas could be a completely disruptive technology if we can get to one percent efficiency. If we can get to higher efficiencies, we could apply it to energy conversion technologies and solar energy capture.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research, supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center and the Army Research Office (ARO), was reported September 28 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Nanotechnology\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDeveloped in the 1960s and 1970s, rectennas have operated at wavelengths as short as ten microns, but for more than 40 years researchers have been attempting to make devices at optical wavelengths. There were many challenges: making the antennas small enough to couple optical wavelengths, and fabricating a matching rectifier diode small enough and able to operate fast enough to capture the electromagnetic wave oscillations. But the potential of high efficiency and low cost kept scientists working on the technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe physics and the scientific concepts have been out there,\u201d said Cola. \u201cNow was the perfect time to try some new things and make a device work, thanks to advances in fabrication technology.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing metallic multiwall carbon nanotubes and nanoscale fabrication techniques, Cola and collaborators Asha Sharma, Virendra Singh and Thomas Bougher constructed devices that utilize the wave nature of light rather than its particle nature. They also used a long series of tests \u2013 and more than a thousand devices \u2013 to verify measurements of both current and voltage to confirm the existence of rectenna functions that had been predicted theoretically. The devices operated at a range of temperatures from 5 to 77 degrees Celsius.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFabricating the rectennas begins with growing forests of vertically-aligned carbon nanotubes on a conductive substrate. Using atomic layer chemical vapor deposition, the nanotubes are coated with an aluminum oxide material to insulate them. Finally, physical vapor deposition is used to deposit optically-transparent thin layers of calcium then aluminum metals atop the nanotube forest. The difference of work functions between the nanotubes and the calcium provides a potential of about two electron volts, enough to drive electrons out of the carbon nanotube antennas when they are excited by light.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn operation, oscillating waves of light pass through the transparent calcium-aluminum electrode and interact with the nanotubes. The metal-insulator-metal junctions at the nanotube tips serve as rectifiers switching on and off at femtosecond intervals, allowing electrons generated by the antenna to flow one way into the top electrode. Ultra-low capacitance, on the order of a few attofarads, enables the 10-nanometer diameter diode to operate at these exceptional frequencies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA rectenna is basically an antenna coupled to a diode, but when you move into the optical spectrum, that usually means a nanoscale antenna coupled to a metal-insulator-metal diode,\u201d Cola explained. \u201cThe closer you can get the antenna to the diode, the more efficient it is. So the ideal structure uses the antenna as one of the metals in the diode \u2013 which is the structure we made.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe rectennas fabricated by Cola\u2019s group are grown on rigid substrates, but the goal is to grow them on a foil or other material that would produce flexible solar cells or photodetectors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECola sees the rectennas built so far as simple proof of principle. He has ideas for how to improve the efficiency by changing the materials, opening the carbon nanotubes to allow multiple conduction channels, and reducing resistance in the structures.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe think we can reduce the resistance by several orders of magnitude just by improving the fabrication of our device structures,\u201d he said. \u201cBased on what others have done and what the theory is showing us, I believe that these devices could get to greater than 40 percent efficiency.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis work was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center, Pacific under YFA grant N66001-09-1-2091, and by the Army Research Office (ARO), through the Young Investigator Program (YIP), under agreement W911NF-13-1-0491. The statements in this release are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of DARPA, SPAWAR or ARO. Georgia Tech has filed international patent applications related to this work under PCT\/US2013\/065918 in the United States (U.S.S.N. 14\/434,118), Europe (No. 13847632.0), Japan (No. 2015-538110) and China (No. 201380060639.2)\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Asha Sharma, Virendra Singh, Thomas L. Bougher and Baratunde A. Cola, \u201cA carbon nanotube optical rectenna,\u201d (Nature Nanotechnology, 2015). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nnano.2015.220\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nnano.2015.220\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing nanometer-scale components, researchers have demonstrated the first optical rectenna, a device that combines the functions of an antenna and a rectifier diode to convert light directly into DC current.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have demonstrated the first optical rectenna, a device that converts light directly into DC current."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-09-28 10:40:23","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:40","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"452711":{"id":"452711","type":"image","title":"Optical rectenna schematic","body":null,"created":"1449256297","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:37","changed":"1475895194","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:14","alt":"Optical rectenna schematic","file":{"fid":"203384","name":"rectenna1_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rectenna1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rectenna1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":377954,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rectenna1_0.jpg?itok=Gci8_clv"}},"452731":{"id":"452731","type":"image","title":"Optical rectenna converts laser light","body":null,"created":"1449256297","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:37","changed":"1475895194","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:14","alt":"Optical rectenna converts laser light","file":{"fid":"203386","name":"rectenna2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rectenna2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rectenna2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2203971,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rectenna2_0.jpg?itok=EH0GjIoA"}},"452741":{"id":"452741","type":"image","title":"Measuring output from optical rectenna","body":null,"created":"1449256297","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:37","changed":"1475895194","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:14","alt":"Measuring output from optical rectenna","file":{"fid":"203387","name":"rectenna6.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rectenna6_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rectenna6_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2806905,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rectenna6_0.jpg?itok=bFw3J0DE"}},"452751":{"id":"452751","type":"image","title":"Optical rectenna research team","body":null,"created":"1449256297","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:37","changed":"1475895194","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:14","alt":"Optical rectenna research team","file":{"fid":"203388","name":"rectenna7.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rectenna7_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rectenna7_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":6256441,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rectenna7_0.jpg?itok=RHQAOtWr"}}},"media_ids":["452711","452731","452741","452751"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2616","name":"antenna"},{"id":"8875","name":"Baratunde Cola"},{"id":"5209","name":"carbon nanotubes"},{"id":"14545","name":"George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering"},{"id":"431","name":"nanoscale"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"},{"id":"142851","name":"optical rectenna"},{"id":"142901","name":"rectifier"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"449831":{"#nid":"449831","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Supports NSF National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo advance nanoscale science, engineering and technology research, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will provide a total of $81 million over five years to support 16 user facility sites and a coordinating office as part of a new National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe NNCI sites will provide researchers from academia, small and large companies, and government with access to university user facilities with leading-edge fabrication and characterization tools, instrumentation, and expertise within all disciplines of nanoscale science, engineering and technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe NNCI framework builds on the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), which enabled major discoveries, innovations and contributions to education and commerce for more than 10 years. The NNCI awards are for up to five years and range from $500,000 to $1.6 million each per year. The 16 NNCI sites are located in 15 states and involve 27 universities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs part of the NNCI, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering (JSNN) -- an academic collaboration between North Carolina A\u0026amp;T State University (NCA\u0026amp;T) and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) -- will receive $1.6 million per year to form the Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor (SENIC) to provide nanotechnology shared user facilities, educational outreach, and social impact awareness. These efforts will be led by the Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN) at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThrough the NNCI, the Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor combines the infrastructure strengths of both Georgia Tech and the JSNN to provide our users access to one of the largest and most modern nano-fabrication and nano-characterization tool sets in the country,\u201d said Oliver Brand, executive director of IEN and director of SENIC. \u201cThis partnership provides particular strength in the ability to connect nanomaterials and devices to full packaged systems. In providing users with access to more than 230 nanotechnology fabrication and characterization tools, SENIC offers both top-down and bottom-up approaches for nanofabrication through nanoscale patterning, as well as nanomaterials synthesis and additive processing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond support for nanotechnology research and development, SENIC partners will support undergraduate and graduate students, in collaboration with two-year technical colleges. The goal is to produce science and technology professionals from diverse backgrounds to meet the workforce demands of the 21st century.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESENIC will also provide public outreach activities, with hands-on classroom activities and interactive facility tours designed to encourage K-12 students to join the STEM pipeline. With its educational program, SENIC will provide education on the social and ethical implications associated with the role that nanoscale science and engineering will contribute to solving societal, environmental and economic challenges.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENanoscale science and engineering requires the use of complex and expensive tools, along with companion facilities and support from those with highly specialized training in the operation and application of such tools and laboratories. To meet these needs, Georgia Tech has emphasized the growth of shared-user facilities like SENIC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022With this NSF support, we will be able to provide external users from academia and industry with the environment, tools, and the excellent staff support to get them familiar with nanotechnology capabilities and successfully apply nanotechnology to solve their challenges and enhance their products,\u201d said Stephen E. Cross, Georgia Tech\u2019s executive vice president for research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new NNCI is part of the NSF\u2019s commitment to providing infrastructure support for nanoscale research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cNSF\u2019s long-standing investments in nanotechnology infrastructure have helped the research community to make great progress by making research facilities available,\u201d said Pramod Khargonekar, NSF\u2019s assistant director for engineering. \u201cNNCI will serve as a nationwide backbone for nanoscale research, which will lead to continuing innovations and economic and societal benefits.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Brand, who is also a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, SENIC leadership will also be provided by Daniel Herr, professor and nanoscience department chair at JSNN, who will serve as co-director.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more information about IEN and JSNN capabilities and how to access equipment and facilities, please see each of the following:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s IEN: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/cleanroom.ien.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/cleanroom.ien.gatech.edu\/\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EJSNN: \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/jsnn.ncat.uncg.edu\/facility\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/jsnn.ncat.uncg.edu\/facility\/\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is part of the NSF\u0027s new National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), which will\u0026nbsp;provide researchers from academia, small and large companies, and government with access to university user facilities with leading-edge fabrication and characterization tools, instrumentation, and expertise within all disciplines of nanoscale science, engineering and technology.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech is part of the NSF\u0027s new National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI)."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-09-18 16:09:14","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:36","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"449801":{"id":"449801","type":"image","title":"Marcus Building","body":null,"created":"1449256264","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:04","changed":"1475895192","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:12","alt":"Marcus Building","file":{"fid":"203304","name":"senic-006.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/senic-006_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/senic-006_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2668050,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/senic-006_0.jpg?itok=6e-zAlS0"}},"449811":{"id":"449811","type":"image","title":"Carbon nanotube growth","body":null,"created":"1449256264","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:04","changed":"1475895192","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:12","alt":"Carbon nanotube growth","file":{"fid":"203305","name":"senic-007.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/senic-007_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/senic-007_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2398246,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/senic-007_0.jpg?itok=YvDFY6kY"}},"449821":{"id":"449821","type":"image","title":"JSSN","body":null,"created":"1449256264","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:04","changed":"1475895192","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:12","alt":"JSSN","file":{"fid":"203306","name":"senic-jssn_bldg.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/senic-jssn_bldg_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/senic-jssn_bldg_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":824950,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/senic-jssn_bldg_0.jpg?itok=yvwGKbpm"}}},"media_ids":["449801","449811","449821"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4264","name":"fabrication"},{"id":"172","name":"infrastructure"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"},{"id":"141971","name":"NNCI"},{"id":"363","name":"NSF"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"452231":{"#nid":"452231","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Proposed Standards for Triboelectric Nanogenerators Could Facilitate Comparisons","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMore than 60 research groups worldwide are now developing variations of the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), which converts ambient mechanical energy into electricity for powering wearable electronics, sensor networks, implantable medical devices and other small systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo provide a means for both comparing and selecting these energy-harvesting nanogenerators for specific applications, the Georgia Institute of Technology research group that pioneered the TENG technology has now proposed a set of standards for quantifying device performance. The proposal evaluates both the structural and materials performance of the four major types of TENG devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTriboelectric nanogenerators are a new energy technology that has shown phenomenal potential,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/faculty\/wang\u0022\u003EZhong Lin Wang\u003C\/a\u003E, a Regents professor in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Materials Science and Engineering.\u003C\/a\u003E \u201cHere, we have proposed standards by which the performance of these devices can be quantified and compared. These standards will be useful for academic researchers developing the devices and for future industrial applications of the nanogenerators.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe proposed standards are described in an article published September 25 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETriboelectric nanogenerators use a combination of the triboelectric effect and electrostatic induction to generate small amount of electrical power from mechanical motion such as rotation, sliding or vibration. The triboelectric effect takes advantage of the fact that certain materials become electrically charged after they come into moving contact with a surface made from a different material. The electricity generated by TENG devices could replace or supplement batteries for a broad range of potential applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDeveloped over the past several years, the technology has advanced to the point where it can power small electronic devices, potentially enabling widespread sensing and infrastructure systems \u2013 as well as powering wearable consumer devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBecause of the large number of devices being developed, people need to have a standard for judging the performance of these nanogenerators,\u201d Wang said. He noted that standards have allowed technologies such as photovoltaics and thermoelectric devices to advance, though the performance of TENG devices is more difficult to quantify because of the different design and materials options available.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn their paper, Wang\u2019s team proposes a general figure of merit which can be used to quantify the potential energy output of the TENG devices. The general figure of merit is made up of information from two other sources: the capabilities of the specific TENG structure used, and the surface charge density provided by the specific materials chosen to construct the device. The output is compared to the mechanical energy inputs to provide an efficiency comparison.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese measurements are based on plots of the build-up of voltage and total transferred electrical charges from each device. The structural figures of merit are derived from theoretical calculations for each of the four major nanogenerator modes, plus experimental results produced by TENG devices placed into a circuit with a switch and an electrical load. The materials figure of merit depends on experimental measurements of the surface charge density done with an experimental set-up that uses liquid metal to collect the surface charge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVariations in TENG structures allow a variety of applications depending on the source of mechanical energy. The four major groups include (1) vertical contact-separation mode, (2) lateral sliding mode, (3) single-electron mode, and (4) freestanding triboelectric-layer mode. There are also hybrid combinations of these major structural modes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe contact-separation mode, for example, is powered by a periodic driving force that causes repeated contact, and then separation, between two dissimilar materials that have coated electrodes on the top and bottom surfaces. The lateral sliding model uses two surfaces that briefly slide together, then separate, generating a charge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe can calculate for the four modes what are the best sizes and shapes, and the best power output you can expect for a specific structural figure of merit,\u201d Wang explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMaterial choices tested include fluorinated ethylene propylene, Kapton, polarized polyvinylidene fluoride, polyethylene, natural rubber and cellulose.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe measurement and theoretical techniques were developed by postdoctoral fellow Yunlong Zi and graduate student Simiao Niu, both members of Wang\u2019s research team. In developing their proposed standards, the researchers considered what had already been done in setting standards for heat engines and other technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor triboelectric generators, because the mechanical input is varied, you have different kinds of measurements to evaluate the performance,\u201d said Zi. \u201cThese figures of merit are considerably more complicated than would be needed for characterizing solar cell performance, for example.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPublishing the proposed standards is a first step in what Wang expects to be a long process of gaining acceptance. He plans to spend the next several months explaining the standards to other research groups developing TENG devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe estimates that there could be 60 research groups around the world working on TENG devices, and he expects that number to grow as the nanogenerators become more sophisticated and powerful.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs wearable electronics become more popular and fashionable, we will need a better way to power them,\u201d Wang said. \u201cTriboelectric nanogenerators can play a large role in that. We have spent a lot of time improving the power efficiency, and the field is quickly expanding.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUltimately, he said, the standards could also be modified for piezoelectric generators and other systems designed to produce electricity from mechanical motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Yunlong Zi, et al., \u201cStandards and Figures of Merit for Quantifying the Performance of Triboelectric Nanogenerators,\u201d (Nature Communications, 2015). (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/NCOMMS9376\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/NCOMMS9376\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo provide a means for both comparing and selecting energy-harvesting nanogenerators for specific applications, the Georgia Tech research group that pioneered the TENG technology has now proposed a set of standards for quantifying device performance. The proposal evaluates both the structural and materials performance of the four major types of TENG devices.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have proposed standards for comparing and selecting triboelectric nanogenerators."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-09-25 10:06:44","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:36","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"452201":{"id":"452201","type":"image","title":"Developing TENG standards","body":null,"created":"1449256280","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:20","changed":"1475895194","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:14","alt":"Developing TENG standards","file":{"fid":"203367","name":"teng-standards001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/teng-standards001_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/teng-standards001_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5504631,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/teng-standards001_0.jpg?itok=s9nnZ-Cd"}},"452211":{"id":"452211","type":"image","title":"Triboelectric nanogenerators","body":null,"created":"1449256280","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:20","changed":"1475895194","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:14","alt":"Triboelectric nanogenerators","file":{"fid":"203368","name":"teng-standards002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/teng-standards002_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/teng-standards002_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1367081,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/teng-standards002_0.jpg?itok=KyEwLNJV"}}},"media_ids":["452201","452211"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"213","name":"energy"},{"id":"13689","name":"energy harvesting"},{"id":"1334","name":"nanogenerator"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"},{"id":"37991","name":"triboelectric"},{"id":"142711","name":"triboelectric nanogenerator"},{"id":"13751","name":"Zhong Lin Wang"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"449681":{"#nid":"449681","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Multitasking Moths","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIt\u2019s difficult enough to see things in the dark, but what if you also had to hover in midair while tracking a flower moving in the wind?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThat\u0027s the challenge the hummingbird-sized hawkmoth\u0026nbsp;must overcome while feeding on the nectar of its favorite flowers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003EUsing high-speed infrared cameras and 3-D-printed robotic flowers, scientists have now learned how this insect juggles these complex sensing and control challenges \u2014 all while adjusting to changing light conditions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003EWhat the researchers have discovered could help the next generation of small flying robots operate efficiently under a broad range of lighting conditions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERead more about this fascinating study in the \u003Cem\u003EResearch Horizons\u003C\/em\u003E story, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/multitasking-moths\u0022\u003EMultitasking Moths\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"How the hawkmoth tracks flowers in the dark has surprising applications for airborne robots."}],"uid":"27948","created_gmt":"2015-09-18 14:20:40","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:33","author":"Jennifer Tomasino","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"449571":{"id":"449571","type":"image","title":"Hawkmoth","body":null,"created":"1449256264","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:04","changed":"1475895192","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:12","alt":"Hawkmoth","file":{"fid":"203296","name":"multitasking-moths.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/multitasking-moths_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/multitasking-moths_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":72567,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/multitasking-moths_0.jpg?itok=jXufbr45"}},"413151":{"id":"413151","type":"image","title":"Simon Sponberg with hawkmoth","body":null,"created":"1449254222","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:02","changed":"1475895145","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:25","alt":"Simon Sponberg with hawkmoth","file":{"fid":"202375","name":"hawkmoth12.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth12_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth12_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1159006,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth12_0.jpg?itok=A0eGBf49"}}},"media_ids":["449571","413151"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"115461","name":"Applied Physiology"},{"id":"128551","name":"hawkmoth"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Research News\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPhone:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;404.894.6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["john.toon@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"445351":{"#nid":"445351","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Paper Tubes Make Stiff Origami Structures","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom shipping and construction to outer space, origami could put a folded twist on structural engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Tokyo have developed a new \u201czippered tube\u201d configuration that makes paper structures stiff enough to hold weight yet able to fold flat for easy shipping and storage. Their method could be applied to other thin materials, such as plastic or metal, to transform structures ranging from furniture and buildings to microscopic robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIllinois graduate researcher Evgueni Filipov, Georgia Tech professor Glaucio Paulino and University of Tokyo professor Tomohiro Tachi published their work September 7 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOrigami structures would be useful in many engineering and everyday applications, such as a robotic arm that could reach out and scrunch up, a construction crane that could fold to pick up or deliver a load, or pop-up furniture. Paulino sees particular potential for quick-assembling emergency shelters, bridges and other infrastructure in the wake of a natural disaster.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOrigami became more of an objective for engineering and a science just in the last five years or so,\u201d Filipov said. \u201cA lot of it was driven by space exploration, to be able to launch structures compactly and deploy them in space. But we\u2019re starting to see how it has potential for a lot of different fields of engineering. You could prefabricate something in a factory, ship it compactly and deploy it on site.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers use a particular origami technique called Miura-ori folding. They make precise, zig-zag folded strips of paper, then glue two strips together to make a tube. While the single strip of paper is highly flexible, the tube is stiffer and does not fold in as many directions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers tried coupling tubes in different configurations to see if that added to the structural stiffness of the paper structures. They found that interlocking two tubes in zipper-like fashion made them much stiffer and harder to twist or bend. The structure folds up flat, yet rapidly and easily expands to the rigid tube configuration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe geometry is what really plays a role,\u201d Paulino said. \u201cWe are putting two tubes together in a strange way. What we want is a structure that is flexible and stiff at the same time. This is just paper, but it has tremendous stiffness.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe zipper configuration works even with tubes that have different angles of folding. By combining tubes with different geometries, the researchers can make many different three-dimensional structures, such as a bridge, a canopy or a tower.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe ability to change functionality in real time is a real advantage in origami,\u201d Filipov said. \u201cBy having these transformable structures, you can change their functionality and make them adaptable. They are reconfigurable. You can change the material characteristics: You can make them stiffer or softer depending on the intended use.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team uses paper prototypes to demonstrate how a thin, flexible sheet can be folded into functional structures, but their techniques could be applied to other thin materials, Filipov said. Larger-scale applications could combine metal or plastic panels with hinges.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENext, the researchers plan to explore new combinations of tubes with different folding angles to build new structures. They also hope to apply their techniques to other materials and explore applications from large-scale construction to microscopic structures for biomedical devices or robotics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAll of these ideas apply from the nanoscale and microscale up to large scales and even structures that NASA would deploy into space,\u201d Paulino said. \u201cDepending on your interest, the applications I think are endless. We have just scratched the surface. Once you have a powerful concept, which we think the zipper coupling is, you can explore applications in many different areas.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe National Science Foundation supported this work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Georgia Tech: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986) or University of Illinois: Liz Ahlberg, (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:eahlberg@illinois.edu\u0022\u003Eeahlberg@illinois.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (217-244-1073).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Liz Ahlberg,\u0026nbsp;University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom shipping and construction to outer space, origami could put a folded twist on structural engineering.\u0026nbsp;Researchers have developed a new \u201czippered tube\u201d configuration that makes paper structures stiff enough to hold weight yet able to fold flat for easy shipping and storage.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"From shipping and construction to outer space, origami could put a folded twist on structural engineering."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-09-07 20:14:30","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"445271":{"id":"445271","type":"image","title":"Size variation in origami structures","body":null,"created":"1449256205","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:10:05","changed":"1475895184","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:04","alt":"Size variation in origami structures","file":{"fid":"203170","name":"origami-zipper008.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper008_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper008_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1698400,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/origami-zipper008_1.jpg?itok=dTQi3FqG"}},"445291":{"id":"445291","type":"image","title":"Large folding origami structure","body":null,"created":"1449256217","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:10:17","changed":"1475895184","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:04","alt":"Large folding origami structure","file":{"fid":"203172","name":"origami-zipper002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper002_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper002_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2258645,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/origami-zipper002_0.jpg?itok=lEV5TinY"}},"445301":{"id":"445301","type":"image","title":"Large folding origami structure - folded","body":null,"created":"1449256217","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:10:17","changed":"1475895184","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:04","alt":"Large folding origami structure - folded","file":{"fid":"203173","name":"origami-zipper004.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper004_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper004_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1803898,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/origami-zipper004_0.jpg?itok=JzqD1nae"}},"445311":{"id":"445311","type":"image","title":"Zippered tube origami configuration","body":null,"created":"1449256217","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:10:17","changed":"1475895184","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:04","alt":"Zippered tube origami configuration","file":{"fid":"203174","name":"origami-zipper015.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper015_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper015_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":657942,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/origami-zipper015_0.jpg?itok=GbrNX6T8"}},"445321":{"id":"445321","type":"image","title":"Origami bridge","body":null,"created":"1449256217","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:10:17","changed":"1475895184","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:04","alt":"Origami bridge","file":{"fid":"203175","name":"origami-zipper021.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper021_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper021_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1163599,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/origami-zipper021_0.jpg?itok=NhiYhNqS"}},"445331":{"id":"445331","type":"image","title":"Origami structure of 12 tubes","body":null,"created":"1449256217","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:10:17","changed":"1475895184","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:04","alt":"Origami structure of 12 tubes","file":{"fid":"203176","name":"origami-zipper019.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper019_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper019_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":816682,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/origami-zipper019_0.jpg?itok=vgMpXamo"}},"445341":{"id":"445341","type":"image","title":"Origami structure of 12 tubes - folded flat","body":null,"created":"1449256217","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:10:17","changed":"1475895184","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:04","alt":"Origami structure of 12 tubes - folded flat","file":{"fid":"203177","name":"origami-zipper020.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper020_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/origami-zipper020_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":835522,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/origami-zipper020_0.jpg?itok=0WYlQUAn"}}},"media_ids":["445271","445291","445301","445311","445321","445331","445341"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1897","name":"Civil Engineering"},{"id":"516","name":"engineering"},{"id":"140701","name":"Glaucio Paulino"},{"id":"140691","name":"Miura-ori folding"},{"id":"4332","name":"origami"},{"id":"169473","name":"structures"},{"id":"140681","name":"zippered tube"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"428411":{"#nid":"428411","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Smart Hydrogel Coating Creates \u201cStick-slip\u201d Control of Capillary Action","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECoating the inside of glass microtubes with a polymer hydrogel material dramatically alters the way capillary forces draw water into the tiny structures, researchers have found. The discovery could provide a new way to control microfluidic systems, including popular lab-on-a-chip devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECapillary action draws water and other liquids into confined spaces such as tubes, straws, wicks and paper towels, and the flow rate can be predicted using a simple hydrodynamic analysis. But a chance observation by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology will cause a recalculation of those predictions for conditions in which hydrogel films line the tubes carrying water-based liquids.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cRather than moving according to conventional expectations, water-based liquids slip to a new location in the tube, get stuck, then slip again \u2013 and the process repeats over and over again,\u201d explained \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/fedorov\u0022\u003EAndrei Fedorov\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering \u003C\/a\u003Eat Georgia Tech. \u201cInstead of filling the tube with a rate of liquid penetration that slows with time, the water propagates at a nearly constant speed into the hydrogel-coated capillary. This was very different from what we had expected.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe findings resulted from research sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) through the BIONIC center at Georgia Tech, and were reported earlier this month in the journal \u003Cem\u003ESoft Matter\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen the opening of a thin glass tube is exposed to a droplet of water, the liquid begins to flow into the tube, pulled by a combination of surface tension in the liquid and adhesion between the liquid and the walls of the tube. Leading the way is a meniscus, a curved surface of the water at the leading edge of the water column. An ordinary borosilicate glass tube fills by capillary action at a gradually decreasing rate with the speed of meniscus propagation slowing as a square root of time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut when the inside of a tube is coated with a very thin layer of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), a so-called \u201csmart\u201d polymer (PNIPAM), everything changes. Water entering a tube coated on the inside with a dry hydrogel film must first wet the film and allow it to swell before it can proceed farther into the tube. The wetting and swelling take place not continuously, but with discrete steps in which the water meniscus first sticks and its motion remains arrested while the polymer layer locally deforms. The meniscus then rapidly slides for a short distance before the process repeats. This \u201cstick-slip\u201d process forces the water to move into the tube in a step-by-step motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe flow rate measured by the researchers in the coated tube is three orders of magnitude less than the flow rate in an uncoated tube. A linear equation describes the time dependence of the filling process instead of a classical quadratic equation which describes filling of an uncoated tube.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cInstead of filling the capillary in a hundredth of a second, it might take tens of seconds to fill the same capillary,\u201d said Fedorov. \u201cThough there is some swelling of the hydrogel upon contact with water, the change in the tube diameter is negligible due to the small thickness of the hydrogel layer. This is why we were so surprised when we first observed such a dramatic slow-down of the filing process in our experiments.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers \u2013 who included graduate students James Silva, Drew Loney and Ren Geryak and senior research engineer Peter Kottke \u2013 tried the experiment again using glycerol, a liquid that is not absorbed by the hydrogel. With glycerol, the capillary action proceeded through the hydrogel-coated microtube as with an uncoated tube in agreement with conventional theory. After using high-resolution optical visualization to study the meniscus propagation while the polymer swelled, the researchers realized they could put this previously-unknown behavior to good use.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWater absorption by the hydrogels occurs only when the materials remain below a specific transition temperature. When heated above that temperature, the materials no longer absorb water, eliminating the \u201cstick-slip\u201d phenomenon in the microtubes and allowing them to behave like ordinary tubes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis ability to turn the stick-slip behavior on and off with temperature could provide a new way to control the flow of water-based liquid in microfluidic devices, including labs-on-a-chip. The transition temperature can be controlled by varying the chemical composition of the hydrogel.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy locally heating or cooling the polymer inside a microfluidic chamber, you can either speed up the filling process or slow it down,\u201d Fedorov said. \u201cThe time it takes for the liquid to travel the same distance can be varied up to three orders of magnitude. That would allow precise control of fluid flow on demand using external stimuli to change polymer film behavior.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe heating or cooling could be done locally with lasers, tiny heaters, or thermoelectric devices placed at specific locations in the microfluidic devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat could allow precise timing of reactions in microfluidic devices by controlling the rate of reactant delivery and product removal, or allow a sequence of fast and slow reactions to occur. Another important application could be controlled drug release in which the desired rate of molecule delivery could be dynamically tuned over time to achieve the optimal therapeutic outcome.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn future work, Fedorov and his team hope to learn more about the physics of the hydrogel-modified capillaries and study capillary flow using partially-transparent microtubes. They also want to explore other \u201csmart\u201d polymers which change the flow rate in response to different stimuli, including the changing pH of the liquid, exposure to electromagnetic radiation, or the induction of mechanical stress \u2013 all of which can change the properties of a particular hydrogel designed to be responsive to those triggers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese experimental and theoretical results provide a new conceptual framework for liquid motion confined by soft, dynamically evolving polymer interfaces in which the system creates an energy barrier to further motion through elasto-capillary deformation, and then lowers the barrier through diffusive softening,\u201d the paper\u2019s authors wrote. \u201cThis insight has implications for optimal design of microfluidic and lab-on-a-chip devices based on stimuli-responsive smart polymers.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the research team included Professor Vladimir Tsukruk from the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering and Rajesh Naik, Biotechnology Lead and Tech Advisor of the Nanostructured and Biological Materials Branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research BIONIC Center through awards FA9550-09-1-0162 and FA9550-14-1-0269, AFOSR award FA-9550-14-1-0015, and by Georgia Tech\u2019s Renewable Bioproducts Institute Fellowship. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the sponsors.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: J.E. Silva, et al., \u201cStick-Slip Water Penetration into Capillaries Coated with Swelling Hydrogel,\u201d (Soft Matter, 11, pp. 5933-5939, 2015).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or (404-894-6986)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECoating the inside of glass microtubes with a polymer hydrogel material dramatically alters the way capillary forces draw water into the tiny structures, researchers have found. The discovery could provide a new way to control microfluidic systems, including popular lab-on-a-chip devices.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Capillary action inside glass tubes coated with a hydrogel behaves in unexpected ways."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-07-25 10:59:58","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:15","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-07-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-07-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"428381":{"id":"428381","type":"image","title":"Capillary action in coated tube","body":null,"created":"1449254358","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:39:18","changed":"1475895167","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:47","alt":"Capillary action in coated tube","file":{"fid":"202819","name":"capillary-action1791.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capillary-action1791_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capillary-action1791_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1673866,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/capillary-action1791_0.jpg?itok=PUJWawsK"}},"428391":{"id":"428391","type":"image","title":"Studying capillary action in coated microtubes","body":null,"created":"1449254358","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:39:18","changed":"1475895167","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:47","alt":"Studying capillary action in coated microtubes","file":{"fid":"202820","name":"capillary-action35.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capillary-action35_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capillary-action35_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1434489,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/capillary-action35_0.jpg?itok=QNvAnNpB"}},"428401":{"id":"428401","type":"image","title":"Studying capillary action in coated microtubes2","body":null,"created":"1449254358","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:39:18","changed":"1475895167","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:47","alt":"Studying capillary action in coated microtubes2","file":{"fid":"202821","name":"capillary-action60.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capillary-action60_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capillary-action60_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1325301,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/capillary-action60_0.jpg?itok=egfik9mx"}}},"media_ids":["428381","428391","428401"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2781","name":"Andrei Fedorov"},{"id":"136721","name":"capillary action"},{"id":"3356","name":"hydrogel"},{"id":"7343","name":"lab-on-a-chip"},{"id":"12427","name":"microfluidics"},{"id":"1492","name":"Polymer"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39491","name":"Renewable Bioproducts"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"417301":{"#nid":"417301","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Can Heat Be Controlled as Waves?","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA growing interest in thermoelectric materials \u2013 which convert waste heat to electricity \u2013 and pressure to improve heat transfer from increasingly powerful microelectronic devices have led to improved theoretical and experimental understanding of how heat is transported through nanometer-scale materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecent research has focused on the possibility of using interference effects in phonon waves to control heat transport in materials. Wave interference is already used to control electronic, photonic and acoustic devices. If a similar approach can be used in thermal transport, that could facilitate development of more efficient thermoelectric and nanoelectronic devices, improved thermal barrier coatings, and new materials with ultralow thermal conductivity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA progress article published June 23 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Materials\u003C\/em\u003E describes recent developments and predicts future advances in phonon wave interference and thermal bandgap materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you can make heat behave as a wave and have interference while controlling how far it moves, you could basically control all the properties behind heat transport,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/node\/7560\u0022\u003EMartin Maldovan\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the paper\u2019s author. \u201cThis would be a completely new way to understand and manipulate heat.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the classic definition, heat consists of vibrations in the atomic lattices of materials. The more vibrations in a material\u2019s structure, the hotter the material. And in the same way that white light is actually composed of many different colors of light, these thermal phonons are made up of many different frequencies \u2013 each carrying varying amounts of heat.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecent developments have shown that thermal phonons can interfere with their own reflections. The observation suggests that thermal phonons must exist as waves similar to electronic, photonic or acoustic waves. This interference could potentially be used to modify the velocity of phonons and the density of states, creating energy bandgaps that are forbidden for phonon waves. Utilization of similar bandgaps in optical and electronic materials has been key to developing a wide range of useful devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUntil now, heat transport in nanostructured materials has largely been controlled by introduction of atomic-scale impurities, interfaces, surfaces and nanoparticles that reduce heat flow by scattering the phonons diffusely. Controlling wave effects could facilitate new approaches involving the specular reflection and transmission of thermal vibrations at interfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cConsidering the remarkable success achieved when using electronic, photonic and phononic wave interference to manipulate electrons, light and sound waves, it is certainly valuable to extend these theories to thermal vibrations, thereby creating a fundamentally new approach for manipulating heat flow,\u201d Maldovan wrote in the paper.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThermoelectric materials capture waste heat from sources such as automobile exhausts or industrial processes to produce electricity. Improving these materials will require further reducing thermal conductivity to improve their efficiency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn the other hand, microelectronics designers want to increase thermal conductivity to transfer heat away from powerful and tiny devices. Developers of fuel cells and other conversion devices also need to improve the control of heat.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMaldovan wrote the article to clarify issues involved in thermal transport, and to interest others into the field. Ultimately, researchers will use this new information about heat transport to design better materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese new wave phenomena can be used to create materials with low thermal conductivity,\u201d said Maldovan. \u201cWe are trying to create a thermal bandgap, but that is not so easy to do.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe search for thermal phononic wave materials will focus on semiconductors much like those used in microelectronics, Maldovan said. But while the silicon used in microelectronics had a natural bandgap, scientists had to create a band gap in photonics and acoustic materials, and the same will be true for thermal materials. Likely materials include silicon-germanium, gallium and aluminum arsenide and certain oxide superlattices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have for many years focused on how far heat may be transported in materials. For the future, research will address the velocity of that transport, and how much heat is moved in the process, Maldovan predicted. He compares heat transport to a more familiar issue \u2013 human transportation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you want to move a lot of people, you need a bus that will carry a lot of people,\u201d he said. \u201cYou also want a vehicle that can move quickly because if you move faster, you can carry more people farther in less time.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe next few years should bring about significant clarification concerning the role of interference and bandgaps in thermal materials, Maldovan predicted. That will allow continued progress in the materials needed for thermal control.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s now a very cool thing to understand heat,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Martin Maldovan, \u201cPhononic wave interference and thermal bandgap materials,\u201d (Nature Materials, 2015). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nature.com\/nmat\/journal\/v14\/n7\/full\/nmat4308.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nature.com\/nmat\/journal\/v14\/n7\/full\/nmat4308.html\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA growing interest in thermoelectric materials \u2013 which convert waste heat to electricity \u2013 and pressure to improve heat transfer from increasingly powerful microelectronic devices have led to improved theoretical and experimental understanding of how heat is transported through nanometer-scale materials.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A growing interest in thermoelectric materials and pressure to improve cooling of microelectronic devices has produced new research on heat transfer."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-06-23 10:31:30","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:45","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-06-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-06-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"417261":{"id":"417261","type":"image","title":"Thermoelectric device","body":null,"created":"1449254269","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:49","changed":"1475895147","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:27","alt":"Thermoelectric device","file":{"fid":"202427","name":"thermoelectric-1239.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thermoelectric-1239_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thermoelectric-1239_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":892051,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/thermoelectric-1239_0.jpg?itok=L2KE-INI"}},"417281":{"id":"417281","type":"image","title":"Bandgap principle","body":null,"created":"1449254269","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:49","changed":"1475895155","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:35","alt":"Bandgap principle","file":{"fid":"202574","name":"thermal-band-gap.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thermal-band-gap_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thermal-band-gap_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":955424,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/thermal-band-gap_1.jpg?itok=9ukxS2Ow"}}},"media_ids":["417261","417281"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"50751","name":"bandgap"},{"id":"479","name":"Green Buzz"},{"id":"435","name":"heat"},{"id":"11672","name":"heat transfer"},{"id":"7623","name":"interference"},{"id":"79961","name":"Martin Maldovan"},{"id":"129591","name":"phonon"},{"id":"129581","name":"thermoelectric"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"415011":{"#nid":"415011","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Theory Turns to Reality for Nonlinear Optical Metamaterials","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA research team has realized one of the long-standing theoretical predictions in nonlinear optical metamaterials: creation of a nonlinear material that has opposite refractive indices at the fundamental and harmonic frequencies of light. Such a material, which doesn\u2019t exist naturally, had been predicted for nearly a decade.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EObservation of \u201cbackward phase matching\u201d \u2013 a phenomenon also known as the \u201cnonlinear mirror\u201d \u2013 provided proof that this new type of metamaterial had been created. Demonstration of the phenomenon was reported by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in a paper published June 15 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Materials\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough by itself the discovery may have few immediate practical applications, realization of a material that had been predicted by theorists is a milestone that could lead to new areas of study, and prompt a re-evaluation of the fundamental rules governing nonlinear optics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cNonlinear optics is critically important to controlling light for information processing, sensing and signal generation,\u201d said Wenshan Cai, an associate professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering who led the research team. \u201cOur effort substantially expands the scope of nonlinear light-matter interactions in artificially structured media with engineered, unconventional linear and high-order material parameters.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEngineered metamaterials offer unique properties not available in natural materials. This is especially useful in nonlinear optics, where materials with unconventional properties could make a difference anywhere light must be actively controlled. Researchers at multiple institutions have already created optical metamaterials that could be used to produce more efficient solar cells, faster computer chips, improved sensors \u2013 and even cloaking to permit invisibility.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe linear responses of metamaterials have substantially augmented the linear properties available from naturally-occurring materials,\u201d noted Cai, who also holds a faculty position in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering. \u201cIn the same way, the studies of nonlinear metamaterials may have a revolutionary impact on the field of nonlinear optics. The unconventional electromagnetic parameters made possible by metamaterials will provoke us to rethink and re-evaluate many of the established rules of nonlinear optics.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMetamaterials obtain their properties from a repeated unit structure rather than the constituent materials. At the frequency range between visible and infrared light, subwavelength metallic structures can serve as building blocks \u2013 essentially \u201cmeta-atoms\u201d \u2013 to create optical materials with properties that have not been available in the past.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EExperimentally, the researchers struggled to create a negative index material \u2013 which has been a holy grail for metamaterial research \u2013 with a sample size large enough for testing. They had to tailor the refractive indices at both the fundamental and harmonic frequencies simultaneously.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team was able to demonstrate backward phase-matching by exploiting two distinct modes in a nonlinear plasmonic waveguide, which was built with a thin dielectric spacer of relatively high refractive index sandwiched between two flat silver films. A large dielectric constant in the gap enabled a pronounced separation of the surface plasmon and the bulk plasmon frequencies, while a narrow gap pushed the operating point away from the surface plasmon frequency and helped balance the magnitudes of the refractive indices of the two modes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe waveguide operated with the real part of the mode refractive indices at 3.4 and -3.4 for the fundamental and harmonic waves, respectively. The observed peak conversion efficiency at the excitation wavelength of about 780 nanometers indicated fulfillment of the phase matching condition in which the coherent harmonic wave emerged along a direction opposite to that of the incoming fundamental light, the researchers reported in their paper.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team made a comprehensive set of measurements to experimentally confirm the phenomenon of backward phase-matching in the waveguide.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe proposed a smart scheme that allowed us to experimentally achieve the backward phase-matching condition in a realistic way,\u201d Cai explained. \u201cExperimental demonstration of backward phase-matching in negative index metamaterials was considered to be extremely challenging, which is why it took nearly ten years to be realized.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPhase matching is a standard technique to achieve efficient frequency generation using nonlinear optics, usually achieved by fine-tuning the orientation or temperature of a nonlinear crystal, Cai noted. In second harmonic generation \u2013 a nonlinear process to double the frequency of light \u2013 phase matching requires that the refractive index of the initial (fundamental) and the doubled (harmonic) frequencies be identical. That way, the fundamental light will gradually be converted to its harmonic along the direction of propagation, and the output harmonic light will co-propagate along the same direction.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Cai, the research team included first author Shoufeng Lan, a graduate student in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Other co-authors are Lei Kang, Sean Rodrigues and Yonghao Cui from Georgia Tech, and David Schoen and Mark Brongersma from the Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials at Stanford University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat\u2019s ahead for research in this area?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBeyond the backward phase-matching, there are many other intriguing phenomena in nonlinear metamaterials awaiting exploration,\u201d Cai said. \u201cThe ability to design custom, nonlinear materials, which is possible in metamaterials, is bound to open entirely new outlooks for nonlinear light-matter interactions.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Shoufeng Lan, Lei Kang, David T. Schoen, Sean P. Rodrigues, Yonghao Cui, Mark L. Brongersma and Wenshan Cai, \u201cBackward phase-matching for nonlinear optical generation in negative-index materials,\u201d (Nature Materials 2015). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nmat4324\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nmat4324\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA research team has realized one of the long-standing theoretical predictions in nonlinear optical metamaterials: creation of a nonlinear material that has opposite refractive indices at the fundamental and harmonic frequencies of light. Such a material, which doesn\u2019t exist naturally, had been predicted for nearly a decade.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have realized one of the long-standing theoretical predictions in nonlinear optical metamaterials: creation of a nonlinear material that has opposite refractive indices at the fundamental and harmonic frequencies of light."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-06-15 20:30:45","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:37","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-06-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-06-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"414961":{"id":"414961","type":"image","title":"Metamaterial waveguide","body":null,"created":"1449254245","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:25","changed":"1475895149","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:29","alt":"Metamaterial waveguide","file":{"fid":"202478","name":"metamaterials-cai-1079.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/metamaterials-cai-1079_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/metamaterials-cai-1079_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1165576,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/metamaterials-cai-1079_0.jpg?itok=QsJISqPd"}},"414971":{"id":"414971","type":"image","title":"Measuring metamaterial waveguide","body":null,"created":"1449254245","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:25","changed":"1475895149","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:29","alt":"Measuring metamaterial waveguide","file":{"fid":"202479","name":"metamaterials-cai-1126.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/metamaterials-cai-1126_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/metamaterials-cai-1126_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1155418,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/metamaterials-cai-1126_0.jpg?itok=vafjPZdP"}},"414981":{"id":"414981","type":"image","title":"Metamaterial waveguide2","body":null,"created":"1449254245","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:25","changed":"1475895149","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:29","alt":"Metamaterial waveguide2","file":{"fid":"202480","name":"metamaterials-cai1083_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/metamaterials-cai1083_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/metamaterials-cai1083_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3346686,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/metamaterials-cai1083_0_0.jpg?itok=aS_9oALu"}},"414991":{"id":"414991","type":"image","title":"Metamaterial waveguide3","body":null,"created":"1449254245","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:25","changed":"1475895149","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:29","alt":"Metamaterial waveguide3","file":{"fid":"202481","name":"metamaterials-cai-1093.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/metamaterials-cai-1093_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/metamaterials-cai-1093_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1657682,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/metamaterials-cai-1093_0.jpg?itok=bsIPQO4J"}}},"media_ids":["414961","414971","414981","414991"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"79971","name":"metamaterials"},{"id":"94861","name":"nonlinear optics"},{"id":"128981","name":"phase matching"},{"id":"128971","name":"waveguide"},{"id":"91661","name":"Wenshan Cai"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"413201":{"#nid":"413201","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How the Hawkmoth Sees, Hovers and Tracks Flowers in the Dark","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0027s difficult enough to see things in the dark, but what if you also had to hover in mid-air while tracking a flower moving in the wind? That\u0027s the challenge the hummingbird-sized hawkmoth (\u003Cem\u003EManduca sexta\u003C\/em\u003E) must overcome while feeding on the nectar of its favorite flowers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing high-speed infrared cameras and 3-D-printed robotic flowers, scientists have now learned how this insect juggles these complex sensing and control challenges \u2013 all while adjusting to changing light conditions. The work shows that the creatures can slow their brains to improve vision under low-light conditions \u2013 while continuing to perform demanding tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat the researchers have discovered could help the next generation of small flying robots operate efficiently under a broad range of lighting conditions. The research, supported by the National Science Foundation and Air Force Office of Scientific Research, was reported in the June 12 issue of the journal\u003Cem\u003E Science\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere has been a lot of interest in understanding how animals deal with challenging sensing environments, especially when they are also doing difficult tasks like hovering in mid-air,\u201d said Simon Sponberg, an assistant professor in the School of Physics and School of Applied Physiology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cThis is also a very significant challenge for micro air vehicles.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists already knew that the moths, which feed on flower nectar during the evening and at dusk and dawn, use specialized eye structures to maximize the amount of light they can capture. But they also surmised that the insects might be slowing their nervous systems to make the best use of this limited light. But if they were slowing their brains to see better, wouldn\u2019t that hurt their ability to hover and track the motion of flowers?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESponberg and colleagues at the University of Washington studied this question using high-speed infrared cameras and nectar-dispensing robotic flowers that could be moved from side-to-side at different rates. While varying both the light conditions and the frequency at which the flowers moved, the researchers studied how well free-flying moths kept their tongues \u2013 known as proboscises \u2013 in the flowers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey also measured real flowers blowing in the wind to determine the range of motion the insects had to contend with in the wild.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe expected to see a tradeoff with the moths doing significantly worse at tracking flowers in low light conditions,\u201d said Sponberg. \u201cWhat we saw was that while the moths did slow down, that only made a difference if the flower was moving rapidly \u2013 faster than they actually move in nature.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the experiments, the moths tracked robotic flowers that were oscillating at rates of up to 20 hertz \u2013 twenty oscillations per second. That was considerably faster than the two-hertz maximum rate observed in real flowers. Because the moth\u2019s wings beat at a rate of about 25 strokes per second, they had to adjust their direction of movement with nearly every wingstroke \u2013 a major sensing, computational and control accomplishment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is really an extreme behavior, though the moth makes it look simple and elegant,\u201d said Sponberg. \u201cTo maneuver like this is really quite challenging. It\u2019s an extreme behavior from both a sensory and motor control perspective.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the natural world, light intensity varies 10 billion-fold from noon on a sunny day to midnight a cloudy evening. Operating in that range of luminosity is a challenge for both moths and the sensors on human-engineered systems. Understanding how natural systems adjust to this range of conditions could therefore have broader benefits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf we want to have robots or machine vision systems that are working under this broad range of conditions, understanding how these moths function under these varying light conditions would be very useful,\u201d Sponberg said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo gather the data reported in this paper, the researchers used a robotic flower able to move in one dimension. Recently, they\u2019ve used the actuator devices from a 3-D printer to build a robotic flower that moves in two or three dimensions, providing an additional challenge for the moths. In future research, Sponberg and his colleagues hope to incorporate their robotic flower into a low-speed wind tunnel to study the aerodynamic challenges the moths overcome \u2013 including the role of wing vortices and the flow-effect interaction of the insect\u2019s wings with the flowers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe hawkmoth has been studied extensively to investigate the fundamental principles governing the development and function of its neural system, noted Tom Daniel, a professor in the Department of Biology and co-director of the Institute for Neuroengineering at the University of Washington. Daniel\u2019s research group has experimentally characterized the response of flying hawkmoths, using a sensory input comprised of the linear sum of sine waves.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESponberg\u2019s paper, for which much of the data collection was done at the University of Washington while he was a postdoctoral researcher there, extends application of the \u201csum of sines\u201d approach, Daniel said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSimon\u2019s work took the formal methods of control theory to dissect out how neural circuits adapt to vast ranges of luminance levels,\u201d he explained. \u201cBy looking at the time delays in the movement dynamics of a freely-flying moth \u2013 interacting with the input of a robotically moved flower \u2013 Simon was able to extract the luminance dependent processing of the moth\u2019s central nervous system.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHuman engineered devices must often operate at various speeds and in different environments. Seeing how well an animal with a tiny brain was able to track complicated movements and adjust its performance to different light levels was a surprising result of the work, Sponberg said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis was an interesting example of how an organism can tune its brain to maintain its ability to gather food,\u201d he added. \u201cThe moths do suffer a tradeoff by slowing their brains, but that tradeoff doesn\u2019t end up mattering because it only affects their ability to track movements that don\u2019t exist in the natural way that flowers blow in the wind.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Simon Sponberg, Jonathan P. Dyhr, Robert W. Hall and Tom L. Daniel, \u201cLuminance-dependent visual processing enables moth flights in low light,\u201d (Science 2015).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing high-speed infrared cameras and robotic flowers, scientists have learned how the hawkmoth juggles the complex sensing and control challenges of seeing in the dark, hovering in mid-air and tracking moving flowers. The work shows that the creatures can slow their brains to improve vision under low-light conditions \u2013 while continuing to perform demanding tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Scientists have learned how the hawkmoth juggles the complex sensing and control challenges of seeing in the dark, hovering in mid-air and tracking moving flowers."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-06-10 21:01:12","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:33","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-06-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-06-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"413121":{"id":"413121","type":"image","title":"Hawkmoth on flower","body":null,"created":"1449254222","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:02","changed":"1475895145","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:25","alt":"Hawkmoth on flower","file":{"fid":"202372","name":"hawkmoth6.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth6_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth6_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1229595,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth6_1.jpg?itok=3o7oUMVg"}},"413141":{"id":"413141","type":"image","title":"Two hawkmoths","body":null,"created":"1449254222","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:02","changed":"1475895145","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:25","alt":"Two hawkmoths","file":{"fid":"202374","name":"hawkmoth7.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth7_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth7_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1010965,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth7_0.jpg?itok=IbqDKtRI"}},"413171":{"id":"413171","type":"image","title":"Hawkmoth on flower2","body":null,"created":"1449254222","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:02","changed":"1475895145","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:25","alt":"Hawkmoth on flower2","file":{"fid":"202377","name":"hawkmoth1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1265494,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth1_0.jpg?itok=KG7akssM"}},"413151":{"id":"413151","type":"image","title":"Simon Sponberg with hawkmoth","body":null,"created":"1449254222","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:02","changed":"1475895145","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:25","alt":"Simon Sponberg with hawkmoth","file":{"fid":"202375","name":"hawkmoth12.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth12_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth12_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1159006,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth12_0.jpg?itok=A0eGBf49"}},"413161":{"id":"413161","type":"image","title":"Hawkmoth closeup","body":null,"created":"1449254222","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:02","changed":"1475895145","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:25","alt":"Hawkmoth closeup","file":{"fid":"202376","name":"hawkmoth8.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth8_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth8_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1495372,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth8_0.jpg?itok=PcDLAduc"}},"413181":{"id":"413181","type":"image","title":"Simon Sponberg","body":null,"created":"1449254222","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:02","changed":"1475895145","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:25","alt":"Simon Sponberg","file":{"fid":"202378","name":"hawkmoth16.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth16_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawkmoth16_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":891932,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawkmoth16_1.jpg?itok=aqrbgxEZ"}}},"media_ids":["413121","413141","413171","413151","413161","413181"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"128551","name":"hawkmoth"},{"id":"128561","name":"neural processing"},{"id":"7276","name":"neuron"},{"id":"169638","name":"sensing"},{"id":"820","name":"vision"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"405111":{"#nid":"405111","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New chip architecture may provide foundation for quantum computer","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EQuantum computers are in theory capable of simulating the interactions of molecules at a level of detail far beyond the capabilities of even the largest supercomputers today. Such simulations could revolutionize chemistry, biology and materials science, but the development of quantum computers has been limited by the ability to increase the number of quantum bits, or qubits, that encode, store and access large amounts of data.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a paper published in the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Applied Physics\u003C\/em\u003E, a team of researchers at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI) and Honeywell International have demonstrated a new device that allows more electrodes to be placed on a chip \u2013 an important step that could help increase qubit densities and bring us one step closer to a quantum computer that can simulate molecules or perform other algorithms of interest.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022To write down the quantum state of a system of just 300 qubits, you would need 2^300 numbers, roughly the number of protons in the known universe, so no amount of Moore\u0027s Law scaling will ever make it possible for a classical computer to process that many numbers,\u0022 said Nicholas Guise, a GTRI research scientist who led the research. \u0022This is why it\u0027s impossible to fully simulate even a modest sized quantum system, let alone something like chemistry of complex molecules, unless we can build a quantum computer to do it.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile existing computers use classical bits of information, quantum computers use \u0022quantum bits\u0022 or qubits to store information. Classical bits use either a 0 or 1, but a qubit, exploiting a weird quantum property called superposition, can actually be in both 0 and 1 simultaneously, allowing much more information to be encoded. Since qubits can be correlated with each other in a way that classical bits cannot, they allow a new sort of massively parallel computation, but only if many qubits at a time can be produced and controlled. The challenge that the field has faced is scaling this technology up, much like moving from the first transistors to the first computers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne leading qubit candidate is individual ions trapped inside a vacuum chamber and manipulated with lasers. The scalability of current trap architectures is limited since the connections for the electrodes needed to generate the trapping fields come at the edge of the chip, and their number are therefore limited by the chip perimeter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe GTRI\/Honeywell approach uses new microfabrication techniques that allow more electrodes to fit onto the chip while preserving the laser access needed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team\u0027s design borrows ideas from a type of packaging called a ball grid array (BGA) that is used to mount integrated circuits. The ball grid array\u0027s key feature is that it can bring electrical signals directly from the backside of the mount to the surface, thus increasing the potential density of electrical connections.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also freed up more chip space by replacing area-intensive surface or edge capacitors with trench capacitors and strategically moving wire connections.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe space-saving moves allowed tight focusing of an addressing laser beam for fast operations on single qubits. Despite early difficulties bonding the chips, a solution was developed in collaboration with Honeywell, and the device was trapping ions from the very first day.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team was excited with the results. \u0022Ions are very sensitive to stray electric fields and other noise sources, and a few microns of the wrong material in the wrong place can ruin a trap. But when we ran the BGA trap through a series of benchmarking tests we were pleasantly surprised that it performed at least as well as all our previous traps,\u0022 Guise said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorking with trapped ion qubits currently requires a room full of bulky equipment and several graduate students to make it all run properly, so the researchers say much work remains to be done to shrink the technology. The BGA project demonstrated that it\u0027s possible to fit more and more electrodes on a surface trap chip while wiring them from the back of the chip in a compact and extensible way. However, there are a host of engineering challenges that still need to be addressed to turn this into a miniaturized, robust and nicely packaged system that would enable quantum computing, the researchers say.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the meantime, these advances have applications beyond quantum computing. \u0022We all hope that someday quantum computers will fulfill their vast promise, and this research gets us one step closer to that,\u0022 Guise said. \u0022But another reason that we work on such difficult problems is that it forces us to come up with solutions that may be useful elsewhere. For example, microfabrication techniques like those demonstrated here for ion traps are also very relevant for making miniature atomic devices like sensors, magnetometers and chip-scale atomic clocks.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis work was funded by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe article, \u0022Ball-grid array architecture for microfabricated ion traps,\u0022 is authored by Nicholas D. Guise, Spencer D. Fallek, Kelly E. Stevens, K. R. Brown, Curtis Volin, Alexa W. Harter, Jason M. Amini, Robert E. Higashi, Son Thai Lu, Helen M. Chanhvongsak, Thi A. Nguyen, Matthew S. Marcus, Thomas R. Ohnstein and Daniel W. Youngner. It appears in the Journal of Applied Physics and can be accessed at:\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/scitation.aip.org\/content\/aip\/journal\/jap\/117\/17\/10.1063\/1.4917385\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/scitation.aip.org\/content\/aip\/journal\/jap\/117\/17\/10.1063\/1.4917385\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Lance Wallace (404-407-7280) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EArticle written by the American Institute of Physics.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute and Honeywell have developed a microfabricated ion trap architecture that holds promise for increasing the density of qubits in future quantum computers.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a microfabricated ion trap architecture that could enable quantum computers."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-05-17 20:59:37","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:17","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-05-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-05-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"405061":{"id":"405061","type":"image","title":"Quantum computer architecture","body":null,"created":"1449254135","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:35:35","changed":"1475895127","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:07","alt":"Quantum computer architecture","file":{"fid":"76064","name":"chip-architecture2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chip-architecture2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chip-architecture2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2049224,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/chip-architecture2.jpg?itok=jdLnrb6i"}},"405081":{"id":"405081","type":"image","title":"Quantum computer architecture2","body":null,"created":"1449254135","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:35:35","changed":"1475895127","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:07","alt":"Quantum computer architecture2","file":{"fid":"76066","name":"chip-architecture3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chip-architecture3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chip-architecture3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1693357,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/chip-architecture3.jpg?itok=w1UD3ltF"}},"405091":{"id":"405091","type":"image","title":"Ion trap assembly","body":null,"created":"1449254135","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:35:35","changed":"1475895127","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:07","alt":"Ion trap assembly","file":{"fid":"76067","name":"bgatrapphoto.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bgatrapphoto.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bgatrapphoto.png","mime":"image\/png","size":1942062,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bgatrapphoto.png?itok=OcBbCfwc"}},"405101":{"id":"405101","type":"image","title":"Ion trap connections","body":null,"created":"1449254135","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:35:35","changed":"1475895127","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:07","alt":"Ion trap connections","file":{"fid":"76068","name":"bumpbonding.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bumpbonding.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bumpbonding.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":245847,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bumpbonding.jpg?itok=sbyWrp5l"}}},"media_ids":["405061","405081","405091","405101"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"126271","name":"ion trap. qubit"},{"id":"1744","name":"quantum"},{"id":"4359","name":"quantum computing"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"322821":{"#nid":"322821","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Co-flowing liquids can stabilize chaotic \u201cwhipping\u201d in microfluidic jets","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIndustrial wet spinning processes produce fibers from polymers and other materials by using tiny needles to eject continuous jets of liquid precursors. The electrically charged liquids ejected from the needles normally exhibit a chaotic \u201cwhipping\u201d structure as they enter a secondary liquid that surrounds the microscopic jets.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the liquid jets sometimes form a helical wave. And that was intriguing to Alberto Fernandez-Nieves, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy controlling the viscosity and speed of the secondary liquid surrounding the jets, a research team led by Fernandez-Nieves has now figured out how to convert the standard chaotic waveform to the stable helical form. Based on theoretical modeling and experiments using a microfluidic device, the findings could help improve industrial processes that are used for fiber formation and electrospray.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research, conducted in collaboration with the University of Seville in Spain, was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). It was reported Sept. 8, 2014, in the early online edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E (PNAS).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are developing an understanding of the basic coupling between hydrodynamic and electric fields in these systems,\u201d said Fernandez-Nieves. \u201cThe issue we examined is fundamental physics, but it could potentially lead to something more interesting in fiber generation through electro-spinning.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn conventional industrial processes, tiny metal needles apply an electric field as they eject the polymer-containing solution. In the laboratory, the researchers used a glass-based microfluidic device to create the jets so they could more closely examine what was happening. Using a conductive liquid, ethylene glycol, allowed them to apply an electrical field to produce electrified jets.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you charge these polymer solutions, the jets themselves move out of axis, which creates a chaotic phenomenon known as whipping,\u201d Fernandez-Nieves explained. \u201cThis off-axis movement causes the jet to abruptly move in all directions, and in the industrial world, all that motion seems to be beneficial from the standpoint of making thinner fibers.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers experimented with many variables as their liquid jets emerged into a co-flowing secondary liquid inside the microfluidic device. Those variables included the applied electrical field, the flow rate of the ejected liquid and the secondary liquid, the viscosities of the liquids, the needle diameters and the physical geometry of microfluidic device.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile producing a whipped jet in a viscous dielectric material \u2013 polydimethylsiloxane oil \u2013 the researchers were surprised to see the chaotic motion switch over to a steady-state helical structure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe were able to stabilize the structure associated with the whipping behavior and found that the stable structure is a helix with a conical shape,\u201d said Fernandez-Nieves. \u201cYou can picture it as a conical envelope, and inside the envelope you have a helix. Once the viscosity of the outer liquid is sufficient, you stabilize the structure and get this beautiful helix.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech postdoctoral fellow Josefa Guerrero used a high-speed, microscope-based video camera operating at 50,000 frames per second to study the waveforms emerging from the experimental jets, which were less than five microns in diameter. The video allowed precise examination of the waveforms produced when the liquid flowed out of the glass needle and into the second liquid flowing around it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorking with collaborators Javier Rivero-Rodriguez and Miguel Perez-Saborid at the University of Seville, the Georgia Tech team \u2013 Fernandez-Nieves, Guerrero and former postdoctoral fellow Venkata R. Gundabala \u2013 used hydrodynamics theory to help understand what they were seeing experimentally.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy developing the model, we were able to balance the importance of the different forces in the experiment,\u201d explained Fernandez-Nieves. \u201cThe helix was part of the solutions in the model and it reproduced some aspects of the experimentally observed helices.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce the jets were stabilized by the viscous secondary liquid, the properties of the helix were controlled by the electrical charge. In the experiment, the researchers applied approximately 1,000 volts to generate the jets.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe learned that the outer fluid plays a major role in stabilizing the structure of the jets,\u201d Fernandez-Nieves added. \u201cOnce the structure is stable, the details of the properties of the helical structure depend on the charge.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUltimately, the stable jets break up into spherical droplets. The researchers have not yet formed fibers with their experimental setup.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn future work, Fernandez-Nieves hopes to study other waveforms that may be produced by the system, and evaluate how controlling the liquid jets could improve industrial techniques used in fiber production and electrospray processes that generate clouds of droplets.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are interested in trying to map out those different behaviors,\u201d he said. \u201cFor us as physicists, this is interesting because it allows us to explore, address and measure things that nobody could look at before in the way we can today. We are anxious to understand the applied impact.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Josefa Guerrero, et al., \u201cWhipping of electrified jets,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E, 2014.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under award CBET-0967293. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the officials views of the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986) or Brett Israel (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-385-1933).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIndustrial wet spinning processes produce fibers from polymers and other materials by using tiny needles to eject continuous jets of liquid precursors. The electrically charged liquids ejected from the needles normally exhibit a chaotic \u201cwhipping\u201d structure as they enter a secondary liquid that surrounds the microscopic jets. A research team has now figured out how to convert the standard chaotic waveform to a stable helical form.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have now learned to control the chaotic structure that results from microfluidic jets.."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-09-08 15:00:30","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:04","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-09-08T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-09-08T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"322761":{"id":"322761","type":"image","title":"Chaotic whipping of jets","body":null,"created":"1449245025","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:03:45","changed":"1475895034","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:34","alt":"Chaotic whipping of jets","file":{"fid":"200151","name":"still_image_chaotic_whipping.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/still_image_chaotic_whipping_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/still_image_chaotic_whipping_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":41169,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/still_image_chaotic_whipping_0.jpeg?itok=_EImqkpp"}},"322781":{"id":"322781","type":"image","title":"Steady whipping of jets","body":null,"created":"1449245025","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:03:45","changed":"1475895034","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:34","alt":"Steady whipping of jets","file":{"fid":"200152","name":"still_image_steady_whipping.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/still_image_steady_whipping_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/still_image_steady_whipping_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":19947,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/still_image_steady_whipping_0.jpg?itok=OaDpQZvm"}}},"media_ids":["322761","322781"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"66681","name":"Alberto Fernandez-Nieves"},{"id":"4020","name":"chaotic"},{"id":"6574","name":"fibers"},{"id":"12427","name":"microfluidics"},{"id":"102391","name":"microjets"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"102401","name":"waveforms"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"317231":{"#nid":"317231","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Ranks Sixth Globally for Engineering","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the latest edition of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.shanghairanking.com\/FieldENG2014.html\u0022\u003EAcademic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)\u003C\/a\u003E, the Georgia Institute of Technology is the sixth-ranked engineering university in the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is the highest ranked Georgia university on the list.\u0026nbsp;In addition, it is ranked 19th in the world for \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ecomputer science\u003C\/a\u003E and 23rd for chemistry. For overall \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Escience programs\u003C\/a\u003E, Georgia Tech ranked 40th in the world according to the ARWU. Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.math.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Emathematics \u003C\/a\u003Eprograms came in at number 41 in the world, and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/scheller.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ebusiness programs\u003C\/a\u003E ranked in the top 75.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESeveral indicators are used to differentiate the world\u2019s institutions of higher education, including cited researchers, staff and faculty honors, and per capita performance.\u0026nbsp;These rankings, which have been compiled since 2003 by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, are also broken down across disciplines and fields, including engineering, medicine, business, and science majors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs an internationally recognized technological research university, Georgia Tech contributes vital research, ideas, and innovation to business, industry, government, and academia, regionally, nationally, and around the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELearn more about \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s College of Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the latest edition of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), the Georgia Institute of Technology is the sixth-ranked engineering university in the world. Georgia Tech was also highly-ranked globally for computer science, chemistry, mathematics, and business.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"In the 2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities, the Georgia Institute of Technology is among global leaders in engineering and other fields."}],"uid":"28058","created_gmt":"2014-08-19 17:05:02","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:56","author":"Steven Norris","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-08-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-08-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"317241":{"id":"317241","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech Ranks Sixth Globally for Engineering","body":null,"created":"1449244974","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:02:54","changed":"1475895024","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:24","alt":"Georgia Tech Ranks Sixth Globally for Engineering","file":{"fid":"199968","name":"08c1004-p4-073.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/08c1004-p4-073_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/08c1004-p4-073_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3664081,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/08c1004-p4-073_0.jpg?itok=qVehHQOm"}}},"media_ids":["317241"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"100341","name":"academic world rankings"},{"id":"981","name":"Academics"},{"id":"100351","name":"best colleges"},{"id":"516","name":"engineering"},{"id":"100331","name":"georgia  tech"},{"id":"246","name":"Georgia Institute of Technology"},{"id":"289","name":"Global"},{"id":"1877","name":"Higher Education"},{"id":"834","name":"Rankings"},{"id":"7819","name":"world"},{"id":"100361","name":"world\u0027s best colleges"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESteven Norris\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/SociallySteven\u0022\u003E@sociallysteven\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Social Media Manager\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 385-0591\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["snorris@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"307431":{"#nid":"307431","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Agile Aperture Antenna Tested on Aircraft to Survey Ground Emitters, Maintain Satellite Connection","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u2019s\u003C\/a\u003E software-defined, electronically-reconfigurable Agile Aperture Antenna (A3) has now been tested on the land, sea and air.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDepartment of Defense representatives were in attendance during a recent event where two of the low-power devices, which can change beam directions in a thousandth of a second, were demonstrated in an aircraft during flight tests held in Virginia during February 2014. One device, looking up, maintained a satellite data connection as the aircraft changed headings, banked and rolled, while the other antenna looked down to track electromagnetic emitters on the ground.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe were able to sustain communication with the commercial satellite in flight as the aircraft changed headings dramatically,\u201d explained Matthew Habib, a GTRI research engineer. \u201cThe antenna was changing beam directions to compensate for the aircraft headings. At the same time, we were maintaining communication with a device on the ground.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to rapidly altering its beam direction, the antenna\u2019s frequency and polarization can also be changed by switching active components. The prototype used in this test operates from 500 to 3000 MHz with a plus or minus 60-degree hemispherical view. The latest prototypes have been able to provide gain to 6 GHz, opening more communication options to the end user. For the flight test, GTRI collaborated with SR Technologies, Inc. (SRT), a Florida company specializing in wireless engineering products.\u0026nbsp; SRT provides mobile communications hardware including L-Band mobile satellite, 802.11 (WiFi), and cellular solutions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor this effort, the A3 was matched with an SRT software defined radio focused on the L-Band mobile satellite frequency range. GTRI also collaborated with Aurora Flight Sciences to fly the antennas on their Centaur optionally piloted aircraft.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond its ability to be easily reconfigured, the low power consumption and flat form make the Agile Aperture Antenna ideal for aircraft such as UAVs that have small power supplies and limited surface area for integrating antennas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you have a large ship or aircraft with lots of power, you can afford to use a phased-array or other type of steerable antenna,\u201d noted Habib. \u201cBut when you are using small vehicles, especially robotic aircraft and self-sustaining vehicles that don\u2019t include an operator, our antenna is a great solution.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EComposed of printed circuit boards, the antenna components weigh just two or three pounds.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s not just about the low power and weight,\u201d said James Strates, also a GTRI research engineer. \u201cThe simplicity of the system, the low fabrication cost and the ability to retrofit the A3 to an existing system also make it attractive to operators.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond use on aircraft, ships and ground vehicles, the antenna concept could also find application in mobile devices, where the dynamic tunability could help cut through congestion on cellular networks, noted Ryan Westafer, a GTRI research engineer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA small electronically tunable antenna could provide a lot of new opportunities for mobile devices,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs configured for the flight tests, the upward-looking A3 antenna had a beam 30 degrees wide that could be shifted up to 60 degrees in either direction to maintain contact with the satellite. For the downward-looking antenna, the beam was automatically adjusted to \u201cstare\u201d at a point on the ground, reducing the interference from nearby emitters, Westafer explained.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause it doesn\u2019t require mechanically moving a metal dish, the A3 can change beam direction 120 degrees in a thousandth of a second, which gives it a significant response time advantage over gimbaled antennas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe A3\u2019s weight and complexity are also much less than for a phased-array antenna with similar capabilities. The A3 antenna uses just one static feed point, while a phased-array must feed and control each element separately. Because of its low power consumption, the A3 requires no cooling system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Agile Aperture Antenna has also been tested on a Wave Glider autonomous ocean vehicle. Together with previous testing on a moving ground vehicle, the new evaluations demonstrate the operational flexibility of the antenna, Habib said. So far, the A3 has operated successfully at temperatures as low as 10 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, and as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo track the satellite, the antenna uses an inertial measurement unit to provide information about the aircraft\u2019s pitch, roll and yaw \u2013 as well as its longitude, latitude and altitude. That information is sent to a controller that turns elements off and on to the change the beam direction to maintain communication. Before takeoff, the researchers had programmed into the device the location of the commercial satellite with which it was communicating.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe challenge ahead is to take advantage of the antenna\u2019s unique capabilities \u2013 and to affect the way operators place antennas onto ground, air and sea vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is changing the way that we think about integrating antennas onto systems to provide new solutions,\u201d Habib said. \u201cUsers have not had these capabilities before, and we are excited to see how our partners will be able to take full advantage of this antenna.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Lance Wallace (404-407-7280) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Research Institute\u2019s software-defined, electronically-reconfigurable Agile Aperture Antenna (A3) has now been tested on the land, sea and air.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech Research Institute\u2019s software-defined, electronically-reconfigurable Agile Aperture Antenna (A3) has now been tested on the land, sea and air."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-07-09 09:46:14","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:45","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-07-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-07-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"307381":{"id":"307381","type":"image","title":"Agile Aperture Antenna Tested","body":null,"created":"1449244708","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:58:28","changed":"1475895017","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:17","alt":"Agile Aperture Antenna Tested","file":{"fid":"199771","name":"agile-aperture17.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture17_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture17_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":961681,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/agile-aperture17_0.jpg?itok=eWwpAvwB"}},"307391":{"id":"307391","type":"image","title":"Agile Aperture Antenna in Window","body":null,"created":"1449244708","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:58:28","changed":"1475895017","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:17","alt":"Agile Aperture Antenna in Window","file":{"fid":"199772","name":"agile-aperture0618.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture0618_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture0618_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":642274,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/agile-aperture0618_0.jpg?itok=H5BjsHq1"}},"307401":{"id":"307401","type":"image","title":"Agile Aperture Antenna Aircraft","body":null,"created":"1449244708","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:58:28","changed":"1475895017","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:17","alt":"Agile Aperture Antenna Aircraft","file":{"fid":"199773","name":"agile-aperture03.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture03_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/agile-aperture03_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1220425,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/agile-aperture03_0.jpg?itok=8yJFGj6x"}}},"media_ids":["307381","307391","307401"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"68051","name":"Agile Aperture Antenna"},{"id":"2616","name":"antenna"},{"id":"97461","name":"electronically-reconfigurable"},{"id":"97431","name":"flight test"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"97441","name":"Matthew Habib"},{"id":"171342","name":"software-defined"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"307031":{"#nid":"307031","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Small, but plentiful: how the faintest galaxies illuminated the early universe","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELight from tiny galaxies over 13 billion years ago played a larger role than previously thought in creating the conditions in the universe as we know it today, a new study has found. Ultraviolet (UV) light from stars in these faint dwarf galaxies helped strip interstellar hydrogen of electrons in a process called reionization.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe epoch of reionization began about 200 million years after the Big Bang and astrophysicists agree that it took about 800 million more for the entire universe to become reionized. It marked the last major phase transition of gas in the universe, and it remains ionized today.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAstrophysicists aren\u2019t in agreement when it comes to determining which type of galaxies played major roles in this epoch. Most have focused on large galaxies. However, a new theory by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the San Diego Supercomputer Center indicates scientists should also focus on the smallest.\u0026nbsp; The findings are reported in a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ras.org.uk\/news-and-press\/2482\u0022\u003Epaper published today\u003C\/a\u003E in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers used computer simulations to demonstrate the faintest and smallest galaxies in the early universe were essential. These tiny galaxies \u2013 despite being 1000 times smaller in mass and 30 times smaller in size than the Milky Way \u2013 contributed nearly 30 percent of the UV light during this process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EReionization experts often ignored these dwarf galaxies because they didn\u2019t think they formed stars. It is assumed that UV light from nearby galaxies was too strong and suppressed these tiny neighbors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt turns out they did form stars, usually in one burst, around 500 million years after the Big Bang,\u201d said John Wise, a Georgia Tech assistant professor in the School of Physics who led the study. \u201cThe galaxies were small, but so plentiful that they contributed a significant fraction of UV light in the reionization process.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team\u2019s simulations modeled the flow of UV stellar light through the gas within galaxies as they formed. They found that the fraction of ionizing photons escaping into intergalactic space was 50 percent in small (more than 10 million solar masses) halos. It was only 5 percent in larger halos (300 million solar masses). \u0026nbsp;This elevated fraction, combined with their high abundance, is exactly the reason why the faintest galaxies play an integral role during reionization.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s very hard for UV light to escape galaxies because of the dense gas that fills them,\u201d said Wise. \u201cIn small galaxies, there\u2019s less gas between stars, making it easier for UV light to escape because it isn\u2019t absorbed as quickly. Plus, supernova explosions can open up channels more easily in these tiny galaxies in which UV light can escape.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team\u2019s simulation results provide a gradual timeline that tracks the progress of reionization over hundreds of millions of years. About 300 million years after the Big Bang, the universe was 20 percent ionized. It was 50 percent at 550 million years. The universe was fully ionized at 860 million years after its creation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThat such small galaxies could contribute so much to reionization is a real surprise,\u201d said Michael Norman, distinguished professor of physics at UC San Diego and one of the co-authors of the paper. \u201cOnce again, the supercomputer is teaching us something new and unexpected; something that will need to be factored into future studies of reionization.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe term reionized is used because the universe was ionized immediately after the fiery Big Bang. During that time, ordinary matter consisted of hydrogen atoms with positively charged protons stripped of their negatively charged electrons. Eventually, the universe cooled enough for electrons and protons to combine and form neutral hydrogen. They didn\u2019t give off any optical or UV light. Without the light, astrophysicists aren\u2019t able to see traces of how the cosmos evolved during these Dark Ages using conventional telescopes. The light returned when reionization began, allowing experts like Wise to pinpoint the youngest galaxies and study their features.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team expects to learn more about these faint galaxies when the next generation of telescopes is operational. For example, NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2018, will be able to see them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (AST 1211626, AST 1333360 and AST 1109243). Any conclusions expressed are those of the principal investigator and may not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELight from tiny galaxies over 13 billion years ago played a larger role than previously thought in creating the conditions in the universe as we know it today, a new study has found\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The researchers used computer simulations to demonstrate the faintest and smallest galaxies in the early universe were essential."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2014-07-07 09:20:11","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:41","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-07-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"306971":{"id":"306971","type":"image","title":"Galaxy 1","body":null,"created":"1449244708","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:58:28","changed":"1475895015","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:15","alt":"Galaxy 1","file":{"fid":"199762","name":"galaxypr.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/galaxypr_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/galaxypr_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":742969,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/galaxypr_0.jpg?itok=4vux7ubf"}},"306991":{"id":"306991","type":"image","title":"Galaxy zoomed in","body":null,"created":"1449244708","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:58:28","changed":"1475895015","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:15","alt":"Galaxy zoomed in","file":{"fid":"199763","name":"galaxy_zoom.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/galaxy_zoom_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/galaxy_zoom_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":540110,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/galaxy_zoom_0.jpg?itok=Z6BOtjR0"}}},"media_ids":["306971","306991"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.ras.org.uk\/news-and-press\/2482","title":"Published Paper"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"},{"id":"97321","name":"Big Bang"},{"id":"97331","name":"Galaxies"},{"id":"12044","name":"John Wise"},{"id":"167146","name":"space"},{"id":"25211","name":"universe"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003EMedia Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maderer@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"302691":{"#nid":"302691","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GTRI Huntsville Works to Shorten Modeling and Simulation Testing","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) researchers are working with a Huntsville, Ala., company and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to test high-altitude missiles without ever firing a shot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAEgis Technologies, specialists in modeling and simulation, contracted GTRI\u2019s Applied Systems Laboratory to collaborate with MDA on testing high-altitude air defense missiles. ASL is in its second phase of a multi-year project utilizing \u201chardware-in-the-loop\u201d testing to enable more accurate modeling and simulation for its customer.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTesting a missile can be very expensive,\u201d said GTRI Senior Research Engineer and principal investigator Glenn Parker. \u201cAdditionally, because of the large number of control variables in a real exercise, it isn\u2019t technically feasible to get complete testing coverage. High-fidelity simulation addresses many of these concerns, but even with modern processors it can take days to compute the trajectory and heat signature of a complex ballistic target.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHardware-in-the-loop simulations use portions of the real missile hardware, such as the seeker, with any missing pieces made up by simulated components.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe use the missile\u2019s actual guidance system and manipulate simulated inputs to make the hardware think it is flying,\u201d Parker said. \u201cBy using real hardware in tests, confidence in the results is much higher than in fully simulated models. For non-reusable portions of the missile like the motor and warhead, the use of simulation models makes it possible to run thousands of test cycles without leaving the laboratory, and for less than the cost of one live test.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith current testing models, thermal signature databases must be computed offline prior to the test, and can take up to three days for a mere fifteen minutes of simulation time. Any alteration to the parameters\u2014altitude, weather, terrain, or even the position of the sun\u2014requires a total re-coding of the database. Testing a missile launch from Hawaii, for example, to intercept a target at a certain distance, altitude and speed takes a long time to calculate all of the missile hardware inputs that are used in the test.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat GTRI is working on, according to Parker, will enable the simulated components to be \u201clooped in\u201d for real-time calculation, eliminating the need for database computation ahead of time. Using off-the-shelf NVIDIA graphics cards, the group will work to provide the seeker with simulated thermally emissive ballistic targets heated by atmospheric effects in real time. The team will be using CUDA, NVIDIA\u2019s parallel computing architecture.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur goal is to calculate and provide inputs at up to 200 Hz, which means simulated measurements are sent to the seeker unit 200 times each second,\u201d Parker said. \u201cThis will allow us to run dozens of tests in the amount of time we used to spend calculating data for a single run. Test parameters can be changed on the fly\u2014MDA will be able to run many more \u2018what if\u2019 scenarios before fielding a defense system.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAEgis Technologies in Huntsville is the prime contractor of the project. They will operate the Army-owned, hardware-in-the-loop test bed and generate scenarios for use in simulations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI provides the expertise in real-time computing. Prior to this, AEgis had worked indirectly with GTRI\u2019s Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL) on the same program, which supported ultraviolet sensor testing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe selected GTRI based on what I knew of EOSL\u2019s capabilities, and their expertise in GPU technology,\u201d said AEgis Program Manager Dennis Bunfield. \u201cGTRI\u2019s CUDA expertise is a great value, and their expertise in verification and validation is invaluable.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe system will be scalable, and the plan is to take what they learn from this project and use it elsewhere in the defense industry. The thermal solver aspect of the project, for example, will be useful for any simulation requiring a real-time solution for thermal image simulation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI think with some enhancements to the code framework, the capabilities can be extended to generate signatures in other regions, such as UV, the visible spectrum and for LADAR,\u201d Bunfield said. \u201cAside from military applications, it could be possible to use the thermal solver to commercial and manufacturing applications, such as thermal analysis simulation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re working with AEgis Technologies to best model and simulate firing and the performance of these missiles by providing scenario inputs at the true hardware rate,\u201d Parker said. \u201cOur main goal\u2014writing a massively parallel NVIDIA CUDA thermal differential equation solver\u2014will enable faster and more effective testing of high-cost components at hardware-in-the-loop testing centers.\u201d\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Lance Wallace (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-407-7280) or John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Robert Nesmith\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) researchers are working with a Huntsville, Ala., company and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to test high-altitude missiles without ever firing a shot.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers are working with a Huntsville company to test high-altitude missiles."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-06-11 15:23:47","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:33","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-06-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-06-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"302681":{"id":"302681","type":"image","title":"Modeling and Simulation Testing","body":null,"created":"1449244592","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:56:32","changed":"1475895007","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:07","alt":"Modeling and Simulation Testing","file":{"fid":"199590","name":"hwilcarco.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hwilcarco_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hwilcarco_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":731941,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hwilcarco_0.jpg?itok=kPh0mmYX"}}},"media_ids":["302681"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"1834","name":"missile"},{"id":"95151","name":"Missile Defense Agency"},{"id":"95141","name":"missile technology"},{"id":"579","name":"modeling and simulation"},{"id":"167045","name":"simulation"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"302781":{"#nid":"302781","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Development of New Ion Traps Advances Quantum Computing Systems","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearch is being conducted worldwide to develop a new type of computational device known as a quantum computer, based on the principles of quantum physics. Quantum computers could tackle specialized computational problems such as integer factorization or big data analysis much faster than conventional digital computers. Quantum computers will use one of a number of possible approaches to create quantum bits \u2013 units known as qubits \u2013 to compute and store data, giving them unique advantages over computers based on silicon transistors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDespite the great potential, however, quantum computing faces many significant challenges, including controlling the qubits and isolating them from a noisy environment. Scientists and engineers at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI) are helping address those challenges by designing, fabricating and testing new components and devices aimed at supporting international quantum computing efforts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI\u2019s Quantum Information Systems (QIS) Branch uses individual trapped atomic ions as qubits in its research. In collaboration with university and industry partners, QIS scientists recently demonstrated two new ion traps, including one that uses a system of integrated mirrors to read data from multiple ions. The researchers also advanced concepts for integrating the electronic systems needed to control the ion traps inside the vacuum containers within which the traps operate. The research was sponsored by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) through the Army Research Office (ARO) and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have a wide interest in developing the technologies needed by the field and using those technologies to perform the science needed to make advancements in quantum computing,\u201d said Alexa Harter, chief scientist of GTRI\u2019s Advanced Concepts Laboratory and head of the Quantum Information Systems Branch. \u201cThese are all projects that move us farther along the path of integration and technology development.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn its website, the Quantum Information Systems Branch displays diagrams for a dozen micro-fabricated ion traps, each with special properties, many of them intended to work with other devices also designed by the group. The planar ion traps are based on silicon VLSI technology and are both fabricated and tested at GTRI. The ion traps and other quantum components developed in GTRI are shared with collaborators and others in the community who are focused on the same goal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe now have a very impressive tool kit of technologies, techniques and systems that can be integrated for use by us and our collaborators,\u201d said Curtis Volin, a GTRI principal research scientist in the Quantum Information Systems Branch. \u201cOur ultimate objective is to understand what would be necessary to build a quantum computer.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong the recent accomplishments:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 In collaboration with Griffith University in Australia, researchers developed ion traps with integrated diffractive mirrors. High fidelity ion qubit measurements are performed by collecting laser-induced ion fluorescence, but the speed of these measurements is limited by the ability to collect the emitted light. Integrating micro-mirrors into the traps provides a more efficient way to measure the internal states of the ions by allowing more of the photons they produce to be collected. In conventional ion traps, there is only one large lens to collect data from a single ion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTo advance quantum computing, not only do you need to trap the ions, but you also need to be able to control them and read information from them,\u201d Volin explained. \u201cWith these integrated mirrors, we can look at as many qubits as we want, eliminating one of the obstacles to quantum research.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe micro-mirror traps have been designed, fabricated and tested.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 The researchers have designed a new micro-fabricated ion trap with integrated microwave elements for manipulating the coherent states of ion chains. Directly manipulating qubits with microwave fields reduces system complexity and sensitivity to emission decoherence.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 Working with colleagues at Honeywell, the researchers developed a technique for integrating the electronics that control the ion traps into the devices so they can operate within vacuum chambers. That will allow an increase in the number of leads that control the ion trap, and facilitate efforts to scale up the systems to accommodate larger numbers of ions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are taking these components to a new level of integration,\u201d Harter said. \u201cIf you want to make quantum sensors that can be used in the field or develop a quantum computer of larger size, you will need to integrate the optics and electronics.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe integrated electronic interface was fabricated using unique facilities at Honeywell. It replaced banks of electronic equipment, and could potentially allow thousands of leads to be connected.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHarter says GTRI\u2019s niche is to work with both academic and industrial researchers to bring engineering approaches to the quantum physics discoveries coming out of labs around the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe basic physics research being done on campuses around the country requires a lot of engineering to make advances in quantum computing,\u201d she said. \u201cMuch of what we do is really engineering these basic systems that we want to make available to our collaborators.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGTRI\u2019s Quantum Information Systems Branch is composed of 15 scientists, engineers and students who investigate the physics of trapped ions, develop micro-fabricated ion traps and model quantum architectures, Harter noted. The group also has collaborations with academic scientists at Georgia Tech.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Lance Wallace (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-407-7280) or John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientists and engineers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are helping advance worldwide quantum computing efforts by designing, fabricating and testing new components and devices.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers are advancing quantum computing efforts with new components and devices."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-06-11 16:04:17","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:33","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-06-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-06-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"302771":{"id":"302771","type":"image","title":"ion-trapping131","body":null,"created":"1449244592","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:56:32","changed":"1475895007","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:07","alt":"ion-trapping131","file":{"fid":"199594","name":"ion-trapping131.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ion-trapping131_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ion-trapping131_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1325777,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ion-trapping131_0.jpg?itok=hu8S9pQa"}},"302751":{"id":"302751","type":"image","title":"ion-trapping67","body":null,"created":"1449244592","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:56:32","changed":"1475895007","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:07","alt":"ion-trapping67","file":{"fid":"199592","name":"ion-trapping67.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ion-trapping67_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ion-trapping67_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1541055,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ion-trapping67_0.jpg?itok=vDXBBR5J"}},"302761":{"id":"302761","type":"image","title":"ion-trapping93","body":null,"created":"1449244592","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:56:32","changed":"1475895007","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:07","alt":"ion-trapping93","file":{"fid":"199593","name":"ion-trapping93.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ion-trapping93_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ion-trapping93_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1133335,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ion-trapping93_0.jpg?itok=nXNzs7-m"}},"302741":{"id":"302741","type":"image","title":"Ion-trapping5","body":null,"created":"1449244592","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:56:32","changed":"1475895007","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:07","alt":"Ion-trapping5","file":{"fid":"199591","name":"ion-trapping5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ion-trapping5_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ion-trapping5_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1601550,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ion-trapping5_0.jpg?itok=54EsnAO_"}}},"media_ids":["302771","302751","302761","302741"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"95291","name":"Alexa Harter"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"7019","name":"ion"},{"id":"9673","name":"Ion Trap"},{"id":"1744","name":"quantum"},{"id":"4359","name":"quantum computing"},{"id":"95301","name":"qubit"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"291461":{"#nid":"291461","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Cosmic Slurp: Researchers Predict Signs of Black Holes Swallowing Stars","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESomewhere out in the cosmos an ordinary galaxy spins, seemingly at slumber. Then all of a sudden, WHAM! A flash of light explodes from the galaxy\u0027s center. A star orbiting too close to the event horizon of the galaxy\u0027s central supermassive black hole has been torn apart by the force of gravity, heating up its gas and sending out a beacon to the far reaches of the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a universe with tens of billions of galaxies, how would we see it? What would such a beacon look like? And how would we distinguish it from other bright, monumental intergalactic events, such as supernovas?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Black holes by themselves do not emit light,\u0022 said Tamara Bogdanovic, an assistant professor of physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0022Our best chance to discover them in distant galaxies is if they interact with the stars and gas that are around them.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn recent decades, with improved telescopes and observational techniques designed to repeatedly survey the vast numbers of galaxies in the sky, scientists noticed that some galaxies that previously looked inactive would suddenly light up at their very center.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This flare of light was found to have a characteristic behavior as a function of time. It starts very bright and its luminosity then decreases in time in a particular way,\u0022 she explained. \u0022Astronomers have identified those as galaxies where a central black hole just disrupted and \u0027ate\u0027 a star. It\u0027s like a black hole putting up a sign that says \u0027Here I am.\u0027\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing a mix of theoretical and computer-based approaches, Bogdanovic tries to predict the dynamics of events such as the black-hole-devouring-star scenario described above, also known as a \u0022tidal disruption.\u0022 Such events would have a distinct signature to someone analyzing data from a ground-based or space-based observatory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing National Science Foundation-funded supercomputers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (Stampede) and the National Institute for Computational Sciences (Kraken), Bogdanovic and her collaborators recently simulated the dynamics of these super powerful forces and charted their behavior using numerical models.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETidal disruptions are relatively rare cosmic occurrences. Astrophysicists have calculated that a Milky Way-like galaxy stages the disruption of a star only once in about 10,000 years. The luminous flare of light, on the other hand, can fade away in only a few years. Because it is such a challenge to pinpoint tidal disruptions in the sky, astronomical surveys that monitor vast numbers of galaxies simultaneously are crucial.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHuge difference\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo far, only a few dozen of these characteristic flare signatures have been observed and deemed \u0022candidates\u0022 for tidal disruptions. But with data from PanSTARRS, Galex, the Palomar Transient Factory and other upcoming astronomical surveys becoming available to scientists, Bogdanovic believes this situation will change dramatically.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As opposed to a few dozen that have been found over the past 10 years, now imagine hundreds per year--that\u0027s a huge difference!\u0022 she said. \u0022It means that we will be able to build a varied sample of stars of different types being disrupted by supermassive black holes.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith hundreds of such events to explore, astrophysicists\u0027 understanding of black holes and the stars around them would advance by leaps and bounds, helping determine some key aspects of galactic physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A diversity in the type of disrupted stars tells us something about the makeup of the star clusters in the centers of galaxies,\u0022 Bodganovic said. \u0022It may give us an idea about how many main sequence stars, how many red giants, or white dwarf stars are there on average.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETidal disruptions also tell us something about the population and properties of supermassive black holes that are doing the disrupting.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We use these observations as a window of opportunity to learn important things about the black holes and their host galaxies,\u0022 she continued. \u0022Once the tidal disruption flare dims below some threshold luminosity that can be seen in observations, the window closes for that particular galaxy.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERole of supercomputer\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a recent paper submitted to the \u003Cem\u003EAstrophysical Journal\u003C\/em\u003E, Bogdanovic, working with Roseanne Cheng (Center for Relativistic Astrophysics at Georgia Tech) and Pau Amaro-Seoane (Albert Einstein Institute in Potsdam, Germany), considered the tidal disruption of a red giant star by a supermassive black hole using computer modeling.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe paper comes on the heels of the discovery of a tidal disruption event in which a black hole disrupted a helium-rich stellar core, thought to be a remnant of a red giant star, named PS1-10jh, 2.7 billion light years from Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe sequence of events they described aims to explain some unusual aspects of the observational signatures associated with this event, such as the absence of the hydrogen emission lines from the spectrum of PS1-10jh.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a follow-up to this theoretical study, the team has been running simulations on Kraken and Stampede, as well as the Georgia Tech\u0027s high performance computing clusters. The simulations reconstruct the chain of events by which a stellar core, similar to the remnant of a tidally disrupted red giant star, might evolve under the gravitational tides of a massive black hole.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Calculating the messy interplay between hydrodynamics and gravity is feasible on a human timescale only with a supercomputer,\u0022 Cheng said. \u0022Because we have control over this virtual experiment and can repeat it, fast forward, or rewind as needed, we can examine the tidal disruption process from many perspectives. This in turn allows us to determine and quantify the most important physical processes at play.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research shows how supercomputer simulations complement and constrain theory and observation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There are many situations in astrophysics where we cannot get insight into a sequence of events that played out without simulations. We cannot stand next to the black hole and look at how it accretes gas. So we use simulations to learn about these distant and extreme environments,\u0022 Bogdanovic said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of Bogdanovic\u0027s goals is to use the knowledge gained from simulations to decode the signatures of observed tidal disruption events.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The most recent data on tidal disruption events is already outpacing theoretical understanding and calling for the development of a new generation of models,\u0022 she explained. \u0022The new, better quality data indicates that there is a great diversity among the tidal disruption candidates. This is contrary to our perception, based on earlier epochs of observation, that they are a relatively uniform class of events. We have yet to understand what causes these differences in observational appearance, and computer simulations are guaranteed to be an important part of this journey.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E-- Written by Aaron Dubrow of the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESomewhere out in the cosmos an ordinary galaxy spins, seemingly at slumber. Then all of a sudden, WHAM! A flash of light explodes from the galaxy\u0027s center. A star orbiting too close to the event horizon of the galaxy\u0027s central supermassive black hole has been torn apart by the force of gravity, heating up its gas and sending out a beacon to the far reaches of the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Using theoretical and computer-based approaches, researchers are trying to predict the dynamics of how black holes devour stars."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-04-17 10:39:05","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:15","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-04-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-04-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"291411":{"id":"291411","type":"image","title":"Star Falling into a Black Hole","body":null,"created":"1449244289","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:51:29","changed":"1475894988","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:48","alt":"Star Falling into a Black Hole","file":{"fid":"199245","name":"ps1_lg.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ps1_lg_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ps1_lg_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":137513,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ps1_lg_0.jpg?itok=sK6PavJ4"}},"291421":{"id":"291421","type":"image","title":"White Dwarf Star","body":null,"created":"1449244289","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:51:29","changed":"1475894988","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:48","alt":"White Dwarf Star","file":{"fid":"199246","name":"white-dwarf.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/white-dwarf_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/white-dwarf_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1031045,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/white-dwarf_0.jpg?itok=UsrsQAt1"}},"291441":{"id":"291441","type":"image","title":"Bogdanovic Research Group","body":null,"created":"1449244289","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:51:29","changed":"1475894988","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:48","alt":"Bogdanovic Research Group","file":{"fid":"199247","name":"bogdanovic_group.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bogdanovic_group_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bogdanovic_group_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":342131,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bogdanovic_group_0.jpg?itok=ePleFJ9P"}},"291451":{"id":"291451","type":"image","title":"Tamara Bogdanovic","body":null,"created":"1449244289","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:51:29","changed":"1475894988","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:48","alt":"Tamara Bogdanovic","file":{"fid":"199248","name":"tamarabogdanovic.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tamarabogdanovic_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tamarabogdanovic_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":154951,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tamarabogdanovic_0.jpg?itok=yDSeBXo8"}}},"media_ids":["291411","291421","291441","291451"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4188","name":"astronomy"},{"id":"60491","name":"Black hole"},{"id":"91741","name":"Center for Relativistic Astrophysics"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"166909","name":"STAR"},{"id":"91731","name":"Tamara Bogdanovic"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"288211":{"#nid":"288211","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tiny Wireless Sensing Device Alerts Users to Telltale Vapors Remotely","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA research team at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI) has developed a small electronic sensing device that can alert users wirelessly to the presence of chemical vapors in the atmosphere. The technology, which could be manufactured using familiar aerosol-jet printing techniques, is aimed at myriad applications in military, commercial, environmental, healthcare and other areas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe current design integrates nanotechnology and radio-frequency identification (RFID) capabilities into a small working prototype. An array of sensors uses carbon nanotubes and other nanomaterials to detect specific chemicals, while an RFID integrated circuit informs users about the presence and concentrations of those vapors at a safe distance wirelessly.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause it is based on programmable digital technology, the RFID component can provide greater security, reliability and range \u2013 and much smaller size \u2013 than earlier sensor designs based on non-programmable analog technology. The present GTRI prototype is 10 centimeters square, but further designs are expected to squeeze a multiple-sensor array and an RFID chip into a one-millimeter-square device printable on paper or on flexible, durable substrates such as liquid crystal polymer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cProduction of these devices promises to become so inexpensive that they could be used by the thousands in the field to look for telltale chemicals such as ammonia, which is associated with explosives,\u0022 said Xiaojuan (Judy) Song, a GTRI senior research scientist who is principal investigator on the project. \u0022This remote capability would inform soldiers or first responders about numerous hazards before they encountered them.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWireless sensors could also be valuable for identifying and understanding air pollution, she said. Inexpensive sensors that detect ammonia and nitrogen oxides (NOx) could be fielded in large numbers, giving scientists increased knowledge of the location and intensity of pollutants.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe availability of such chips might also help companies detect food spoilage. And healthcare facilities could benefit, as the presence of telltale chemicals informed caregivers of patient conditions and needs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe present prototype contains three sensors along with an RFID chip. Future devices for field use might contain a much larger number of sensors based on various nanomaterials \u2013 including carbon nanotubes, graphene and molybdenum disulfide \u2013 depending on the types of chemicals to be detected.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In general, having an extensive sensing array is the best approach,\u0022 Song said. \u0022For real-world applications, a variety of sensors offers better functionality, because they can work together to produce a more detailed and reliable picture of the chemical environment.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe RFID component in the GTRI device makes use of the 5.8 gigahertz (GHz) radio frequency, one of several radio bands reserved for industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) purposes. The GTRI component is believed to be the first RFID system that exploits this frequency.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe advantage of 5.8 GHz technology is that it will let RFID tags be made extremely small \u2013 in the area of one centimeter square, said Christopher Valenta, a GTRI research engineer who is co-principal investigator on the project. He explained that the digital transmission of data from RFID-based sensors does a much better job than earlier analog techniques based on interpretation of radio-frequency waveforms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESpecifically, digital signaling with 5.8 GHz RFID offers:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EGreater security due to digital techniques that prevent unauthorized access to the wireless data stream;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EIncreased resistance to interference from materials such as metals that can cause false readings;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDigital-logic readings of chemical concentrations that are more precise and easier to interpret than analog approaches;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ELonger-range communication capability.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe GTRI team is currently gearing up to design a very small, 5.8 GHz RFID component. After fabrication and testing, the chip could be manufactured in large numbers inexpensively.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It might take $400,000 to design and fabricate that first RFID chip, but all the subsequent copies might cost only a few pennies,\u0022 said Valenta, who is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe GTRI team successfully tested its prototype sensing system in a demonstration designed to resemble an airport checkpoint. The sensor array detected the targeted chemical despite emersion in a complex chemical environment, and the RFID component was able to transmit the sensors\u0027 readings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe present GTRI prototype is semi-passive, so it requires power from an incoming signal beam in order to send data back to a remote reading device. However, future sensing devices might exploit ambient energy from solar or vibrational sources that would let them work at longer ranges with greater sensitivity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team is continuing to work on the important task of developing pattern recognition software that will support effective functioning of the sensor array.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The prototype 5.8 GHz wireless sensing system promises to be flexible and highly scalable,\u0022 Valenta said. \u0022An advanced design might include an array of 10 or more different sensors, with electronics that could utilize those sensors to perform 25 different jobs, and yet still be tiny, robust and inexpensive.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Lance Wallace (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-407-7280) or John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA research team at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has developed a small electronic sensing device that can alert users wirelessly to the presence of chemical vapors in the atmosphere. The technology, which could be manufactured using familiar aerosol-jet printing techniques, is aimed at myriad applications in military, commercial, environmental, healthcare and other areas.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a small electronic sensing device that can alert users wirelessly to the presence of chemical vapors in the atmosphere."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-04-03 11:18:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:11","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-04-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-04-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"288161":{"id":"288161","type":"image","title":"Chemical-Sensing1","body":null,"created":"1449244254","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:50:54","changed":"1475894983","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:43","alt":"Chemical-Sensing1","file":{"fid":"199149","name":"chem-sensing1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chem-sensing1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chem-sensing1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":978315,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/chem-sensing1_0.jpg?itok=dTMs53sK"}},"288171":{"id":"288171","type":"image","title":"Chemical-Sensing2","body":null,"created":"1449244254","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:50:54","changed":"1475894983","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:43","alt":"Chemical-Sensing2","file":{"fid":"199150","name":"chem-sensing2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chem-sensing2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chem-sensing2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1545559,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/chem-sensing2_0.jpg?itok=cxzuRkGA"}},"288181":{"id":"288181","type":"image","title":"Chemical-Sensing3","body":null,"created":"1449244254","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:50:54","changed":"1475894983","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:43","alt":"Chemical-Sensing3","file":{"fid":"199151","name":"chem-sensing3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chem-sensing3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chem-sensing3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1347765,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/chem-sensing3_0.jpg?itok=M3UTudai"}},"288191":{"id":"288191","type":"image","title":"Chemical-Sensing4","body":null,"created":"1449244254","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:50:54","changed":"1475894983","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:43","alt":"Chemical-Sensing4","file":{"fid":"199152","name":"chem-sensing4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chem-sensing4_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chem-sensing4_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":945405,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/chem-sensing4_0.jpg?itok=H1Eh-VBh"}},"288201":{"id":"288201","type":"image","title":"Chemical-Sensing5","body":null,"created":"1449244254","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:50:54","changed":"1475894983","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:43","alt":"Chemical-Sensing5","file":{"fid":"199153","name":"chem-sensing5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chem-sensing5_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/chem-sensing5_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":997441,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/chem-sensing5_0.jpg?itok=z4YFFiDW"}}},"media_ids":["288161","288171","288181","288191","288201"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"5209","name":"carbon nanotubes"},{"id":"1364","name":"chemical"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"},{"id":"169638","name":"sensing"},{"id":"167318","name":"sensor"},{"id":"7338","name":"vapor"},{"id":"1526","name":"wireless"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"288631":{"#nid":"288631","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Self-Assembled Silver Superlattices Create Molecular Machines with Hydrogen-Bond \u201cHinges\u201d and Moving \u201cGears\u201d","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA combined computational and experimental study of self-assembled silver-based structures known as superlattices has revealed an unusual and unexpected behavior: arrays of gear-like molecular-scale machines that rotate in unison when pressure is applied to them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EComputational and experimental studies show that the superlattice structures, which are self-assembled from smaller clusters of silver nanoparticles and organic protecting molecules, form in layers with the hydrogen bonds between their components serving as \u201chinges\u201d to facilitate the rotation. Movement of the \u201cgears\u201d is related to another unusual property of the material: increased pressure on the superlattice softens it, allowing subsequent compression to be done with significantly less force.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMaterials containing the gear-like nanoparticles \u2013 each composed of nearly 500 atoms \u2013 might be useful for molecular-scale switching, sensing and even energy absorption. The complex superlattice structure is believed to be among the largest solids ever mapped in detail using a combined X-ray and computational techniques.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs we squeeze on this material, it gets softer and softer and suddenly experiences a dramatic change,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/uzi-landman\u0022\u003EUzi Landman\u003C\/a\u003E, a Regents\u2019 and F.E. Callaway professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cWhen we look at the orientation of the microscopic structure of the crystal in the region of this transition, we see that something very unusual happens. The structures start to rotate with respect to one another, creating a molecular machine with some of the smallest moving elements ever observed.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe gears rotate as much as 23 degrees, and return to their original position when the pressure is released. Gears in alternating layers move in opposite directions, said Landman, who is director of the Center for Computational Materials Science at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESupported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Office of Basic Energy Sciences in the Department of Energy, the research was reported April 6 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Materials\u003C\/em\u003E. Researchers from Georgia Tech and the University of Toledo collaborated on the project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research studied superlattice structures composed of clusters with cores of 44 silver atoms each. The silver clusters are protected by 30 ligand molecules of an organic material \u2013 mercaptobenzoic acid (p-MBA) \u2013 that includes an acid group. The organic molecules are attached to the silver by sulfur atoms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s not the individual atoms that form the superlattice,\u201d explained Landman. \u201cYou actually make the larger structure from clusters that are already crystallized. You can make an ordered array from those.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn solution, the clusters assemble themselves into the larger superlattice, guided by the hydrogen bonds, which can only form between the p-MBA molecules at certain angles.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe self-assembly process is guided by the desire to form hydrogen bonds,\u201d Landman explained. \u201cThese bonds are directional and cannot vary significantly, which restricts the orientation that the molecules can have.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe superlattice was studied first using quantum-mechanical molecular dynamics simulations conducted in Landman\u2019s lab. The system was also studied experimentally by a research group headed by Terry Bigioni, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Toledo.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe unusual behavior occurred as the superlattice was being compressed using hydrostatic techniques. After the structure had been compressed by about six percent of its volume, the pressure required for additional compression suddenly dropped significantly. The researchers discovered that the drop occurred when the nanocrystal components rotated, layer-by-layer, in opposite directions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJust as the hydrogen bonds direct how the superlattice structure is formed, so also do they guide how the structure moves under pressure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe hydrogen bond likes to have directionality in its orientation,\u201d Landman explained. \u201cWhen you press on the superlattice, it wants to maintain the hydrogen bonds. In the process of trying to maintain the hydrogen bonds, all the organic ligands bend the silver cores in one layer one way, and those in the next layer bend and rotate the other way.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen the nanoclusters move, the structure pivots about the hydrogen bonds, which act as \u201cmolecular hinges\u201d to allow the rotation. The compression is possible at all, Landman noted, because the crystalline structure has about half of its space open.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe movement of the silver nanocrystallites could allow the superlattice material to serve as an energy-absorbing structure, converting force to mechanical motion. By changing the conductive properties of the silver superlattice, compressing the material could also allow it be used as molecular-scale sensors and switches. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe combined experimental and computation study makes the silver superlattice one of the most thoroughly studied materials in the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe now have complete control over a unique material that by its composition has a diversity of molecules,\u201d Landman said. \u201cIt has metal, it has organic materials and it has a stiff metallic core surrounded by a soft material.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor the future, the researchers plan additional experiments to learn more about the unique properties of the superlattice system. The unique system shows how unusual properties can arise when nanometer-scale systems are combined with many other small-scale units.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe make the small particles, and they are different because small is different,\u201d said Landman. \u201cWhen you put them together, having more of them is different because that allows them to behave collectively, and that collective activity makes the difference.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, Georgia Tech co-authors included research scientist Bokwon Yoon \u2013 the paper\u2019s first author \u2013 and senior research scientists W.David Luedtke, Robert Barnett and Jianping Gao. Co-authors from the University of Toledo include Anil Desireddy and Brian E. Conn.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), and by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract FG05-86ER45234. Any conclusions or opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the AFOSR or the DOE.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Bokwon Yoon, et al., \u201cHydrogen-bonded structure and mechanical chiral response of a silver nanoparticle superlattice.\u201d (Nature Materials, 2014). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/%2010.1038\/NMAT3923\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/ 10.1038\/NMAT3923\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-894-6986) or Brett Israel (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-385-1933).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA combined computational and experimental study of self-assembled silver-based structures known as superlattices has revealed an unusual and unexpected behavior: arrays of gear-like molecular-scale machines that rotate in unison when pressure is applied to them.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study of self-assembled silver-based structures known as superlattices has revealed an unusual and unexpected behavior: arrays of gear-like molecular-scale machines that rotate in unison when pressure is applied."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-04-06 19:34:29","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:11","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-04-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-04-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"288621":{"id":"288621","type":"image","title":"Silver Superlattices","body":null,"created":"1449244254","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:50:54","changed":"1475894983","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:43","alt":"Silver Superlattices","file":{"fid":"199166","name":"picture4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/picture4_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/picture4_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4969588,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/picture4_0.jpg?itok=Pc7OyTfA"}}},"media_ids":["288621"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"90971","name":"hydrogen bonding"},{"id":"90961","name":"molecular machines"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"171328","name":"self-assembled"},{"id":"169009","name":"silver"},{"id":"169420","name":"superlattice"},{"id":"9180","name":"Uzi Landman"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"274031":{"#nid":"274031","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ballistic Transport in Graphene Suggests New Type of Electronic Device","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing electrons more like photons could provide the foundation for a new type of electronic device that would capitalize on the ability of graphene to carry electrons with almost no resistance even at room temperature \u2013 a property known as ballistic transport.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch reported this week shows that electrical resistance in nanoribbons of epitaxial graphene changes in discrete steps following quantum mechanical principles. The research shows that the graphene nanoribbons act more like optical waveguides or quantum dots, allowing electrons to flow smoothly along the edges of the material. In ordinary conductors such as copper, resistance increases in proportion to the length as electrons encounter more and more impurities while moving through the conductor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe ballistic transport properties, similar to those observed in cylindrical carbon nanotubes, exceed theoretical conductance predictions for graphene by a factor of 10. The properties were measured in graphene nanoribbons approximately 40 nanometers wide that had been grown on the edges of three-dimensional structures etched into silicon carbide wafers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis work shows that we can control graphene electrons in very different ways because the properties are really exceptional,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/walter-de-heer\u0022\u003EWalt de Heer\u003C\/a\u003E, a Regent\u2019s professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cThis could result in a new class of coherent electronic devices based on room temperature ballistic transport in graphene. Such devices would be very different from what we make today in silicon.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research, which was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the W.M. Keck Foundation, was reported February 5 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was done through a collaboration of scientists from Georgia Tech in the United States, Leibniz Universit\u00e4t Hannover in Germany, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France and Oak Ridge National Laboratory \u2013 supported by the Department of Energy \u2013 in the United States.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor nearly a decade, researchers have been trying to use the unique properties of graphene to create electronic devices that operate much like existing silicon semiconductor chips. But those efforts have met with limited success because graphene \u2013 a lattice of carbon atoms that can be made as little as one layer thick \u2013 cannot be easily given the electronic bandgap that such devices need to operate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDe Heer argues that researchers should stop trying to use graphene like silicon, and instead use its unique electron transport properties to design new types of electronic devices that could allow ultra-fast computing \u2013 based on a new approach to switching. Electrons in the graphene nanoribbons can move tens or hundreds of microns without scattering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis constant resistance is related to one of the fundamental constants of physics, the conductance quantum,\u201d de Heer said. \u201cThe resistance of this channel does not depend on temperature, and it does not depend on the amount of current you are putting through it.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat does disrupt the flow of electrons, however, is measuring the resistance with an electrical probe. The measurements showed that touching the nanoribbons with a single probe doubles the resistance; touching it with two probes triples the resistance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe electrons hit the probe and scatter,\u201d explained de Heer. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot like a stream in which water is flowing nicely until you put rocks in the way. We have done systematic studies to show that when you touch the nanoribbons with a probe, you introduce a method for the electrons to scatter, and that changes the resistance.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe nanoribbons are grown epitaxially on silicon carbon wafers into which patterns have been etched using standard microelectronics fabrication techniques. When the wafers are heated to approximately 1,000 degrees Celsius, silicon is preferentially driven off along the edges, forming graphene nanoribbons whose structure is determined by the pattern of the three-dimensional surface. Once grown, the nanoribbons require no further processing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe advantage of fabricating graphene nanoribbons this way is that it produces edges that are perfectly smooth, annealed by the fabrication process. The smooth edges allow electrons to flow through the nanoribbons without disruption. If traditional etching techniques are used to cut nanoribbons from graphene sheets, the resulting edges are too rough to allow ballistic transport.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt seems that the current is primarily flowing on the edges,\u201d de Heer said. \u201cThere are other electrons in the bulk portion of the nanoribbons, but they do not interact with the electrons flowing at the edges.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe electrons on the edge flow more like photons in optical fiber, helping them avoid scattering. \u201cThese electrons are really behaving more like light,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is like light going through an optical fiber. Because of the way the fiber is made, the light transmits without scattering.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers measured ballistic conductance in the graphene nanoribbons for up to 16 microns. Electron mobility measurements surpassing one million correspond to a sheet resistance of one ohm per square that is two orders of magnitude lower than what is observed in two-dimensional graphene \u2013 and ten times smaller than the best theoretical predictions for graphene.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis should enable a new way of doing electronics,\u201d de Heer said. \u201cWe are already able to steer these electrons and we can switch them using rudimentary means. We can put a roadblock, and then open it up again. New kinds of switches for this material are now on the horizon.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheoretical explanations for what the researchers have measured are incomplete. De Heer speculates that the graphene nanoribbons may be producing a new type of electronic transport similar to what is observed in superconductors. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere is a lot of fundamental physics that needs to be done to understand what we are seeing,\u201d he added. \u201cWe believe this shows that there is a real possibility for a new type of graphene-based electronics.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers have pioneered graphene-based electronics since 2001, for which they hold a patent, filed in 2003. The technique involves etching patterns into electronics-grade silicon carbide wafers, then heating the wafers to drive off silicon, leaving patterns of graphene.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to de Heer, the paper\u2019s authors included Jens Baringhaus, Frederik Edler and Christoph Tegenkamp from the Institut f\u00fcr Festk\u00f6rperphysik, Leibniz Universit\u00e4t, Hannover in Germany; Edward Conrad, Ming Ruan and Zhigang Jiang from the School of Physics at Georgia Tech; Claire Berger from Georgia Tech and Institut N\u00e9el at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France; Antonio Tejeda and Muriel Sicot from the Institut Jean Lamour, Universite de Nancy, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France; An-Ping Li from the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Amina Taleb-Ibrahimi from the CNRS Synchotron SOLEIL in France.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Georgia Tech through award DMR-0820382; the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy, and the Partner University Fund from the Embassy of France. Any conclusions or recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF, DOE or AFOSR.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Jens Baringhaus, et al., \u201cExceptional ballistic transport in epitaxial graphene nanoribbons,\u201d (Nature 2013). (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nature12952\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nature12952\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Brett Israel (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing electrons more like photons could provide the foundation for a new type of electronic device that would capitalize on the ability of graphene to carry electrons with almost no resistance even at room temperature \u2013 a property known as ballistic transport.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Using electrons more like photons could provide the foundation for a new type of electronic device that would capitalize on the ability of graphene to carry electrons with almost no resistance."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2014-02-05 11:38:02","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:51","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-02-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2014-02-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"274011":{"id":"274011","type":"image","title":"Ballistic Transport in Graphene Nanoribbons","body":null,"created":"1449244112","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:48:32","changed":"1475894964","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:24","alt":"Ballistic Transport in Graphene Nanoribbons","file":{"fid":"198711","name":"graphene-nanoribbons.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-nanoribbons_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-nanoribbons_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1120437,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/graphene-nanoribbons_0.jpg?itok=-qqd5pwt"}},"274001":{"id":"274001","type":"image","title":"Walt de Heer - Ballistic Transport","body":null,"created":"1449244112","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:48:32","changed":"1475894964","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:24","alt":"Walt de Heer - Ballistic Transport","file":{"fid":"198710","name":"walt-de-heer.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/walt-de-heer_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/walt-de-heer_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":947684,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/walt-de-heer_0.jpg?itok=IEGnB69-"}}},"media_ids":["274011","274001"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"85841","name":"ballistic transport"},{"id":"9116","name":"epitaxial graphene"},{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"12423","name":"nanoribbons"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"12422","name":"Walt de Heer"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"261871":{"#nid":"261871","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Observatory Catches Neutrinos in a South Pole Block of Ice","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientists are using a one cubic kilometer block of ice at the South Pole to help unravel one of the great scientific mysteries of our time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe block is part of IceCube, an observatory built in one of the most inhospitable parts of the world to study neutrinos zipping through the Earth from outer space. These subatomic particles normally pass through the Earth as easily as light passes through a pane of glass.But a few of them crash into the ultra-clear ice of IceCube. When they do, they produce secondary particles that can create a faint bluish light called Cherenkov radiation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists like Ignacio Taboada, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics, are using information from that glow to learn more about these neutrinos \u2013 including, perhaps, where in the universe they came from. Using data collected between May 2010 and May 2012, IceCube has measured 28 neutrinos that likely originated outside our solar system, the first time such very-high-energy cosmic neutrinos have been observed.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs the IceCube Neutrino Observatory celebrates the third anniversary of the end of construction on Dec. 18th, it is receiving the \u201cBreakthrough of the Year\u201d award from the British journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysics World\u003C\/em\u003E for observing these cosmic visitors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe now know that neutrinos from outside our planet are there, and we saw roughly as many as we had expected,\u201d said Taboada, who has been part of the IceCube Collaboration team for 14 years and was a co-author of the Nov. 22 paper in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E that reported the neutrino findings. \u201cWe have learned some things about neutrinos, but there are still other things that we still don\u2019t understand.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe centerpiece of IceCube is a matrix of 86 strings of basketball-sized optical detectors placed one and a half kilometers beneath the Antarctic snow. Each string includes 60 optical detectors that are so sensitive they can register a single photon. Dug into the ice by a special hot-water drill, the strings are arranged in a pattern designed to use the Cherenkov radiation to map the path of neutrinos through the ice.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy observing the path of the particles through the ice block, scientists had hoped to learn where the particles originated in space. But from the 28 neutrino events observed, that hasn\u2019t yet been possible.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSo far, we are not seeing individual sources for the neutrinos,\u201d said Taboada. \u201cWe are not seeing any place in the sky that we can point to and say that we see even three or four of the neutrinos coming from. It is very diffuse. It may be that the sources are very weak, or that we have a detector that is not large enough.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENeutrinos are nearly-massless particles that carry no electrical charge and originate from a variety of sources, including radioactive decay, our own Sun, cosmic rays and events such as exploding stars. From May 2010 to May 2012, IceCube recorded 28 neutrinos with very high energy levels \u2013 above 30 trillion electron volts \u2013 suggesting they were from beyond our own solar system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne challenge for the nearly 300 scientists involved in the program is separating cosmic neutrinos from those that originate on Earth. Cosmic neutrinos tend to have much higher energy levels, which can be measured by the amount of light they produce in the ice. Their direction also gives a clue; only cosmic neutrinos can pass through the Earth into the ice.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBuilt with funds from the National Science Foundation and scientific organizations from three European countries, IceCube was also designed to measure cosmic rays, which accompany the formation of neutrinos. The existence of cosmic rays has been known for more than a hundred years, but their sources are also unknown.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is essentially the birth of a new branch of astrophysics,\u201d said Taboada. \u201cWe\u2019ve observed the universe with photons, and now we can observe using neutrinos.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIceCube is also facilitating Taboada\u2019s own research on gamma-ray bursts, which is being conducted with Ph.D. students James Casey and Jacob Daughhetee.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGamma ray bursts are gigantic explosions that last for only a few seconds,\u201d Taboada said. \u201cOver those few seconds, they are so bright that they can outshine the rest of the universe combined. They are brief, but they are very powerful while they last.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists believe that there are at least two kinds of gamma ray bursts: those associated with supernovas that eject jets of matter and radiation, and neutron stars that spiral together and eventually merge. Neutrinos from gamma ray bursts can also be detected by IceCube.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIceCube was built at the South Pole to take advantage of the very clear ice available there and the darkness within the ice. \u201cWe used Antarctic ice because we needed a highly transparent material to observe the Cherenkov radiation,\u201d explained Taboada. \u201cThe ice allows us to see evidence of these secondary particles.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut that transparency has a cost. The South Pole experiences extremely cold temperatures, and everything used there must be flown in. Taboada has been to the South Pole three times, each time for a month during the Antarctic summer \u2013 when temperatures can still be as low as 45 degrees below zero Celsius (minus 49 degrees Fahrenheit).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s a very work-oriented place,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause it is so difficult to get there, you work every day, 12 and 15 hours a day. At the end of a month, you are exhausted.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring the summer \u2013 November through February \u2013 as many as 150 people work at the South Pole facilities, known officially as the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. During the Antarctic winter, only 50 or 60 people work there, and aircraft don\u2019t land except in extreme emergencies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile space is tight, the station does have a music room, gymnasium and basketball court, along with a greenhouse for growing fresh vegetables. Water is precious because it is obtained by melting ice, so researchers are limited to two two-minute showers per week.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EConstruction of IceCube began in 2005, and the facility \u2013 now managed by the University of Wisconsin \u2013 was turned on in December 2010. With participation from 41 institutions in 12 countries, IceCube is expected to operate for at least ten years. Already, however, there is discussion about enhancing its capabilities \u2013 and perhaps expanding it to capture more neutrinos.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBasic science done in facilities like IceCube is really all about human curiosity \u2013 which often ends up having a more practical benefit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBasic science is not always about finding a cure for cancer,\u201d Taboada said. \u201cBut if you look at the last 400 years of basic scientific discovery, research and basic science have time and again resulted in a better life for humans. Satisfying that human curiosity often turns out to be a very long-term, very high-risk and very high payoff investment. That\u2019s a basic reason to do science.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)(404-894-6986) or Brett Israel (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)(404-385-1933).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELocated at the South Pole, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory is helping unravel one of the key scientific mysteries of our time: the question of where cosmic neutrinos originate.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is helping unravel one of the key scientific mysteries."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-12-17 22:14:02","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:33","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-12-17T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-12-17T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"261791":{"id":"261791","type":"image","title":"IceCube Observatory","body":null,"created":"1449243999","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:39","changed":"1475894948","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:08","alt":"IceCube Observatory","file":{"fid":"198404","name":"icl_lindstrom.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/icl_lindstrom_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/icl_lindstrom_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2668299,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/icl_lindstrom_0.jpg?itok=fTw1gw4q"}},"261801":{"id":"261801","type":"image","title":"IceCube Observatory2","body":null,"created":"1449243999","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:39","changed":"1475894948","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:08","alt":"IceCube Observatory2","file":{"fid":"198405","name":"icl_pedreros.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/icl_pedreros_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/icl_pedreros_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1013247,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/icl_pedreros_0.jpg?itok=u4AlSBxA"}},"261831":{"id":"261831","type":"image","title":"Antarctic gear","body":null,"created":"1449243999","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:39","changed":"1475894948","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:08","alt":"Antarctic gear","file":{"fid":"198408","name":"ice-cube-selfie.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ice-cube-selfie_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ice-cube-selfie_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1339790,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ice-cube-selfie_0.jpg?itok=P5Y6fZGI"}},"261811":{"id":"261811","type":"image","title":"IceCube Observatory - Schematic","body":null,"created":"1449243999","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:39","changed":"1475894948","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:08","alt":"IceCube Observatory - Schematic","file":{"fid":"198406","name":"arraywseasonslabelsamanda.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/arraywseasonslabelsamanda_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/arraywseasonslabelsamanda_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":784177,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/arraywseasonslabelsamanda_0.jpg?itok=7Aj0suq9"}},"261841":{"id":"261841","type":"image","title":"IceCube Location","body":null,"created":"1449243999","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:39","changed":"1475894948","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:08","alt":"IceCube Location","file":{"fid":"198409","name":"ice-cube-dscn1094.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ice-cube-dscn1094_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ice-cube-dscn1094_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":736830,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ice-cube-dscn1094_0.jpg?itok=2E36AbUi"}},"261821":{"id":"261821","type":"image","title":"IceCube String","body":null,"created":"1449243999","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:39","changed":"1475894948","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:08","alt":"IceCube String","file":{"fid":"198407","name":"063a-golden-dom-going-down-hole-img_0803.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/063a-golden-dom-going-down-hole-img_0803_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/063a-golden-dom-going-down-hole-img_0803_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1111962,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/063a-golden-dom-going-down-hole-img_0803_0.jpg?itok=DDXwGEjW"}},"261851":{"id":"261851","type":"image","title":"Deployment Tower","body":null,"created":"1449243999","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:39","changed":"1475894948","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:08","alt":"Deployment Tower","file":{"fid":"198410","name":"ice-cube-dscn1218.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ice-cube-dscn1218_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ice-cube-dscn1218_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1154465,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ice-cube-dscn1218_0.jpg?itok=TcE6Lxwg"}},"261861":{"id":"261861","type":"image","title":"Antarctic Water Heater","body":null,"created":"1449243999","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:46:39","changed":"1475894948","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:08","alt":"Antarctic Water Heater","file":{"fid":"198411","name":"ice-cube-dscn1463.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ice-cube-dscn1463_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ice-cube-dscn1463_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":921286,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ice-cube-dscn1463_0.jpg?itok=hTBmyPvW"}}},"media_ids":["261791","261801","261831","261811","261841","261821","261851","261861"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"82391","name":"Antarctica"},{"id":"30741","name":"IceCube"},{"id":"30781","name":"Ignacio Taboada"},{"id":"30751","name":"neutrino"},{"id":"4254","name":"observatory"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"169617","name":"South Pole"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"238821":{"#nid":"238821","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Glass or Plastic? Container\u2019s Properties Affect the Viscosity of Nanoscale Water","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWater pours into a cup at about the same rate regardless of whether the water bottle is made of glass or plastic.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut at nanometer-size scales for water and potentially other fluids, whether the container is made of glass or plastic does make a significant difference. A new study shows that in nanoscopic channels, the effective viscosity of water in channels made of glass can be twice as high as water in plastic channels. Nanoscopic glass channels can make water flow more like ketchup than ordinary H\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003EO.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe effect of container properties on the fluids they hold offers yet another example of surprising phenomena at the nanoscale. And it also provides a new factor that the designers of tiny mechanical systems must take into account.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAt the nanoscale, viscosity is no longer constant, so these results help redefine our understanding of fluid flow at this scale,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/elisa-riedo\u0022\u003EElisa Riedo\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cAnyone performing an experiment, developing a technology or attempting to understand a biological process that involves water or another liquid at this size scale will now have to take the properties of surfaces into account.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThose effects could be important to designers of devices such as high resolution 3D printers that use nanoscale nozzles, nanofluidic systems and even certain biomedical devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EConsidering that nano-confined water is ubiquitous in animal bodies, in rocks, and in nanotechnology, this new understanding could have a broad impact.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch into the properties of liquids confined by different materials was sponsored by the Department of Energy\u2019s Office of Basic Sciences and the National Science Foundation. The results were reported September 19 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe viscosity differences created by container materials are directly affected by the degree to which the materials are either hydrophilic \u2013 which means they attract water \u2013 or hydrophobic \u2013 which means they repel it. The researchers believe that in hydrophilic materials, the attraction for water \u2013 a property known as \u201cwettability\u201d \u2013 makes water molecules more difficult to move, contributing to an increase in the fluid\u2019s effective viscosity. On the other hand, water isn\u2019t as attracted to hydrophobic materials, making the molecules easier to move and producing lower viscosity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn research reported in the journal, this water behavior appeared only when water was confined to spaces of a few nanometers or less \u2013 the equivalent of just a few layers of water molecules.\u0026nbsp; The viscosity continued to increase as the surfaces were moved closer together.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team studied water confined by five different surfaces: mica, graphene oxide, silicon, diamond-like carbon, and graphite. Mica, used in the drilling industry, was the most hydrophilic of the materials, while graphite was the most hydrophobic. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe saw a clear one-to-one relationship between the degree to which the confining material was hydrophilic and the viscosity that we measured,\u201d Riedo said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EExperimentally, the researchers began by preparing atomically-smooth surfaces of the materials, then placing highly-purified water onto them. Next, an AFM tip made of silicon was moved across the surfaces at varying heights until it made contact. The tip \u2013 about 40 nanometers in diameter \u2013 was then lifted up and the measurements continued.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs the viscosity of the water increased, the force needed to move the AFM tip also increased, causing it to twist slightly on the cantilever beam used to raise and lower the tip. Changes in this torsion angle were measured by a laser bounced off the reflective cantilever, providing an indication of changes in the force exerted on the tip, the viscous resistance exerted \u2013 and therefore the water\u2019s effective viscosity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen the AFM tip was about one nanometer away from the surface, we began to see an increase of the viscous force acting on the tip for the hydrophilic surfaces,\u201d Riedo said. \u201cWe had to use larger forces to move the tip at this point, and the closer we got to the surface, the more dramatic this became.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThose differences can be explained by understanding how water behaves differently on different surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAt the nanoscale, liquid-surface interaction forces become important, particularly when the liquid molecules are confined in tiny spaces,\u201d Riedo explained. \u201cWhen the surfaces are hydrophilic, the water sticks to the surface and does not want to move. On hydrophobic surfaces, the water is slipping on the surfaces. With this study, not only have we observed this nanoscale wetting-dependent viscosity, but we have also been able to explain quantitatively the origin of the observed changes and relate them to boundary slip. This new understanding was able to explain previous unclear results of energy dissipation during dynamic AFM studies in water.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the researchers have so far only studied the effect of the material properties in water channels, Riedo expects to perform similar experiments on other fluids, including oils. Beyond simple fluids, she hopes to study complex fluids composed of nanoparticles in suspension to determine how the phenomenon changes with particle size and chemistry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere is no reason why this should not be true for other liquids, which means that this could redefine the way that fluid dynamics is understood at the nanoscale,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery technology and natural process that uses liquids confined at the nanoscale will be affected.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Riedo, co-authors of the paper included Deborah Ortiz-Young, Hsiang-Chih Chiu and Suenne Kim, who were at Georgia Tech when the research was done, and Kislon Voitchovsky of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Deborah Ortiz-Young, Hsiang-Chih Chiu, Suenne Kim, Kislon Voitchovsky and Elisa Riedo, \u201cThe interplay between apparent viscosity and wettability in nanoconfined water,\u0022 (Nature Communications, 2013).\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nature.com\/ncomms\/2013\/130919\/ncomms3482\/full\/ncomms3482.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nature.com\/ncomms\/2013\/130919\/ncomms3482\/full\/ncomms3482.html\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under grant DE-FG02-06ER46293 and by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grants DMR-0120967, DMR-0706031 and CMMI-1100290. Any opinions or conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the DOE or NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)(404-894-6986) or Brett Israel (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)(404-385-1933)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWater pours into a cup at about the same rate regardless of whether the water bottle is made of glass or plastic. But at nanometer-size scales for water and potentially other fluids, whether the container is made of glass or plastic does make a significant difference.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"At the nanoscale, the properties of containers holding liquids can affect their viscosity."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-09-18 20:23:09","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:56","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-09-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-09-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"238791":{"id":"238791","type":"image","title":"Container-material1","body":null,"created":"1449243670","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:41:10","changed":"1475894914","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:34","alt":"Container-material1","file":{"fid":"197736","name":"container-material2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/container-material2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/container-material2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":899685,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/container-material2_0.jpg?itok=jHHjuIHl"}},"238801":{"id":"238801","type":"image","title":"Container-material2","body":null,"created":"1449243670","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:41:10","changed":"1475894914","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:34","alt":"Container-material2","file":{"fid":"197737","name":"container-material3610.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/container-material3610_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/container-material3610_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1356766,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/container-material3610_0.jpg?itok=-55JlA-2"}},"238811":{"id":"238811","type":"image","title":"Container-material-illustration","body":null,"created":"1449243670","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:41:10","changed":"1475894914","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:34","alt":"Container-material-illustration","file":{"fid":"197738","name":"container-material-illustration.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/container-material-illustration_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/container-material-illustration_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":632853,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/container-material-illustration_0.jpg?itok=bNghWLnq"}}},"media_ids":["238791","238801","238811"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13687","name":"Elisa Riedo"},{"id":"7425","name":"nanometer"},{"id":"431","name":"nanoscale"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"7424","name":"viscosity"},{"id":"5493","name":"wettability"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"235071":{"#nid":"235071","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Determine Protein Structure for New Antimicrobial Target","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGrowing concern about bacterial resistance to existing antibiotics has created strong interest in new approaches for therapeutics able to battle infections. The work of an international team of researchers that recently solved the structure of a key bacterial membrane protein could provide a new target for drug and vaccine therapies able to battle one important class of bacteria.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers determined the structure of BamA, a key component of the cellular machinery that controls insertion of beta-barrel proteins into the outer membranes of Gram-negative bacteria, organisms that cause a range of respiratory, gastrointestinal, urinary and other infections.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeta-barrel membrane proteins transport substrates ranging from small molecules to large proteins into and out of the Gram-negative bacteria. These transport proteins help maintain the structure and composition of the outer membrane. Responsible for the virulence of pathogenic strains, the proteins are also essential to the viability of the bacteria \u2013 making them of interest for the development of new therapeutics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBecause BamA is required for viability in all Gram-negative bacteria, it is a promising candidate for vaccines and drugs targeting bacterial infections,\u201d said Susan Buchanan, a senior investigator in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md. \u201cKnowing the structure and understanding how BamA works will likely help advance vaccine and drug design, and could result in novel antibiotics.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team solved BamA structures from two bacteria: \u003Cem\u003ENeisseria gonorrhoeae\u003C\/em\u003E and \u003Cem\u003EHaemophilus ducreyi\u003C\/em\u003E. Buchanan, the paper\u2019s principal author, said several biotechnology companies are already interested in understanding the structure of the protein and how it functions. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team reported its findings September 1 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was led by NIH scientists and included researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Monash University in Australia and Diamond Light Source in the United Kingdom.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cLearning how individual amino acid residues are organized into three-dimensional protein structures helps us understand features that are not apparent by any other type of analysis,\u201d Buchanan said. \u201cWith a crystal structure, we essentially have a snapshot of what the protein looks like in 3D, which is a huge advantage in determining how a particular protein functions and in designing therapeutics.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce they had determined the three-dimensional structure of the protein, the researchers still needed to understand how the BamA-mediated insertion mechanism worked. To develop clues to the protein\u2019s function, a Georgia Tech researcher carried out molecular dynamics simulations to provide a hypothesis that could be tested experimentally.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen we looked at the structure, it wasn\u2019t obvious to us how BamA helps proteins insert into the membrane,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/node\/947\u0022\u003EJ.C. Gumbart\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWhat my simulations revealed is that the barrel spontaneously opens and closes laterally to the membrane. We could actually see the opening of the barrel in the simulations, and based on that, came up with a hypothesis for how it could assist insertion of proteins into the outer membrane of the bacteria.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor example, the crystalline structure of the protein showed that one side of the membrane-spanning beta-barrel domain is shorter than the other side, a feature that, according to the simulations, compresses the lipid bilayer and locally destabilizes the lipids in that region. The structure provides a potential route for inserting newly-synthesized outer-membrane proteins.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn conducting the simulations, Gumbart used the special-purpose Anton supercomputer at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. The machine, developed by D.E. Shaw Research, allows simulations to attain microsecond-per-day computation rates, which was essential because the BamA simulations needed to be unusually long for researchers to observe its conformational flexibility.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe simulations will next have to be validated by experimental research, which could provide additional information about how the membrane proteins are inserted. In turn, that may lead to further simulations and additional experiments.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSimulations and experiments often work hand-in-hand to attack very difficult problems,\u201d Gumbart said. \u201cWe can have a give-and-take in which I make a prediction based on the simulations, and the other members of the team work to verify it experimentally.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new work adds significantly to the understanding of how BamA proteins operate in Gram-negative bacteria.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGram-negative bacteria have an unusual outer membrane that differs from other species and had not been well studied before,\u201d Gumbart noted. \u201cMany people are aware of the protein folding problem generally, but fewer people know about the membrane protein issues. This is a really distinct, but critical biophysical question that we need to address to better understand how these bacteria function.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUltimately, the work may lead to new approaches for addressing the challenge posed by bacterial resistance to existing drugs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe need completely new thinking about antimicrobials and antibacterial agents to get ideas on how better to kill these bacteria,\u201d Gumbart added. \u201cAny time you develop a better understanding of how a process works in a cell, you can begin to predict ways to interfere with that process. Inserting proteins into the outer membranes of bacteria is one of the most fundamental processes taking place in these microorganisms, so it offers a significant target for therapeutic development.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the paper\u2019s authors included Nicholas Noinaj, Adam J. Kuszak, Hoshing Chang and Nicole C. Easley from the NIH; Petra Lukacik from Diamond Light Source, and Trevor Lithgow from Monash University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Nicholas Noinaj, et al., \u201cStructural insight into the biogenesis of beta-barrel membrane proteins,\u201d (Nature 2013). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nature12521\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nature12521\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research was supported by the NIDDK Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and by NIH grants K22-AI100927 and R01-GM067887. The opinions and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessary reflect the official views of the NIH.\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)(404-894-6986) or Brett Israel (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)(404-385-1933).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGrowing concern about bacterial resistance to existing antibiotics has created strong interest in new approaches for therapeutics able to battle infections. The work of an international team of researchers that recently solved the structure of a key bacterial membrane protein could provide a new target for drug and vaccine therapies able to battle one important class of bacteria.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A study of protein membranes could provide drug designers with a new target for anti-microbial compounds."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-09-06 11:06:16","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:53","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-09-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-09-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"235031":{"id":"235031","type":"image","title":"Beta-barrel protein","body":null,"created":"1449243641","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:40:41","changed":"1475894908","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:28","alt":"Beta-barrel protein","file":{"fid":"197647","name":"beta-barrel.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/beta-barrel_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/beta-barrel_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":699377,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/beta-barrel_0.jpg?itok=zaEJdmy8"}}},"media_ids":["235031"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7077","name":"bacteria"},{"id":"73191","name":"bacterial membrane"},{"id":"73181","name":"BamA"},{"id":"73201","name":"Gram-negative"},{"id":"73211","name":"J.C. Gumbart"},{"id":"7440","name":"membrane"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"228141":{"#nid":"228141","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Device Captures Signatures with Tiny Piezo-Phototronic LEDs","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology want to put your signature up in lights \u2013 tiny lights, that is. Using thousands of nanometer-scale wires, the researchers have developed a sensor device that converts mechanical pressure \u2013 from a signature or a fingerprint \u2013 directly into light signals that can be captured and processed optically.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe sensor device could provide an artificial sense of touch, offering sensitivity comparable to that of the human skin. Beyond collecting signatures and fingerprints, the technique could also be used in biological imaging and micro-electromechanical (MEMS) systems. Ultimately, it could provide a new approach for human-machine interfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou can write with your pen and the sensor will optically detect what you write at high resolution and with a very fast response rate,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/faculty\/zhong-lin-wang\u0022\u003EZhong Lin Wang\u003C\/a\u003E, Regents\u2019 professor and Hightower Chair in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Materials Science and Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech. \u201cThis is a new principle for imaging force that uses parallel detection and avoids many of the complications of existing pressure sensors.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIndividual zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires that are part of the device operate as tiny light emitting diodes (LEDs) when placed under strain from the mechanical pressure, allowing the device to provide detailed information about the amount of pressure being applied. Known as piezo-phototronics, the technology \u2013 first described by Wang in 2009 \u2013 provides a new way to capture information about pressure applied at very high resolution: up to 6,300 dots per inch. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was reported August 11, 2013, in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Photonics\u003C\/em\u003E. It was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Office of Basic Energy Sciences, the National Science Foundation, and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPiezoelectric materials generate a charge polarization when they are placed under strain. The piezo-phototronic devices rely on that physical principle to tune and control the charge transport and recombination by the polarization charges present at the ends of individual nanowires. Grown atop a gallium nitride (GaN) film, the nanowires create pixeled light emitters whose output varies with the pressure, creating an electroluminescent signal that can be integrated with on-chip photonics for data transmission, processing and recording.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you have a zinc oxide nanowire under strain, you create a piezoelectric charge at both ends which forms a piezoelectric potential,\u201d Wang explained. \u201cThe presence of the potential distorts the band structure in the wire, causing electrons to remain in the p-n junction longer and enhancing the efficiency of the LED.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe efficiency increase in the LED is proportional to the strain created. Differences in the amount of strain applied translate to differences in light emitted from the root where the nanowires contact the gallium nitride film.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo fabricate the devices, a low-temperature chemical growth technique is used to create a patterned array of zinc oxide nanowires on a gallium nitride thin film substrate with the c-axis pointing upward. The interfaces between the nanowires and the gallium nitride film form the bottom surfaces of the nanowires. After infiltrating the space between nanowires with a PMMA thermoplastic, oxygen plasma is used to etch away the PMMA enough to expose the tops of the zinc oxide nanowires.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA nickel-gold electrode is then used to form ohmic contact with the bottom gallium-nitride film, and a transparent indium-tin oxide (ITO) film is deposited on the top of the array to serve as a common electrode.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen pressure is applied to the device through handwriting or other source of pressure, nanowires are compressed along their axial directions, creating a negative piezo-potential, while uncompressed nanowires have no potential.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers have pressed letters into the top of the device, which produces a corresponding light output from the bottom of the device. This output \u2013 which can all be read at the same time \u2013 can be processed and transmitted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe ability to see all of the emitters simultaneously allows the device to provide a quick response. \u201cThe response time is fast, and you can read a million pixels in a microsecond,\u201d said Wang. \u201cWhen the light emission is created, it can be detected immediately with the optical fiber.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe nanowires stop emitting light when the pressure is relieved. Switching from one mode to the other takes 90 milliseconds or less, Wang said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers studied the stability and reproducibility of the sensor array by examining the light emitting intensity of the individual pixels under strain for 25 repetitive on-off cycles. They found that the output fluctuation was approximately five percent, much smaller than the overall level of the signal. The robustness of more than 20,000 pixels was studied.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA spatial resolution of 2.7 microns was recorded from the device samples tested so far. Wang believes the resolution could be improved by reducing the diameter of the nanowires \u2013 allowing more nanowires to be grown in a given space \u2013 and by using a high-temperature fabrication process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Wang, the research team also included Caofeng Pan, Lin Dong, Guang Zhu, Simiao Niu, Ruomeng Yo, Qing Yang and Ying Liu, all associated with Georgia Tech. In addition, Pan is associated with the Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems in the Chinese Academy of Sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering under Award DE-FG02-07ER46394; the National Science Foundation (NSF) under award CMMI-040367; and by the Knowledge Innovation program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences under KJCX2-YW-M13. The opinions and conclusions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the DOE or NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Caofeng Pan, et al., \u0022High resolution electroluminescent imaging of pressure distribution using a piezoelectric nanowire-LED array,\u0022 (Nature Photonics 2013). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nphoton.2013.191\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nphoton.2013.191\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers want to put your signature up in lights. Using thousands of nanometer-scale wires, the researchers have developed a sensor device that converts mechanical pressure \u2013 from a signature or a fingerprint \u2013 directly into light signals that can be captured and processed optically.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a sensor device that converts mechanical pressure directly into light signals."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-08-10 13:07:04","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:42","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-08-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-08-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"228121":{"id":"228121","type":"image","title":"Piezo-phototronic LEDs2","body":null,"created":"1449243566","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:39:26","changed":"1475894899","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:19","alt":"Piezo-phototronic LEDs2","file":{"fid":"197463","name":"piezo-phototronic137.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezo-phototronic137_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezo-phototronic137_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1053938,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/piezo-phototronic137_0.jpg?itok=K6I80LSo"}},"228111":{"id":"228111","type":"image","title":"Piezo-phototronic LEDs","body":null,"created":"1449243566","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:39:26","changed":"1475894899","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:19","alt":"Piezo-phototronic LEDs","file":{"fid":"197462","name":"piezo-phototronic105.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezo-phototronic105_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezo-phototronic105_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1305079,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/piezo-phototronic105_0.jpg?itok=0k3qcYRk"}},"228131":{"id":"228131","type":"image","title":"Piezo-phototronic LED schematic","body":null,"created":"1449243582","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:39:42","changed":"1475894774","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:14","alt":"Piezo-phototronic LED schematic","file":{"fid":"197464","name":"piezo-phototronic_device.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezo-phototronic_device_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/piezo-phototronic_device_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":295059,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/piezo-phototronic_device_0.jpg?itok=P6mEuhSY"}}},"media_ids":["228121","228111","228131"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"14922","name":"LED"},{"id":"4497","name":"Materials Science and Engineering"},{"id":"2502","name":"nanowire"},{"id":"71221","name":"piezo-phototronics"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"},{"id":"13751","name":"Zhong Lin Wang"},{"id":"7649","name":"zinc oxide"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"229361":{"#nid":"229361","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Control Scheme Dynamically Maintains Unstable Quantum Systems","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA simple pendulum has two equilibrium points: hanging in the \u201cdown\u201d position and perfectly inverted in the \u201cup\u201d position. While the \u201cdown\u201d position is a stable equilibrium, the inverted position is definitely not stable. Any infinitesimal deviation from perfectly inverted is enough to cause the pendulum to eventually swing down.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt has been known for more than 100 years, though, that an inverted pendulum can be stabilized by vibrating the pivot point. This non-intuitive phenomenon is known as dynamic stabilization, and it has led to a broad range of applications including charged particle traps, mass spectrometers and high-energy particle accelerators.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMany-body quantum systems can also be placed into unstable non-equilibrium states, and like the inverted pendulum of classical physics, they typically evolve away from these states. Now, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated a way to maintain an unstable quantum system by applying bursts of microwave radiation \u2013 a quantum analog to vibrating the inverted pendulum.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn an experiment that could have implications for quantum computers and quantum simulators, the researchers used microwave pulses of varying amplitudes and frequencies to control a quantum system composed of a cloud of approximately 40,000 rubidium atoms cooled nearly to absolute zero.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and reported online August 27 by the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review Letters\u003C\/em\u003E, experimentally demonstrated dynamical stabilization of a non-equilibrium many-body quantum system. The paper is scheduled to appear in the journal\u0027s August 30 print issue.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn this work, we have demonstrated that we can control the quantum dynamics of a cloud of atoms to maintain them in a non-equilibrium configuration analogous to the inverted pendulum,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/michael-chapman\u0022\u003EMichael Chapman\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWhat we actually control is the internal spins of the atoms that give each atom a small magnetic moment. The spins are oriented in an external magnetic field against their will such that they would prefer to flip their orientation to the equilibrium position.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMathematically, the state of the rubidium atoms is virtually identical to that of the simple mechanical pendulum, meaning that Chapman and his students have controlled what could be called a \u201cquantum inverted pendulum.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn their experiment, the researchers began with a spin-1 atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) that is initialized in an unstable, fixed point of the spin-nematic phase space \u2013 comparable to an inverted pendulum. If allowed to freely evolve, interactions between the atoms would give rise to squeezing, quantum spin mixing and eventually relaxation to a stable state \u2013 comparable to a pendulum hanging straight down from a pivot point.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy periodically applying bursts of microwave radiation, the researchers rotated the spin-nematic many-body fluctuations, halting the squeezing and the relaxation toward stability. The researchers investigated a range of pulse periods and phase shifts to map a stability diagram that compares well with what they expected theoretically.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe net effect is that the many-body system basically returns to the original state,\u201d said Chapman. \u201cWe reverse the squeezing of the condensate, and after it again evolves toward squeezing, we cause it to return. If we do this periodically, we can maintain the Bose-Einstein condensate in this unstable point indefinitely.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe control technique differs from active feedback, which measures the direction in which a system is moving and applies a force counter to that direction. The open-loop technique used by Chapman\u2019s group applies a constant input that doesn\u2019t vary with the activity of the system being controlled.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are periodically kicking the system to keep it in a state where it doesn\u2019t want to be,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the first time we have been able to make a many-body spin system that we can stabilize against its natural evolution.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EControlling and manipulating single-particle quantum systems or simple collections of atoms, electrons and photons has been a focus of the physics community over recent decades. These capabilities have formed the foundation for technologies such as lasers, magnetic resonance imaging, atomic clocks and new atomic sensors for magnetic fields and inertial guidance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow, researchers are studying more complex systems that involve many additional interacting particles, perhaps thousands of them. Chapman and his group hope to help extend their knowledge of these more complex many-body systems, which could lead to developments in quantum computing, quantum simulations and improved measurements.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe long-range goal of our work is to further the understanding of quantum mechanics and to develop new technologies that exploit the often counterintuitive realities of the quantum world,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cQuantum many-body systems are being actively explored, and one of the things you\u2019d like to do is be able to control them. I think this is one of the cleanest examples of being able to control a quantum many-body system in a manifestly unstable configuration.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Chapman, other co-authors of the paper include T.M. Hoang, C.S. Gerving, B.J. Land, M. Anquez and C.D. Hamley.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Award PHY-1208828. Any conclusions or opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: T.M. Hoang, et at., \u201cDynamic stabilization of a quantum many-body spin system, (Physical Review Letters, 2013). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/link.aps.org\/doi\/10.1103\/PhysRevLett.111.090403\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/link.aps.org\/doi\/10.1103\/PhysRevLett.111.090403\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Research Studies Quantum Inverted Pendulum"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers have demonstrated a way to maintain an unstable quantum system by applying bursts of microwave radiation. The technique is comparable to methods used for controlling an inverted pendulum in classical physics.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have demonstrated a way to maintain an unstable quantum system by applying bursts of microwave radiation."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-08-18 17:33:03","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:42","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-08-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-08-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"229341":{"id":"229341","type":"image","title":"Microwave control of quantum systems","body":null,"created":"1449243582","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:39:42","changed":"1475894901","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:21","alt":"Microwave control of quantum systems","file":{"fid":"197490","name":"quantum-pendulm7177.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/quantum-pendulm7177_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/quantum-pendulm7177_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1182356,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/quantum-pendulm7177_1.jpg?itok=18GoTdka"}}},"media_ids":["229341"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"5674","name":"Equilibrium"},{"id":"25091","name":"Michael Chapman"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"71681","name":"quantum pendulum"},{"id":"71691","name":"quantyum systems"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"218131":{"#nid":"218131","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Report First Entanglement between Light and an Optical Atomic Coherence","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing clouds of ultra-cold atoms and a pair of lasers operating at optical wavelengths, researchers have reached a quantum network milestone: entangling light with an optical atomic coherence composed of interacting atoms in two different states. The development could help pave the way for functional, multi-node quantum networks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research, done at the Georgia Institute of Technology, used a new type of optical trap that simultaneously confined both ground-state and highly-excited (Rydberg) atoms of the element rubidium. The large size of the Rydberg atoms \u2013 which have a radius of about one micron instead of a usual sub-nanometer size \u2013 gives them exaggerated electromagnetic properties and allows them to interact strongly with one another.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA single Rydberg atom can block the formation of additional Rydberg atoms within an ensemble of atoms, allowing scientists to create single photons on demand. Georgia Tech professor Alex Kuzmich and collaborators published a report on the Rydberg single-photon source in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E in April 2012, and in a subsequent \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E article, demonstrated for the first time many-body Rabi oscillations of an atomic ensemble.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the new research, the state-insensitive trap allowed the researchers to increase the rate at which they could generate photons by a factor of 100 compared to their previous work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to allow photons to propagate to distant locations so we can develop scalable protocols to entangle more and more nodes,\u201d said Kuzmich, a professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Physics. \u201cIf you can have coherence between the ground and Rydberg atoms, they can interact strongly while emitting light in a cooperative fashion. The combination of strong atomic interactions and collective light emissions results in entanglement between atoms and light. We think that this approach is quite promising for quantum networking.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was reported June 19 in the early edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature\u003C\/em\u003E. The research has been supported by the Atomic Physics Program and the Quantum Memories Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and by the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGenerating, distributing and controlling entanglement across quantum networks are the primary goals of quantum information science being pursued at research laboratories around the world. In earlier work, ground states of single atoms or atomic ensembles have been entangled with spontaneously-emitted light, but the production of those photons has been through a probabilistic approach \u2013 which generated photons infrequently.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis spontaneous emission process requires a relatively long time to create entanglement and limits the potential quantum network to just two nodes. To expand the potential for multi-mode networks, researchers have explored other approaches, including entanglement between light fields and atoms in quantum superpositions of the ground and highly-excited Rydberg electronic states. This latter approach allows the deterministic generation of photons that produces entanglement at a much higher rate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, until now, Rydberg atoms could not be excited to that state while confined to optical traps, so the traps had to be turned off for that step. That allowed the confined atoms to escape, preventing realization of atom-light entanglement.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBased on a suggestion from MURI colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, the Georgia Tech team developed a solution to that problem: a state-insensitive optical trap able to confine both ground-state and Rydberg atoms coherently. In this trap, atoms persist for as much as 80 milliseconds while being excited into the Rydberg state \u2013 and the researchers believe that can be extended with additional improvements. However, even the current atomic confinement time would be enough to operate complex protocols that might be part of a quantum network.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe system we have realized is closer to being a node in a quantum network than what we have been able to do before,\u201d said Kuzmich. \u201cIt is certainly a promising improvement.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKey to the improved system is operation of an optical trap at wavelengths of 1,004 and 1,012 nanometers, so-called \u201cmagic\u201d wavelengths tuned to both the Rydberg atoms and the ground state atoms, noted Lin Li, a graduate student in the Kuzmich Laboratory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have experimentally demonstrated that in such a trap, the quantum coherence can be well preserved for a few microseconds and that we can confine atoms for as long as 80 milliseconds,\u201d Li said. \u201cThere are ways that we can improve this, but with the help of this state-insensitive trap, we have achieved entanglement between light and the Rydberg excitation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe rate of generating entangled photons increased from a few photons per second with the earlier approaches to as many as 5,000 photons per second with the new technique, Kuzmich said. That will allow the researchers to pursue future research goals \u2013 such as demonstration of quantum gates \u2013 as they optimize their technique.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EExperimentally, the research worked as follows: (1) an ultra-cold gas of rubidium atoms was confined in a one-dimensional optical lattice using lasers operating at 1,004-nanometer and 1,012-nanometer wavelengths. The atomic ensemble was driven from the collective ground state into a single excited state; (2) By applying a laser field, an entangled state was generated. The retrieved field was mixed with the coherent field using polarizing beam-splitters, followed by measurement at single-photon detectors; (3) The remaining spin wave was mapped into a field by a laser field.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Kuzmich, the success demonstrates the value of collaboration through the MURI supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, which in 2012 awarded $8.5 million to a consortium of seven U.S. universities that are working together to determine the best approach for creating quantum memories based on the interaction between light and matter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough the MURI, a team of universities is considering three different approaches for creating entangled quantum memories that could facilitate long-distance transmission of secure information. Among the collaborators in the five-year program are Mark Saffman and Thad Walker at the University of Wisconsin, Mikhail Lukin of Harvard, and Luming Duan of the University of Michigan, who at the beginning of this century made pioneering proposals which formed the basis of the approach that Kuzmich, Li and colleague Yaroslav Dudin used to create the entanglement between light and the Rydberg excitation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) under contract FA9550-12-1-0025 and the by National Science Foundation under award PHY-1105994. The conclusions and opinions expressed in this article are those of the principal investigator and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the AFOSR or the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Lin Li, Yaroslav Dudin and Alexander Kuzmich, \u201cEntanglement between light and an optical atomic excitation,\u201d (Nature 2013). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nature12227\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nature12227\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing clouds of ultra-cold atoms and a pair of lasers operating at optical wavelengths, researchers have reached a quantum network milestone: entangling light with an optical atomic coherence composed of interacting atoms in two different states.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have reached a quantum network milestone: entangling light with an optical atomic coherence composed of interacting atoms in two different states."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-06-19 20:25:11","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:23","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-06-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-06-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"218101":{"id":"218101","type":"image","title":"Entanglement with Light","body":null,"created":"1449180130","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:10","changed":"1475894879","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:59","alt":"Entanglement with Light","file":{"fid":"197179","name":"rydberg5782.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rydberg5782_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rydberg5782_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1618098,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rydberg5782_0.jpg?itok=yargpkpC"}},"218111":{"id":"218111","type":"image","title":"Entanglement with Light2","body":null,"created":"1449180130","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:10","changed":"1475894879","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:59","alt":"Entanglement with Light2","file":{"fid":"197180","name":"rydberg2672.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rydberg2672_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rydberg2672_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2344500,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rydberg2672_0.jpg?itok=PcnlIEz3"}},"218121":{"id":"218121","type":"image","title":"Entanglement with Light3","body":null,"created":"1449180130","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:02:10","changed":"1475894885","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:05","alt":"Entanglement with Light3","file":{"fid":"197181","name":"figure1a.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/figure1a_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/figure1a_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1093641,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/figure1a_0.jpg?itok=ktLLQ8lN"}}},"media_ids":["218101","218111","218121"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"24201","name":"Alex Kuzmich"},{"id":"9672","name":"Quantum Information"},{"id":"68081","name":"quantum networks"},{"id":"68101","name":"Rydberg atoms"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"213961":{"#nid":"213961","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Soft Matter Offers Ways to Study Arrangement of Ordered Materials in Non-spherical Spaces","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA fried breakfast food popular in Spain provided the inspiration for the development of doughnut-shaped droplets that may provide scientists with a new approach for studying fundamental issues in physics, mathematics and materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe doughnut-shaped droplets, a shape known as toroidal, are formed from two dissimilar liquids using a simple rotating stage and an injection needle. About a millimeter in overall size, the droplets are produced individually, their shapes maintained by a surrounding springy material made of polymers. Droplets in this toroidal shape made of a liquid crystal \u2013 the same type of material used in laptop displays \u2013 may have properties very different from those of spherical droplets made from the same material.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology don\u2019t have a specific application for the doughnut-shaped droplets yet, they believe the novel structures offer opportunities to study many interesting problems, from looking at the properties of ordered materials within these confined spaces to studying how geometry affects how cells behave.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur experiments provide a fresh approach to the way that people have been looking at these kinds of problems, which is mainly theoretical. We are doing experiments with toroids whose geometry can be precisely controlled in the lab,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/alberto-fernandez-nieves\u0022\u003EAlberto Fernandez-Nieves\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cThis work opens up a new way to experimentally look at problems that nobody has been able to study before. The properties of toroidal surfaces are very different, from a general point of view, from those of spherical surfaces.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDevelopment of these \u201cstable nematic droplets with handles\u201d was described May 20 in the early edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E (PNAS). The research has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and also involves researchers at the Lorentz Institute for Theoretical Physics at Leiden University in The Netherlands and at York University in the United Kingdom.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDroplets normally form spherical shapes to minimize the surface area required to contain a given volume of liquid. Though they appear to be simple, when an ordered material like a crystal or a liquid crystal lives on the surface of a sphere, it provides interesting challenges to mathematicians and theoretical physicists.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA physicist who focuses on soft condensed matter, Fernandez-Nieves had long been interested in the theoretical aspects of curved surfaces. Working with graduate research assistant Ekapop Pairam and postdoctoral fellow Jayalakshmi Vallamkondu, he wanted to extend the theoretical studies into the experimental world for a system of toroidal shapes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut could doughnut-shaped droplets be made in the lab?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe partial answer came from churros Fernandez-Nieves ate as a child growing up in Spain. These \u201cSpanish doughnuts\u201d \u2013 actually spirals \u2013 are made by injecting dough into hot oil while the dough is spun and fried.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the lab at a much smaller size scale, the researchers found they could use a similar process with two immiscible liquids such as glycerine or water and oil, a needle and a magnetically-controlled rotating stage. A droplet of glycerine is injected into the rotating stage containing the oil. In certain conditions, a jet forms at the needle, which closes up into a torus because of the imposed rotation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou can control the two relevant curvatures of the torus,\u201d explained Fernandez-Nieves. \u201cYou can control how large it is because you can move the needle with respect to the rotation axis. You can also infuse more volume to make the torus thicker.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf the stage is then turned off, however, the drop of glycerine quickly loses its doughnut shape as surface tension forces it to become a traditional spherical droplet. To maintain the toroidal shape, Fernandez-Nieves and his collaborators replace the surrounding oil with a springy polymeric material; the springy character of this material provides a force that can overcome surface tension forces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you are making the toroid, the forces on the needle are large enough that the surrounding material behaves as a fluid,\u201d he explained.\u0026nbsp; \u201cOnce you stop, the elasticity of the outside fluid overcomes surface tension and that freezes the structure in place.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers have been using the doughnut shapes to study how liquid crystal materials, which are well known for their applications in laptop displays, organize inside the torus. These materials have degrees of order beyond those of simple liquids such as water. For these materials, the toroidal shape provides a new set of study opportunities from both theoretical and experimental perspectives.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis changes how you think about a liquid inside a container,\u201d said Fernandez-Nieves. \u201cThe materials will still adopt the shape of the container, but its energy will be different depending on the shape. The materials feel distortions and will try to minimize them. In a given shape, the molecules in these materials will rearrange themselves to minimize these distortions.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong the surprises is that the nematic droplets created with toroidal shapes become chiral, that is, they adopt a certain twisting direction and break their mirror symmetry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn our case, the materials we are using are not chiral under normal circumstances,\u201d he noted. \u201cThis was a surprise to us, and it has to do with how we are confining the molecules.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond looking at the dynamics of creating the droplets and how ordered materials behave when the torus transforms into a sphere, Fernandez-Nieves and colleagues are also exploring potential biological applications, applying electrical fields to the droplets, and sharing the unique structures with scientists at other institutions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is the first time that stable nematic droplets have been generated with handles, and we have exploited that to look at the nematic organization inside those spaces,\u201d said Fernandez-Nieves. \u201cOur experiments open up a versatile new approach for generating handled droplets made of an ordered material that can self-assemble into interesting and unexpected structures when confined to these non-spherical spaces. Now that theoreticians realize we can generate and study these systems, there may be much more development in this area.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the paper\u2019s authors included V. Koning, B.C. van Zuiden and V. Vitelli from Leiden University, M.A. Bates from the University of York in the United Kingdom, and P.W. Ellis from Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research described here has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation under CAREER award DMR-0847304. The findings and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: E. Pairam, et al., \u201cStable nematic droplets with handles,\u201d (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA fried breakfast food popular in Spain provided the inspiration for the development of doughnut-shaped droplets that may provide scientists with a new approach for studying fundamental issues in physics, mathematics and materials.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A fried breakfast food helped inspire development of doughnut-shaped droplets that may lead to new fundamental studies."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-05-20 20:47:47","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:16","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-05-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-05-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"213901":{"id":"213901","type":"image","title":"Toroidal droplets","body":null,"created":"1449180096","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:36","changed":"1475894876","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:56","alt":"Toroidal 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droplets2","file":{"fid":"197011","name":"toroidal-droplets379.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toroidal-droplets379_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toroidal-droplets379_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1234135,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/toroidal-droplets379_0.jpg?itok=wrFDxAIO"}},"213931":{"id":"213931","type":"image","title":"Toroidal droplets4","body":null,"created":"1449180096","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:01:36","changed":"1475894876","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:56","alt":"Toroidal 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droplets6","file":{"fid":"197015","name":"toroidal-droplets71.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toroidal-droplets71_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toroidal-droplets71_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1761609,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/toroidal-droplets71_0.jpg?itok=6DrLV2kB"}}},"media_ids":["213901","213921","213911","213931","213941","213951"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"66681","name":"Alberto Fernandez-Nieves"},{"id":"66651","name":"nematic"},{"id":"66671","name":"non-spherical"},{"id":"66661","name":"ordered materials"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"167858","name":"soft matter"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"208451":{"#nid":"208451","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Develop Sensor System to Assess the Effects of Explosions on Soldiers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EImprovised explosive devices (IEDs) are becoming a global problem for the U.S. armed forces. To prevent injuries to soldiers and provide better care to those who are injured, the U.S. military is striving to better understand how blasts impact the human body.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2011, the Army\u2019s Rapid Equipping Force (REF) approached the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) as part of the Department of Defense Information Analysis Center (IAC) program to develop a system that measures the physical environment of an explosion and collects data that can be used to correlate what the soldier experienced with long-term medical outcomes, especially traumatic brain injury.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe solution: the Integrated Blast Effect Sensor Suite (IBESS). IBESS is the first system to acquire integrated, time-tagged data during an explosive event \u2013 whether soldiers are on the ground or riding in a vehicle \u2013 and can later help recreate a holistic picture of what happened.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESystem of systems\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere are two parts to a blast: a shock wave that travels at supersonic speed, and compressed air, which travels in front of the shock wave. Both can cause considerable damage to the human body, but the exact effects are unclear.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cNo one knows to what extent overpressure or acceleration causes injuries,\u201d said Marty Broadwell, a principal research scientist at GTRI who manages the institute\u2019s projects with REF. \u201cNor do we know how quickly an injury will show up, how long it will last or which soldiers are more resistant to harm than others. The only way to understand the impact of a blast is to collect data, which is precisely what IBESS does.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow it works\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIBESS features two major subsystems: a unit worn by the soldier and a vehicle sensor suite. The soldier system is contained in a canvas pouch, which attaches to a soldier\u2019s armor between his or her shoulder blades. A recorder in the pouch connects to four pressure sensors, two on the back and two on straps that hang over the front of the shoulders. Because these sensors face different quadrants, the unit captures directionality and more information than previous blast gauges.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSoldiers already carry considerable gear, so reducing the weight of the body unit and power consumption of its batteries drove many design decisions,\u201d said Brian Liu, a GTRI research engineer who served as technical lead on the project. For example, the recorder in the soldier body unit remains in sleep mode until pressure or shock waves hit a certain threshold, causing it to wake and begin recording data.\u0026nbsp; This allows the system to have longer battery life and remain relatively transparent to the wearer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe vehicle system serves a dual purpose: It records blast events that affect the vehicle, but also interacts and automatically links with the soldier system. When a soldier enters a vehicle, a base station installed in seats transmits RFID signals. If the soldier system has stored any data, these signals initiate a Bluetooth connection that enables two-way communication and data transfer. This semi-passive RFID technology is proximity based; transmission and reception occur only at very close range, so IBESS can identify a soldier\u2019s precise location in the vehicle.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESensors are also installed on the vehicle\u2019s interior frame and seats. If an explosion or rollover occurs, these sensors collect linear acceleration and angular rotation data. The soldier system also wakes up and begins to record and transmit data. A single board computer aggregates data from both the vehicle and soldier systems and then passes it on to a rugged black box for final storage.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIBESS is specifically designed to withstand tremendous forces of an IED explosion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Materials, mounting strategies and mechanical isolation strategies have been used to ensure the devices successfully capture data in \u2018survivable\u2019 events,\u201d Liu explained. \u201cWe first conducted research on what kinds of magnitudes of blasts were survivable for mounted and dismounted operations and then performed many tests at those levels for verification.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIBESS is innovative on many fronts:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESynchronized data: Unlike earlier generations of blast gauges, all data in IBESS is time-tagged, using GPS time as common time source. \u201cUsing this data we can rebuild an event,\u201d Liu explained. \u201cEven though soldiers aren\u2019t wired together, we\u2019ll know they were in the same vehicle and experienced the same event \u2014 and can assess how an event propagated through.\u201d\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EScalability: GTRI researchers used as many off-the-shelf and standard components as possible. \u201cThis open architecture makes it easier to expand the system,\u201d observed Douglas Woods, GTRI research scientist and IBESS program manager.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAnonymity: By leveraging the Department of Defense\u2019s Common Access Card (CAC) system\u2019s Personal Key Identifier (PKI), IBESS can collect information uniquely tied to individual soldiers. Use of the PKI makes the data virtually anonymous so other researchers can study it without compromising privacy or containing personally identifiable information.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother hallmark of the project was its rapid completion schedule. REF awarded the contract to GTRI in July 2011. Researchers wrapped up preliminary designs in September, and by early 2012 they were testing and refining the system. IBESS units began to ship overseas in August, and now the system has been issued to more than 650 troops and will be installed on 42 vehicles in Afghanistan.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur work with GTRI has been outstanding,\u201d said Joe Rozmeski, REF\u2019s deputy chief of technology management. \u201cOriginally chosen for its sensor expertise, GTRI has proven to be an ideal partner for us. They understand their role perfectly and are in tune with the REF\u0027s objectives for integrated blast effect research and collection.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUnderstanding the challenge\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt its peak, the project involved more than 50 researchers with expertise ranging from electronics to mechanical engineering to health systems. This diversity in disciplines was critical to IBESS\u2019 success.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you don\u2019t understand the context in which a device will be used, you won\u2019t be collecting the right information, said Shean Phelps, M.D., a principal research scientist who joined GTRI in 2011. A retired Army officer, Phelps was a Special Forces (Green Beret) weapons, medic and team sergeant before becoming a physician and was instrumental not only in initiating the IBESS project but also in providing both operational and medical perspectives.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETraumatic brain injury has become a greater concern in recent years. \u201cBecause of improved equipment and medical services, people are surviving severe explosions,\u201d Phelps explained. \u201cYet we lack a clear understanding of blast-induced injuries on the human nervous system. Mild traumatic brain injury is a particular concern because it has a wide range of symptoms and doesn\u2019t show up reliably in tests, so we can\u2019t effectively diagnose, treat and manage its long-term effects.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith IBESS, complex contextual data can be collected to link soldiers\u2019 experiences with their medical records and later correlate a blast event to traumatic brain injury. IBESS is a major step forward for both the medical and engineering communities, Phelps said: \u201cWe now have a platform that\u2019s dramatically different from previous efforts to collect blast data because it\u2019s time-tagged, fully integrated between humans and vehicles, able to pinpoint an individual\u2019s location in a vehicle \u2014 and able to accept data from any sensor.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat\u2019s ahead\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOngoing work is being conducted by a team of GTRI research engineers led by Allesio Medda, who are building a structured database and analytical tools for the data that IBESS collects. Other GTRI researchers are installing sensors in the ear-cup of communications headsets worn by soldiers, which measure linear and rotational acceleration on six axes. After testing, these headsets will be issued to 200 Army Rangers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurrently IBESS only captures environmental data. Yet because of its open architecture, other diagnostic capabilities can be easily integrated. For example, sensors could be added to monitor heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen and hydration levels, body temperature and EKG activity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith such biometric sensors, IBESS could evaluate soldiers\u2019 physical condition in training or on the battlefield for triage purposes or to assess their ability to do a certain job. Data from the system could be used to improve equipment and vehicle design. For example, gear might be developed to divert a shock wave or change its frequency if a particular frequency is shown to damage the brain. IBESS could also be adapted for non-military applications, such as monitoring construction workers, race car drivers or elderly people in their homes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cCollecting physical data on the blast environment is the critical first step before the system can be made medically predictive,\u201d stressed Woods. \u201cAn explosion is a physical phenomenon. In order to understand the extent of injuries and how to prevent them, you must first understand the physics.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)(404-894-6986) or Lance Wallace (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:lance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elance.wallace@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)(404-407-7280)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: T.J. Becker\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo study the effects of improvised explosive devices on soldiers and help provide continuing treatment, researchers have developed a sensor system that measures the physical environment of an explosion and collects data that can correlate what the soldier experienced with long-term outcomes.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a sensor system to study the effects of explosions on soldiers."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-04-22 21:44:33","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:08","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-04-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-04-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"208411":{"id":"208411","type":"image","title":"IBESS System","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894866","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:46","alt":"IBESS System","file":{"fid":"196812","name":"i-bess103.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/i-bess103_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/i-bess103_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1240470,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/i-bess103_0.jpg?itok=c_p9lWNZ"}},"208421":{"id":"208421","type":"image","title":"IBESS System2","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894866","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:46","alt":"IBESS System2","file":{"fid":"196813","name":"ibess125.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ibess125_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ibess125_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1287514,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ibess125_0.jpg?itok=9q1QyK0C"}},"208431":{"id":"208431","type":"image","title":"IBESS System3","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894866","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:46","alt":"IBESS System3","file":{"fid":"196814","name":"ibess193.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ibess193_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ibess193_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1403587,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ibess193_0.jpg?itok=IpiJbnml"}}},"media_ids":["208411","208421","208431"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3095","name":"explosion"},{"id":"415","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"7033","name":"IED"},{"id":"64661","name":"improvised explosive device"},{"id":"525","name":"military"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"208861":{"#nid":"208861","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Sea Turtles and FlipperBot Show How to Walk on Granular Surfaces like Sand","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor sea turtle hatchlings struggling to reach the ocean, success may depend on having flexible wrists that allow them to move without disturbing too much sand. A similar wrist also helps a robot known as \u201cFlipperBot\u201d move through a test bed, demonstrating how animals and bio-inspired robots can together provide new information on the principles governing locomotion on granular surfaces.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoth the baby turtles and FlipperBot run into trouble under the same conditions: traversing granular media disturbed by previous steps. Information from the robot research helped scientists understand why some of the hatchlings they studied experienced trouble, creating a unique feedback loop from animal to robot \u2013 and back to animal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research could help robot designers better understand locomotion on complex surfaces and lead biologists to a clearer picture of how sea turtles and other animals like mudskippers use their flippers. The research could also help explain how animals evolved limbs \u2013 including flippers \u2013 for walking on land.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was published April 24 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EBioinspiration \u0026amp; Biomimetics\u003C\/em\u003E. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory\u2019s Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Program, the U.S. Army Research Office, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are looking at different ways that robots can move about on sand,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/daniel-goldman\u0022\u003EDaniel Goldman\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cWe wanted to make a systematic study of what makes flippers useful or effective. We\u2019ve learned that the flow of the materials plays a large role in the strategy that can be used by either animals or robots.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research began in 2010 with a six-week study of hatchling loggerhead sea turtles emerging at night from nests on Jekyll Island, one of Georgia\u2019s coastal islands. The research was done in collaboration with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENicole Mazouchova, then a graduate student in the Georgia Tech \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biology\u003C\/a\u003E, studied the baby turtles using a trackway filled with beach sand and housed in a truck parked near the beach. She recorded kinematic and biomechanical data as the turtles moved in darkness toward an LED light that simulated the moon.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMazouchova and Goldman studied data from the 25 hatchlings, and were surprised to learn that they managed to maintain their speed regardless of the surface on which they were running.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOn soft sand, the animals move their limbs in such a way that they don\u2019t create a yielding of the material on which they\u2019re walking,\u201d said Goldman. \u201cThat means the material doesn\u2019t flow around the limbs and they don\u2019t slip. The surprising thing to us was that the turtles had comparable performance when they were running on hard ground or soft sand.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe key to maintaining performance seemed to be the ability of the hatchlings to control their wrists, allowing them to change how they used their flippers under different sand conditions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOn hard ground, their wrists locked in place, and they pivoted about a fixed arm,\u201d Goldman explained. \u201cOn soft sand, they put their flippers into the sand and the wrist would bend as they moved forward. We decided to investigate this using a robot model.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat led to development of FlipperBot, with assistance from Paul Umbanhowar, a research associate professor at Northwestern University. The robot measures about 19 centimeters in length, weighs about 970 grams, and has two flippers driven by servo-motors. Like the turtles, the robot has flexible wrists that allow variations in its movement. To move through a track bed filled with poppy seeds that simulate sand, the robot lifts its flippers up, drops them into the seeds, then moves the flippers backward to propel itself.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMazouchova, now a Ph.D. student at Temple University, studied many variations of gait and wrist position and found that the free-moving mechanical wrist also provided an advantage to the robot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn the robot, the free wrist does provide some advantage,\u201d said Goldman. \u201cFor the most part, the wrist confers advantage for moving forward without slipping. The wrist flexibility minimizes material yielding, which disturbs less ground. The flexible wrist also allows both the robot and turtles to maintain a high angle of attack for their bodies, which reduces performance-impeding drag from belly friction.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers also noted that the robot often failed when limbs encountered material that the same limbs had already disturbed. That led them to re-examine the data collected on the hatchling turtles, some of which had also experienced difficulty walking across the soft sand.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen we saw the turtles moving poorly, they appeared to be suffering from the same failure mode that we saw in the robot,\u201d Goldman explained. \u201cWhen they interacted with materials that had been previously disturbed, they tended to lose performance.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMazouchova and Goldman then worked with Umbanhowar to model the robot\u2019s performance in an effort to predict how the turtle hatchlings should respond to different conditions. The predictions closely matched what was actually observed, closing the loop between robot and animal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe robot study allowed us to test how principles applied to the animals,\u201d Goldman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the results may not directly improve robot designs, what the researchers learned should contribute to a better understanding of the principles governing movement using flippers. That would be useful to the designers of robots that must swim through water and walk on land.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA multi-modal robot might need to use paddles for swimming in water, but it might also need to walk in an effective way on the beach,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cThis work can provide fundamental information on what makes flippers good or bad. This information could give robot designers clues to appendage designs and control techniques for robots moving in these environments.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research could ultimately provide clues to how turtles evolved to walk on land with appendages designed for swimming.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTo understand the mechanics of how the first terrestrial animals moved, you have to understand how their flipper-like limbs interacted with complex, yielding substrates like mud flats,\u201d said Goldman. \u201cWe don\u2019t have solid results on the evolutionary questions yet, but this certainly points to a way that we could address these issues.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research has been supported by the National Science Foundation under grant CMMI-0825480 and the Physics of Living Systems PoLS program, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory\u2019s (ARL) Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Program under cooperative agreement W911NF-08-2-0004, the U.S. Army Research Office (ARO) and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award. Any conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF, ARL or ARO.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Nicole Mazouchova, Paul B. Umbanhowar and Daniel I. Goldman, \u201cFlipper-driven terrestrial locomotion of a sea turtle-inspired robot, (Bioinspiration \u0026amp; Biomimetics, 2013).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBased on a study of both hatchling sea turtles and \u0022FlipperBot\u0022 -- a robot with flippers -- researchers have learned principles for how both robots and turtles move on granular surfaces such as sand.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have learned principles for how both robots and turtles move on granular surfaces."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-04-23 16:52:25","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:08","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-04-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-04-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"208811":{"id":"208811","type":"image","title":"FlipperBot testing4","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"FlipperBot testing4","file":{"fid":"196827","name":"flipper-bot136.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot136_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot136_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2321339,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/flipper-bot136_0.jpg?itok=C3D0D8sS"}},"208801":{"id":"208801","type":"image","title":"FlipperBot testing3","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"FlipperBot testing3","file":{"fid":"196826","name":"flipper-bot80.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot80_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot80_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1837999,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/flipper-bot80_0.jpg?itok=FCuWm8rg"}},"208791":{"id":"208791","type":"image","title":"FlipperBot testing2","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894866","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:46","alt":"FlipperBot testing2","file":{"fid":"196825","name":"flipper-bot66.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot66_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot66_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1829132,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/flipper-bot66_0.jpg?itok=RkYkvxl_"}},"208821":{"id":"208821","type":"image","title":"FlipperBot testing5","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"FlipperBot testing5","file":{"fid":"196828","name":"flipper-bot218.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot218_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot218_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3108178,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/flipper-bot218_0.jpg?itok=6QSARGl8"}},"208781":{"id":"208781","type":"image","title":"FlipperBot testing","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894866","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:46","alt":"FlipperBot testing","file":{"fid":"196824","name":"flipper-bot48.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot48_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/flipper-bot48_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1729881,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/flipper-bot48_0.jpg?itok=zWq2O5sC"}},"208831":{"id":"208831","type":"image","title":"Sea turtle","body":null,"created":"1449180001","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 22:00:01","changed":"1475894869","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:49","alt":"Sea turtle","file":{"fid":"196829","name":"sea-turtle3801.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sea-turtle3801_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sea-turtle3801_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2531103,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sea-turtle3801_0.jpg?itok=mexqdsZ2"}}},"media_ids":["208811","208801","208791","208821","208781","208831"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"59331","name":"bio-inspired"},{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"64831","name":"flipper"},{"id":"64821","name":"FlipperBot"},{"id":"1357","name":"granular"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"169569","name":"sea turtle"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"205891":{"#nid":"205891","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Bose-Einstein Condensates Evaluated for Communicating Among Quantum Computers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EQuantum computers promise to perform certain types of operations much more quickly than conventional digital computers. But many challenges must be addressed before these ultra-fast machines become available, among them, the loss of order in the systems \u2013 a problem known as quantum decoherence \u2013 which worsens as the number of bits in a quantum computer increases.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne proposed solution is to divide the computing among multiple small quantum computers that would work together much as today\u2019s multi-core supercomputers team up to tackle big digital operations. The individual computers in such a system could communicate quantum information using Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) \u2013 clouds of ultra-cold atoms that all exist in exactly the same quantum state. The approach could address the decoherence problem by reducing the number of bits necessary for a single computer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow, a team of physicists at the Georgia Institute of Technology has examined how this Bose-Einstein communication might work. The researchers determined the amount of time needed for quantum information to propagate across their BEC, essentially establishing the top speed at which such quantum computers could communicate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat we did in this study was look at how this kind of quantum information would propagate,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/chandra-raman\u0022\u003EChandra Raman\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWe are interested in the dynamics of this quantum information flow not just for quantum information systems, but also more generally for fundamental problems in physics.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research is scheduled to be published in the April 19 online version of the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review Letters\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The work involved both an experimental physics group headed by Raman and a theoretical physics group headed by associate professor Carlos Sa De Melo, also in the Georgia Tech School of Physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers first assembled a gaseous Bose-Einstein condensate that consisted of as many as three million sodium atoms cooled to nearly absolute zero. To begin the experiment, they switched on a magnetic field applied to the BEC that instantly placed the system out of equilibrium. That triggered spin-exchange collisions as the atoms attempted to transition from one ground state to a new one. Atoms near one another became entangled, pairing up with one atom\u2019s spin pointing up, and the other\u2019s pointing down. This pairing of opposite spins created a correlation between pairs of atoms that moved through the entire BEC as it established a new equilibrium.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers, who included graduate student Anshuman Vinit and former postdoctoral fellow Eva Bookjans, measured the correlations as they spread through the cloud of cold atoms. At first, the quantum entanglement was concentrated in space, but over time, it spread outward like drop of dye diffuses through water.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou can imagine having a drop of dye that is concentrated at one point in space,\u201d Raman said. \u201cThrough diffusion, the dye molecules move throughout the water, slowly spreading throughout the entire system.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research could help scientists anticipate the operating speed for a quantum computing system composed of many cores communicating through a BEC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis propagation takes place on the time scale of ten to a hundred milliseconds,\u201d Raman said. \u201cThis is the speed at which quantum information naturally flows through this kind of system. If you were to use this medium for quantum communication, that would be its natural time scale, and that would set the timing for other processes.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough relevant to communication of quantum information, the process also showed how a large system undergoing a phase transition does so in localized patches that expand to attempt to incorporate the entire system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAn extended system doesn\u2019t move from one phase to another in a uniform way,\u201d said Raman. \u201cIt does this locally. Things happen locally that are not connected to one another initially, so you see this inhomogeneity.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond quantum computing, the results may also have implications for quantum sensing \u2013 and for the study of other physical systems that undergo phase transitions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPhase transitions have universal properties,\u201d Raman noted. \u201cYou can take the phase transitions that happen in a variety of systems and find that they are described by the same physics. It is a unifying principle.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERaman hopes the work will lead to new ways of thinking about quantum computing, regardless of its immediate practical use.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne paradigm of quantum computing is to build a linear chain of as many trapped ions as possible and to simultaneously engineer away as many challenges as possible,\u201d he said. \u201cBut perhaps what may be successful is to build these smaller quantum systems that can communicate with one another. It\u2019s important to try as many things as possible and to keep an open mind. We need to try to understand these systems as well as we can.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) through grant DE-FG-02-03ER15450 and by the National Science Foundation under grant PHY-1100179. The conclusions in this article are those of the principal investigator and do not necessarily represent the official views of the DOE or the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Vinit, Anshuman, et al., \u201cAntiferromagnetic Spatial Ordering in a Quenched One-dimensional Spinor Gas, (Physical Review Letters, 2013).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E:\u0026nbsp; John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPhysicists have examined how Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) might be used to provide communication among the nodes of a distributed quantum computer. The researchers determined the amount of time needed for quantum information to propagate across their BEC.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers are examining how Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) might be used to communicate among quantum computers."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-04-11 13:04:57","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:59","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-04-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-04-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"205861":{"id":"205861","type":"image","title":"Bose-Einstein condensate in communication","body":null,"created":"1449179977","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:37","changed":"1475894861","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:41","alt":"Bose-Einstein condensate in communication","file":{"fid":"196723","name":"bec-communication32.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bec-communication32_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bec-communication32_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2192896,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bec-communication32_0.jpg?itok=zJJkBZaU"}},"205871":{"id":"205871","type":"image","title":"Bose-Einstein condensate in communication2","body":null,"created":"1449179977","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:37","changed":"1475894861","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:41","alt":"Bose-Einstein condensate in communication2","file":{"fid":"196724","name":"bec-communication71.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bec-communication71_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bec-communication71_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1506154,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bec-communication71_0.jpg?itok=0IGAA39u"}},"205881":{"id":"205881","type":"image","title":"Visualization quantum flow","body":null,"created":"1449179977","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:37","changed":"1475894861","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:41","alt":"Visualization quantum flow","file":{"fid":"196725","name":"bec-localization.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bec-localization_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bec-localization_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2814354,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bec-localization_0.jpg?itok=FSIojOJa"}}},"media_ids":["205861","205871","205881"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7684","name":"Bose-Einstein"},{"id":"63761","name":"Bose-Einstein condensate"},{"id":"63771","name":"Chandra Raman"},{"id":"1744","name":"quantum"},{"id":"4359","name":"quantum computing"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"201371":{"#nid":"201371","#data":{"type":"news","title":"\u0022Terradynamics\u0022 Could Help Designers Predict How Legged Robots Will Move on Granular Media","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a combination of theory and experiment, researchers have developed a new approach for understanding and predicting how small legged robots \u2013 and potentially also animals \u2013 move on and interact with complex granular materials such as sand.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research could help create and advance the field of \u201cterradynamics\u201d \u2013 a name the researchers have given to the science of legged animals and vehicles moving on granular and other complex surfaces. Providing equations to describe and predict this type of movement \u2013 comparable to what has been done to predict the motion of animals and vehicles through the air or water \u2013 could allow designers to optimize legged robots operating in complex environments for search-and-rescue missions, space exploration or other tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe now have the tools to understand the movement of legged vehicles over loose sand in the same way that scientists and engineers have had tools to understand aerodynamics and hydrodynamics,\u201d said Daniel Goldman, a professor in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cWe are at the beginning of tools that will allow us to do the design and simulation of legged robots to not only predict their performance, but also to optimize designs and allow us to create new concepts.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research behind \u201cterradynamics\u201d was described in the March 22 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation Physics of Living Systems program, the Army Research Office, the Army Research Laboratory, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science of the University of California, Berkeley.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERobots such as the Mars Rover have depended on wheels for moving in complex environments such as sand and rocky terrain. Robots envisioned for autonomous search-and-rescue missions also rely on wheels, but as the vehicles become smaller, designers may need to examine alternative means of locomotion, Goldman said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EExisting techniques for describing locomotion on surfaces are complex and can\u2019t take into account the intrusion of legs into a granular surface. To improve and simplify the understanding, Goldman and collaborators Chen Li and Tingnan Zhang examined the motion of a small legged robot as it moved on granular media. Using a 3-D printer, they created legs in a variety of shapes and used them to study how different configurations affected the robot\u2019s speed along a track bed. They then measured granular force laws from experiments to predict forces on legs, and created simulation to predict the robot\u2019s motion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe key insight, according to Goldman, was that the forces applied to independent elements of the robot legs could be simply summed together to provide a reasonably accurate measure of the net force on a robot moving through granular media. That technique, known as linear superposition, worked surprisingly well for legs moving in diverse kinds of granular media.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe discovered that the force laws affecting this motion are generic in a diversity of granular media, including poppy seeds, glass beads and natural sand,\u201d said Li, who is now a Miller postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at Berkeley. \u201cBased on this generalization, we developed a practical procedure for non-specialists to easily apply terradynamics in their own studies using just a single force measurement made with simple equipment they can buy off the shelf, such as a penetrometer.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more complicated granular materials, although the terradynamics approach still worked well, an additional factor \u2013 perhaps the degree to which particles resemble a sphere \u2013 may be required to describe the forces with equivalent accuracy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond understanding the basic physics principles involved, the researchers also learned that convex legs made in the shape of the letter \u201cC\u201d worked better than other variations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs long as the legs are convex, the robot generates large lift and small body drag, and thus can run fast,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cWhen the limb shape was changed to flat or concave, the performance dropped. This information is important for optimizing the energy efficiency of legged robots.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAerodynamic designers have long used a series of equations known as Navier-Stokes to describe the movement of vehicles through the air. Similarly, these equations also allow hydrodynamics designers to know how submarines and other vehicles move through water.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTerradynamics\u201d could provide designers with an efficient technique for understanding motion through media that flows around legs of terrestrial animals and robots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cUsing terradynamics, our simulation is not only as accurate as the established discrete element method (DEM) simulation, but also much more computationally efficient,\u201d said Zhang, who is a graduate student in Goldman\u2019s laboratory. \u201cFor example, to simulate one second of robot locomotion on a granular bed of five million poppy seeds takes the DEM simulation a month using computers in our lab. Using terradynamics, the simulation takes only 10 seconds.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe six-legged experimental robot was just 13 centimeters long and weighed about 150 grams. Robots of that size could be used in the future for search-and-rescue missions, or to scout out unknown environments such as the surface of Mars. They could also provide biologists with a better understanding of how animals such as sand lizards run and kangaroo rats hop on granular media.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFrom a biological perspective, this opens up a new area,\u201d said Goldman, who has studied a variety of animals to learn how their locomotion may assist robot designers. \u201cThese are the kinds of tools that can help understand why lizards have feet and bodies of certain shapes. The problems associated with movement in sandy environments are as important to many animals as they are to robots.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond optimizing the design of future small robots, the work could also lead to a better understanding of the complex environment through which they will have to move.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe think that the kind of approach we are taking allows us to ask questions about the physics of granular materials that no one has asked before,\u201d Goldman added. \u201cThis may reveal new features of granular materials to help us create more comprehensive models and theories of motion. We are now beginning to get the rules of how vehicles move through these materials.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Army Research Laboratory Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology Collaborative Technology Alliance (CTA W911NF-08-2-004), the Army Research Office (W911NF-11-1-0514), the National Science Foundation (NSF) Physics of Living Systems program (PHY-1150760) and the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Any conclusions are those of the principal investigators, and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Army Research Laboratory, the Army Research Office or the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Chen Li, Tingnan Zhang, Daniel I. Goldman. \u201cA Terradynamics of Legged Locomotion on Granular Media,\u201d Science (2013): \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1229163\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1229163\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1229163\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a combination of theory and experiment, researchers have developed a new approach for understanding and predicting how small legged robots \u2013 and potentially also animals \u2013 move on and interact with complex granular materials such as sand.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a new technique for predicting how robots will move on granular media."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-03-21 13:20:17","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:55","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-03-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-03-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"201321":{"id":"201321","type":"image","title":"Terradynamics robots running","body":null,"created":"1449179943","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:03","changed":"1475894856","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:36","alt":"Terradynamics robots running","file":{"fid":"196583","name":"terradynamics111.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terradynamics111_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terradynamics111_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1270460,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terradynamics111_0.jpg?itok=8C0SEUbU"}},"201311":{"id":"201311","type":"image","title":"Terradynamics experimental data","body":null,"created":"1449179943","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:03","changed":"1475894856","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:36","alt":"Terradynamics experimental data","file":{"fid":"196582","name":"terradynamics82.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terradynamics82_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terradynamics82_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1509551,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terradynamics82_0.jpg?itok=hb2GQ5m1"}},"201331":{"id":"201331","type":"image","title":"terradynamics force testing","body":null,"created":"1449179943","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:03","changed":"1475894856","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:36","alt":"terradynamics force testing","file":{"fid":"196584","name":"terradynamics247.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terradynamics247_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/terradynamics247_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1377268,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/terradynamics247_0.jpg?itok=0pDZi0xK"}},"201341":{"id":"201341","type":"image","title":"Terradyamics simulated robot","body":null,"created":"1449179943","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:59:03","changed":"1475894856","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:36","alt":"Terradyamics simulated robot","file":{"fid":"196585","name":"robotsimulation_mars03.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robotsimulation_mars03_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robotsimulation_mars03_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":705999,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robotsimulation_mars03_0.jpg?itok=Lh45vQma"}}},"media_ids":["201321","201311","201331","201341"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"12040","name":"Daniel Goldman"},{"id":"62231","name":"granular media"},{"id":"62251","name":"legged robot"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"169242","name":"sand"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"62221","name":"terradynamics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"171751":{"#nid":"171751","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Fabrication on Patterned Silicon Carbide Produces Bandgap for Graphene-Based Electronics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy fabricating graphene structures atop nanometer-scale \u201csteps\u201d etched into silicon carbide, researchers have for the first time created a substantial electronic bandgap in the material suitable for room-temperature electronics. Use of nanoscale topography to control the properties of graphene could facilitate fabrication of transistors and other devices, potentially opening the door for developing all-carbon integrated circuits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have measured a bandgap of approximately 0.5 electron-volts in 1.4-nanometer bent sections of graphene nanoribbons. The development could provide new direction to the field of graphene electronics, which has struggled with the challenge of creating bandgap necessary for operation of electronic devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is a new way of thinking about how to make high-speed graphene electronics,\u201d said Edward Conrad, a professor in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cWe can now look seriously at making fast transistors from graphene. And because our process is scalable, if we can make one transistor, we can potentially make millions of them.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe findings were reported November 18 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E. The research, done at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and at SOLEIL, the French national synchrotron facility, has been supported by the National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Georgia Tech, the W.M. Keck Foundation and the Partner University Fund from the Embassy of France.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers don\u2019t yet understand why graphene nanoribbons become semiconducting as they bend to enter tiny steps \u2013 about 20 nanometers deep \u2013 that are cut into the silicon carbide wafers. But the researchers believe that strain induced as the carbon lattice bends, along with the confinement of electrons, may be factors creating the bandgap. The nanoribbons are composed of two layers of graphene.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProduction of the semiconducting graphene structures begins with the use of e-beams to cut \u201ctrenches\u201d into silicon carbide wafers, which are normally polished to create a flat surface for the growth of epitaxial graphene. Using a high-temperature furnace, tens of thousands of graphene ribbons are then grown across the steps, using photolithography.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring the growth, the sharp edges of trenches become smoother as the material attempts to regain its flat surface. The growth time must therefore be carefully controlled to prevent the narrow silicon carbide features from melting too much.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe graphene fabrication also must be controlled along a specific direction so that the carbon atom lattice grows into the steps along the material\u2019s \u201carmchair\u201d direction. \u201cIt\u2019s like trying to bend a length of chain-link fence,\u201d Conrad explained. \u201cIt only wants to bend one way.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new technique permits not only the creation of a bandgap in the material, but potentially also the fabrication of entire integrated circuits from graphene without the need for interfaces that introduce resistance. On either side of the semiconducting section of the graphene, the nanoribbons retain their metallic properties.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe can make thousands of these trenches, and we can make them anywhere we want on the wafer,\u201d said Conrad. \u201cThis is more than just semiconducting graphene. The material at the bends is semiconducting, and it\u2019s attached to graphene continuously on both sides. It\u2019s basically a Shottky barrier junction.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy growing the graphene down one edge of the trench and then up the other side, the researchers could in theory produce two connected Shottky barriers \u2013 a fundamental component of semiconductor devices. Conrad and his colleagues are now working to fabricate transistors based on their discovery.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EConfirmation of the bandgap came from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements made at the Synchrotron CNRS in France. There, the researchers fired powerful photon beams into arrays of the graphene nanoribbons and measured the electrons emitted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou can measure the energy of the electrons that come out, and you can measure the direction from which they come out,\u201d said Conrad. \u201cFrom that information, you can work backward to get information about the electronic structure of the nanoribbons.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheorists had predicted that bending graphene would create a bandgap in the material. But the bandgap measured by the research team was larger than what had been predicted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond building transistors and other devices, in future work the researchers will attempt to learn more about what creates the bandgap \u2013 and how to control it. The property may be controlled by the angle of the bend in the graphene nanoribbon, which can be controlled by altering the depth of the step.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you try to lay a carpet over a small imperfection in the floor, the carpet will go over it and you may not even know the imperfection is there,\u201d Conrad explained. \u201cBut if you go over a step, you can tell. There are probably a range of heights in which we can affect the bend.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe predicts that the discovery will create new activity as other graphene researchers attempt to utilize the results.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you can demonstrate a fast device, a lot of people will be interested in this,\u201d Conrad said. \u201cIf this works on a large scale, it could launch a niche market for high-speed, high-powered electronic devices.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Conrad, the research team included J. Hicks, M.S. Nevius, F. Wang, K. Shepperd, J. Palmer, J. Kunc, W.A. De Heer and C. Berger, all from Georgia Tech; A. Tejeda from the Institut Jean Lamour, CNES \u2013 Univ. de Nancy and the Synchrotron SOLEIL; A. Taleb-Ibrahimi from the CNRS\/Synchrotron SOLEIL, and F. Bertran and P. Le Fevre from Synchrotron SOLEIL.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Georgia Tech under Grants DMR-0820382 and DMR-1005880, the W.M. Keck Foundation, and the Partner University Fund from the Embassy of France. The content of the article is the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the National Science Foundation.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Hicks, J., A wide-bandgap metal-semiconductor-metal nanostructure made entirely from graphene, Nature Physics (2012). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/NPHYS2487\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/NPHYS2487\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/NPHYS2487\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy fabricating graphene structures atop nanometer-scale \u201csteps\u201d etched into silicon carbide, researchers have for the first time created a substantial electronic bandgap in the material suitable for room-temperature electronics. Use of nanoscale topography to control the properties of graphene could facilitate fabrication of transistors and other devices, potentially opening the door for developing all-carbon integrated circuits.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have created a substantial electronic bandgap in graphene suitable for room-temperature electronics."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-11-16 18:31:03","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:14","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-11-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-11-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"171721":{"id":"171721","type":"image","title":"Graphene bandgap","body":null,"created":"1449178999","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:19","changed":"1475894811","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:51","alt":"Graphene bandgap","file":{"fid":"195736","name":"graphene-bandgap.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-bandgap_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-bandgap_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":178253,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/graphene-bandgap_0.jpg?itok=xxsj8w34"}},"171731":{"id":"171731","type":"image","title":"Graphene bandgap2","body":null,"created":"1449178999","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:19","changed":"1475894811","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:51","alt":"Graphene bandgap2","file":{"fid":"195737","name":"graphene-bandgap2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-bandgap2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-bandgap2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":205398,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/graphene-bandgap2_0.jpg?itok=z6QTpK_1"}},"171741":{"id":"171741","type":"image","title":"Graphene bandgap3","body":null,"created":"1449178999","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:19","changed":"1475894811","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:51","alt":"Graphene bandgap3","file":{"fid":"195738","name":"graphene-bandgap3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-bandgap3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-bandgap3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":144655,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/graphene-bandgap3_0.jpg?itok=voS-G2G3"}}},"media_ids":["171721","171731","171741"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"50751","name":"bandgap"},{"id":"50761","name":"Ed Conrad"},{"id":"9116","name":"epitaxial graphene"},{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"432","name":"nanoribbon"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"169534","name":"silicon carbide"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"132171":{"#nid":"132171","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Study Shows Availability of Hydrogen Controls Chemical Structure of Graphene Oxide","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study shows that the availability of hydrogen plays a significant role in determining the chemical and structural makeup of graphene oxide, a material that has potential uses in nano-electronics, nano-electromechanical systems, sensing, composites, optics, catalysis and energy storage.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study also found that after the material is produced, its structural and chemical properties continue to evolve for more than a month as a result of continuing chemical reactions with hydrogen.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnderstanding the properties of graphene oxide \u2013 and how to control them \u2013 is important to realizing potential applications for the material. To make it useful for nano-electronics, for instance, researchers must induce both an electronic band gap and structural order in the material. Controlling the amount of hydrogen in graphene oxide may be the key to manipulating the material properties.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGraphene oxide is a very interesting material because its mechanical, optical and electronic properties can be controlled using thermal or chemical treatments to alter its structure,\u201d said Elisa Riedo, an associate professor in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cBut before we can get the properties we want, we need to understand the factors that control the material\u2019s structure. This study provides information about the role of hydrogen in the reduction of graphene oxide at room temperature.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research, which studied graphene oxide produced from epitaxial graphene, was reported on May 6 in the journal Nature Materials. The research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Georgia Tech, and by the U.S. Department of Energy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGraphene oxide is formed through the use of chemical and thermal processes that mainly add two oxygen-containing functional groups to the lattice of carbon atoms that make up graphene: epoxide and hydroxyl species. The Georgia Tech researchers began their studies with multilayer expitaxial graphene grown atop a silicon carbide wafer, a technique pioneered by Walt de Heer and his research group at Georgia Tech. Their samples included an average of ten layers of graphene.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter oxidizing the thin films of graphene using the established Hummers method, the researchers examined their samples using X-ray photo-emission spectroscopy (XPS). Over about 35 days, they noticed the number of epoxide functional groups declining while the number of hydroxyl groups increased slightly. After about three months, the ratio of the two groups finally reached equilibrium.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe found that the material changed by itself at room temperature without any external stimulation,\u201d said Suenne Kim, a postdoctoral fellow in Riedo\u2019s laboratory. \u201cThe degree to which it was unstable at room temperature was surprising.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECurious about what might be causing the changes, Riedo and Kim took their measurements to Angelo Bongiorno, an assistant professor who studies computational materials chemistry in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Bongiorno and graduate student Si Zhou studied the changes using density functional theory, which suggested that hydrogen could be combining with oxygen in the functional groups to form water. That would favor a reduction in the epoxide groups, which is what Riedo and Kim were seeing experimentally.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cElisa\u2019s group was doing experimental measurements, while we were doing theoretical calculations,\u201d Bongiorno said. \u201cWe combined our information to come up with the idea that maybe there was hydrogen involved.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe suspicions were confirmed experimentally, both by the Georgia Tech group and by a research team at the University of Texas at Dallas. This information about the role of hydrogen in determining the structure of graphene oxide suggests a new way to control its properties, Bongiorno noted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDuring synthesis of the material, we could potentially use this as a tool to change the structure,\u201d he said. \u201cBy understanding how to use hydrogen, we could add it or take it out, allowing us to adjust the relative distribution and concentration of the epoxide and hydroxyl species which control the properties of the material.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERiedo and Bongiorno acknowledge that their material \u2013 based on epitaxial graphene \u2013 may be different from the oxide produced from exfoliated graphene. Producing graphene oxide from flakes of the material involves additional processing, including dissolving in an aqueous solution and then filtering and depositing the material onto a substrate. But they believe hydrogen plays a similar role in determining the properties of exfoliated graphene oxide.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe probably have a new new form of graphene oxide, one that may be more useful commercially, although the same processes should also be happening within the other form of graphene oxide,\u201d said Bongiorno.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe next steps are to understand how to control the amount of hydrogen in epitaxial graphene oxide, and what conditions may be necessary to affect reactions with the two functional groups. Ultimately, that may provide a way to open an electronic band gap and simultaneously obtain a graphene-based material with electron transport characteristics comparable to those of pristine graphene.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy controlling the properties of graphene oxide through this chemical and thermal reduction, we may arrive at a material that remains close enough to graphene in structure to maintain the order necessary for the excellent electronic properties, while having the band gap needed to create transistors,\u201d Riedo said. \u201cIt could be that graphene oxide is the way to arrive at that type of material.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond those already mentioned, the paper\u2019s authors included Yike Hu, Claire Berger and Walt de Heer from the School of Physics at Georgia Tech, and Muge Acik and Yves Chabal from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation under grants CMMI-1100290, DMR-0820382 and DMR-0706031, and by the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Office of Basic Energy Sciences under grants DE-FG02-06ER46293 and DE-SC001951. The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigators and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Science Foundation or the Department of Energy.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30308\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Metastable material continues to evolve for three months after fabrication"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study shows that the availability of hydrogen plays a significant role in determining the chemical and structural makeup of graphene oxide, a material that has potential uses in nano-electronics, nano-electromechanical systems, sensing, composites, optics, catalysis and energy storage.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have found that the availability of hydrogen controls the structure of graphene oxide."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-05-22 16:01:43","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:18","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-05-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-05-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"132081":{"id":"132081","type":"image","title":"Studying Graphene Oxide","body":null,"created":"1449178659","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:39","changed":"1475894759","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:59","alt":"Studying Graphene Oxide","file":{"fid":"194701","name":"graphene-hydrogen119.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-hydrogen119_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-hydrogen119_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1513223,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/graphene-hydrogen119_0.jpg?itok=hAtjBgvB"}},"132091":{"id":"132091","type":"image","title":"Studying Graphene Oxide2","body":null,"created":"1449178659","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:39","changed":"1475894759","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:59","alt":"Studying Graphene Oxide2","file":{"fid":"194702","name":"graphene-hydrogen62.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-hydrogen62_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-hydrogen62_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1537759,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/graphene-hydrogen62_0.jpg?itok=-FD3IilH"}},"132101":{"id":"132101","type":"image","title":"Graphene Oxide Sample","body":null,"created":"1449178659","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:39","changed":"1475894759","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:59","alt":"Graphene Oxide Sample","file":{"fid":"194703","name":"graphene-hydrogen95.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-hydrogen95_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/graphene-hydrogen95_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":556983,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/graphene-hydrogen95_0.jpg?itok=yvlPkqHw"}}},"media_ids":["132081","132091","132101"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"9116","name":"epitaxial graphene"},{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"34221","name":"graphene oxide"},{"id":"7435","name":"material"},{"id":"34271","name":"mestastable"},{"id":"166928","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"125111":{"#nid":"125111","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Technique Creates Single Photons for Quantum Information Processing","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing lasers to excite just one atom from a cloud of ultra-cold rubidium gas, physicists have developed a new way to rapidly and efficiently create single photons for potential use in optical quantum information processing \u2013 and in the study of dynamics and disorder in certain physical systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technique takes advantage of the unique properties of atoms that have one or more electrons excited to a condition of near-ionization known as the Rydberg state. Atoms in this highly excited state \u2013 with a principal quantum number greater than 70 \u2013 have exaggerated electromagnetic properties and interact strongly with one another. That allows one Rydberg atom to block the formation of additional excited atoms within an area of 10 to 20 microns.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat single Rydberg atom can then be converted to a photon, ensuring that \u2013 on average \u2013 only one photon is produced from a rubidium cloud containing hundreds of densely-packed atoms. Reliably producing a single photon with well known properties is important to several research areas, including quantum information systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new technique was reported April 19 in Science Express, the rapid online publication of the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are able to convert Rydberg excitations to single photons with very substantial efficiency, which allows us to prepare the state we want every time,\u201d explained Alex Kuzmich, a professor in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u201cThis new system offers a fertile area for investigating entangled states of atoms, spin waves and photons. We hope this will be a first step toward doing a lot more with this system.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKuzmich and co-author Yaroslav Dudin, a graduate research assistant, have been studying quantum information systems that rely on mapping information from atoms onto entangled pairs of photons. But the Raman scattering technique they have been using to create the photons was inefficient and unable to provide the number of entangled photons needed for complex systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis new photon source is about a thousand times faster than existing systems,\u201d Dudin said. \u201cThe numbers are very good for our first experimental implementation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo create a Rydberg atom, the researchers used lasers to illuminate a dense ensemble of several hundred rubidium 87 atoms that had been laser-cooled and confined in an optical lattice. The illumination boosted a single atom from the entire cloud into the Rydberg state. Atoms excited to the Rydberg state strongly interact with other Rydberg atoms, and under suitable conditions, modify the atomic level energies and prevent more than one atom from being transferred into this state \u2013 a phenomenon known as the Rydberg blockade.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERydberg atoms show this strong interaction within a range of 10 to 20 microns. By limiting their starting ensemble of rubidium atoms to approximately that distance, Kuzmich and Dudin were able to ensure that no more than one such atom could form.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe excited Rydberg atom needs space around it and doesn\u2019t allow any other Rydberg atoms to come nearby,\u201d Dudin explained. \u201cOur ensemble has a limited volume, so we couldn\u2019t fit more than one of these atoms into the space available.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKuzmich and Dudin have been using Rydberg atoms with a principal quantum number of approximately 100. These excited atoms are much larger \u2013 as much as a half-micron in diameter \u2013 than ground state rubidium atoms, which have a quantum number of 5 and a diameter of a few Angstroms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce a highly excited atom was created, the researchers used an additional laser field to convert the excitation into a quantum light field that has the same statistical properties as the excitation. Because the field was produced by a single Rydberg atom, it contained just one photon, which can be used in a variety of protocols.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor the Georgia Tech group, the next goal may be development of a quantum gate between light fields. The quantum gating of photons has been proposed and pursued by many research groups, so far unsuccessfully.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf this can be realized, such quantum gates would allow us to deterministically create complex entangled states of atoms and light, which would add valuable capabilities to the fields of quantum networks and computing,\u201d Kuzmich said. \u201cOur works points in this direction.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond quantum information systems, the new single-photon system could also help scientists investigating other areas of physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur results also hold promise for studies of dynamics and disorder in many-body systems with tunable interactions,\u201d Kuzmich explained. \u201cIn particular, translational symmetry breaking, phase transitions and non-equilibrium many-body physics could be investigated in the future using strongly-coupled Rydberg excitations of an atomic gas.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe single-photon work complements research being done in the Kuzmich lab on long-lived quantum memories. A new Air Force Office of Scientific Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) was recently awarded to a consortium of seven U.S. universities that will work together to determine the best approach for generating quantum memories based on interaction between light and matter. Georgia Tech leads the MURI.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWith this new work, we have demonstrated a new, deterministic source of single photons,\u201d Kuzmich said. \u201cIn its first experimental realization, it already out-performs other types of single photons that have been pursued during the past decade around the world, including in our group. With further increases in efficiency and generation rate \u2013 and integration with long-lived quantum memories being developed in related work \u2013 such a single-photon source may make possible optical quantum information processing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"New approach could also aid study of dynamics and disorder in systems"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing lasers to excite just one atom from a cloud of ultra-cold rubidium gas, physicists have developed a new way to rapidly and efficiently create single photons for potential use in optical quantum information processing \u2013 and in the study of dynamics and disorder in certain physical systems.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Physicists have developed a new way to rapidly and efficiently create single photons for use in optical quantum information processing."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-04-19 14:39:22","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:04","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-04-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-04-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"125081":{"id":"125081","type":"image","title":"Single-Photon Production","body":null,"created":"1449178593","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:36:33","changed":"1475894749","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:49","alt":"Single-Photon Production","file":{"fid":"194489","name":"rydberg-excitation7015.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rydberg-excitation7015_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rydberg-excitation7015_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1870498,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rydberg-excitation7015_0.jpg?itok=H8IUdZqQ"}},"125091":{"id":"125091","type":"image","title":"Single-Photon Production2","body":null,"created":"1449178593","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:36:33","changed":"1475894749","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:49","alt":"Single-Photon Production2","file":{"fid":"194490","name":"rydberg-excitation7021.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rydberg-excitation7021_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rydberg-excitation7021_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1292416,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rydberg-excitation7021_0.jpg?itok=FmvRQndt"}}},"media_ids":["125081","125091"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"24201","name":"Alex Kuzmich"},{"id":"4260","name":"laser"},{"id":"2768","name":"optics"},{"id":"1744","name":"quantum"},{"id":"31041","name":"quantum information processing"},{"id":"31021","name":"rubidium"},{"id":"31051","name":"Rydberg atom"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"124771":{"#nid":"124771","#data":{"type":"news","title":"IceCube Neutrino Observatory Explores Origin of Cosmic Rays","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAlthough cosmic rays were discovered 100 years ago, their origin remains one of the most enduring mysteries in physics. Now, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a massive detector in Antarctica, is honing in on how the highest energy cosmic rays are produced.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECosmic rays are electrically charged particles, such as protons, that strike Earth from all directions, with energies up to one hundred million times higher than those created in man-made accelerators. The intense conditions needed to generate such energetic particles have focused physicists\u2019 interest on two potential sources: the massive black holes at the centers of active galaxies, and the exploding fireballs observed by astronomers as gamma ray bursts (GRBs).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIceCube is using neutrinos, which are believed to accompany cosmic ray production, to explore these theories. In a paper published in the April 19 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature\u003C\/em\u003E, the IceCube collaboration \u2013 which includes a Georgia Institute of Technology scientist -- describes a search for neutrinos emitted from 300 gamma ray bursts observed, most recently in coincidence with the SWIFT and Fermi satellites, between May 2008 and April 2010. Surprisingly, they found none - a result that contradicts 15 years of predictions and challenges one of the two leading theories for the origin of the highest energy cosmic rays.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe result of this neutrino search is significant because for the first time we have an instrument with sufficient sensitivity to open a new window on cosmic ray production and the interior processes of GRBs,\u201d said IceCube spokesperson and University of Maryland physics professor Greg Sullivan. \u201cThe unexpected absence of neutrinos from GRBs has forced a re-evaluation of the theory for production of cosmic rays and neutrinos in a GRB fireball and possibly the theory that high energy cosmic rays are generated in fireballs.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIceCube is a high energy neutrino telescope at the geographical South Pole in Antarctica, operated by a collaboration of 250 physicists and engineers from the United States, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Barbados. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory was built under a National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction grant, with assistance from partner funding agencies around the world. The NSF Office of Polar Programs continues to support the project with a maintenance and operations grant. Construction was finished in December 2010.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne of the main objectives of IceCube is to search for the sources of the highest energy cosmic rays,\u201d explained Ignacio Taboada, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics who has been involved in IceCube since its planning stages. \u201cGamma ray bursts have always been high on the list of potential sources for cosmic rays. Though not completely ruled out, the mechanisms by which GRBs could produce these cosmic rays are now significantly constrained by these results. We will keep looking for the sources, and our chances of finding them will increase as we accumulate more data to improve our sensitivity.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIceCube observes neutrinos by detecting the faint blue light produced in neutrino interactions in ice. Neutrinos are of a ghostly nature; they can easily travel through people, walls, or the planet Earth. To compensate for the antisocial nature of neutrinos and detect their rare interactions, IceCube is built on an enormous scale. One cubic kilometer of glacial ice, enough to fit the great pyramid of Giza 400 times, is instrumented with 5,160 optical sensors embedded up to 2.5 kilometers deep in the ice.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGRBs, the universe\u2019s most powerful explosions, are usually first observed by satellites using X-rays and\/or gamma rays. GRBs are seen about once per day, and are so bright that they can be seen from half way across the visible universe. The explosions usually last only a few seconds, and during this brief time they can outshine everything else in the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAlthough we have not discovered where cosmic rays come from, we have taken a major step towards ruling out one of the leading predictions,\u201d said IceCube principal investigator and University of Wisconsin - Madison physics professor Francis Halzen.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EImproved theoretical understanding and more data from the compete IceCube detector will help scientists better understand the mystery of cosmic ray production. IceCube is currently collecting more data with the finalized, better calibrated, and better understood detector.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more information about IceCube, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.icecube.wisc.edu\u0022\u003Ewww.icecube.wisc.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech physicist contributes to study of gamma ray bursts"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a paper published in the journal Nature, scientists using data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory describe a search for neutrinos emitted from 300 gamma ray bursts. The study\u0027s findings contradict 15 years of predictions and challenge one of the leading theories for the origin of the highest energy cosmic rays.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is helping study the origins of gamma ray bursts."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-04-18 12:59:40","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:00","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-04-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-04-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"124751":{"id":"124751","type":"image","title":"IceCube Observatory","body":null,"created":"1449178593","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:36:33","changed":"1475894746","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:46","alt":"IceCube Observatory","file":{"fid":"194476","name":"icecube-lab.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/icecube-lab_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/icecube-lab_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":242507,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/icecube-lab_0.jpg?itok=1SiE9Et5"}},"124741":{"id":"124741","type":"image","title":"Ignacio Taboada","body":null,"created":"1449178593","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:36:33","changed":"1475894746","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:46","alt":"Ignacio Taboada","file":{"fid":"194475","name":"ignacio-taboada111.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ignacio-taboada111_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ignacio-taboada111_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1272009,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ignacio-taboada111_0.jpg?itok=lh9erxBQ"}}},"media_ids":["124751","124741"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"30801","name":"cosmic ray"},{"id":"30791","name":"gamma ray"},{"id":"30821","name":"gamma ray burst"},{"id":"30811","name":"IceCube Observatory"},{"id":"30781","name":"Ignacio Taboada"},{"id":"30751","name":"neutrino"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"117741":{"#nid":"117741","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Develop Blueprint for Nuclear Clock Accurate Over Billions of Years","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA clock accurate to within a tenth of a second over 14 billion years -- the age of the universe -- is the goal of research being reported this week by scientists from three different institutions. To be published in the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review Letters\u003C\/em\u003E, the research provides the blueprint for a nuclear clock that would get its extreme accuracy from the nucleus of a single thorium ion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESuch a clock could be useful for certain forms of secure communication -- and perhaps of greater interest -- for studying the fundamental theories of physics. A nuclear clock could be as much as one hundred times more accurate than current atomic clocks, which now serve as the basis for the global positioning system (GPS) and a broad range of important measurements.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If you give people a better clock, they will use it,\u0022 said Alex Kuzmich, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E at the Georgia Institute of Technology and one of the paper\u0027s co-authors. \u0022For most applications, the atomic clocks we have are precise enough. But there are other applications where having a better clock would provide a real advantage.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to the Georgia Tech physicists, researchers in the School of Physics at the University of New South Wales in Australia and at the Department of Physics at the University of Nevada also contributed to the study. The research has been supported by the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation and the Gordon Godfrey fellowship.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEarly clocks used a swinging pendulum to provide the oscillations needed to track time. In modern clocks, quartz crystals provide high-frequency oscillations that act like a tuning fork, replacing the old-fashioned pendulum. Atomic clocks derive their accuracy from laser-induced oscillations of electrons in atoms. However, these electrons can be affected by magnetic and electrical fields, allowing atomic clocks to drift ever so slightly -- about four seconds in the lifetime of the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause neutrons are much heavier than electrons and densely packed into the atomic nucleus, they are less susceptible to these perturbations than the electrons. A nuclear clock should therefore be less affected by environmental factors than its atomic cousin.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In our paper, we show that by using lasers to orient the electrons in a very specific way, we can use the neutron of an atomic nucleus as the clock pendulum,\u0022 said Corey Campbell, a research scientist in the Kuzmich laboratory and the paper\u0027s first author. \u0022Because the neutron is held so tightly to the nucleus, its oscillation rate is almost completely unaffected by any external perturbations.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo create the oscillations, the researchers plan to use a laser operating at petahertz frequencies -- 10 (15)\u0026nbsp;oscillations per second -- to boost the nucleus of a thorium 229 ion into a higher energy state. Tuning a laser to create these higher energy states would allow scientists to set its frequency very precisely, and that frequency would be used to keep time instead of the tick of a clock or the swing of a pendulum.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe nuclear clock ion will need to be maintained at a very low temperature -- tens of microkelvins -- to keep it still. To produce and maintain such temperatures, physicists normally use laser cooling. But for this system, that would pose a problem because laser light is also used to create the timekeeping oscillations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo solve that problem, the researchers include a single thorium 232 ion with the thorium 229 ion that will be used for timekeeping. The heavier ion is affected by a different wavelength than the thorium 229. The researchers can then cool the heavier ion, which lowers the temperature of the clock ion without affecting the oscillations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The cooling ion acts as a refrigerator, keeping the clock ion very still,\u0022 said Alexander Radnaev, a graduate research assistant in the Kuzmich lab. \u0022This is necessary to interrogate the clock ion for very long and to make a very accurate clock that will provide the next level of performance.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECalculations suggest that a nuclear clock could be accurate to 10 (-19), compared to 10 (-17) for the best atomic clock.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause they operate in slightly different ways, atomic clocks and nuclear clocks could one day be used together to examine differences in physical constants. \u0022Some laws of physics may not be constant in time,\u0022 Kuzmich said. \u0022Developing better clocks is a good way to study this.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough the research team believes it has now demonstrated the potential to make a nuclear clock -- which was first proposed in 2003 -- it will still be a while before they can produce a working one.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe major challenge ahead is that the exact frequency of laser emissions needed to excite the thorium nucleus hasn\u0027t yet been determined, despite the efforts of many different research groups.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022People have been looking for this for 30 years,\u0022 Campbell said. \u0022It\u0027s worse than looking for a needle in a haystack. It\u0027s more like looking for a needle in a million haystacks.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut Kuzmich believes that problem will be solved, allowing physicists to move to the next generation of phenomenally accurate timekeepers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our research shows that building a nuclear clock in this way is both worthwhile and feasible,\u0022 he said. \u0022We now have the tools and plans needed to move forward in realizing this system.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia \u0026nbsp;30308 \u0026nbsp;USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Precision of Nuclear Clock Depends on Single Atom of Thorium"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA clock accurate to within a tenth of a second over 14 billion years \u2013 the age of the universe \u2013 is the goal of research being reported this week in the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review Letters. \u003C\/em\u003EThe research provides the blueprint for a nuclear clock based on a single thorium ion.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have developed plans for an ultra-precise nuclear clock accurate over billions of years."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-03-19 13:19:42","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:11:52","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-03-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-03-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"117691":{"id":"117691","type":"image","title":"Nuclear Clock - Overlapping Lasers","body":null,"created":"1449178256","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:56","changed":"1475894471","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:11","alt":"Nuclear Clock - Overlapping Lasers","file":{"fid":"194267","name":"nuclear-clock29.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nuclear-clock29_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/nuclear-clock29_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1820202,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/nuclear-clock29_0.jpg?itok=p10CdI5G"}},"117721":{"id":"117721","type":"image","title":"Nuclear Clock - Ion Trap","body":null,"created":"1449178256","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:56","changed":"1475894736","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:36","alt":"Nuclear Clock - Ion Trap","file":{"fid":"194270","name":"ion_trap.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ion_trap_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ion_trap_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":816189,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ion_trap_0.jpg?itok=qjAHNPHC"}},"117731":{"id":"117731","type":"image","title":"Nuclear Clock - Containing Thorium Atoms","body":null,"created":"1449178256","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:56","changed":"1475894736","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:36","alt":"Nuclear Clock - Containing Thorium Atoms","file":{"fid":"194271","name":"dsc04717.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc04717_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc04717_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1257641,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dsc04717_0.jpg?itok=1mDTO6ay"}}},"media_ids":["117691","117721","117731"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"24201","name":"Alex Kuzmich"},{"id":"27451","name":"atomic clock"},{"id":"27431","name":"nuclear clock"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"111171":{"#nid":"111171","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Technique Produces Free-standing Piezoelectric Ferroelectric Nanostructures from PZT Material","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have developed a \u201csoft template infiltration\u201d technique for fabricating free-standing piezoelectrically active ferroelectric nanotubes and other nanostructures from PZT \u2013 a material that is attractive because of its large piezoelectric response. Developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the technique allows fabrication of ferroelectric nanostructures with user-defined shapes, location and pattern variation across the same substrate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe resulting structures, which are 100 to 200 nanometers in outer diameter with thickness ranging from 5 to 25 nanometers, show a piezoelectric response comparable to that of PZT thin films of much larger dimensions. The technique could ultimately lead to production of actively-tunable photonic and phononic crystals, terahertz emitters, energy harvesters, micromotors, micropumps and nanoelectromechanical sensors, actuators and transducers \u2013 all made from the PZT material.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing a novel characterization technique developed at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ornl.gov\/\u0022\u003EOak Ridge National Laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E, the researchers for the first time made high-accuracy in-situ measurements of the nanoscale piezoelectric properties of the structures.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are using a new nano-manufacturing method for creating three-dimensional nanostructures with high aspect ratios in ferroelectric materials that have attractive piezoelectric properties,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/bassiri_gharb.shtml\u0022\u003ENazanin Bassiri-Gharb\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EWoodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWe also leveraged a new characterization method available through Oak Ridge to study the piezoelectric response of these nanostructures on the substrate where they were produced.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was published online on Jan. 26, 2012, and is scheduled for publication in the print edition (Vol. 24, Issue 9) of the journal \u003Cem\u003EAdvanced Materials\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was supported by Georgia Tech new faculty startup funds.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFerroelectric materials at the nanometer scale are promising for a wide range of applications, but processing them into useful devices has proven challenging \u2013 despite success at producing such devices at the micrometer scale. Top-down manufacturing techniques, such as focused ion beam milling, allow accurate definition of devices at the nanometer scale, but the process can induce surface damage that degrades the ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties that make the material interesting.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUntil now, bottom-up fabrication techniques have been unable to produce structures with both high aspect ratios and precise control over location. The technique reported by the Georgia Tech researchers allows production of nanotubes made from PZT (PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3) with aspect ratios of up to 5 to 1.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis technique gives us a degree of control over the three-dimensional process that we\u2019ve not had before,\u201d said Bassiri-Gharb. \u201cWhen we did the characterization, we saw a size effect that until now had been observed only in thin films of this material at much larger size scales.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe ferroelectric nanotubes are especially interesting because their properties \u2013 including size, shape, optical responses and dielectric characteristics \u2013 can be controlled by external forces even after they are fabricated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese are truly smart materials, which means they respond to external stimuli such as applied electric fields, thermal fields or stress fields,\u201d said Bassiri-Gharb. \u201cYou can tune them to behave differently. Devices made from these materials could be fine tuned to respond to a different wavelength or to emit at a different wavelength during operation.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor example, the piezoelectric effect could permit fabrication of \u201cnano-muscle\u201d tubes that would act as tiny pumps when an electric field is applied to them. The fields could also be used to tune the properties of photonic crystals, or to create structures whose size can be altered slightly to absorb electromagnetic energy of different wavelengths.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn fabricating the nanotubes, Bassiri-Gharb and graduate student Ashley Bernal (currently an assistant professor at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) began with a silicon substrate and spin-coated a negative electron-beam resist material onto it. A template was created using electron-beam lithography, and a thin layer of aluminum oxide was added on top of that using atomic layer deposition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENext, the template was immersed under vacuum into an ultrasound bath containing a chemical precursor solution for PZT. The structures were pyrolyzed at 300 degrees Celsius, then annealed in a two-step heat treating process at 600 and 800 degrees Celsius to crystallize the material and decompose the polymer substrate. The process produced free-standing PZT nanotubes connected by a thin layer of the original aluminum oxide. Increasing the amount of chemical infiltration allows production of solid nanorods or nanowires instead of hollow nanotubes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough the researchers used electron beam lithography to create the template on which the structures were grown, in principle, many other chemical, optical or mechanical patterning techniques could be used for create the templates, Bassiri-Gharb noted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn studies done in collaboration with researchers Sergei Kalinin and Alexander Tselev of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cnms.ornl.gov\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Nanophase Materials Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the devices produced by the soft template process were analyzed with band-excitation piezoresponse force microscopy (BPFM). The technique allowed researchers to isolate properties of the AFM tip from those of the PZT sample, allowing analysis in sufficient detail to detect the size-scale piezoelectric effects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne of our most important observations is that these piezoelectric nanomaterials allow us to generate a factor of four to six increase in the extrinsic piezoelectric response compared to the use of thin films,\u201d said Baassiri-Gharb. \u201cThis would be a huge advantage in terms of manufacturing because it means we could get the same response from much smaller structures than we would have had to otherwise use.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences is one of the five Department of Energy (DOE) Nanoscale Science Research Centers, premier national user facilities for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale that are supported by the DOE Office of Science. Together, the NSRCs comprise a suite of complementary facilities that provide researchers with state-of-the-art capabilities to fabricate, process, characterize and model nanoscale materials, and constitute the largest infrastructure investment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The NSRCs are located at DOE\u2019s Argonne, Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge, Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories. For more information about the DOE NSRCs, please visit http:\/\/science.energy.gov\/bes\/suf\/user-facilities\/nanoscale-science-research-centers\/.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30308\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Technique Allows User-defined Shapes, Location and Pattern Variation"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have developed a \u201csoft template infiltration\u201d technique for fabricating free-standing piezoelectrically active ferroelectric nanotubes and other nanostructures from PZT \u2013 a material that is attractive because of its large piezoelectric response. Developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the technique allows fabrication of ferroelectric nanostructures with user-defined shapes, location and pattern variation across the same substrate.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new technique enables fabrication of free-standing piezoelectrically-active ferroelectric nanostructures from PZT."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-02-21 12:07:19","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:11:44","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-02-21T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-02-21T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"111141":{"id":"111141","type":"image","title":"Ferroelectric-structures","body":null,"created":"1449178213","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:13","changed":"1475894728","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:28","alt":"Ferroelectric-structures","file":{"fid":"194090","name":"ferroelectric-structures.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ferroelectric-structures_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ferroelectric-structures_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":294766,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ferroelectric-structures_0.jpg?itok=RwiSaPAV"}},"111151":{"id":"111151","type":"image","title":"Ferroelectric-structures2","body":null,"created":"1449178213","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:13","changed":"1475894728","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:28","alt":"Ferroelectric-structures2","file":{"fid":"194091","name":"ferroelectric-structures2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ferroelectric-structures2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ferroelectric-structures2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":180780,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ferroelectric-structures2_0.jpg?itok=ao07Gtyn"}},"111161":{"id":"111161","type":"image","title":"Ferroelectric-structures3","body":null,"created":"1449178213","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:13","changed":"1475894728","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:28","alt":"Ferroelectric-structures3","file":{"fid":"194092","name":"ferroelectric-structures3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ferroelectric-structures3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ferroelectric-structures3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":246260,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ferroelectric-structures3_0.jpg?itok=Rp2t_3Lr"}}},"media_ids":["111141","111151","111161"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13685","name":"ferroelectric"},{"id":"7577","name":"nanostructure"},{"id":"3173","name":"nanotube"},{"id":"13686","name":"Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb"},{"id":"7699","name":"piezoelectric"},{"id":"24651","name":"PZT"},{"id":"167377","name":"School of Mechanical Engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"112331":{"#nid":"112331","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Scientists Score Another Victory Over Uncertainty in Quantum Physics Measurements","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMost people attempt to reduce the little uncertainties of life by carrying umbrellas on cloudy days, purchasing automobile insurance or hiring inspectors to evaluate homes they might consider purchasing. For scientists, reducing uncertainty is a no less important goal, though in the weird realm of quantum physics, the term has a more specific meaning.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor scientists working in quantum physics, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle says that measurements of properties such as the momentum of an object and its exact position cannot be simultaneously specified with arbitrary accuracy. As a result, there must be some uncertainty in either the exact position of the object, or its exact momentum. The amount of uncertainty can be determined, and is often represented graphically by a circle showing the area within which the measurement actually lies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver the past few decades, scientists have learned to cheat a bit on the Uncertainty Principle through a process called \u201csqueezing,\u201d which has the effect of changing how the uncertainty is shown graphically. Changing the circle to an ellipse and ultimately to almost a line allows one component of the complementary measurements \u2013 the momentum or the position, in the case of an object \u2013 to be specified more precisely than would otherwise be possible. The actual area of uncertainty remains unchanged, but is represented by a different shape that serves to improve accuracy in measuring one property.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis squeezing has been done in measuring properties of photons and atoms, and can be important to certain high-precision measurements needed by atomic clocks and the magnetometers used to create magnetic resonance imaging views of structures deep inside the body. For the military, squeezing more accuracy could improve the detection of enemy submarines attempting to hide underwater or improve the accuracy of atom-based inertial guidance instruments.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow physicists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have added another measurement to the list of those that can be squeezed. In a paper appearing online February 26 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E, they report squeezing a property called the nematic tensor, which is used to describe the rubidium atoms in Bose-Einstein Condensates, a unique form of matter in which all atoms have the same quantum state. The research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat is new about our work is that we have probably achieved the highest level of atom squeezing reported so far, and the more squeezing you get, the better,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/michael-chapman\u0022\u003EMichael Chapman\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWe are also squeezing something other than what people have squeezed before.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists have been squeezing the spin states of atoms for 15 years, but only for atoms that have just two relevant quantum states \u2013 known as spin \u00bd systems. In collections of those atoms, the spin states of the individual atoms can be added together to get a collective angular momentum that describes the entire system of atoms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the Bose-Einstein condensate atoms being studied by Chapman\u2019s group, the atoms have three quantum states, and their collective spin totals zero \u2013 not very helpful for describing systems. So Chapman and graduate students Chris Hamley, Corey Gerving, Thai Hoang and Eva Bookjans learned to squeeze a more complex measure that describes their system of spin 1 atoms: nematic tensor, also known as quadrupole. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENematicity is a measure of alignment that is important in describing liquid crystals, exotic magnetic materials and some high temperature superconductors. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe don\u2019t have a spin vector pointing in a particular direction, but there is still some residual information in where this collection of atoms is pointing,\u201d Chapman explained. \u201cThat next higher-order description is the quadrupole, or nematic tensor. Squeezing this actually works quite well, and we get a large degree of improvement, so we think it is relatively promising.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EExperimentally, the squeezing is created by entangling some of the atoms, which takes away their independence. Chapman\u2019s group accomplishes this by colliding atoms in their ensemble of some 40,000 rubidium atoms.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAfter they collide, the state of one atom is connected to that of the other atom, so they have been entangled in that way,\u201d he said. \u201cThis entanglement creates the squeezing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EReducing uncertainty in measuring atoms could have important implications for precise magnetic measurements. The next step will be to determine experimentally if the technique can improve the measurement of magnetic field, which could have important applications. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn principle, this should be a straightforward experiment, but it turns out that the biggest challenge is that magnetic fields in the laboratory fluctuate due to environmental factors such as the effects of devices such as computer monitors,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cIf we had a noiseless laboratory, we could measure the magnetic field both with and without squeezed states to demonstrate the enhanced precision. But in our current lab environment, our measurements would be affected by outside noise, not the limitations of the atomic sensors we are using.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new squeezed property could also have application to quantum information systems, which can store information in the spin of atoms and their nematic tensor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere are a lot of things you can do with quantum entanglement, and improving the accuracy of measurements is one of them,\u201d Chapman added. \u201cWe still have to obey Heisenberg\u2019s Uncertainty Principle, but we do have the ability to manipulate it.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30308\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"\u0022Squeezed\u0022 Measurements Demonstrated in Bose-Einstein Condensate"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUncertainty affects the accuracy with which measurements can be made in quantum physics. To reduce this uncertainty, physicists have learned to \u0022squeeze\u0022 certain measurements. Researchers are now reporting a new type of measurement that can be squeezed to improve precision.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech physicists have improved another form of quantum measurements."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-02-26 13:02:36","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:11:44","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-02-26T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-02-26T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"112301":{"id":"112301","type":"image","title":"Squeezed States Michael Chapman","body":null,"created":"1449178213","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:13","changed":"1475894731","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:31","alt":"Squeezed States Michael Chapman","file":{"fid":"194153","name":"squeezed-states60.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/squeezed-states60_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/squeezed-states60_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1759826,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/squeezed-states60_0.jpg?itok=oZLgy7aI"}},"112311":{"id":"112311","type":"image","title":"Squeezed States Chapman Team","body":null,"created":"1449178213","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:13","changed":"1475894731","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:31","alt":"Squeezed States Chapman Team","file":{"fid":"194154","name":"squeezed-states82.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/squeezed-states82_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/squeezed-states82_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1886403,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/squeezed-states82_0.jpg?itok=QJGTpG9g"}},"112321":{"id":"112321","type":"image","title":"Squeezed States Optical Equipment","body":null,"created":"1449178213","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:13","changed":"1475894731","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:31","alt":"Squeezed States Optical Equipment","file":{"fid":"194155","name":"squeezed-states203.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/squeezed-states203_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/squeezed-states203_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1610766,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/squeezed-states203_0.jpg?itok=_yhKpGGS"}}},"media_ids":["112301","112311","112321"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3135","name":"entanglement"},{"id":"25091","name":"Michael Chapman"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"25101","name":"quantum physics"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"169464","name":"squeezed states"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"109721":{"#nid":"109721","#data":{"type":"news","title":"$8.5 Million Research Initiative Will Study Best Approaches for Quantum Memories","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) has awarded $8.5 million to a consortium of seven U.S. universities that will work together to determine the best approach for generating quantum memories based on interaction between light and matter. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team will consider three different approaches for creating entangled quantum memories that could facilitate the long-distance transmission of secure information. The five-year Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) will be led by the Georgia Institute of Technology and include scientists from Columbia University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan, Stanford University and the University of Wisconsin.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to develop a set of novel and powerful approaches to quantum networking,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/alex-kuzmich\u0022\u003EAlex Kuzmich\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E and the MURI\u2019s principal investigator.\u0026nbsp; \u201cThe three basic capabilities will be (1) storing quantum information for longer periods of time, on the order of seconds, (2) converting the information to light, and (3) transmitting the information over long distances. We aim to create large-scale systems that use entanglement for quantum communication and potentially also quantum computing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe MURI scientists will study three different physical platforms for designing the matter-light interaction used to generate the entangled photons.\u0026nbsp; These include neutral atom memories with electronically-excited Rydberg-level interactions, nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect centers in diamonds, and charged quantum dots.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA large body of work has been initiated in this area over the past 15 years by our team members and their research groups,\u201d Kuzmich noted. \u201cThe physical approaches are different, but the goals are closely related, so there are significant opportunities for synergistic activities. Through this MURI, we will be able to interact more closely, communicate more quickly and provide new opportunities for our students and postdoctoral fellows.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOverall, the MURI has four major goals:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003ETo implement efficient light-matter interfaces using three different approaches to entanglement;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ETo realize entanglement lifetimes of more than one second in both the nitrogen-vacancy centers and atomic quantum memories;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ETo implement two-qubit quantum states within memory nodes;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ETo integrate different components and physical implementations into small units capable of significant quantum processing tasks.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EQuantum memories generated from the interaction of neutral atoms and light now have maximum lifetimes of approximately 200 milliseconds.\u0026nbsp; But improvements beyond memory lifetime will be needed before practical systems can be created.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe aim to be able to combine systems, so that instead of just one memory entangled with one photon, perhaps we could have four of them,\u201d Kuzmich added.\u0026nbsp; \u201cThis may look like a straightforward thing to do, but this is not easy in the laboratory.\u0026nbsp; The improvements must be made at every level, so the difficulty is significant.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong the challenges ahead are maintaining separation between the different memory systems, and minimizing loss of light as signals propagate through the optical fiber systems that would be used to transmit entangled photons. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cLight is easily lost, and there\u2019s not much that can be done about that from a fundamental physics standpoint,\u201d said Kuzmich.\u0026nbsp; \u201cThe rates of these protocols go down rapidly as you try to scale up the systems.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKuzmich and his Georgia Tech research team have been developing quantum memory based on the interaction of light with neutral atoms such as rubidium.\u0026nbsp; They have made substantial progress over the past decade, but he says it\u2019s not clear which approach will ultimately be used to create large-scale quantum communication system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe most immediate applications for the quantum memory are in secure communications, in which the entanglement of photons with matter would provide a new form of encryption.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe immediate focus is on communication, including memories and distributed systems, which is important for sharing and transmitting information,\u201d Kuzmich explained.\u0026nbsp; \u201cIt also has implications for quantum computation because similar techniques are often used.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Kuzmich, collaborators in the MURI include:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003ELuming Duan, professor of physics in the School of Physics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDirk Englund, assistant professor of electrical engineering and applied physics in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University, New York, New York.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EMarko Lonkar, associate professor of electrical engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EBrian Kennedy, professor of physics in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EMikhail Lukin, professor of physics in the Department of Physics at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EMark Saffman, professor of physics in the Department of Physics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EJelena Vuckovic, associate professor of electrical engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, Stanford, California.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EVladan Vuletic, the Lester Wolfe Professor of Physics in the School of Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThad Walker, professor of physics in the Department of Physics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf we are successful with this over the next five years, long-distance quantum communications may become promising for real-world implementation,\u201d Kuzmich added.\u0026nbsp; \u201cIntegrating these advances with existing infrastructure \u2013 optical fiber that\u2019s in the ground \u2013 will continue to be an important engineering challenge.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis material is based upon work conducted under contract FA9550-12-1-0025.\u0026nbsp; Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30308\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Air Force Office of Scientific Research Supports Multiple Universities"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) has awarded $8.5 million to a consortium of seven U.S. universities that will work together to determine the best approach for generating quantum memories based on interaction between light and matter. \u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"An $8.5 million contract will support evaluation of multiple approaches for producing quantum memory."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-02-15 16:52:16","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:11:44","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-02-15T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-02-15T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"109701":{"id":"109701","type":"image","title":"Quantum Memory Research Equipment","body":null,"created":"1449178201","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:30:01","changed":"1475894728","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:28","alt":"Quantum Memory Research Equipment","file":{"fid":"194056","name":"quantum-information134.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/quantum-information134_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/quantum-information134_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1449159,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/quantum-information134_0.jpg?itok=qJEt9koE"}}},"media_ids":["109701"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"24201","name":"Alex Kuzmich"},{"id":"3135","name":"entanglement"},{"id":"1744","name":"quantum"},{"id":"24191","name":"quantum memory"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"171187","name":"secure communication"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"107251":{"#nid":"107251","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Low-Cost Instrument Developed by Students Could Aid Weather Research","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn a recent blustery afternoon, scientists gathered on a rooftop at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (GTRI) to observe two atmospheric electric field-mill devices monitor the buildup of electrical charge in nearby clouds. The larger device was a commercial model costing about $5,000. The smaller one, built by five Georgia high-school students using a coffee can, electrical components and a motorcycle battery, cost about $200. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe accuracy of the field mills\u2019 readings of electrostatic charge -- a critical measure of lightning potential -- was comparable. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If we could put 25 of these low-cost field mills on high schools around Georgia, the resulting array would let us measure charge buildup in storm clouds and help answer important questions involving lightning activity,\u0022 said John Trostel, a senior research scientist who is director of GTRI\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/centers\/ssrc\u0022\u003ESevere Storms Research Center\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0022We\u0027d also be offering a unique educational opportunity to Georgia science students -- the chance to build a precision scientific instrument and then see it in operation.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBuilding an accurate field mill, Trostel explained, is not a trivial task. The present device is the result of several semesters of work by four students from Kennesaw Mountain High School in Kennesaw, Ga., and another student from The Walker School in Marietta, Ga.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnder the guidance of Georgia Tech personnel, each student worked a semester during his senior year as a research intern in the Severe Storms Research Center at GTRI\u0027s Cobb County Research Facility. For the Kennesaw Mountain students, the work at GTRI represented a capstone project completing four years in that school\u0027s Academy of Math and Science Magnet Program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027ve been fortunate to have students working at GTRI for six years now,\u0022 said Kelly Ingle, a science teacher who supervises the Magnet Research and Internship Program at the high school. \u0022It\u0027s a real win-win situation, because the students are gaining experience that will help launch them on their college and professional careers, and they\u0027re also doing something beneficial for the mentoring facility.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA Team Effort\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe five students -- David Brinkmann, Matthew Bond, Alex Hale and Andrew Brinkmann from Kennesaw Mountain and Stephen Pfohl from The Walker School -- each tackled part of the research and design effort required to build a working field mill, explained Tom Perry, a GTRI electrical engineer who played a major supervising role.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStarting in 2008, David Brinkmann spent a semester researching and building a prototype. His task was to demonstrate that it was indeed possible for high school students to build an inexpensive but accurate field mill.\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDavid Brinkmann -- now a student at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy -- considered several options before choosing a field-mill concept from a German website. He developed a cylinder-shaped device, consisting of handmade circuit boards held together by nuts and bolts that fit snugly into a coffee can. The total cost was about $90. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2009, Bond spent his spring semester improving David Brinkmann\u0027s model by adding electrical components, including a data-logging function for detecting voltages and a voltage regulator that ensures uniform performance of a rotating blade that spins above the sensing elements, inducing alternating positive and negative charges. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe then tackled the challenge of calibrating the field mill, which involves correlating voltage readings with field strengths in the atmosphere. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I built a 10 foot by 10 foot structure -- basically a capacitor -- out of wood and aluminum foil,\u0022 recalled Bond, now a student in mechanical engineering at Mississippi State University.\u0026nbsp; The mill was then inserted into the gap between the two capacitor plates.\u0026nbsp; \u0022We ran different field strengths across the capacitor and then did a regression on the data. That gave us the equation we needed to translate the voltages we were seeing to actual field strengths, which are the useful data that we wanted.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2010, Hale used CAD design software to develop a final circuit-board design that could be fabricated commercially. Now at the University of Alabama, Hale also built a field-mill mockup to demonstrate that fabricated boards would fit correctly, and he improved the device\u0027s electrical characteristics. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We used several professional-level computer programs to improve the layout and develop a final design that could be sent to a fabricator,\u0022 Perry said. \u0022Alex did all the CAD work that went into the final board design. At each step I showed him partially how to do it. Then I would erase my work, and he would go on to complete it.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe field mill currently being tested by GTRI employs a commercially fabricated circuit board that was made using Hale\u0027s design.\u0026nbsp; The robustness of the $200 field mill is still under study. Device accuracy is excellent, but issues include long-term calibration consistency and materials lifespan. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Before we actually distribute any field mills to schools, we\u0027re calibrating several of them and comparing their operation with commercial field mills over time,\u0022 Trostel said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EContinuing the project, during the summer of 2011 Pfohl was tasked with constructing five copies of this successful design to be used in comparison and for stability testing. Andrew Brinkmann, David\u2019s younger brother, then spent the fall semester of 2011 testing and comparing the outputs of the five devices. This testing led to numerous improvements in the mill design that should make them both more reliable and more robust.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EField Mill Kits\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETrostel explained that with commercial circuit boards and other parts now easily available, it may soon be possible to take the next step: distribution of low-cost, standardized field mill kits and operational procedures to leading Georgia high schools. That step would allow students around the state to investigate local electric field effects. Mounted on the school\u0027s roof, the device would send lightning data via a wired connection to a computer in the school.\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHaving 25 or so field mills around the state would allow Georgia schools to participate in an extensive field-mill array capable of making large-scale electric field measurements.\u0026nbsp; Such an array could make a real contribution to lightning research by supporting investigation into such research problems as the initiation and cessation of lightning during a storm.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022An array of field mills over an extensive area would give us more insight into when lightning first begins during a storm, and when it ends,\u0022 Trostel said. \u0022When we know more about when these points are reached, it will help us establish dependable guidelines on lightning dangers.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlso under study are the best methods for supplying power to the device. Solar power shows promise, and its use would make the student field mill more portable than commercial models, which require connection to power lines. But a solar panel adds to the overall cost, and researchers must still solve the problem of storing enough solar energy to outlast sunless periods in winter.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMany U.S. high schools are already part of existing weather networks that integrate weather data into classroom learning, Trostel said. The GTRI team wants to work cooperatively with such a network, enabling a Georgia field-mill array to connect to an existing Internet-based system. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It would be really valuable to have high school students be part of this kind of cutting-edge, real-world experiment,\u0022 Trostel said. \u0022It would help get them excited about science.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30308\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"High School Students Design, Build and Test Electric Field Mill Device"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUnder the guidance of Georgia Tech researchers, a group of high school students has designed, built and tested a low-cost version of a device that monitors the buildup of electrical charge in clouds. A network of such devices, known as field mills, could be used to learn more about the lightning that is part of severe weather -- while providing real-world science and engineering experience for the students.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A low-cost instrument used for monitoring lightning could support research on severe storms."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2012-02-07 09:41:53","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:11:40","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-02-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-02-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"107221":{"id":"107221","type":"image","title":"Field Mill Prototype","body":null,"created":"1449178188","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:29:48","changed":"1475894725","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:25","alt":"Field Mill Prototype","file":{"fid":"193992","name":"fieldmill1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fieldmill1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fieldmill1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1276068,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/fieldmill1_0.jpg?itok=crLXCQNg"}},"107231":{"id":"107231","type":"image","title":"Comparing Commercial and Student Field Mills","body":null,"created":"1449178188","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:29:48","changed":"1475894725","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:25","alt":"Comparing Commercial and Student Field Mills","file":{"fid":"193993","name":"fieldmill4.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fieldmill4_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fieldmill4_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1452057,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/fieldmill4_0.jpg?itok=CQdOxZUM"}},"107241":{"id":"107241","type":"image","title":"Field Mill Project Group","body":null,"created":"1449178188","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:29:48","changed":"1475894725","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:25","alt":"Field Mill Project Group","file":{"fid":"193994","name":"fieldmill2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fieldmill2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fieldmill2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1422217,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/fieldmill2_0.jpg?itok=D5iMacsW"}}},"media_ids":["107221","107231","107241"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"23241","name":"field mill"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"23261","name":"John Trostel"},{"id":"1396","name":"lightning"},{"id":"169457","name":"Severe Storms Research Center"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon, Research News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E (404-894-6986)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72404":{"#nid":"72404","#data":{"type":"news","title":"A Two-Dimensional Electron Liquid Solidifies in a Magnetic Field","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPhysicists\nfrom the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a theory that describes,\nin a unified manner, the coexistence of liquid and pinned solid phases of\nelectrons in two dimensions under the influence of a magnetic field. The theory\nalso describes the transition between these phases as the field is varied. The\ntheoretical predictions by Constantine Yannouleas and Uzi Landman, from Georgia\nTech\u2019s School of Physics, aim to explain and provide insights into the origins\nof experimental findings published last year by a team of researchers from\nPrinceton, Florida State and Purdue universities. The research appears in the\nOctober 27 edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical\nReview B\u003C\/em\u003E. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe\nexperimental discovery in 1982 of a new Hall conductance step at a fraction\n\u03bd=1\/m with m=3, that is at\u0026nbsp; (1\/3)e\u003Csup\u003E2\u003C\/sup\u003E\/h\n(with more conductance steps, at other m, found later) \u2013 where h is the Planck\nconstant and e is the electron charge \u2013 was made for\u0026nbsp; two-dimensional electrons at low temperatures\nand strong magnetic fields and was greeted with great surprise.\u0026nbsp; The theoretical explanation of this finding a\nyear later by Robert Laughlin in terms of a new form of a quantum fluid, earned\nhim and the experimentalists Horst St\u00f6rmer and Daniel Tsui the 1998 Nobel Prize\nwith the citation \u201cfor the discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally\ncharged excitations.\u201d These discoveries represent conceptual breakthroughs in\nthe understanding of matter, and the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) liquid\nstates, originating from the highly correlated nature of the electrons in these\nsystems, have been termed as new states of matter. \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe\nquantum fluid state at the 1\/3 primary fraction is the hallmark of the FQHE,\nwhose theoretical understanding has been formulated around the antithesis\nbetween a new form of quantum fluid and the pinned Wigner crystal,\u201d said Landman,\nRegents\u2019 and Institute Professor in the School of\nPhysics, F.E. Callaway Chair and director of the Center for Computational\nMaterials Science (CCMS) at Georgia Tech. \u201cTherefore, the\ndiscovery of pinned crystalline signatures in the neighborhood of the 1\/3 FQHE fraction,\nmeasured as resonances in the microwave spectrum of the two-dimensional\nelectron gas and reported in the Physical Review Letters in September 2010 by a\ngroup of researchers headed by Daniel Tsui, was rather surprising,\u201d he added. \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIndeed,\nformation of a hexagonally ordered two-dimensional electron solid phase, a so\ncalled Wigner crystal (WC) named after the Nobel laureate physicist Eugene\nWigner who predicted its existence in 1934, has been anticipated for smaller\nquantum Hall fractional fillings, \u03bd, of the lowest Landau level populated by\nthe electrons at high magnetic fields, for example \u03bd = 1\/9, 1\/7 and even 1\/5.\nHowever, the electrons in the \u03bd=1\/3 fraction were believed to resist\ncrystallization and remain liquid. \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe\nGeorgia Tech physicists developed a theoretical formalism that, in conjunction\nwith exact numerical solutions, provides a unified microscopic approach to the\ninterplay between FQHE liquid and Wigner solid states in the neighborhood of\nthe 1\/3 fractional filling. A major advantage of their approach is the use of a\nsingle class of variational wave functions for description of both the quantum\nliquid and solid phases.\u0026nbsp; \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cLiquid\ncharacteristics of the fractional quantum Hall effect states are associated\nwith symmetry-conserving vibrations and rotations of the strongly interacting\nelectrons and they coexist with intrinsic correlations that are crystalline in\nnature,\u201d Senior Research Scientist Yannouleas and Landman wrote in the opening section of their paper.\n\u201cWhile the electron densities of the fractional quantum Hall effect liquid\nstate do not exhibit crystalline patterns, the intrinsic crystalline\ncorrelations which they possess are reflected in the emergence of a sequence of\nliquid states of enhanced stability, called cusp states, that correspond in the\nthermodynamic limit to the fractional quantum Hall effect filling fractions\nobserved in Hall conductance measurements,\u201d they added.\n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe\nkey to their explanation of the recent experimental observations pertaining to\nthe appearance of solid characteristics for magnetic fields in the neighborhood\nof the 1\/3 filling fraction is their finding that \u201caway from the exact\nfractional fillings, for example near \u03bd=1\/3, weak pinning perturbations, due to\nweak disorder, may overcome the energy gaps between adjacent good angular\nmomentum symmetry-conserving states. The coupling between these states\ngenerates broken-symmetry ground states whose densities exhibit spatial\ncrystalline patterns. At the same time, however, the energy gap between the\nground state at \u03bd=1\/3 and adjacent states is found to be sufficiently large to\nprevent disorder-induced mixing, thus preserving its quantum fluid nature.\u201d\u0026nbsp; \n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFurthermore,\nthe work shows that the emergence of the crystalline features, via the pinning\nperturbations, is a consequence of the aforementioned presence of crystalline\ncorrelations in the symmetry-conserving states. Consequently, mixing rules that\ngovern the nature of the disorder-pinned crystalline states have been\nformulated and tested.\u0026nbsp; Extrapolation of\nthe calculated results to the thermodynamic limit shows development of a\nhexagonal Wigner crystal with enhanced stability due to quantum correlations.\n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn\nclosing, the nature of electrons in the fractional quantum Hall regime continues\nnow for close to three decades to be a subject of great fascination, a research\nfield that raises questions whose investigations can lead to deeper conceptual\nunderstanding of matter and many-body phenomena, and a rich\u0026nbsp; source of surprise and discovery,\u201d said\nLandman.\n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis work was\nsupported by the Office of Basic Energy\nSciences of the US Department of Energy.\n\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPhysicists from the Georgia Institute of\nTechnology have developed a theory that describes, in a unified manner, the\ncoexistence of liquid and pinned solid phases of electrons in two dimensions\nunder the influence of a magnetic field. The theory also describes the\ntransition between these phases as the field is varied.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Physicists from the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a theory that describes, in a unified manner, the coexistence of liquid and pinned solid phases of electrons in two dimensions under the influence of a magnetic field."}],"uid":"27560","created_gmt":"2011-11-04 09:05:37","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:38","author":"Jason Maderer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-11-04T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-11-04T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72403":{"id":"72403","type":"image","title":"Two-Dimensional Electron Liquid Solidifies in a Magnetic Field","body":null,"created":"1449177930","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:25:30","changed":"1475894656","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:16","alt":"Two-Dimensional Electron Liquid Solidifies in a Magnetic Field","file":{"fid":"193672","name":"uzi_.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/uzi__0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/uzi__0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":354099,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/uzi__0.jpg?itok=8cl_qJs7"}},"40073":{"id":"40073","type":"image","title":"Uzi Landman","body":null,"created":"1449174146","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:22:26","changed":"1475894231","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:37:11","alt":"Uzi Landman","file":{"fid":"189593","name":"tsm23821.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsm23821.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsm23821.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1903110,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tsm23821.jpg?itok=IcU_zvYC"}}},"media_ids":["72403","40073"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cos.gatech.edu\/","title":"College of Sciences"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.prism.gatech.edu\/~ph274cy\/","title":"Constantine Yannouleas"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/uzi-landman","title":"Uzi Landman"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"608","name":"electrons"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"9180","name":"Uzi Landman"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJason Maderer\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-385-2966\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jason.maderer@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72103":{"#nid":"72103","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Zinc Oxide Microwires Improve Performance of  Light-Emitting Diodes","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have used zinc oxide microwires to significantly improve the efficiency at which gallium nitride light-emitting diodes (LED) convert electricity to ultraviolet light. The devices are believed to be the first LEDs whose performance has been enhanced by the creation of an electrical charge in a piezoelectric material using the piezo-phototronic effect.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy applying mechanical strain to the microwires, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology created a piezoelectric potential in the wires, and that potential was used to tune the charge transport and enhance carrier injection in the LEDs. This control of an optoelectronic device with piezoelectric potential, known as piezo-phototronics, represents another example of how materials that have both piezoelectric and semiconducting properties can be controlled mechanically.   \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022By utilizing this effect, we can enhance the external efficiency of these devices by a factor of more than four times, up to eight percent,\u0022 said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regents professor in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering.  \u0022From a practical standpoint, this new effect could have many impacts for electro-optical processes -- including improvements in the energy efficiency of lighting devices.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDetails of the research were reported in the Sept. 14 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003ENano Letters\u003C\/em\u003E.  The research was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).  In addition to Wang, the research team mainly included Qing Yang, a visiting scientist at Georgia Tech from the Department of Optical Engineering at Zhejiang University in China.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause of the polarization of ions in the crystals of piezoelectric materials such as zinc oxide, mechanically compressing or otherwise straining structures made from the materials creates a piezoelectric potential -- an electrical charge.  In the gallium nitride LEDs, the researchers used the local piezoelectric potential to tune the charge transport at the p-n junction. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe effect was to increase the rate at which electrons and holes recombined to generate photons, enhancing the external efficiency of the device through improved light emission and higher injection current. \u0022The effect of the piezo potential on the transport behavior of charge carriers is significant due to its modification of the band structure at the junction,\u0022 Wang explained.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe zinc oxide wires form the \u0022n\u0022 component of a p-n junction, with the gallium nitride thin film providing the \u0022p\u0022 component.  Free carriers were trapped at this interface region in a channel created by the piezoelectric charge formed by compressing the wires.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETraditional LED designs use structures such as quantum wells to trap electrons and holes, which must remain close together long enough to recombine.  The longer that electrons and holes can be retained in proximity to one another, the higher the efficiency of the LED device will ultimately be.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe devices produced by the Georgia Tech team increased their emission intensity by a factor of 17 and boosted injection current by a factor of four when compressive strain of 0.093 percent was applied to the zinc oxide wire.  That improved conversion efficiency by as much as a factor of 4.25.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe LEDs fabricated by the research team produced emissions at ultraviolet wavelengths (about 390 nanometers), but Wang believes the wavelengths can be extended into the visible light range for a variety of optoelectronic devices.  \u0022These devices are important for today\u0027s focus on green and renewable energy technology,\u0022 he said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the experimental devices, a single zinc oxide micro\/nanowire LED was fabricated by manipulating a wire on a trenched substrate.  A magnesium-doped gallium nitride film was grown epitaxially on a sapphire substrate by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, and was used to form a p-n junction with the zinc oxide wire.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA sapphire substrate was used as the cathode that was placed side-by-side with the gallium nitride substrate with a well-controlled gap.  The wire was placed across the gap in close contact with the gallium nitride.  Transparent polystyrene tape was used to cover the nanowire.  A force was then applied to the tape by an alumina rod connected to a piezo nanopositioning stage, creating the strain in the wire.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers then studied the change in light emission produced by varying the amount of strain in 20 different devices.  Half of the devices showed enhanced efficiency, while the others -- fabricated with the opposite orientation of the microwires -- showed a decrease. This difference was due to the reversal in the sign of the piezopotential because of the switch of the microwire orientation from +c to -c.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHigh-efficiency ultraviolet emitters are needed for applications in chemical, biological, aerospace, military and medical technologies.  Although the internal quantum efficiencies of these LEDs can be as high as 80 percent, the external efficiency for a conventional single p-n junction thin-film LED is currently only about three percent.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBeyond LEDs, Wang believes the approach pioneered in this study can be applied to other optical devices that are controlled by electrical fields.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This opens up a new field of using the piezoelectric effect to tune opto-electronic devices,\u0022 Wang said.  \u0022Improving the efficiency of LED lighting could ultimately be very important, bringing about significant energy savings because so much of the world\u0027s energy is used for lighting.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Zhong Lin Wang (404-894-8008)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:zhong.wang@mse.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ezhong.wang@mse.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have used zinc oxide microwires to significantly improve the efficiency at which gallium nitride light-emitting diodes (LED) convert electricity to ultraviolet light.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers use piezo-phototronics to improve LED operation."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-10-31 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:34","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-10-31T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-10-31T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72104":{"id":"72104","type":"image","title":"Studying LEDs","body":null,"created":"1449177434","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:14","changed":"1475894651","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:11"},"72105":{"id":"72105","type":"image","title":"LED improved","body":null,"created":"1449177434","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:14","changed":"1475894651","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:11"},"72106":{"id":"72106","type":"image","title":"Studying LEDs","body":null,"created":"1449177434","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:14","changed":"1475894651","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:11"}},"media_ids":["72104","72105","72106"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/faculty\/zhong-lin-wang","title":"Zhong Lin Wang"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"14922","name":"LED"},{"id":"14921","name":"light-emitting diodes"},{"id":"14923","name":"microwire"},{"id":"14925","name":"piezo-phototronic"},{"id":"7699","name":"piezoelectric"},{"id":"14924","name":"Zhong Wang"},{"id":"7649","name":"zinc oxide"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71261":{"#nid":"71261","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Study Shows Role of Insoluble Dust Particles in Cloud Formation","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew information on the role of insoluble dust particles in forming cloud droplets could improve the accuracy of regional climate models, especially in areas of the world that have significant amounts of mineral aerosols in the atmosphere.  A more accurate accounting for the role of these particles could also have implications for global climate models.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECloud properties can have a significant impact on climate, yet the effects of aerosols like dust is one of the more uncertain components of climate change models.  Scientists have long recognized the importance of soluble particles, such as sea salt and sulfates, in creating the droplets that form clouds and lead to precipitation.  But until now, the role of insoluble particles -- mostly dust swept into the atmosphere from such sources as deserts -- hasn\u0027t figured significantly in climate models.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing a combination of physics-based theory and laboratory measurement of droplet formation, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a model that can be added to existing regional and global climate simulations.  The impacts of these refinements on cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity and droplet activation kinetics are still being studied.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Understanding that insoluble dust forms more droplets than we thought it could, and that those droplets form close to the sources of the particles, could change our picture of how precipitation is formed in areas like the Mediterranean, Asia and other climate-stressed regions,\u0022 said Athanasios Nenes, a professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA.  The findings were described at the Fall 2011 meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver, and reported in the journals \u003Cem\u003EGeophysical Research Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research\u003C\/em\u003E and \u003Cem\u003EAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics\u003C\/em\u003E. A new paper on the global modeling impacts has been accepted for publication by the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of Geophysical Research\u003C\/em\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESoluble particles nucleate droplets by absorbing water under conditions of high humidity.  Insoluble materials such as dust cannot absorb water, so it was thought that they played little role in the formation of clouds and precipitation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, Nenes and collaborators realized that these dust particles could nucleate droplets in a different way -- by adsorbing moisture onto their surfaces, much as moisture condenses on window glass during temperature changes.  Some insoluble particles containing clay materials may also adsorb moisture, even though they don\u0027t dissolve in it.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWorking with Irina Sokolik, also a professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Nenes and graduate student Prashant Kumar studied aerosol particles created from samples of desert soils from several areas of the world, including Northern Africa, East Asia\/China and North America.  In laboratory conditions simulating those of a saturated atmosphere, these insoluble particles formed cloud droplets, though the process was slower than the one producing droplets from soluble materials.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We generated particles in the laboratory from materials we find in the atmosphere,\u0022 explained Nenes, who also holds a faculty appointment in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.  \u0022These particles take up water using a mechanism that had not been considered before in models.  It turns out that this process of adsorption soaks up enough water to form cloud droplets.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe laboratory work showed that smaller particles were more likely than expected to generate droplets, and that their effectiveness as cloud condensation nuclei was affected by the type of minerals present, their size, morphology and processes affecting them in the atmosphere.  The dust particles ranged in size from 100 nanometers up to a few microns.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThese mineral aerosols may consist of iron oxides, carbonates, quartz and clays.  They mainly originate from arid and semi-arid regions, and can remain suspended in the atmosphere for as long as several weeks, allowing them to be transported long distances from their original sources.  In the atmosphere, the dust particles tend to accumulate soluble materials as they age.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We can simulate what is happening to the particles as they get slowly coated with more and more soluble materials,\u0022 said Nenes. \u0022As they get more and more soluble coatings on them, they become more hygroscopic.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are now working with collaborators in Germany to incorporate their new theories into existing climate models to see how they may change the predictions.  They also hope to carry out new field work to measure the activity of these insoluble aerosols in real-world conditions.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We now need to study the cloud particles in the atmosphere and their ability to form droplets to verify our theory using real atmospheric data,\u0022 Nenes said. \u0022We also need to look at dust and clouds from more regions of the world to make sure that the theory works for all of them.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EClouds play an important role in governing climate, so adding new information about their formation could improve the accuracy of complex climate models.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The reason that we care about particle-cloud interactions is that they introduce a lot of uncertainties in climate model predictions,\u0022 Nenes said.  \u0022Anything that can be done to improve these predictions by providing more specific cloud information would be helpful to projecting climate change.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Athanasios Nenes (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:athanasios.nenes@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eathanasios.nenes@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENew information on the role of insoluble dust particles in forming cloud droplets could improve the accuracy of regional climate models, especially in areas of the world that have significant amounts of mineral aerosols in the atmosphere.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Information on dust particles could improve regional climate models."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-10-13 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:26","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-10-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71262":{"id":"71262","type":"image","title":"Studying dust particles","body":null,"created":"1449177358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:58","changed":"1475894632","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:52"},"71263":{"id":"71263","type":"image","title":"Samples of dust studied","body":null,"created":"1449177358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:58","changed":"1475894632","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:52"},"71264":{"id":"71264","type":"image","title":"Studying dust particles","body":null,"created":"1449177367","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:07","changed":"1475894632","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:52"}},"media_ids":["71262","71263","71264"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\/people\/Athanasios_Nenes","title":"Thanos Nenes"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\/people\/Irina_Sokolik","title":"Irina Sokolik"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"11460","name":"aerosol"},{"id":"2262","name":"climate"},{"id":"831","name":"climate change"},{"id":"14704","name":"cloud"},{"id":"14705","name":"droplets"},{"id":"14703","name":"dust"},{"id":"14706","name":"Thanos Nenes"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"70182":{"#nid":"70182","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Controlling Silicon Evaporation Improves Quality of Graphene","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EScientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology have for the first time provided details of their \u0022confinement controlled sublimation\u0022 technique for growing high-quality layers of epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide wafers.  The technique relies on controlling the vapor pressure of gas-phase silicon in the high-temperature furnace used for fabricating the material.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe basic principle for growing thin layers of graphene on silicon carbide requires heating the material to about 1,500 degrees Celsius under high vacuum.  The heat drives off the silicon, leaving behind one or more layers of graphene.  But uncontrolled evaporation of silicon can produce poor quality material useless to designers of electronic devices.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022For growing high-quality graphene on silicon carbide, controlling the evaporation of silicon at just the right temperature is essential,\u0022 said Walt de Heer, a professor who pioneered the technique in the Georgia Tech School of Physics.  \u0022By precisely controlling the rate at which silicon comes off the wafer, we can control the rate at which graphene is produced.  That allows us to produce very nice layers of epitaxial graphene.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDe Heer and his team begin by placing a silicon carbide wafer into an enclosure made of graphite.  A small hole in the container controls the escape of silicon atoms as the one-square-centimeter wafer is heated, maintaining the rate of silicon evaporation and condensation near its thermal equilibrium.  The growth of epitaxial graphene can be done in a vacuum or in the presence of an inert gas such as argon, and can be used to produce both single layers and multiple layers of the material.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This technique seems to be completely in line with what people might one day do in fabrication facilities,\u0022 de Heer said. \u0022We believe this is quite significant in allowing us to rationally and reproducibly grow graphene on silicon carbide. We feel we now understand the process, and believe it could be scaled up for electronics manufacturing.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technique for growing large-area layers of epitaxial graphene was described this week in the Early Edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E.  The research has been supported by the National Science Foundation through the Georgia Tech Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the W.M. Keck Foundation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe paper also describes a technique for growing narrow graphene ribbons, a process de Heer\u0027s group has called \u0022templated growth.\u0022  That technique, which could be useful for making graphene interconnects, was first described in October 2010 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Nanotechnology\u003C\/em\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe templated growth technique involves etching patterns into silicon carbide surfaces using conventional nanolithography processes.  The patterns serve as templates directing the growth of graphene structures on portions of the patterned surfaces.  The technique forms nanoribbons of specific widths without the use of electron beams or other destructive cutting techniques.  Graphene nanoribbons produced with these templates have smooth edges that avoid problems with electron scattering.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETogether, the two techniques provide researchers with the flexibility to produce graphene in forms appropriate to different needs, de Heer noted.  Large-area sheets of graphene may be grown on both the carbon-terminated and silicon-terminated sides of a silicon carbide wafer, while the narrow ribbons may be grown on the silicon-terminated side.  Because of different processing techniques, only one side of a particular wafer can be used.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech research team -- which includes Claire Berger, Ming Ruan, Mike Sprinkle, Xuebin Li, Yike Hu, Baiqian Zhang, John Hankinson and Edward Conrad -- has so far fabricated structures as narrow as 10 nanometers using the templated growth technique.  These nanowires exhibit interesting quantum transport properties.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We can make very good quantum wires using the templated growth technique,\u0022 de Heer said. \u0022We can make large structures and devices that demonstrate the Quantum Hall Effect, which is important for many applications.  We have demonstrated that templated growth can go all the way down to the nanoscale, and that the properties get even better there.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDevelopment of the sublimation technique arose from efforts to protect the growing graphene from oxygen and other contaminants in the furnace.  To address the quality concerns, the research team tried enclosing the wafer in a graphite container from which some silicon gas was permitted to leak out.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We soon realized that graphene grown in the container was much better than what we had been producing,\u0022 de Heer recalled. \u0022Originally, we thought it was because we were protecting it from contaminants.  Later, we realized it was because we were controlling the evaporation of silicon.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEpitaxial graphene may be the basis for a new generation of high-performance devices that will take advantage of the material\u0027s unique properties in applications where higher costs can be justified.  Silicon, today\u0027s electronic material of choice, will continue to be used in applications where high-performance is not required, de Heer said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThough researchers are still struggling to design nanometer-scale epitaxial graphene devices that take advantage of the material\u0027s unique properties, de Heer is confident that will ultimately be done.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022These techniques allow us to make accurate nanostructures and seem to be very promising for making the nanoscale devices that we need,\u0022 he said. \u0022While there are serious challenges ahead for using graphene in electronics, we have overcome roadblocks before.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech scientists have for the first time provided details of their \u0022confinement controlled sublimation\u0022 technique for growing high-quality layers of epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide wafers.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Scientists reveal details of their graphene fabrication process."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-09-22 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:14","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-09-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-09-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"70183":{"id":"70183","type":"image","title":"Researchers with graphene furnace","body":null,"created":"1449177304","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:04","changed":"1475894616","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:36"},"70184":{"id":"70184","type":"image","title":"Graphene furnace","body":null,"created":"1449177304","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:04","changed":"1475894616","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:36"}},"media_ids":["70183","70184"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.mrsec.gatech.edu\/","title":"Materials Research Science and Engineering Center"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.graphene.gatech.edu\/","title":"Epitaxial Graphene Lab"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/walter-de-heer","title":"Walt de Heer"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"10880","name":"epitaxial"},{"id":"14402","name":"furnace"},{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"169534","name":"silicon carbide"},{"id":"12422","name":"Walt de Heer"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"69813":{"#nid":"69813","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Air Force Grant Funds Fundamental Study of Plasma-Wall Interactions","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Alabama have received a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) to conduct fundamental research into the ways in which plasmas interact with the walls of the structures containing them.  The research will also examine potential improvements to materials used for the walls.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe five-year research program could lead to improvements in a broad range of areas, including higher performance satellite thrusters, improved tubes for Department of Defense radar and communications systems, more efficient high-intensity lamps, and new plasma deposition and spray-coating processes. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers will utilize new analysis techniques, including a terahertz-frequency laser for non-intrusively studying the plasma sheath, which is the portion of the plasmas that interacts with the wall.  The researchers will use atomic probe technology to study how the plasmas -- a state of matter that contains ionized particles -- interact with and are affected by the walls.  Modeling and simulation techniques will also help predict how plasmas may interact with improved wall materials.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In these systems, the plasma is dumping energy into the wall, and the wall may be giving back some particles or energy that affect the plasma,\u0022 explained Mitchell Walker, associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Aerospace Engineering. \u0022There is a dance between the plasma and the wall that needs to be understood so we can improve the materials across a range of applications.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPlasmas are created when electrons are added to or removed from atoms, giving them a charge.  The interaction between the resulting ionized gas and wall can be complex, involving the transfer of mass, charge and energy from the plasma to the wall -- and sometimes from the wall back to the plasma.  This energetic interaction may damage the wall, eroding the surfaces and leading to device failure.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EExisting plasma wall materials have been developed largely by trial-and-error. Developing a fundamental understanding of the plasma-wall interaction will give researchers the information they need to develop better wall materials.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We need to get at the fundamental issues, then use that knowledge to make the materials better,\u0022 said Jud Ready, a principal research engineer in the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).  \u0022Before we can produce better materials to make better applications, we need to understand the environment in which the materials have to operate.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA major part of the research will involve the use of a terahertz-frequency laser to study the sheath, a narrow portion of the plasma where the wall interaction takes place.  Within that small region, usually just a fraction of millimeter or so wide, plasma particles collide with the wall, transfer electrical charge, and apply energy.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The sheath has a strong electric field which is either pulling or pushing electrons from it,\u0022 explained Walker, who is director of Georgia Tech\u0027s High-Power Electric Propulsion Laboratory. \u0022By adjusting what the wall material contains, we can change the sheath and watch how the plasma adjusts to the wall.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETraditional probe techniques used for studying such phenomena alter the sheath activity when they penetrate it, so the researchers must develop a technique that does not physically enter the plasma sheath.  Their solution will use a very fast terahertz laser that won\u0027t affect the plasma as it measures the sheath.  To give the laser a larger target for study, Walker will produce plasma sheaths as much as a centimeter wide.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This will allow us to make measurements that nobody has ever done before,\u0022 he explained.  \u0022Using the data we obtain, we will be able to look at all of the analytical models that people have generated and compare them to real experimental data.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EImproving the wall materials will also depend on detailed knowledge of how the plasma affects them.  For that information, the researchers will use unique tools available at the University of Alabama that are able to identify individual plasma atoms that may be embedded in the walls.  Researchers will also use modeling and simulation techniques to predict, based on the experimental data, how a broad range of materials would interact with the plasmas.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A plasma places a material under extreme environmental conditions, including high temperature erosion, exposure to ion implantation and field emission from the surface,\u0022 said Gregory Thompson, associate professor in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. \u0022These conditions will affect the structural integrity of materials, but an understanding of the underlying mechanisms that control the response of the materials\u0027 structure is lacking.  Working with Georgia Tech, we will systematically characterize how plasmas interact and contribute to the underlying phase and mechanical stability characteristics in the materials.\u0022  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFinally, Ready and GTRI colleagues will apply their experience with thin film deposition and phosphors to create an additional analytical tool.  By embedding certain phosphors in the walls, the research team will be able to tell how much energy is being transferred -- and where that is occurring.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The more robust the material, the better it will be for military or commercial applications,\u0022 Ready noted.  \u0022We expect that there will be dramatically improved performance.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis material is based upon work conducted under contract FA9550-11-1-0160.  Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the researchers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: Georgia Tech: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E); Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E); University of Alabama: Mary Wymer (205-348-6444)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:mwymer@eng.ua.edu\u0022\u003Emwymer@eng.ua.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech and University of Alabama researchers have received a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research to conduct fundamental research into plasma interactions with the walls of the structures containing them.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study will improve understanding of plasma-wall interactions."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-09-05 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:10:05","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-09-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-09-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"69814":{"id":"69814","type":"image","title":"Examining plasma applications","body":null,"created":"1449177264","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:14:24","changed":"1475894611","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:31"},"69815":{"id":"69815","type":"image","title":"Examining plasma applications","body":null,"created":"1449177264","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:14:24","changed":"1475894611","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:31"},"69816":{"id":"69816","type":"image","title":"Examining plasma applications","body":null,"created":"1449177264","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:14:24","changed":"1475894611","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:31"}},"media_ids":["69814","69815","69816"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ae.gatech.edu\/","title":"Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ua.edu\/","title":"University of Alabama"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7019","name":"ion"},{"id":"14209","name":"Jud Ready"},{"id":"2474","name":"Mitchell Walker"},{"id":"14207","name":"plasma"},{"id":"14208","name":"thrusters"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"69138":{"#nid":"69138","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Atmospheric Simulations Support NASA Mission to Jupiter","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn August of 2016, when NASA\u0027s Juno Mission begins sending back information about the atmosphere of the planet Jupiter, research done by Georgia Institute of Technology engineers using a 2,400-pound pressure vessel will help scientists understand what the data means. The Juno probe is scheduled to be launched August 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause Jupiter has been largely unchanged since its formation at the birth of our solar system, scientists hope Juno will resolve unanswered questions not only about the massive planet, but also about how our solar system evolved. Among the key questions are how much water exists there, and how that water evolved from the hydrogen-rich early solar system.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Jupiter collected much of the original solar nebula, that sheet of material that surrounded our sun when it formed,\u0022 said Paul Steffes, a professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a member of the Juno Mission Team. \u0022Knowing how much water is in the atmosphere of Jupiter is going to give us real insight into how the whole solar system has evolved. Understanding Jupiter really helps us understand how we got started.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo detect and measure water, Juno will carry a radiometer that can measure radio emissions produced by the planet itself at microwave frequencies. As those signals pass through Jupiter\u0027s atmosphere, they are altered by the water and other constituents. Understanding how the signals were altered can tell scientists much about the atmosphere of the giant planet. The probe will receive microwave signals at six different frequencies that scientists know are emitted at various levels of the planet\u0027s atmosphere.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The intensity of the microwave radiation at specific frequencies gets weaker depending on how much water is there,\u0022 Steffes explained. \u0022We\u0027ll be able to not only say whether or not there\u0027s water there, but we\u0027ll also be able to say at what altitude it exists based on the signatures of the microwaves coming out of the planet\u0027s atmosphere.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInterpreting that data will require knowledge that Steffes and his students are developing by simulating the Jupiter atmosphere in their pressure vessel, which is located inside an oven on the roof of Georgia Tech\u0027s Van Leer Building.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough Jupiter is a long way from the sun, the planet\u0027s gravitational forces create high temperatures and tremendous pressures in the lower layers of the atmosphere where the water is believed to exist. The laboratory atmospheric simulations allow Steffes and his students to study the behavior of microwave signals passing through ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, helium, hydrogen and water vapor at pressures up to 100 times those of the Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers, including graduate student Danny Duong, have made thousands of measurements at different temperatures, pressures and microwave frequencies as the signals pass through different combinations of gases. The laboratory work is expected to be completed during 2012.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The measurements we\u0027ve made will allow the radiometer on Juno to be calibrated,\u0022 Steffes explained. \u0022When Juno gets to Jupiter, we\u0027ll know what conditions each microwave signature corresponds to.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEarlier attempts to quantify the water on Jupiter -- the solar system\u0027s largest planet -- produced conflicting information. Steffes assisted the Galileo mission, which dropped a probe into the planet\u0027s atmosphere in 1995 and found surprisingly little water. Yet when the Comet Shoemaker-Levy crashed into Jupiter in 1994, it stirred up oxygen that led scientists to believe water was abundant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce Juno reaches the planet, it will go into an elliptical polar orbit to avoid Jupiter\u0027s deadly radiation belts, which would harm the probe\u0027s electronic systems. Juno is scheduled to make 30 orbits, each of which will take 11 days. The researchers then expect to take about 18 months to process the information sent back to Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond measuring water on Jupiter, Juno will also study the planet\u0027s gravitation field in an effort to determine whether a solid core exists and how the giant body rotates. It will also measure magnetic fields and investigate Jupiter\u0027s auroras, which are the strongest in the solar system. And it will take a look at the planet\u0027s polar areas for the first time ever.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJuno is also notable because it will be the first deep-space probe to be powered by photovoltaic arrays, which were less expensive than the nuclear generators used on earlier missions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESteffes has been studying planetary atmospheres for more than 25 years, and has simulated conditions on Venus, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus in addition to Jupiter. The work has continued under the same contract since 1984. Georgia Tech\u0027s research into other planets goes back more than 50 years, Steffes noted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStudies of other planetary atmospheres can now be done from Earth using radio telescopes such as the Very Large Array in New Mexico, or the new Atacama array in Chile. But Jupiter\u0027s radiation belts, which are made up of energized particles spewed into the atmosphere by the volcanic moon Io, prevent that.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022To test for water, you have to operate at frequencies that are pretty low, about the same as a cell phone,\u0022 Steffes said. \u0022But the radiation belts are generating huge amounts of noise at those frequencies, so we couldn\u0027t do this observation from Earth because the radiation belts would mask the signal from Jupiter\u0027s atmosphere. We are very fortunate to have this opportunity to observe Jupiter with the Juno spacecraft.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENASA\u0027s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E Georgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E 75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn August of 2016, when NASA\u0027s Juno Mission begins sending back information about the atmosphere of the planet Jupiter, research done by Georgia Tech engineers using a 2,400-pound pressure vessel will help scientists understand what the data means.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Simulating the Jupiter atmosphere supports NASA\u0027s Juno Mission."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-08-02 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:09:52","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-08-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-08-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"69139":{"id":"69139","type":"image","title":"Paul Steffes","body":null,"created":"1449177239","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:13:59","changed":"1475894604","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:24"},"549031":{"id":"549031","type":"image","title":"Juno and Jupiter","body":null,"created":"1467320400","gmt_created":"2016-06-30 21:00:00","changed":"1475895343","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:43","alt":"Juno and Jupiter","file":{"fid":"92591","name":"juno_concept.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/juno_concept.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/juno_concept.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":45282,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/juno_concept.jpg?itok=sFWFCEbC"}},"69141":{"id":"69141","type":"image","title":"Paul Steffes and Danny Duong","body":null,"created":"1449177239","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:13:59","changed":"1475894604","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:24"}},"media_ids":["69139","549031","69141"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=97","title":"Paul Steffes"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13866","name":"Juno Mission"},{"id":"11219","name":"Jupiter"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"1260","name":"Paul Steffes"},{"id":"166855","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"171105","name":"simulated atmosphere"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"68940":{"#nid":"68940","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Devices Based on Piezoelectric Nanowires Create New Form of Memory","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETaking advantage of the unique properties of zinc oxide nanowires, researchers have demonstrated a new type of piezoelectric resistive switching device in which the write-read access of memory cells is controlled by electromechanical modulation.  Operating on flexible substrates, arrays of these devices could provide a new way to interface the mechanical actions of the biological world to conventional electronic circuitry.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe piezoelectrically modulated resistive memory (PRM) devices take advantage of the fact that the resistance of piezoelectric semiconducting materials such as zinc oxide (ZnO) can be controlled through the application of strain from a mechanical action.  The change in resistance can be detected electronically, providing a simple way to obtain an electronic signal from a mechanical action.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We can provide the interface between biology and electronics,\u0022 said Zhong Lin Wang, Regents professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  \u0022This technology, which is based on zinc oxide nanowires, allows communication between a mechanical action in the biological world and conventional devices in the electronic world.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was reported online June 22 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENano Letters\u003C\/em\u003E.  The work was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Department of Energy.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn conventional transistors, the flow of current between a source and a drain is controlled by a gate voltage applied to the device.  That gate voltage determines whether the device is on or off.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe piezotronic memory devices developed by Wang and graduate student Wenzhuo Wu take advantage of the fact that piezoelectric materials like zinc oxide produce a charge potential when they are mechanically deformed or otherwise put under strain.  These PRM devices use the piezoelectric charge created by the deformation to control the current flowing through the zinc oxide nanowires that are at the heart of the devices -- the basic principle of piezotronics.  The charge creates polarity in the nanowires -- and increases the electrical resistance much like gate voltage in a conventional transistor.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are replacing the application of an external voltage with the production of an internal voltage,\u0022 Wang explained.  \u0022Because zinc oxide is both piezoelectric and semiconducting, when you strain the material with a mechanical action, you create a piezopotential.  This piezopotential tunes the charge transport across the interface -- instead of controlling channel width as in conventional field effect transistors.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe mechanical strain could come from mechanical activities as diverse as signing a name with a pen, the motion of an actuator on a nanorobot, or biological activities of the human body such as a heart beating.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We control the charge flow across the interface using strain,\u0022 Wang explained.  \u0022If you have no strain, the charge flows normally.  But if you apply a strain, the resulting voltage builds a barrier that controls the flow.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe piezotronic switching affects current flowing in just one direction, depending on whether the strain is tensile or compressive.  That means the memory stored in the piezotronic devices has both a sign and a magnitude.  The information in this memory can be read, processed and stored through conventional electronic means.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETaking advantage of large-scale fabrication techniques for zinc oxide nanowire arrays, the Georgia Tech researchers have built non-volatile resistive switching memories for use as a storage medium.  They have shown that these piezotronic devices can be written, that information can be read from them, and that they can be erased for re-use.  About 20 of the arrays have been built so far for testing.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe zinc oxide nanowires, which are about 500 nanometers in diameter and about 50 microns long, are produced with a physical vapor deposition process that uses a high-temperature furnace.  The resulting structures are then treated with oxygen plasma to reduce the number of crystalline defects -- which helps to control their conductivity.  The arrays are then transferred to a flexible substrate.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The switching voltage is tunable, depending on the number of oxygen vacancies in the structure,\u0022 Wang said.  \u0022The more defects you quench away with the oxygen plasma, the larger the voltage that will be required to drive current flow.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe piezotronic memory cells operate at low frequencies, which are appropriate for the kind of biologically-generated signals they will record, Wang said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThese piezotronic memory elements provide another component needed for fabricating complete self-powered nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) on a single chip.  Wang\u0027s research team has already demonstrated other key elements such as nanogenerators, sensors and wireless transmitters.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are taking another step toward the goal of self-powered complete systems,\u0022 Wang said. \u0022The challenge now is to make them small enough to be integrated onto a single chip.  We believe these systems will solve important problems in people\u0027s lives.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWang believes this new memory will become increasingly important as devices become more closely connected to individual human activities.  The ability to build these devices on flexible substrates means they can be used in the body -- and with other electronic devices now being built on materials that are not traditional silicon.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As computers and other electronic devices become more personalized and human-like, we will need to develop new types of signals, interfacing mechanical actions to electronics,\u0022 he said.  \u0022Piezoelectric materials provide the most sensitive way to translate these gentle mechanical actions into electronic signals that can be used by electronic devices.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETaking advantage of the unique properties of zinc oxide nanowires, researchers have demonstrated a new type of piezoelectric resistive switching device in which the write-read access of memory cells is controlled by electromechanical modulation.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New devices interface the biological world with electronics."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-07-26 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:09:48","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-07-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-07-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"68941":{"id":"68941","type":"image","title":"Z.L. Wang and device array","body":null,"created":"1449177214","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:13:34","changed":"1475894602","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:22"},"68942":{"id":"68942","type":"image","title":"Device arrays under study","body":null,"created":"1449177214","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:13:34","changed":"1475894602","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:22"},"68943":{"id":"68943","type":"image","title":"Device arrays","body":null,"created":"1449177214","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:13:34","changed":"1475894602","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:22"}},"media_ids":["68941","68942","68943"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/faculty\/zhong-lin-wang","title":"Zhong Lin Wang"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13752","name":"Materials Science \u0026 Engineering"},{"id":"2502","name":"nanowire"},{"id":"7699","name":"piezoelectric"},{"id":"13750","name":"piezotronics"},{"id":"170836","name":"switching"},{"id":"13751","name":"Zhong Lin Wang"},{"id":"7649","name":"zinc oxide"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"68848":{"#nid":"68848","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Heated AFM Tip Draws Ferroelectric Nanostructures Directly on Plastic","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a technique known as thermochemical nanolithography (TCNL), researchers have developed a new way to fabricate nanometer-scale ferroelectric structures directly on flexible plastic substrates that would be unable to withstand the processing temperatures normally required to create such nanostructures.  \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technique, which uses a heated atomic force microscope (AFM) tip to produce patterns, could facilitate high-density, low-cost production of complex ferroelectric structures for energy harvesting arrays, sensors and actuators in nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS) and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS).   The research was reported July 15 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EAdvanced Materials\u003C\/em\u003E.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We can directly create piezoelectric materials of the shape we want, where we want them, on flexible substrates for use in energy harvesting and other applications,\u0022 said Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb, co-author of the paper and an assistant professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  \u0022This is the first time that structures like these have been directly grown with a CMOS-compatible process at such a small resolution.  Not only have we been able to grow these ferroelectric structures at low substrate temperatures, but we have also been able to pattern them at very small scales.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.  In addition to the Georgia Tech researchers, the work also involved scientists from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Nebraska Lincoln.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers have produced wires approximately 30 nanometers wide and spheres with diameters of approximately 10 nanometers using the patterning technique.  Spheres with potential application as ferroelectric memory were fabricated at densities exceeding 200 gigabytes per square inch -- currently the record for this perovskite-type ferroelectric material, said Suenne Kim, the paper\u0027s first author and a postdoctoral fellow in laboratory of Professor Elisa Riedo in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Physics.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFerroelectric materials are attractive because they exhibit charge-generating piezoelectric responses an order of magnitude larger than those of materials such as aluminum nitride or zinc oxide.  The polarization of the materials can be easily and rapidly changed, giving them potential application as random access memory elements.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut the materials can be difficult to fabricate, requiring temperatures greater than 600 degrees Celsius for crystallization.  Chemical etching techniques produce grain sizes as large as the nanoscale features researchers would like to produce, while physical etching processes damage the structures and reduce their attractive properties.  Until now, these challenges required that ferroelectric structures be grown on a single-crystal substrate compatible with high temperatures, then transferred to a flexible substrate for use in energy-harvesting.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe thermochemical nanolithography process, which was developed at Georgia Tech in 2007, addresses those challenges by using extremely localized heating to form structures only where the resistively-heated AFM tip contacts a precursor material.  A computer controls the AFM writing, allowing the researchers to create patterns of crystallized material where desired.  To create energy-harvesting structures, for example, lines corresponding to ferroelectric nanowires can be drawn along the direction in which strain would be applied.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The heat from the AFM tip crystallizes the amorphous precursor to make the structure,\u0022 Bassiri-Gharb explained.  \u0022The patterns are formed only where the crystallization occurs.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo begin the fabrication, the sol-gel precursor material is first applied to a substrate with a standard spin-coating method, then briefly heated to approximately 250 degrees Celsius to drive off the organic solvents.  The researchers have used polyimide, glass and silicon substrates, but in principle, any material able to withstand the 250-degree heating step could be used.  Structures have been made from Pb(ZrTi)O3 -- known as PZT, and PbTiO3 -- known as PTO.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We still heat the precursor at the temperatures required to crystallize the structure, but the heating is so localized that it does not affect the substrate,\u0022 explained Riedo, a co-author of the paper and an associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe heated AFM tips were provided by William King, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a next step, the researchers plan to use arrays of AFM tips to produce larger patterned areas, and improve the heated AFM tips to operate for longer periods of time.  The researchers also hope to understand the basic science behind ferroelectric materials, including properties at the nanoscale.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We need to look at the growth thermodynamics of these ferroelectric materials,\u0022 said Bassiri-Gharb.  \u0022We also need to see how the properties change when you move from the bulk to the micron scale and then to the nanometer scale.  We need to understand what really happens to the extrinsic and intrinsic responses of the materials at these small scales.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUltimately, arrays of AFM tips under computer control could produce complete devices, providing an alternative to current fabrication techniques.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Thermochemical nanolithography is a very powerful nanofabrication technique that, through heating, is like a nanoscale pen that can create nanostructures useful in a variety of applications, including protein arrays, DNA arrays, and graphene-like nanowires,\u0022 Riedo explained.  \u0022We are really addressing the problem caused by the existing limitations of photolithography at these size scales. We can envision creating a full device based on the same fabrication technique without the requirements of costly clean rooms and vacuum-based equipment. We are moving toward a process in which multiple steps are done using the same tool to pattern at the small scale.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the research team included Yaser Bastani from the G.W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, Seth Marder and Kenneth Sandhage, both from Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and School of Materials Science and Engineering, and Alexei Gruverman and Haidong Lu from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a technique known as thermochemical nanolithography (TCNL), researchers are fabricating nanometer-scale ferroelectric structures directly on flexible plastic substrates that would be unable to withstand the processing temperatures normally required to create such structures.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new technique produces ferroelectric nanostructures on plastic."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-07-18 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:09:44","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-07-18T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-07-18T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"68850":{"id":"68850","type":"image","title":"Ferroelectric nanostructures","body":null,"created":"1449177214","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:13:34","changed":"1475894599","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:19"},"68849":{"id":"68849","type":"image","title":"Studying ferroelectric nanostructures","body":null,"created":"1449177214","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:13:34","changed":"1475894599","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:19"},"68851":{"id":"68851","type":"image","title":"SEM of ferroelectric nanostructures","body":null,"created":"1449177214","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:13:34","changed":"1475894599","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:19"}},"media_ids":["68850","68849","68851"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/bassiri_gharb.shtml","title":"Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/elisa-riedo","title":"Elisa Riedo"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/","title":"George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/adma.201101991\/abstract;jsessionid=B754ACAEB7280F72A2B5E20079DF2385.d01t01","title":"Advanced Materials paper"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13687","name":"Elisa Riedo"},{"id":"13689","name":"energy harvesting"},{"id":"13685","name":"ferroelectric"},{"id":"1786","name":"nanostructures"},{"id":"13686","name":"Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb"},{"id":"13688","name":"thermochemical nanolithography"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"67735":{"#nid":"67735","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Microspectrometer Design Achieves High Resolution, Wide Bandwidth","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new microspectrometer architecture that uses compact disc-shaped resonators could address the challenges of integrated lab-on-chip sensing systems that now require a large off-chip spectrometer to achieve high resolution.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESpectrometers have conventionally been expensive and bulky bench-top instruments used to detect and identify the molecules inside a sample by shining light on it and measuring different wavelengths of the emitted or absorbed light. Previous efforts toward miniaturizing spectrometers have reduced their size and cost, but these reductions have typically resulted in lower-resolution instruments.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022For spectrometers, it is better to be small and cheap than big and bulky -- provided that the optical performance targets are met,\u0022 said Ali Adibi, a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0022We were able to achieve high resolution and wide bandwidth with a compact single-mode on-chip spectrometer through the use of an array of microdonut resonators, each with an outer radius of two microns.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 81-channel on-chip spectrometer designed by Georgia Tech engineers achieved 0.6-nanometer resolution over a spectral range of more than 50 nanometers with a footprint less than one square millimeter. The simple instrument -- with its ultra-small footprint -- can be integrated with other devices, including sensors, optoelectronics, microelectronics and microfluidic channels for use in biological, chemical, medical and pharmaceutical applications.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe microspectrometer architecture was described in a paper published in the June 20 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EOptics Express\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This architecture is promising because the quality-factor of the microdonut resonators is higher than that of microrings of the same size,\u0022 said Richard Soref, a research scientist in the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Hanscom Air Force Base who was not directly involved in the research. \u0022Having such small resonators is also an advantage because they can be densely packed on a chip, enabling a large spectrum to be sampled.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAdibi\u0027s group is currently developing the next generation of these spectrometers, which are being designed to contain up to 1000 resonators and achieve 0.15-nanometer resolution with a spectral range of 150 nanometers and footprint of 200 micrometers squared.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAdibi, current graduate student Zhixuan Xia and research engineer Ali A. Eftekhar, and former research engineers Babak Momeni and Siva Yegnanarayanan designed and implemented the microspectrometer using CMOS-compatible fabrication processes. The key building element they used to construct the device was an array of miniaturized microdonut resonators, which were essentially microdiscs perforated in their centers. This research built on former Georgia Tech graduate student Mohammad Soltani\u0027s work to develop miniature microresonators, which was published in the Sept. 13, 2010 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EOptics Express\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers adjusted the resonance wavelengths of different microdonut resonators by engineering their geometry. While the resonance was very sensitive to variations in the outer radius, fine-tuning could be achieved by adjusting the inner radius. The microdonut resonators were carefully designed so that each of the resonators only tapped a small portion of the incoming spectrum, thus enabling measurement of the entire spectrum of desired wavelengths in real time. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA key advantage of this microspectrometer design, according to the researchers, is the ability to independently control and configure the resolution and operating bandwidth of each channel for different applications. The device can cover a wide range of wavelengths from approximately one to three micrometers. Extending this concept to the silicon nitride platform also enables spectrometers for visible light applications.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The microspectrometer we designed may allow individuals to replace the big, bulky, high- resolution spectrometers with a large bandwidth they are currently using with an on-chip spectrometer the size of a penny,\u0022 noted Adibi. \u0022Our device has the potential to be a high-resolution, lightweight, compact, high-speed and versatile microspectrometer with a large dynamic range that can be used for many applications.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrent graduate students Qing Li and Maysamreza Chamanzar also contributed to this work.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (Award No. HR 0011-10-1-0075) and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) (Award No. FA9550-06-01-2003). The content is solely the responsibility of the principal investigator and does not necessarily represent the official views of DARPA or AFOSR.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech electrical engineers have designed a new microspectrometer architecture using compact doughnut-shaped resonators that achieves high resolution and wide bandwidth.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New microspectrometer architecture uses compact disc-shaped resonators"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2011-06-20 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:53","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-06-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-06-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"67736":{"id":"67736","type":"image","title":"Microspectrometer micrograph","body":null,"created":"1449177176","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:12:56","changed":"1475894592","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:12"},"67737":{"id":"67737","type":"image","title":"Microdonut resonator SEM image","body":null,"created":"1449177176","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:12:56","changed":"1475894592","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:12"},"67738":{"id":"67738","type":"image","title":"Experimental setup","body":null,"created":"1449177176","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:12:56","changed":"1475894592","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:12"}},"media_ids":["67736","67737","67738"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1364\/OE.19.012356","title":"June 20 Optics Express paper"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/about\/personnel\/bio.php?id=2","title":"Ali Adibi"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2769","name":"Ali Adibi"},{"id":"13444","name":"cmos fabrication"},{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"1925","name":"Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"7343","name":"lab-on-a-chip"},{"id":"13441","name":"microspectrometer"},{"id":"13443","name":"on-chip spectrometer"},{"id":"13442","name":"Resonator"},{"id":"169408","name":"spectrometer"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"66351":{"#nid":"66351","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Flower-Like Defects May Help Graphene Respond to Stress","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBeyond its ability to conduct electrons almost without resistance, the nanomaterial graphene also has amazing mechanical properties, including high strength that could one day make it useful in lightweight, robust structures.  But this material is not without flaws -- including a family of flower-like defects that could detract from its electronic and mechanical properties. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a paper published in the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review B\u003C\/em\u003E, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have described a family of seven potential defect structures that may appear in sheets of graphene and imaged examples of the lowest-energy defect in the family. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe defects may arise to help relieve mechanical stress in graphene\u0027s carbon-atom honeycomb structure by allowing atoms to spread out and occupy slightly more space.  Such stress may arise during the growth of graphene or by stretching the graphene sheet.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022For an engineer interested in the mechanical properties of graphene to create atom-thick membranes, for instance, it would be very important to understand these kinds of properties, which could give rise to plastic deformation of the material,\u0022 said Phillip First, one of the paper\u0027s co-authors and a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics.  \u0022For instance, it may be that these defects are just one part of the kinetic pathway to failure for a strained sheet of graphene.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor electronic applications, the defects could deflect electrons and cause backscattering that would increase the resistance of the material -- like a rock in a stream slows the flow of water.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nHowever, First says improved growth techniques developed since the defect study began may eliminate that concern.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022With the growth techniques that have now been developed using silicon carbide, we typically do not see these defects,\u0022 he noted.  \u0022The defects occur on material that we know to be of a lower quality because of the growth conditions or substrate preparation.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDefects can appear due to the movement of carbon atoms at high temperatures, explained NIST Fellow Joseph Stroscio.  Rearrangements of graphene that require the least amount of energy involve switching from the standard six-member carbon rings to structures containing either five or seven atoms.  The NIST researchers have discovered that stringing five- and seven-member rings together in closed loops creates a new type of defect or grain boundary loop in the honeycomb lattice.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to NIST researcher Eric Cockayne, the fabrication process plays a big role in creating the defects.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As the graphene forms under high heat, sections of the lattice can come loose and rotate,\u0022 he said.  \u0022As the graphene cools, these rotated sections link back up with the lattice, but in an irregular way.  It\u0027s almost as if patches of the graphene were cut out with scissors, turned clockwise, and made to fit back into the same place.  Only it really doesn\u0027t fit, which is why we get these flowers.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESo far, only the flower defect, which is composed of six pairs of five- and seven-atom rings, has been observed.  Modeling of graphene\u0027s atomic structure by the NIST team suggests there might be a veritable bouquet of flower-like configurations.  These configurations -- seven in all -- would each possess its own unique mechanical and electrical properties, Cockayne said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFirst hopes the team can continue studying the defects, both to learn whether their formation can be controlled and to clarify the role of defects in the material\u0027s mechanical properties.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Graphene is strong and light, so the mechanical properties are of great interest,\u0022 he noted.  \u0022Understanding just how it rips apart is an interesting question that has important implications.  But even with these defects, graphene is still spectacularly strong.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech contributions to this work were funded by the Semiconductor Research Corporation (NRI-INDEX) and by the National Science Foundation through the Georgia Tech Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) under grants DMR-0804908 and DMR-0820382.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMark Esser of NIST also contributed to this article.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn a new study, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have described a family of seven potential defect structures that may appear in sheets of graphene.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers describe family of defects in graphene."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-06-01 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:49","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-06-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-06-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"66352":{"id":"66352","type":"image","title":"Graphene defect structures","body":null,"created":"1449176931","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:08:51","changed":"1475894589","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:09"}},"media_ids":["66352"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2504","name":"conductance"},{"id":"531","name":"defect"},{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"9115","name":"MRSEC"},{"id":"13305","name":"Phillip First"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"167229","name":"stress"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"66402":{"#nid":"66402","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Astrophysicists Use X-ray Fingerprints to Study Massive Black Holes","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy studying the X-rays emitted when superheated gases plunge into distant and massive black holes, astrophysicists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have provided an important test of a long-standing theory that describes the extreme physics occurring when matter spirals into these massive objects.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMatter falling into black holes emits tremendous amounts of energy which can escape as visible light, ultraviolet light and X-rays.  This energy can also drive outflows of gas and dust far from the black hole, affecting the growth and evolution of galaxies containing the black holes.  Understanding the complex processes that occur in these active galactic nuclei is vital to theories describing the formation of galaxies such as the Milky Way, and is therefore the subject of intense research.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThough light cannot escape from black holes themselves, black holes with accretion disks -- which are swirling clouds of matter about to enter the black hole -- are among the most luminous objects in galaxies.  By studying how the radiation and accretion disk interact, astrophysicists can learn much about the extreme gravitational fields, magnetic forces and radiation processes close to these black holes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We reviewed data collected from space telescopes over the past few years and found that the more rapidly a black hole was gobbling up material, the more highly ionized the accretion disk was,\u0022 said David Ballantyne, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Physics.  \u0022The simple theory of accretion disks predicts this, but the relationship we saw between the ionization and rate of accretion was different from what the theory predicted.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe large difference between the observed and theoretical relationships -- a linear dependence on the rate of accretion as opposed to a cubic dependence -- is not surprising for a phenomenon that can\u2019t exactly be tested under controlled laboratory conditions.  In a paper published online June 3 in \u003Cem\u003EThe Astrophysical Journal\u003C\/em\u003E, Ballantyne describes the research and speculates about possible reasons for the difference between observations and theory.  The research, which will appear in the Journal\u0027s June 20 issue, was supported in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As in many areas of science, especially astronomy, we end up needing more data -- many more high-quality observations to better define this relationship,\u0022 he added.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAstrophysicists don\u0027t have a detailed understanding of how the accretion process works, why black holes grow at different rates -- or what makes them stop growing.  These questions are important because the growth of active galactic nuclei -- the black holes and their surrounding accretion disks -- has broader effects on the galaxies of which they are part. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The rapid accretion phase releases a lot of energy, not only in radiation, but also in outflows that drive gas out of a galaxy, which can shut off star formation and hold back the growth of the galaxy,\u0022 said Ballantyne, a scientist in Georgia Tech\u0027s Center for Relativistic Astrophysics.  \u0022We could potentially learn something fundamental about the flow of energy through the accretion disk very close to the black hole.  We could learn about the viscosity of this matter and how efficiently radiation transport takes place.  These are very important questions in astrophysics.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EX-rays are believed to originate from innermost portion of active galactic nuclei.  As they pass through matter on its way into the black hole, the X-rays are altered by the materials in ways that astrophysicists can measure.  In their study, Ballantyne and his collaborators were interested in studying the ionization state of the matter -- which is related to the illumination -- and were able to do so by analyzing the \u0022fingerprint\u0022 the ionization left on the X-rays.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022From laboratory work, we understand the physics of how gas interacts with X-ray radiation because that\u0027s basically an atomic physics problem,\u0022 he explained.  \u0022We can model what these fingerprints might look like on the X-rays, and compare that to the actual data to help us understand what\u0027s going on.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause of their high energy and short wavelength, X-rays pass through many materials, such as human bodies, with little attenuation.  This makes them ideal for examining processes in active galactic nuclei.  Longer wavelengths, such as ultraviolet and visible light, are absorbed by intergalactic dust, or are difficult to distinguish from light originating in stars.  However, X-rays do get absorbed by dense objects, such as bones -- and crucially for this study -- accretion disks.   \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBallantyne and his collaborators Jon McDuffie and John Rusin studied ten X-ray observations reported by other scientists from eight different active galactic nuclei.  The observations were made using such space telescopes as Chandra and XMM.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo be useful, they used only measurements of X-ray emissions from the innermost and hottest portion of the accretion disk, and only where the mass of the black holes -- which range from a million to a billion times the size of our sun -- had high quality estimates.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn pursuing the study, Ballantyne hopes to maintain the involvement of Rusin, a student from South Cobb High School in Marietta, near Atlanta.  Rusin became involved when he contacted Georgia Tech to inquire about astrophysics projects.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022He helped us with data acquisition and was a really big help,\u0022 said Ballantyne.  \u0022I treated him just like an undergraduate student.  I\u0027m pleased to know that he has decided to attend Georgia Tech.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe next step in the research will be to gather additional information from other studies of active galactic nuclei to see if the linear relationship Ballantyne\u0027s group measured holds up.  The work may also lead to other techniques for learning about black holes and the accretion process.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Black holes themselves are very simple, but what goes on around them can be very complex,\u0022 Ballantyne said.  \u0022There is still a lot to be learned about how black holes get fueled, and how some accrete slowly while others grow rapidly.  The astrophysics of black holes is actually very important in determining what our universe looks like.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: David Ballantyne (404-385-3909)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:david.ballantyne@physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Edavid.ballantyne@physics.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy studying the X-rays emitted when superheated gases plunge into massive black holes, astrophysicists have provided an important test of a long-standing theory that describes the extreme physics occurring when matter spirals into these massive objects.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"X-ray fingerprints provide clues to the growth of black holes."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-06-06 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:49","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-06-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-06-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"66404":{"id":"66404","type":"image","title":"Researchers discuss active galactic nuclei","body":null,"created":"1449177169","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:12:49","changed":"1475894589","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:09"},"66405":{"id":"66405","type":"image","title":"Active galactic nuclei","body":null,"created":"1449177169","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:12:49","changed":"1475894589","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:09"}},"media_ids":["66404","66405"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cra.gatech.edu\/","title":"Center for Relativistic Astrophysics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cra.gatech.edu\/people\/ballantyne.html","title":"David Ballantyne"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13340","name":"active galactic nuclei"},{"id":"4079","name":"astrophysics"},{"id":"10881","name":"black holes"},{"id":"13341","name":"David Ballantyne"},{"id":"8312","name":"galaxy"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"65765":{"#nid":"65765","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Radar Shows Promise for Detecting Concussions in Athletes and Soldiers","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWalking and thinking at the same\ntime can be especially difficult for persons who\u2019ve suffered concussions, and\nscientists hope to use that multitasking challenge \u2013 measured by a simple radar\nsystem \u2013 to quickly screen individuals who may have suffered brain injuries.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBy asking an individual to walk\na short distance while saying the months of the year in reverse order,\nresearchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are trying to determine\nif that person is impaired. This simple test, which could be performed on the\nsideline of a sporting event or on a battlefield, has the potential to help\ncoaches and commanders decide if athletes and soldiers are ready to engage in\nactivity again.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cResearch performed at the\nUniversity of Oregon found that when a person with a concussion performs\ncognitive and motor skill tasks simultaneously, they have a different gait\npattern than a healthy individual, and we are working to identify those\nanomalies in a person\u2019s walk with radar,\u201d said GTRI research engineer Jennifer\nPalmer.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EMore than 1 million concussions\nand other mild traumatic brain injuries are reported each year in the United\nStates and catching them right after they happen can improve treatment and\nprevent further injury or other long-term health issues. Diagnosing concussions\ncan be difficult, though, because the symptoms of concussions are not always\neasily visible or detectable, even though they last for weeks or months\nfollowing the incident. Methods exist for detecting concussions, but most focus\npurely on cognitive impairment and do not assess accompanying motor skill\ndeterioration.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EDetails of GTRI\u2019s research technique,\nwhich simultaneously examines a person\u2019s cognitive and motor skills, were presented\non April 26 at the SPIE Defense, Security and Sensing conference in Orlando.\nGTRI research engineers Kristin Bing and Amy Sharma, principal research\nscientist (ret) Eugene Greneker, and research scientist Teresa Selee also\nworked on this project, which is supported by the GTRI Independent Research and\nDevelopment (IRAD) program.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ESeveral studies have shown that\nmeasuring changes in gait could be used to diagnose concussions, but measuring\na person\u2019s gait typically requires wearing special clothing with reflective\nmarkers or sensors so that movements can be captured with motion analysis\ncameras. Using radar for gait analysis could be faster and less intrusive than\nthese existing techniques. The assessment would be done with radar systems\nsimilar to those used by police for measuring the speed of vehicles.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oi0PDcZuMgU\u0022\u003EWatch a three-minute video describing this research\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor their study, the GTRI\nresearch team compared how 10 healthy individuals walked normally and when subjected\nto a simulated impairment. For the impairment scenario, individuals wore\ngoggles that simulated impairment produced by drinking alcoholic beverages.\nPast research has shown that concussion impairment is equivalent to having a\nblood alcohol level of 0.05 percent.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring the trials, each\nindividual performed four 30-second walking tasks: a normal walk, walk while\nsaying the months of the year in reverse order, walk while wearing the goggles,\nand walk while wearing the goggles and performing the cognitive task. For each\ntask, the subjects walked away from the radar system, turned around and walked\nback toward the radar system.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re using a 10.5 gigahertz\ncontinuous wave radar, which is similar to a police officer\u2019s radar gun that\nmeasures the speed of a car,\u201d explained Bing. \u201cThe data we collect tells us the\nvelocity of everything that\u2019s in the field of view of the radar at that time,\nincluding a person\u2019s foot kicks, and head and torso movements.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers analyzed the\nradar data using information-theoretic techniques, which detected similarities\nand differences in the information without having to identify and align\nspecific body parts. In addition, these techniques could recognize a gait\nanomaly without requiring that an individual\u2019s normal gait be measured before\nthe person became impaired.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe found differences between\nthe gait patterns of individuals walking normally while completing a cognitive\ntask versus those with the simulated impairment while completing a cognitive\ntask,\u201d explained Palmer. \u201cThe gait of individuals walking normally while\ncompleting a cognitive task was more periodic, with regular and higher velocity\nfoot kicks and faster torso and head movement, than the gait exhibited by\nindividuals wearing impairment goggles and performing the cognitive task.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe results also indicated that\nif no cognitive task was performed, the gait pattern was not statistically\ndifferent when wearing and not wearing the goggles.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe found that we needed to exercise\na person\u2019s physical and mental capabilities at the same time to see a change in\ngait,\u201d said Bing. \u201cIt\u2019s easy for a person to concentrate on one task, but when\nthat person has to multitask we can begin to discriminate differences in gait.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the future, the researchers\nplan to collect additional data from healthy individuals of different heights\nand weights, and from individuals exhibiting concussion symptoms according to\nneuropsychological screening tests performed at a hospital. They also plan to\nreduce the size of the experimental system so that it becomes more practical to\nuse.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor the military, we envision\nthe system could fit into a tough box so that commanders can have it in the\nfield,\u201d added Bing. \u201cThey could simply press a button, connect the radar system\nto a laptop, and an easy-to-use interface would display the results.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EApproval from the Food and Drug\nAdministration will be required before this system can be used to help doctors diagnose\nconcussions.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986) or Kirk Englehardt (kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu; 404-407-7280)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGTRI researchers are developing a radar technique they hope will allow them to quickly screen individuals to determine if they have suffered an impairment such as concussion.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Radar being tested as a way to screen individuals for concussions"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2011-04-25 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:38","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"65766":{"id":"65766","type":"image","title":"GTRI Palmer, Sharma, Bing","body":null,"created":"1449176884","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:08:04","changed":"1475894582","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:02","alt":"GTRI Palmer, Sharma, Bing","file":{"fid":"192393","name":"ttz38334.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttz38334_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttz38334_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1451954,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ttz38334_0.jpg?itok=mEBFb1yn"}},"65767":{"id":"65767","type":"image","title":"GTRI radar concussion","body":null,"created":"1449176884","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:08:04","changed":"1475894582","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:02","alt":"GTRI radar concussion","file":{"fid":"192394","name":"tmm38334.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tmm38334_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tmm38334_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1394120,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tmm38334_0.jpg?itok=HGw0ED3R"}},"65768":{"id":"65768","type":"image","title":"GTRI Palmer, Bing, Sharma","body":null,"created":"1449176884","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:08:04","changed":"1475894582","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:02","alt":"GTRI Palmer, Bing, Sharma","file":{"fid":"192395","name":"toi38334.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toi38334_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toi38334_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1563323,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/toi38334_0.jpg?itok=QX5bcCnl"}}},"media_ids":["65766","65767","65768"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3438","name":"athletes"},{"id":"4200","name":"cognitive"},{"id":"12927","name":"cognitive skills"},{"id":"3190","name":"concussion"},{"id":"12923","name":"concussion detection"},{"id":"12929","name":"concussion diagnosis"},{"id":"12924","name":"gait analysis"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"525","name":"military"},{"id":"12926","name":"motor skills"},{"id":"12925","name":"multitasking"},{"id":"2621","name":"radar"},{"id":"170727","name":"soldiers"},{"id":"12922","name":"traumatic brain injury"},{"id":"12930","name":"vision impairment"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"65044":{"#nid":"65044","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Technique Produces Graphene Nanoribbons with Metallic Properties","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new \u0022templated growth\u0022 technique for fabricating nanoribbons of epitaxial graphene has produced structures just 15 to 40 nanometers wide that conduct current with almost no resistance.  These structures could address the challenge of connecting graphene devices made with conventional architectures -- and set the stage for a new generation of devices that take advantage of the quantum properties of electrons.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We can now make very narrow, conductive nanoribbons that have quantum ballistic properties,\u0022 said Walt de Heer, a professor in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  \u0022These narrow ribbons become almost like a perfect metal.  Electrons can move through them without scattering, just like they do in carbon nanotubes.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDe Heer discussed recent results of this graphene growth process March 21st at the American Physical Society\u2019s March 2011 Meeting in Dallas.  The research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation-supported Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFirst reported Oct. 3 in the advance online edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Nanotechnology\u003C\/em\u003E, the new fabrication technique allows production of epitaxial graphene structures with smooth edges.  Earlier fabrication techniques that used electron beams to cut graphene sheets produced nanoribbon structures with rough edges that scattered electrons, causing interference.  The resulting nanoribbons had properties more like insulators than conductors.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In our templated growth approach, we have essentially eliminated the edges that take away from the desirable properties of graphene,\u0022 de Heer explained.  \u0022The edges of the epitaxial graphene merge into the silicon carbide, producing properties that are really quite interesting.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe templated growth technique begins with etching patterns into the silicon carbide surfaces on which epitaxial graphene is grown.  The patterns serve as templates directing the growth of graphene structures, allowing the formation of nanoribbons and other structures of specific widths and shapes without the use of cutting techniques that produce the rough edges.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn creating these graphene nanostructures, de Heer and his research team first use conventional microelectronics techniques to etch tiny \u0022steps\u0022  -- or contours -- into a silicon carbide wafer whose surface has been made extremely flat.  They then heat the contoured wafer to approximately 1,500 degrees Celsius, which initiates melting that polishes any rough edges left by the etching process.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEstablished techniques are then used for growing graphene from silicon carbide by driving the silicon atoms from the surface.  Instead of producing a consistent layer of graphene across the entire surface of the wafer, however, the researchers limit the heating time so that graphene grows only on portions of the contours.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe width of the resulting nanoribbons is proportional to the depth of the contours, providing a mechanism for precisely controlling the nanoribbon structures.  To form complex structures, multiple etching steps can be carried out to create complex templates.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This technique allows us to avoid the complicated e-beam lithography steps that people have been using to create structures in epitaxial graphene,\u0022 de Heer noted.  \u0022We are seeing very good properties that show these structures can be used for real electronic applications.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince publication of the \u003Cem\u003ENature Nanotechnology\u003C\/em\u003E paper, de Heer\u0027s team has been refining its technique.  \u0022We have taken this to an extreme -- the cleanest and narrowest ribbons we can make,\u0022 he said.  \u0022We expect to be able to do everything we need with the size ribbons that we are able to make right now, though we probably could reduce the width to 10 nanometers or less.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the Georgia Tech team is continuing to develop high-frequency transistors -- perhaps even at the terahertz range -- its primary effort now focuses on developing quantum devices, de Heer said.  Such devices were envisioned in the patents Georgia Tech holds on various epitaxial graphene processes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This means that the way we will be doing graphene electronics will be different,\u0022 he explained.  \u0022We will not be following the model of using standard field-effect transistors (FETs), but will pursue devices that use ballistic conductors and quantum interference. We are headed straight into using the electron wave effects in graphene.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETaking advantage of the wave properties will allow electrons to be manipulated with techniques similar to those used by optical engineers.  For instance, switching may be carried out using interference effects -- separating beams of electrons and then recombining them in opposite phases to extinguish the signals.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EQuantum devices would be smaller than conventional transistors and operate at lower power.  Because of its ability to transport electrons with virtually no resistance, epitaxial graphene may be the ideal material for such devices, de Heer said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Using the quantum properties of electrons rather than the standard charged-particle properties means opening up new ways of looking at electronics,\u0022 he predicted.  \u0022This is probably the way that electronics will evolve, and it appears that graphene is the ideal material for making this transition.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDe Heer\u0027s research team hopes to demonstrate a rudimentary switch operating on the quantum interference principle within a year.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEpitaxial graphene may be the basis for a new generation of high-performance devices that will take advantage of the material\u0027s unique properties in applications where higher costs can be justified.  Silicon, today\u0027s electronic material of choice, will continue to be used in applications where high-performance is not required, de Heer said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is an important step in the process,\u0022 he added.  \u0022There are going to be a lot of surprises as we move into these quantum devices and find out how they work.  We have good reason to believe that this can be the basis for a new generation of transistors based on quantum interference.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new \u0022templated growth\u0022 technique for fabricating nanoribbons of epitaxial graphene has produced structures just 15 to 40 nanometers wide that conduct current with almost no resistance.  These structures could address the challenge of connecting graphene devices.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have made graphene nanoribbons with metallic properties."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-03-21 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:26","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-03-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-03-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"65045":{"id":"65045","type":"image","title":"Growing epitaxial graphene","body":null,"created":"1449176783","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:06:23","changed":"1475894574","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:54","alt":"Growing epitaxial graphene","file":{"fid":"192147","name":"tis35461.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tis35461_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tis35461_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1731501,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tis35461_0.jpg?itok=Q2grkYwo"}},"65046":{"id":"65046","type":"image","title":"Prof. Walt de Heer","body":null,"created":"1449176783","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:06:23","changed":"1475894574","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:54","alt":"Prof. Walt de Heer","file":{"fid":"192148","name":"toh35777.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toh35777_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toh35777_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1603740,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/toh35777_0.jpg?itok=GCENVzgL"}},"65047":{"id":"65047","type":"image","title":"Growing expitaxial graphene","body":null,"created":"1449176783","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:06:23","changed":"1475894574","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:54","alt":"Growing expitaxial graphene","file":{"fid":"192149","name":"tfu35461.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tfu35461_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tfu35461_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":65166,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tfu35461_0.jpg?itok=4hcNTgqa"}}},"media_ids":["65045","65046","65047"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.mrsec.gatech.edu\/","title":"Materials Research Science and Engineering Center"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/walter-de-heer","title":"Walt de Heer"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"10890","name":"conductor"},{"id":"9116","name":"epitaxial graphene"},{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"12423","name":"nanoribbons"},{"id":"4827","name":"resistance"},{"id":"12422","name":"Walt de Heer"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"63642":{"#nid":"63642","#data":{"type":"news","title":"LCD Projector Used to Control Brains \u0026 Muscles of Tiny Organisms","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers are using inexpensive components from ordinary liquid crystal display (LCD) projectors to control the brains and muscles of tiny organisms, including freely moving worms.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERed, green and blue lights from a projector activate light-sensitive microbial proteins that are genetically engineered into the worms, allowing the researchers to switch neurons on and off like light bulbs and turn muscles on and off like engines.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUse of the LCD technology to control small animals advances the field of optogenetics -- a mix of optical and genetic techniques that has given researchers unparalleled control over brain circuits in laboratory animals. Until now, the technique could be used only with larger animals by placement of an optical fiber into an animal\u0027s brain, or required illumination of an animal\u0027s entire body.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA paper published Jan. 16 in the advance online edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Methods\u003C\/em\u003E describes how the inexpensive illumination technology allows researchers to stimulate and silence specific neurons and muscles of freely moving worms, while precisely controlling the location, duration, frequency and intensity of the light.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This illumination instrument significantly enhances our ability to control, alter, observe and investigate how neurons, muscles and circuits ultimately produce behavior in animals,\u0022 said Hang Lu, an associate professor in the School of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELu and graduate students Jeffrey Stirman and Matthew Crane developed the tool with support from the National Institutes of Health and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe illumination system includes a modified off-the-shelf LCD projector, which is used to cast a multi-color pattern of light onto an animal. The independent red, green and blue channels allow researchers to activate excitable cells sensitive to specific colors, while simultaneously silencing others. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Because the central component of the illumination system is a commercially available projector, the system\u0027s cost and complexity are dramatically reduced, which we hope will enable wider adoption of this tool by the research community,\u0022 explained Lu.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy connecting the illumination system to a microscope and combining it with video tracking, the researchers are able to track and record the behavior of freely moving animals, while maintaining the lighting in the intended anatomical position. When the animal moves, changes to the light\u0027s location, intensity and color can be updated in less than 40 milliseconds.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce Lu and her team built the prototype system, they used it to explore the \u0022touch\u0022 circuit of the worm \u003Cem\u003ECaenorhabditis elegans\u003C\/em\u003E by exciting and inhibiting its mechano-sensory and locomotion neurons. Alexander Gottschalk, a professor in the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University Frankfurt Institute of Biochemistry in Frankfurt, Germany, and his team provided the light-sensitive optogenetic reagents for the Georgia Tech experiments.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor their first experiment, the researchers illuminated the head of a worm at regular intervals while the animal moved forward. This produced a coiling effect in the head and caused the worm to crawl in a triangular pattern. In another experiment, the team scanned light along the bodies of worms from head to tail, which resulted in backward movement when neurons near the head were stimulated and forward movement when neurons near the tail were stimulated.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Supplemental-Video-1-triangle.mov\u0022\u003EWatch a movie\u003C\/a\u003E showing Georgia Tech researchers illuminating the head of a worm expressing light-sensitive optogenetic reagents. The light produces a coiling effect in the head and causes the worm to crawl in a triangular pattern.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Supplemental-Video-2-puppet.mov\u0022\u003EWatch a movie\u003C\/a\u003E showing how researchers at Georgia Tech use light from an LCD projector to directly control the muscles of an immobilized worm.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAdditional experiments showed that the intensity of the light affected a worm\u0027s behavior and that several optogenetic reagents excited at different wavelengths could be combined in one experiment to understand circuit functions. The researchers were able to examine a large number of animals under a variety of conditions, demonstrating that the technique\u0027s results were both robust and repeatable. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This instrument allowed us to control defined events in defined locations at defined times in an intact biological system, allowing us to dissect animal functional circuits with greater precision and nuance,\u0022 added Lu.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile these proof-of-concept studies investigated the response of \u003Cem\u003EC. elegans\u003C\/em\u003E to mechanical stimulation, the illumination system can also be used to evaluate responses to chemical, thermal and visual stimuli. Researchers can also use it to study a variety of neurons and muscles in other small animals, such as the zebrafish and fruit fly larvae.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Experiments with this illumination system yield quantitative behavior data that cannot be obtained by manual touch assays, laser cell ablation, or genetic manipulation of neurotransmitters,\u0022 said Lu.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Researchers are using LCD projectors to control the brains \u0026amp; muscles of tiny organisms, including freely moving worms. This technology advances the field of optogenetics, which has given researchers unparalleled control over brain circuits in lab animals.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"LCD technology has advanced the field of optogenetics"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2011-01-16 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:02","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-01-16T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2011-01-16T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"63643":{"id":"63643","type":"image","title":"Hang Lu Jeffrey Stirman Matthew Crane","body":null,"created":"1449176690","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:04:50","changed":"1475894559","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:39","alt":"Hang Lu Jeffrey Stirman Matthew Crane","file":{"fid":"191843","name":"tst06498.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tst06498_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tst06498_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1574002,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tst06498_0.jpg?itok=DrlRW34v"}},"63644":{"id":"63644","type":"image","title":"worm triangular head pattern","body":null,"created":"1449176690","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:04:50","changed":"1475894559","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:39","alt":"worm triangular head pattern","file":{"fid":"191844","name":"tyx06498.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tyx06498_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tyx06498_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":301506,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tyx06498_0.jpg?itok=jhUQQRvO"}},"63645":{"id":"63645","type":"image","title":"Hang Lu Stirman Crane","body":null,"created":"1449176690","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:04:50","changed":"1475894559","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:39","alt":"Hang Lu Stirman Crane","file":{"fid":"191845","name":"tnw06498.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tnw06498_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tnw06498_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1776824,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tnw06498_0.jpg?itok=fP0uMDyK"}}},"media_ids":["63643","63644","63645"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1038\/nmeth.1555","title":"Nature Methods paper"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/faculty\/lu.php","title":"Dr. Hang Lu"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemical \u0026 Biomolecular Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"11638","name":"C. elegans"},{"id":"898","name":"Hang Lu"},{"id":"11637","name":"lcd projector"},{"id":"11639","name":"muscle"},{"id":"7276","name":"neuron"},{"id":"11640","name":"optogenetic reagants"},{"id":"11635","name":"optogenetics"},{"id":"11636","name":"projector"},{"id":"171058","name":"silencing"},{"id":"171059","name":"stimulation"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"63409":{"#nid":"63409","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Expitaxial Graphene Shows Promise for Replacing Silicon in Electronics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMove over silicon.  There\u0027s a new electronic material in town, and it goes fast.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThat material, the focus of the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics, is graphene -- a fancy name for extremely thin layers of ordinary carbon atoms arranged in a \u0022chicken-wire\u0022 lattice. These layers, sometimes just a single atom thick, conduct electricity with virtually no resistance, very little heat generation -- and less power consumption than silicon.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith silicon device fabrication approaching its physical limits, many researchers believe graphene can provide a new platform material that would allow the semiconductor industry to continue its march toward ever-smaller and faster electronic devices -- progress described in Moore\u0027s Law. Though graphene will likely never replace silicon for everyday electronic applications, it could take over as the material of choice for high-performance devices. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd graphene could ultimately spawn a new generation of devices designed to take advantage of its unique properties. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince 2001, Georgia Tech has become a world leader in developing epitaxial graphene, a specific type of graphene that can be grown on large wafers and patterned for use in electronics manufacturing. In a recent paper published in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Nanotechnology\u003C\/em\u003E, Georgia Tech researchers reported fabricating an array of 10,000 top-gated transistors on a 0.24 square centimeter chip, an achievement believed to be the highest density reported so far in graphene devices. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn creating that array, they also demonstrated a clever new approach for growing complex graphene patterns on templates etched into silicon carbide. The new technique offered the solution to one of the most difficult issues that had been facing graphene electronics. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is a significant step toward electronics manufacturing with graphene,\u0022 said Walt de Heer, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Physics who pioneered the development of graphene for high-performance electronics. \u0022This is another step showing that our method of working with epitaxial graphene grown on silicon carbide is the right approach and the one that will probably be used for making graphene electronics.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUnrolled Carbon Nanotubes\u003C\/strong\u003E \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor de Heer, the story of graphene begins with carbon nanotubes, tiny cylindrical structures considered miraculous when they first began to be studied by scientists in 1991. De Heer was among the researchers excited about the properties of nanotubes, whose unique arrangement of carbon atoms gave them physical and electronic properties that scientists believed could be the foundation for a new generation of electronic devices. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECarbon nanotubes still have attractive properties, but the ability to grow them consistently -- and to incorporate them in high-volume electronics applications -- has so far eluded researchers. De Heer realized before others that carbon nanotubes would probably never be used for high-volume electronic devices. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut he also realized that the key to the attractive electronic properties of the nanotubes was the lattice created by the carbon atoms. Why not simply grow that lattice on a flat surface, and use fabrication techniques proven in the microelectronics industry to create devices in much the same way as silicon integrated circuits? \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy heating silicon carbide -- a widely-used electronic material -- de Heer and his colleagues were able to drive silicon atoms from the surface, leaving just the carbon lattice in thin layers of graphene large enough to grow the kinds of electronic devices familiar to a generation of electronics designers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThat process was the basis for a patent filed in 2003, and for initial research support from chip-maker Intel. Since then, de Heer\u0027s group has published dozens of papers and helped spawn other research groups also using epitaxial graphene for electronic devices. Though scientists are still learning about the material, companies such as IBM have launched research programs based on epitaxial graphene, and agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have invested in developing the material for future electronics applications. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s work on developing epitaxial graphene for manufacturing electronic devices was recognized in the background paper produced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences as part of the Nobel Prize documentation. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe race to find commercial applications for graphene is intense, with researchers from the United States, Europe, Japan and Singapore engaged in well-funded efforts. Since awarding of the Nobel to a group from the United Kingdom, the flood of news releases about graphene developments has grown. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our epitaxial graphene is now used around the world by many research laboratories,\u0022 de Heer noted. \u0022We are probably at the stage where silicon was in the 1950s. This is the beginning of something that is going to be very large and important.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESilicon \u0022Running Out of Gas\u0022\u003C\/strong\u003E \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA new electronics material is needed because silicon is running out of miniaturization room. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Primarily, we\u0027ve gotten the speed increases from silicon by continually shrinking feature sizes and improving interconnect technology,\u0022 said Dennis Hess, director of the National Science Foundation-sponsored Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) established at Georgia Tech to study future electronic materials, starting with epitaxial graphene. \u0022We are at the point where in less than 10 years, we won\u0027t be able to shrink feature sizes any farther because of the physics of the device operation. That means we will either have to change the type of device we make, or change the electronic material we use.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0027s a matter of physics. At the very small size scales needed to create ever more dense device arrays, silicon generates too much resistance to electron flow, creating more heat than can be dissipated and consuming too much power. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGraphene has no such restrictions, and in fact, can provide electron mobility as much as 100 times better than silicon. De Heer believes his group has developed the roadmap for the future of high-performance electronics -- and that it is paved with epitaxial graphene. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We have basically developed a whole scheme for making electronics out of graphene,\u0022 he said. \u0022We have set down what we believe will be the ground rules for how that will work, and we have the key patents in place.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESilicon, of course, has matured over many generations through constant research and improvement. De Heer and Hess agree that silicon will always be around, useful for low-cost consumer products such as iPods, toasters, personal computers and the like. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDe Heer expects graphene to find its niche doing things that couldn\u0027t otherwise be done. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027re not trying to do something cheaper or better; we\u0027re going to do things that can\u0027t be done at all with silicon,\u0022 he said. \u0022Making electronic devices as small as a molecule, for instance, cannot be done with silicon, but in principle could be done with graphene. The key question is how to extend Moore\u0027s Law in a post-CMOS world.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUnlike the carbon nanotubes he studied in the 1990s, de Heer sees no major problems ahead for the development of epitaxial graphene. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022That graphene is going to be a major player in the electronics of the future is no longer in doubt,\u0022 he said. \u0022We don\u0027t see any real roadblocks ahead. There are no flashing red lights or other signs that seem to say that this won\u0027t work. All of the issues we see relate to improving technical issues, and we know how to do that.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMaking the Best Graphene\u003C\/strong\u003E \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince beginning the exploration of graphene in 2001, de Heer and his research team have made continuous improvements in the quality of the material they produce, and those improvements have allowed them to demonstrate a number of physical properties -- such as the Quantum Hall Effect -- that verify the unique properties of the material.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The properties that we see in our epitaxial graphene are similar to what we have calculated for an ideal theoretical sheet of graphene suspended in the air,\u0022 said Claire Berger, a research scientist in the Georgia Tech School of Physics who also has a faculty appointment at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France. \u0022We see these properties in the electron transport and we see these properties in all kinds of spectroscopy. Everything that is supposed to be occurring in a single sheet of graphene we are seeing in our systems.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKey to the material\u0027s future, of course, is the ability to make electronic devices that work consistently. The researchers believe they have almost reached that point. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022All of the properties that epitaxial graphene needs to make it viable for electronic devices have been proven in this material,\u0022 said Ed Conrad, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Physics who is also a MRSEC member. \u0022We have shown that we can make macroscopic amounts of this material, and with the devices that are scalable, we have the groundwork that could really make graphene take off.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EReaching higher and higher device density is also important, along with the ability to control the number of layers of graphene produced. The group has demonstrated that in their multilayer graphene, each layer retains the desired properties. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Multilayer graphene has different stacking than graphite, the material found in pencils,\u0022 Conrad noted. \u0022In graphite, every layer is rotated 60 degrees and that\u0027s the only way that nature can do it. When we grow graphene on silicon carbide, the layers are rotated 30 degrees. When that happens, the symmetry of the system changes to make the material behave the way we want it to.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEpitaxial Versus Exfoliated\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMuch of the world\u0027s graphene research -- including work leading to the Nobel -- involved the study of exfoliated graphene: layers of the material removed from a block of graphite, originally with tape. While that technique produces high-quality graphene, it\u0027s not clear how that could be scaled up for industrial production. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile agreeing that the exfoliated material has produced useful information about graphene properties, de Heer dismisses it as \u0022a science project\u0022 unlikely to have industrial electronics application. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Electronics companies are not interested in graphene flakes,\u0022 he said. \u0022They need industrial graphene, a material that can be scaled up for high-volume manufacturing. Industry is now getting more and more interested in what we are doing.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDe Heer says Georgia Tech\u0027s place in the new graphene world is to focus on electronic applications. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are not really trying to compete with these other groups,\u0022 he said. \u0022We are really trying to create a practical electronic material. To do that, we will have to do many things right, including fabricating a scalable material that can be made as large as a wafer. It will have to be uniform and able to be processed using industrial methods.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResolving Technical Issues\u003C\/strong\u003E \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the significant technical issues facing graphene devices has been electron scattering that occurs at the boundaries of nanoribbons. If the edges aren\u0027t perfectly smooth -- as usually happens when the material is cut with electron beams -- the roughness bounces electrons around, creating resistance and interference. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo address that problem, de Heer and his team recently developed a new \u0022templated growth\u0022 technique for fabricating nanometer-scale graphene devices. The technique involves etching patterns into the silicon carbide surfaces on which epitaxial graphene is grown. The patterns serve as templates directing the growth of graphene structures, allowing the formation of nanoribbons of specific widths without the use of e-beams or other destructive cutting techniques. Graphene nanoribbons produced with these templates have smooth edges that avoid electron-scattering problems. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Using this approach, we can make very narrow ribbons of interconnected graphene without the rough edges,\u0022 said de Heer. \u0022Anything that can be done to make small structures without having to cut them is going to be useful to the development of graphene electronics because if the edges are too rough, electrons passing through the ribbons scatter against the edges and reduce the desirable properties of graphene.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn nanometer-scale graphene ribbons, quantum confinement makes the material behave as a semiconductor suitable for creation of electronic devices. But in ribbons a micron or so wide, the material acts as a conductor. Controlling the depth of the silicon carbide template allows the researchers to create these different structures simultaneously, using the same growth process. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The same material can be either a conductor or a semiconductor depending on its shape,\u0022 noted de Heer. \u0022One of the major advantages of graphene electronics is to make the device leads and the semiconducting ribbons from the same material. That\u0027s important to avoid electrical resistance that builds up at junctions between different materials.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter formation of the nanoribbons, the researchers apply a dielectric material and metal gate to construct field-effect transistors. While successful fabrication of high-quality transistors demonstrates graphene\u0027s viability as an electronic material, de Heer sees them as only the first step in what could be done with the material. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When we manage to make devices well on the nanoscale, we can then move on to make much smaller and finer structures that will go beyond conventional transistors to open up the possibility for more sophisticated devices that use electrons more like light than particles,\u0022 he said. \u0022If we can factor quantum mechanical features into electronics, that is going to open up a lot of new possibilities.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECollaborations with Other Groups\u003C\/strong\u003E \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBefore engineers can use epitaxial graphene for the next generation of electronic devices, they will have to understand its unique properties. As part of that process, Georgia Tech researchers are collaborating with scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The collaboration has produced new insights into how electrons behave in graphene. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a recent paper published in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E, the Georgia Tech-NIST team described for the first time how the orbits of electrons are distributed spatially by magnetic fields applied to layers of epitaxial graphene. They also found that these electron orbits can interact with the substrate on which the graphene is grown, creating energy gaps that affect how electron waves move through the multilayer material. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The regular pattern of magnetically-induced energy gaps in the graphene surface creates regions where electron transport is not allowed,\u0022 said Phillip N. First, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics and MRSEC member. \u0022Electron waves would have to go around these regions, requiring new patterns of electron wave interference. Understanding this interference would be important for some bi-layer graphene devices that have been proposed.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEarlier NIST collaborations led to improved understanding of graphene electron states, and the way in which low temperature and high magnetic fields can affect energy levels. The researchers also demonstrated that atomic-scale moir\u00e9 patterns, an interference pattern that appears when two or more graphene layers are overlaid, can be used to measure how sheets of graphene are stacked. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn a collaboration with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a group of Georgia Tech professors developed a simple and quick one-step process for creating nanowires on graphene oxide. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027ve shown that by locally heating insulating graphene oxide, both the flakes and the epitaxial varieties, with an atomic force microscope tip, we can write nanowires with dimensions down to 12 nanometers,\u0022 said Elisa Riedo, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics and a MRSEC member. \u0022And we can tune their electronic properties to be up to four orders of magnitude more conductive.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA New Industrial Revolution?\u003C\/strong\u003E \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThough graphene can be grown and fabricated using processes similar to those of silicon, it is not easily compatible with silicon. That means companies adopting it will also have to build new fabrication facilities -- an expensive investment. Consequently, de Heer believes industry will be cautious about moving into a new graphene world. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Silicon technology is completely entrenched and well developed,\u0022 he admitted. \u0022We can adopt many of the processes of silicon, but we can\u0027t easily integrate ourselves into silicon. Because of that, we really need a major paradigm shift. But for the massive electronics industry, that will not happen easily or gently.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHe draws an analogy to steamships and passenger trains at the dawn of the aviation age. At some point, it became apparent that airliners were going to replace both ocean liners and trains in providing first-class passenger service. Though the cost of air travel was higher, passengers were willing to pay a premium for greater speed. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are going to see a coexistence of technologies for a while, and how the hybridization of graphene and silicon electronics is going to happen remains up in the air,\u0022 de Heer predicted. \u0022That is going to take decades, though in the next ten years we are probably going to see real commercial devices that involve graphene.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThis article originally appeared in Research Horizons, Georgia Tech\u0027s research magazine.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has become a leader in developing epitaxial graphene, a material that can be grown on large wafers and patterned for use in electronics manufacturing. In a recent paper, Georgia Tech researchers reported fabricating an array of 10,000 top-gated transistors on a 0.24 square centimeter chip.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech has become a world leader in epitaxial graphene."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2011-01-06 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:57","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-01-06T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2011-01-06T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"63410":{"id":"63410","type":"image","title":"Producing epitaxial graphene","body":null,"created":"1449176690","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:04:50","changed":"1475894557","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:37","alt":"Producing epitaxial graphene","file":{"fid":"191816","name":"tbs48688.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbs48688_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbs48688_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1202030,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tbs48688_0.jpg?itok=V_zWpccS"}},"63411":{"id":"63411","type":"image","title":"Professor Walt de Heer","body":null,"created":"1449176690","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:04:50","changed":"1475894557","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:37","alt":"Professor Walt de Heer","file":{"fid":"191817","name":"tic48688.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tic48688_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tic48688_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1245665,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tic48688_0.jpg?itok=ZOUqWETF"}},"63412":{"id":"63412","type":"image","title":"Researcher Claire Berger","body":null,"created":"1449176690","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:04:50","changed":"1475894557","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:37","alt":"Researcher Claire Berger","file":{"fid":"191818","name":"tcs48688.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tcs48688_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tcs48688_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1118539,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tcs48688_0.jpg?itok=26pfw7Do"}}},"media_ids":["63410","63411","63412"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.mrsec.gatech.edu\/","title":"Materials Research Science and Engineering Center"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/user\/walter-de-heer","title":"Walt de Heer"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"9826","name":"de Heer"},{"id":"9116","name":"epitaxial graphene"},{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"9115","name":"MRSEC"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"62918":{"#nid":"62918","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Simple, Efficient Wing-Flapping Motion Proposed for Tiny Air Machines","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the future, tiny air vehicles may be able to fly through cracks in concrete to search for earthquake victims, explore a contaminated building or conduct surveillance missions for the military. But today, designing the best flying mechanism for these miniature aerial machines is still a challenging task. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECreating micro-scale air vehicles that mimic the flapping of winged insects or birds has become popular, but they typically require a complex combination of pitching and plunging motions to oscillate the flapping wings. To avoid some of the design challenges involved in mimicking insect wing strokes, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology propose using flexible wings that are driven by a simple sinusoidal flapping motion. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We found that the simple up and down wavelike stroke of wings at the resonance frequency is easier to implement and generates lift comparable to winged insects that employ a significantly more complex stroke,\u0022 said Alexander Alexeev, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Mechanical Engineering.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDetails of the flapping motion proposed by Alexeev and mechanical engineering graduate student Hassan Masoud were presented on Nov. 22 at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics. A paper published in the May issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review E\u003C\/em\u003E also reported on this work, which is supported in part by the National Science Foundation through TeraGrid computational resources.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/maximum_lift.mov\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EWatch a movie that illustrates the resonance oscillations of a flexible wing at the maximum lift frequency.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn nature, flapping-wing flight has unparalleled maneuverability, agility and hovering capability. Unlike fixed-wing and rotary-wing air vehicles, micro air vehicles integrate lifting, thrusting and hanging into a flapping wing system, and have the ability to cruise a long distance with a small energy supply. However, significant technical challenges exist in designing flapping wings, many motivated by an incomplete understanding of the physics associated with aerodynamics of flapping flight at small size scales.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When you want to create smaller and smaller vehicles, the aerodynamics change a lot and modeling becomes important,\u0022 said Alexeev. \u0022We tried to gain insight into the flapping aerodynamics by using computational models and identifying the aerodynamic forces necessary to drive these very small flying machines.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlexeev and Masoud used three-dimensional computer simulations to examine for the first time the lift and hovering aerodynamics of flexible wings driven at resonance by sinusoidal oscillations. The wings were tilted from the horizontal and oscillated vertically by a force applied at the wing root. To capture the dynamic interactions between the wings and their environment, the researchers used a hybrid computational approach that integrated the lattice Boltzmann model for fluid dynamics and the lattice spring model for the mechanics of elastic wings.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe simulations revealed that at resonance -- the frequencies when a system oscillates at larger amplitudes -- tilted elastic wings driven by a simple harmonic stroke generated lift comparable to that of small insects that employ a significantly more complex stroke. In addition, the simulations identified one flapping regime that enabled maximum lift and another that revealed maximum efficiency. The efficiency was maximized at a flapping frequency 30 percent higher than the frequency for maximized lift.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This information could be useful for regulating the flight of flapping-wing micro air vehicles since high lift is typically needed only during takeoff, while the enhanced aerodynamic efficiency is essential for a long-distance cruise flight,\u0022 noted Masoud.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo facilitate the design of practical micro-scale air vehicles that employ resonance flapping, the researchers plan to examine how flapping wings can be effectively controlled in different flow conditions including unsteady gusty environments. They are also investigating whether wings with non-uniform structural and mechanical properties and wings driven by an asymmetric stroke may further improve the resonance performance of flapping wings.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"To avoid some of the design challenges involved in creating micro-scale air vehicles that mimic the flapping of winged insects or birds, Georgia Tech researchers propose using flexible wings that are driven by a simple sinusoidal flapping motion.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers propose flexible wings for micro air vehicles."}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2010-11-22 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:50","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-11-22T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2010-11-22T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"62919":{"id":"62919","type":"image","title":"Alexander Alexeev and Hassan Masoud","body":null,"created":"1449176409","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:00:09","changed":"1475894549","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:29","alt":"Alexander Alexeev and Hassan Masoud","file":{"fid":"191608","name":"ttr40795.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttr40795_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttr40795_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":992951,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ttr40795_0.jpg?itok=0DSFdy97"}},"62920":{"id":"62920","type":"image","title":"Alexander Alexeev","body":null,"created":"1449176409","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:00:09","changed":"1475894549","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:29","alt":"Alexander Alexeev","file":{"fid":"191609","name":"tsp40795.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsp40795_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsp40795_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1352749,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tsp40795_0.jpg?itok=Kxps-Tmx"}}},"media_ids":["62919","62920"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevE.81.056304","title":"Physical Review E paper"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/faculty\/alexeev.shtml","title":"Alexander Alexeev"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/","title":"George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"11333","name":"flapping wings"},{"id":"11332","name":"flexible wings"},{"id":"11334","name":"lattice Boltzmann"},{"id":"11335","name":"lattice spring"},{"id":"11329","name":"micro air vehicle"},{"id":"2122","name":"oscillation"},{"id":"7106","name":"resonance"},{"id":"171048","name":"sinusoidal oscillation"},{"id":"11330","name":"Wings"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"63030":{"#nid":"63030","#data":{"type":"news","title":"DARPA Awards $4.3M to Develop Biological, Chemical Threat Detector","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new class of sensors able to detect multiple biological and chemical threats simultaneously with unprecedented performance may soon be within reach thanks to the establishment of a multi-million dollar research center led by Georgia Institute of Technology engineers. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBiological and chemical sensing are active research areas because of their applications in clinical screening, drug discovery, food safety, environmental monitoring and homeland security. Using integrated photonics, the new class of sensors will be capable of detecting chemical agents -- such as toxins, pollutants and trace gases -- and biological agents -- such as proteins, viruses and antibodies -- simultaneously on the same chip.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The proposed sensors will detect multiple biological and chemical threats on a compact integrated platform faster, less expensively and more sensitively than the current state-of-the-art sensors,\u0022 said the center\u0027s leader Ali Adibi, a professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is funding the two-year $4.3 million center as one of its Centers in Integrated Photonics Engineering Research (CIPhER), which investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, devices or systems. For its center, Georgia Tech is working with researchers from Emory University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; University of California, Santa Cruz; and Yale University. The team also includes industry collaborators Rockwell Collins, Kotura, Santur Corporation and NanoRods.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo create an integrated chip that will simultaneously detect multiple biological and chemical agents, the researchers need to achieve three major goals:\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 Design and fabricate photonic and optomechanical structures to sense differences in a sample\u0027s refractive index, Raman emission, fluorescence, absorption and mass;\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 Functionalize the sensor surface with coatings that chemical and biological agents will attach to and create differences that can be detected; and\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 Develop the sample preparation method and microfluidic sample delivery device, and connect the device to the coated photonic structure.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAdibi is leading the first thrust, which is primarily focused on fabricating the millimeter-square sensing structures and on-chip spectrometers that will enable multiplexing -- the detection of multiple agents using the same sensing modules. The sensors will detect changes in the refractive index, Raman emission, fluorescence, absorption spectra and optomechanical properties when a sample that includes specific biological or chemical particles interacts with the sensor coatings.  Combining information obtained from the five different sensing modalities will maximize the sensor specificity and minimize its false detection rate, the researchers say.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The goal is to achieve very high sensitivity for each modality and investigate the advantages of each modality for different classes of biological and chemical agents in order to develop a clear set of guidelines for combining different modalities to achieve the desired performance for a specific set of agents,\u0022 explained Adibi.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMassachusetts Institute of Technology chemistry professor Timothy Swager is leading the second part of this project, which aims to design surface coatings that will achieve maximum sensor specificity in detecting multiple biological and chemical agents. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We plan to develop glycan-based surface coatings to sense biological agents and polymer-based surface coatings to sense chemical agents,\u0022 noted Adibi.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the third thrust, which is being led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology electrical engineering associate professor Jongyoon Han, the researchers will develop optimal sample preparation and delivery techniques. Their goal is to maximize the biological or chemical particle concentration in the sample and limit detection time to minutes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In two years, we hope to have a lab-on-a-chip system that includes all of the sensing modalities with appropriate coatings and microfluidic delivery,\u0022 said Adibi. \u0022To show the feasibility of the technology, we plan to demonstrate the high sensitivity and high selectivity of each sensor individually and be able to use at least two of the sensing modalities simultaneously to detect two or three different chemical or biological agents.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, this center also includes Georgia Tech chemistry and biochemistry professor Mostafa El-Sayed, Georgia Tech materials science and engineering professor Kenneth Sandhage, Georgia Tech Nanotechnology Research Center senior research scientist David Gottfried,  Emory University biochemistry chair Richard Cummings, University of California Santa Cruz electrical engineering professor Holger Schmidt, and Yale University electrical engineering associate professor Hong Tang.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel Robinson (abby@innovate.gatech.edu; 404-385-3364) or John Toon (jtoon@gatech.edu; 404-894-6986)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDARPA has awarded Georgia Tech $4.3 million to develop a new class of sensors able to detect multiple biological and chemical threats simultaneously with unprecedented performance.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"DARPA grant enables biological \u0026 chemical threat detector development."}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2010-11-30 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:50","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-12-01T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2010-12-01T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"63031":{"id":"63031","type":"image","title":"Ali Adibi","body":null,"created":"1449176409","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:00:09","changed":"1475894549","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:29","alt":"Ali Adibi","file":{"fid":"191706","name":"tdg37932.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tdg37932_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tdg37932_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1061765,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tdg37932_0.jpg?itok=ZZniWRsr"}},"63032":{"id":"63032","type":"image","title":"Ali Adibi","body":null,"created":"1449176409","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:00:09","changed":"1475894549","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:29","alt":"Ali Adibi","file":{"fid":"191707","name":"trh37932.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/trh37932_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/trh37932_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1255740,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/trh37932_0.jpg?itok=uG8hFQqE"}}},"media_ids":["63031","63032"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=2","title":"Ali Adibi"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"11388","name":"absorption"},{"id":"11385","name":"antibodies"},{"id":"11379","name":"biologic"},{"id":"1364","name":"chemical"},{"id":"6891","name":"fluorescence"},{"id":"5340","name":"mass"},{"id":"7341","name":"microfluidic"},{"id":"2290","name":"photonics"},{"id":"11381","name":"pollutants"},{"id":"11383","name":"proteins"},{"id":"11387","name":"Raman emission"},{"id":"11386","name":"refractive index"},{"id":"167318","name":"sensor"},{"id":"11380","name":"toxins"},{"id":"11382","name":"trace gases"},{"id":"11384","name":"viruses"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"62640":{"#nid":"62640","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Nanogenerators Grow Powerful Enough to Drive Conventional Electronics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBlinking numbers on a liquid-crystal display (LCD) often indicate that a device\u0027s clock needs resetting.  But in the laboratory of Zhong Lin Wang at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the blinking number on a small LCD signals the success of a five-year effort to power conventional electronic devices with nanoscale generators that harvest mechanical energy from the environment using an array of tiny nanowires.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn this case, the mechanical energy comes from compressing a nanogenerator between two fingers, but it could also come from a heartbeat, the pounding of a hiker\u0027s shoe on a trail, the rustling of a shirt, or the vibration of a heavy machine.  While these nanogenerators will never produce large amounts of electricity for conventional purposes, they could be used to power nanoscale and microscale devices -- and even to recharge pacemakers or iPods. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWang\u0027s nanogenerators rely on the piezoelectric effect seen in crystalline materials such as zinc oxide, in which an electric charge potential is created when structures made from the material are flexed or compressed.  By capturing and combining the charges from millions of these nanoscale zinc oxide wires, Wang and his research team can produce as much as three volts -- and up to 300 nanoamps.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022By simplifying our design, making it more robust and integrating the contributions from many more nanowires, we have successfully boosted the output of our nanogenerator enough to drive devices such as commercial liquid-crystal displays, light-emitting diodes and laser diodes,\u0022 said Wang, a Regents\u0027 professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Materials Science and Engineering.  \u0022If we can sustain this rate of improvement, we will reach some true applications in healthcare devices, personal electronics, or environmental monitoring.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERecent improvements in the nanogenerators, including a simpler fabrication technique, were reported online last week in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENano Letters\u003C\/em\u003E.  Earlier papers in the same journal and in \u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E reported other advances for the work, which has been supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Air Force, and the National Science Foundation (NSF).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are interested in very small devices that can be used in applications such as health care, environmental monitoring and personal electronics,\u0022 said Wang.  \u0022How to power these devices is a critical issue.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe earliest zinc oxide nanogenerators used arrays of nanowires grown on a rigid substrate and topped with a metal electrode.  Later versions embedded both ends of the nanowires in polymer and produced power by simple flexing.  Regardless of the configuration, the devices required careful growth of the nanowire arrays and painstaking assembly.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the latest paper, Wang and his group members Youfan Hu, Yan Zhang, Chen Xu, Guang Zhu and Zetang Li reported on much simpler fabrication techniques.  First, they grew arrays of a new type of nanowire that has a conical shape.  These wires were cut from their growth substrate and placed into an alcohol solution.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe solution containing the nanowires was then dripped onto a thin metal electrode and a sheet of flexible polymer film.  After the alcohol was allowed to dry, another layer was created.  Multiple nanowire\/polymer layers were built up into a kind of composite, using a process that Wang believes could be scaled up to industrial production.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen flexed, these nanowire sandwiches -- which are about two centimeters by 1.5 centimeters -- generated enough power to drive a commercial display borrowed from a pocket calculator.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWang says the nanogenerators are now close to producing enough current for a self-powered system that might monitor the environment for a toxic gas, for instance, then broadcast a warning.  The system would include capacitors able to store up the small charges until enough power was available to send out a burst of data.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile even the current nanogenerator output remains below the level required for such devices as iPods or cardiac pacemakers, Wang believes those levels will be reached within three to five years.  The current nanogenerator, he notes, is nearly 100 times more powerful than what his group had developed just a year ago.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWriting in a separate paper published in October in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Communications\u003C\/em\u003E, group members Sheng Xu, Benjamin J. Hansen and Wang reported on a new technique for fabricating piezoelectric nanowires from lead zirconate titanate -- also known as PZT.  The material is already used industrially, but is difficult to grow because it requires temperatures of 650 degrees Celsius.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the paper, Wang\u0027s team reported the first chemical epitaxial growth of vertically-aligned single-crystal nanowire arrays of PZT on a variety of conductive and non-conductive substrates.  They used a process known as hydrothermal decomposition, which took place at just 230 degrees Celsius.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith a rectifying circuit to convert alternating current to direct current, the researchers used the PZT nanogenerators to power a commercial laser diode, demonstrating an alternative materials system for Wang\u0027s nanogenerator family.  \u0022This allows us the flexibility of choosing the best material and process for the given need, although the performance of PZT is not as good as zinc oxide for power generation,\u0022 he explained.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd in another paper published in \u003Cem\u003ENano Letters\u003C\/em\u003E, Wang and group members Guang Zhu, Rusen Yang and Sihong Wang reported on yet another advance boosting nanogenerator output.  Their approach, called \u0022scalable sweeping printing,\u0022 includes a two-step process of (1) transferring vertically-aligned zinc oxide nanowires to a polymer receiving substrate to form horizontal arrays and (2) applying parallel strip electrodes to connect all of the nanowires together.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing a single layer of this structure, the researchers produced an open-circuit voltage of 2.03 volts and a peak output power density of approximately 11 milliwatts per cubic centimeter.   \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022From when we got started in 2005 until today, we have dramatically improved the output of our nanogenerators,\u0022 Wang noted.  \u0022We are within the range of what\u0027s needed.  If we can drive these small components, I believe we will be able to power small systems in the near future.  In the next five years, I hope to see this move into application.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia   30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Assistance\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have reached a significant milestone in their development of nanometer-scale generators that harvest mechanical energy from the environment -- the ability to power conventional electronic devices such as liquid-crystal displays.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New nanogenerators can drive conventional electronic devices."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2010-11-09 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:42","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-11-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2010-11-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"62641":{"id":"62641","type":"image","title":"Zhong Lin Wang and nanogenerators","body":null,"created":"1449176382","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:42","changed":"1475894544","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:24","alt":"Zhong Lin Wang and nanogenerators","file":{"fid":"191529","name":"tad20593.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tad20593_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tad20593_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":909903,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tad20593_0.jpg?itok=AK3MFVeK"}},"62642":{"id":"62642","type":"image","title":"Transferring nanowires","body":null,"created":"1449176382","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:42","changed":"1475894544","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:24","alt":"Transferring nanowires","file":{"fid":"191530","name":"twv20593.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/twv20593_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/twv20593_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":37713,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/twv20593_0.jpg?itok=jox1Z-7D"}},"62643":{"id":"62643","type":"image","title":"Nanogenerator powering an LCD","body":null,"created":"1449176382","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:42","changed":"1475894544","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:24","alt":"Nanogenerator powering an LCD","file":{"fid":"191531","name":"tiq20593.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tiq20593_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tiq20593_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":23931,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tiq20593_0.jpg?itok=tdR_DmTU"}}},"media_ids":["62641","62642","62643"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/faculty\/zhong-lin-wang","title":"Zhong Lin Wang"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"609","name":"electronics"},{"id":"213","name":"energy"},{"id":"6300","name":"generator"},{"id":"1334","name":"nanogenerator"},{"id":"2502","name":"nanowire"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"61435":{"#nid":"61435","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Graphene Fabrication Method Uses Silicon Carbide Template","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new \u201ctemplated growth\u201d technique for fabricating nanometer-scale graphene devices.  The method addresses what had been a significant obstacle to the use of this promising material in future generations of high-performance electronic devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe technique involves etching patterns into the silicon carbide surfaces on which epitaxial graphene is grown.  The patterns serve as templates directing the growth of graphene structures, allowing the formation of nanoribbons of specific widths without the use of e-beams or other destructive cutting techniques.  Graphene nanoribbons produced with these templates have smooth edges that avoid electron-scattering problems.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Using this approach, we can make very narrow ribbons of interconnected graphene without the rough edges,\u0022 said Walt de Heer, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics.  \u0022Anything that can be done to make small structures without having to cut them is going to be useful to the development of graphene electronics because if the edges are too rough, electrons passing through the ribbons scatter against the edges and reduce the desirable properties of graphene.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new technique has been used to fabricate an array of 10,000 top-gated graphene transistors on a 0.24 square centimeter chip \u2013 believed to be the largest density of graphene devices reported so far.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was reported Oct. 3 in the advance online edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Nanotechnology\u003C\/em\u003E.  The work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the W.M. Keck Foundation and the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery and Exploration (INDEX).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn creating their graphene nanostructures, De Heer and his research team first use conventional microelectronics techniques to etch tiny \u0022steps\u0022 \u2013 or contours \u2013 into a silicon carbide wafer.  They then heat the contoured wafer to approximately 1,500 degrees Celsius, which initiates melting that polishes any rough edges left by the etching process.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThey then use established techniques for growing graphene from silicon carbide by driving off the silicon atoms from the surface.  Instead of producing a consistent layer of graphene one atom thick across the surface of the wafer, however, the researchers limit the heating time so that graphene grows only on the edges of the contours.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo do this, they take advantage of the fact that graphene grows more rapidly on certain facets of the silicon carbide crystal than on others.  The width of the resulting nanoribbons is proportional to the depth of the contour, providing a mechanism for precisely controlling the nanoribbons.  To form complex graphene structures, multiple etching steps can be carried out to create a complex template, de Heer explained.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022By using the silicon carbide to provide the template, we can grow graphene in exactly the sizes and shapes that we want,\u0022 he said. \u0022Cutting steps of various depths allows us to create graphene structures that are interconnected in the way we want them to be.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn nanometer-scale graphene ribbons, quantum confinement makes the material behave as a semiconductor suitable for creation of electronic devices.  But in ribbons a micron or more wide, the material acts as a conductor.  Controlling the depth of the silicon carbide template allows the researchers to create these different structures simultaneously, using the same growth process.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The same material can be either a conductor or a semiconductor depending on its shape,\u0022 noted de Heer, who is also a faculty member in Georgia Tech\u2019s National Science Foundation-supported Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC).  \u0022One of the major advantages of graphene electronics is to make the device leads and the semiconducting ribbons from the same material.  That\u0027s important to avoid electrical resistance that builds up at junctions between different materials.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter formation of the nanoribbons \u2013 which can be as narrow as 40 nanometers \u2013 the researchers apply a dielectric material and metal gate to construct field-effect transistors.  While successful fabrication of high-quality transistors demonstrates graphene\u0027s viability as an electronic material, de Heer sees them as only the first step in what could be done with the material.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When we manage to make devices well on the nanoscale, we can then move on to make much smaller and finer structures that will go beyond conventional transistors to open up the possibility for more sophisticated devices that use electrons more like light than particles,\u0022 he said.  \u0022If we can factor quantum mechanical features into electronics, that is going to open up a lot of new possibilities.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDe Heer and his research team are now working to create smaller structures, and to integrate the graphene devices with silicon.  The researchers are also working to improve the field-effect transistors with thinner dielectric materials.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUltimately, graphene may be the basis for a generation of high-performance devices that will take advantage of the material\u0027s unique properties in applications where the higher cost can be justified.  Silicon will continue to be used in applications that don\u0027t require such high performance, de Heer said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is another step showing that our method of working with epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide is the right approach and the one that will probably be used for making graphene electronics,\u0022 he added.  \u0022This is a significant new step toward electronics manufacturing with graphene.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the research has involved M. Sprinkle, M. Ruan, Y Hu, J. Hankinson, M. Rubio-Roy, B. Zhang, X. Wu and C. Berger.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researchers have developed a new \u0022templated growth\u0022 technique for fabricating nanometer-scale graphene devices.  The method addresses what had been a significant obstacle to the use of this promising material in future generations of high-performance electronic devices.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new template approach is being used to fabricate graphene devi"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2010-10-05 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:34","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-10-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-10-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"61436":{"id":"61436","type":"image","title":"Graphene transistors","body":null,"created":"1449176337","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:58:57","changed":"1475894536","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:16","alt":"Graphene transistors","file":{"fid":"191358","name":"tcv90049.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tcv90049_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tcv90049_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":535060,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tcv90049_0.jpg?itok=IZZUcHgA"}},"61437":{"id":"61437","type":"image","title":"Graphene nanoribbon","body":null,"created":"1449176337","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:58:57","changed":"1475894536","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:16","alt":"Graphene nanoribbon","file":{"fid":"191359","name":"trf90049.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/trf90049_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/trf90049_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":609209,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/trf90049_0.jpg?itok=I30e2Uoy"}}},"media_ids":["61436","61437"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/wdeheer.html","title":"Walt de Heer"},{"url":"http:\/\/mrsec.gatech.edu\/","title":"Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1928","name":"devices"},{"id":"4264","name":"fabrication"},{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"10851","name":"template"},{"id":"7528","name":"transistors"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"61514":{"#nid":"61514","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Develop Techniques for Using Material Recognized in Nobel Prize","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology researchers have pioneered the fabrication techniques expected to be used for manufacturing high-performance electronic devices from the material that has been recognized in this year\u0027s Nobel Prize in physics. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe 2010 physics prize was awarded for producing, isolating, identifying and characterizing graphene, a single atomic layer of carbon whose unique properties make the material attractive for electronic applications. Scientists at the University of Manchester were recognized for their work on graphene sheets peeled from blocks of graphite. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe work of the Georgia Tech group, headed by Professor Walt de Heer in the Georgia Tech School of Physics, was recognized by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in its scientific background document on the physics prize. De Heer\u0027s group pioneered epitaxial techniques for growing large-scale graphene sheets by heating wafers of silicon carbide to drive off the silicon, leaving a thin layer of graphene. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technique, which is now being used by research groups at companies such as IBM, has practical applications in large-scale production of electronic devices. On Oct. 3, the group published a paper in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Nanotechnology\u003C\/em\u003E describing a new technique used to produce an array of 10,000 graphene transistors. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We believe that our technique, or one very much like it, will ultimately be used to manufacture future generations of graphene-based electronic devices,\u0022 said de Heer. \u0022Using techniques that are suitable for scaling up for mass production, we can grow graphene in the patterns that we need for electronic devices.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech group holds a patent, filed in 2003, on fabricating electronic devices from these graphene layers. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is home to a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and including collaborators from the University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Riverside and University of Michigan. The foundation focus of the center is research and development of epitaxial graphene. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The unique properties of graphene portend considerable promise for future electronic and optical devices,\u0022 said Dennis Hess, the center\u0027s director. \u0022If graphene is to serve as a viable successor to silicon-based microelectronic devices and circuits, large scale production on a suitable substrate is required. Proof of concept of this approach has already been demonstrated by the fabrication of a 10,000 epitaxial graphene transistor array by Walt de Heer and his collaborators. This achievement is a significant advance toward realizing carbon-based electronics for the 21st century.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech team also collaborates with researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on characterizing the unique properties of graphene. That work has led to several recent important papers, in journals such as \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E and \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E. The latter described for the first time how the orbits of electrons are distributed spatially by magnetic fields applied to layers of epitaxial graphene. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn Oct. 3 in the advance online publication of the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Nanotechnology\u003C\/em\u003E, de Heer and collaborators described the development of a new \u0022templated growth\u0022 technique for fabricating nanometer-scale graphene devices. The method addresses what had been a significant obstacle to the use of this promising material in future generations of high-performance electronic devices. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technique involves etching patterns into the silicon carbide surfaces on which epitaxial graphene is grown. The patterns serve as templates directing the growth of graphene structures, allowing the formation of nanoribbons of specific widths without the use of e-beams or other destructive cutting techniques. Templated nanoribbon growth addresses the edge roughness that causes electron scattering. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology researchers have pioneered the fabrication techniques expected to be used for manufacturing high-performance electronic devices from the material that has been recognized in this year\u0027s Nobel Prize in physics.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers were cited by Nobel Prize committee."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2010-10-07 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:34","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-10-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-10-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"61515":{"id":"61515","type":"image","title":"Walt de Heer in laboratory","body":null,"created":"1449176337","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:58:57","changed":"1475894536","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:16","alt":"Walt de Heer in laboratory","file":{"fid":"191374","name":"tty62482.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tty62482_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tty62482_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1471812,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tty62482_0.jpg?itok=oZs1YRmK"}}},"media_ids":["61515"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/wdeheer.html","title":"Walt de Heer"},{"url":"http:\/\/mrsec.gatech.edu\/","title":"Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1928","name":"devices"},{"id":"609","name":"electronics"},{"id":"10880","name":"epitaxial"},{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"7435","name":"material"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"61232":{"#nid":"61232","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Quantum Signals Converted to Telecommunications Wavelengths","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing optically dense, ultra-cold clouds of rubidium atoms, researchers have made advances in three key elements needed for quantum information systems -- including a technique for converting photons carrying quantum data to wavelengths that can be transmitted long distances on optical fiber telecom networks. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe developments move quantum information networks -- which securely encode information by entangling photons and atoms -- closer to a possible prototype system. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology reported the findings Sept. 26 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E, and in a manuscript submitted for publication in the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review Letters\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe advances include: \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 Development of an efficient, low-noise system for converting photons carrying quantum information at infrared wavelengths to longer wavelengths suitable for transmission on conventional telecommunications systems. The researchers have demonstrated that the system, believed to be the first of its kind, maintains the entangled information during conversion to telecom wavelengths -- and back down to the original infrared wavelengths. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 A significant improvement in the length of time that a quantum repeater -- which would be necessary to transmit the information -- can maintain the information in memory. The Georgia Tech team reported memory lasting as long as 0.1 second, 30 times longer than previously reported for systems based on cold neutral atoms and approaching the quantum memory goal of at least one second -- long enough to transmit the information to the next node in the network. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2022 An efficient, low-noise system able to convert photons of telecom wavelengths back to infrared wavelengths. Such a system would be necessary for detecting entangled photons transmitted by a quantum information system. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is the first system in which such a long memory time has been integrated with the ability to transmit at telecom wavelengths,\u0022 said Brian Kennedy, a co-author of the \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics \u003C\/em\u003Epaper and a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics. \u0022We now have the crucial aspects needed for a quantum repeater.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe conversion technique addresses a long-standing issue facing quantum networks: the wavelengths most useful for creating quantum memory aren\u0027t the best for transmitting that information across optical telecommunications networks. Wavelengths of approximately 1.3 microns can be transmitted in optical fiber with the lowest absorption, but the ideal wavelength for storage is 795 nanometers. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe wavelength conversion takes place in a sophisticated system that uses a cloud of rubidium atoms packed closely together in gaseous form to maximize the likelihood of interaction with photons entering the samples. Two separate laser beams excite the rubidium atoms, which are held in a cigar-shaped magneto-optical trap about six millimeters long. The setup creates a four-wave mixing process that changes the wavelength of photons entering it. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022One photon of infrared light going in becomes one photon of telecom light going out,\u0022 said Alex Kuzmich, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics and another of the \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E paper\u0027s co-authors. \u0022To preserve the quantum entanglement, our conversion is done at very high efficiency and with low noise.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy changing the shape, size and density of the rubidium cloud, the researchers have been able to boost efficiency as high as 65 percent. \u0022We learned that the efficiency of the system scales up rather quickly with the size of the trap and the number of atoms,\u0022 Kuzmich said. \u0022We spent a lot of time to make a really dense optical sample. That dramatically improved the efficiency and was a big factor in making this work.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe four-wave mixing process does not add noise to the signal, which allows the system to maintain the information encoded onto photons by the quantum memory. \u0022There are multiple parameters that affect this process, and we had to work hard to find the optimal set,\u0022 noted Alexander Radnaev, another co-author of the \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics \u003C\/em\u003Epaper. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOnce the photons are converted to telecom wavelengths, they move through optical fiber -- and loop back into the magneto-optical trap. They are then converted back to infrared wavelengths for testing to verify that the entanglement has been maintained. That second conversion turns the rubidium cloud into a photon detector that is both efficient and low in noise, Kuzmich said. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EQuantum memory is created when laser light is directed into a cloud of rubidium atoms confined in an optical lattice. The energy excites the atoms, and the photons scattered from the atoms carry information about that excitation. In the new Georgia Tech system, these photons carrying quantum information are then fed into the wavelength conversion system. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team took two different approaches to extending the quantum memory lifetime, both of which sought to mix the two levels of atoms involved in encoding the quantum information. One approach, described in the \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics \u003C\/em\u003Epaper, used an optical lattice and a two-photon process. The second approach, described in the \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review Letters \u003C\/em\u003Esubmission, used a magnetic field approach pioneered by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe general purpose of quantum networking is to distribute entangled qubits -- two correlated data bits that are either \u00220\u0022 or \u00221\u0022 -- over long distances. The qubits would travel as photons across existing optical networks that are part of the existing global telecommunications system. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause of loss in the optical fiber that makes up these networks, repeaters must be installed at regular intervals to boost the signals. For carrying qubits, these repeaters will need quantum memory to receive the photonic signal, store it briefly, and then produce another signal that will carry the data to the next node, and on to its final destination. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is another significant step toward improving quantum information systems based on neutral atoms,\u0022 Kuzmich said. \u0022For quantum repeaters, most of the basic steps have now been made, but achieving the final benchmarks required for an operating system will require intensive optical engineering efforts.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the research team also included Y.O. Dudin, R. Zhao, H.H. Jen, J.Z. Blumoff and S.D. Jenkins. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing ultra-cold clouds of rubidium atoms, researchers have made advances in three key elements needed for quantum information systems -- including a technique for converting photons carrying quantum data to wavelengths that can be transmitted long distances on optical fiber telecom networks.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have made key advances in quantum information systems."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2010-09-26 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:27","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-09-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-09-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"61233":{"id":"61233","type":"image","title":"Studying Quantum Information Systems","body":null,"created":"1449176308","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:58:28","changed":"1475894533","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:13","alt":"Studying Quantum Information Systems","file":{"fid":"191297","name":"tim27740.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tim27740_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tim27740_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1890839,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tim27740_0.jpg?itok=vv41JXP9"}},"61234":{"id":"61234","type":"image","title":"Optical equipment for quantum systems","body":null,"created":"1449176308","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:58:28","changed":"1475894533","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:13","alt":"Optical equipment for quantum systems","file":{"fid":"191298","name":"toy27740.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toy27740_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toy27740_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1449159,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/toy27740_0.jpg?itok=Qo7Ylr6h"}},"61235":{"id":"61235","type":"image","title":"Professor Alex Kuzmich in lab","body":null,"created":"1449176322","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:58:42","changed":"1475894533","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:13","alt":"Professor Alex Kuzmich in lab","file":{"fid":"191299","name":"tdj27740.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tdj27740_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tdj27740_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1970194,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tdj27740_0.jpg?itok=74kZjLEa"}}},"media_ids":["61233","61234","61235"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/bkennedy.html","title":"Brian Kennedy"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/akuzmich.html","title":"Alex Kuzmich"},{"url":"http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/1009.4180","title":"Physical Review Letters paper"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1745","name":"networks"},{"id":"1744","name":"quantum"},{"id":"10747","name":"repeater"},{"id":"2412","name":"telecom"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"60861":{"#nid":"60861","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Instrument Reveals Quartet of Graphene Electron States","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a one-of-a-kind instrument designed and built at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), researchers have \u0022unveiled\u0022 a quartet of graphene\u0027s electron states and discovered that electrons in graphene can split up into an unexpected and tantalizing set of energy levels when exposed to extremely low temperatures and extremely high magnetic fields. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EReported Sept. 9 in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature\u003C\/em\u003E, the new research raises several intriguing questions about the fundamental physics of this exciting material and reveals new effects that may make graphene even more powerful than previously expected for practical applications. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELed by NIST Fellow Joseph Stroscio, the research team included scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Maryland, Seoul National University, and the University of Texas at Austin. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGraphene is one of the simplest materials -- a single-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like lattice -- yet it has many remarkable and surprisingly complex properties. Measuring and understanding how electrons carry current through the sheet is a key to achieving its technological promise in wide-ranging applications, including high speed electronics and sensors. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor example, the electrons in graphene act as if they have no mass and are almost 100 times more mobile than in silicon. Moreover, the speed with which electrons move through graphene is not related to their energy, unlike materials such as silicon where more voltage must be applied to increase their speed, which creates heat that is detrimental to most applications. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo fully understand the behavior of graphene\u0027s electrons, scientists must study the material under an extreme environment of ultra-high vacuum, ultra-low temperatures, and large magnetic fields. Under these conditions, the graphene sheet remains pristine for weeks. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENIST has recently constructed the world\u2019s most powerful and stable scanning-probe microscope, with an unprecedented combination of low temperature (as low as 10 millikelvin, or 10 thousandths of a degree above absolute zero), ultra-high vacuum, and high magnetic field. In the first measurements made with this instrument, the international team has used its power to resolve the finest differences in the electron energies in graphene, atom-by-atom. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Going to this resolution allows you to see new physics,\u0022 said Young Jae Song, a postdoctoral researcher who helped develop the instrument at NIST and make these first measurements. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd the new physics the team saw raises a few more questions about how the electrons behave in graphene than it answers. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause of the geometry and electromagnetic properties of graphene\u0027s structure, an electron in any given energy level populates four possible sublevels, called a \u0022quartet.\u0022 Theorists have predicted that this quartet of levels would split into different energies when immersed in a magnetic field, but until recently there had not been an instrument sensitive enough to resolve these differences. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When we increased the magnetic field at extreme low temperatures, we observed unexpectedly complex quantum behavior of the electrons,\u0022 said NIST Fellow Joseph Stroscio. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat is happening, according to Stroscio, appears to be a \u0022many-body effect\u0022 in which electrons interact strongly with one another in ways that affect their energy levels. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne possible explanation for this behavior is that the electrons have formed a \u0022condensate\u0022 in which they cease moving independently of one another and act as a single coordinated unit. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe new experiments also showed surprising stability in the quartet states, an issue that warrants further study, said Phillip First, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Physics and one of the study\u0027s co-authors. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The experiment shows that these magnetic configurations become especially stable when any one of the quartet states is completely filled with electrons, which indicates the importance of many-body correlations,\u0022 he said. \u0022However, the most surprising thing is the observation of new stable states that occur when a quartet state is exactly half filled. That\u0027s pretty remarkable, and we still need an explanation.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGraphene has attracted strong interest as a potential material for future electronic devices, and this new work reinforces that expectation. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If our hypothesis proves to be correct, it could point the way to the creation of smaller, very-low-heat producing, highly energy efficient electronic devices based upon graphene,\u0022 said Shaffique Adam, a postdoctoral researcher who assisted with theoretical analysis of the measurements. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to First, Georgia Tech researchers contributing to the paper included Walt de Heer, Yike Hu and David Torrance. The research was supported in part by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD)(KRF-2006-214-C00022), the National Science Foundation (DMR-0820382 [MRSEC], DMR-0804908, DMR-0606489), the Welch Foundation and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (NRI-INDEX program). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Mark Esser, NIST, (301-975-8735)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:mark.esser@nist.gov\u0022\u003Emark.esser@nist.gov\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon, Georgia Tech, (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Mark Esser \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EUsing a one-of-a-kind instrument designed and built at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), researchers have \u0022unveiled\u0022 a quartet of graphene\u0027s electron states and discovered that electrons in graphene can split up into an unexpected and tantalizing set of energy levels when exposed to extremely low temperatures and extremely high magnetic fields.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Research yields new information on graphene\u0027s electron states."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2010-09-07 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:23","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-09-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-09-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"60862":{"id":"60862","type":"image","title":"NIST scanning probe microscope","body":null,"created":"1449176296","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:58:16","changed":"1475894528","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:08","alt":"NIST scanning probe microscope","file":{"fid":"191227","name":"trm09953.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/trm09953_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/trm09953_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1261222,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/trm09953_0.jpg?itok=0h08uyMH"}}},"media_ids":["60862"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.mrsec.gatech.edu\/","title":"Materials Research Science and Engineering Center"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"10597","name":"electron state"},{"id":"10599","name":"energy level"},{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"10598","name":"NIST"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"60372":{"#nid":"60372","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Study of Electron Orbits in Multilayer Graphene Finds Energy Gaps","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have taken one more step toward understanding the unique and often unexpected properties of graphene, a two-dimensional carbon material that has attracted interest because of its potential applications in future generations of electronic devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the Aug. 8 advance online edition of the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics\u003C\/em\u003E, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) describe for the first time how the orbits of electrons are distributed spatially by magnetic fields applied to layers of epitaxial graphene. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team also found that these electron orbits can interact with the substrate on which the graphene is grown, creating energy gaps that affect how electron waves move through the multilayer material. These energy gaps could have implications for the designers of certain graphene-based electronic devices. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The regular pattern of energy gaps in the graphene surface creates regions where electron transport is not allowed,\u0022 said Phillip N. First, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics and one of the paper\u2019s co-authors. \u0022Electron waves would have to go around these regions, requiring new patterns of electron wave interference. Understanding such interference will be important for bi-layer graphene devices that have been proposed, and may be important for other lattice-matched substrates used to support graphene and graphene devices.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a magnetic field, an electron moves in a circular trajectory -- known as a cyclotron orbit -- whose radius depends on the size of the magnetic field and the energy of electron. For a constant magnetic field, that\u0027s a little like rolling a marble around in a large bowl, First said. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022At high energy, the marble orbits high in the bowl, while for lower energies, the orbit size is smaller and lower in the bowl,\u0022 he explained. \u0022The cyclotron orbits in graphene also depend on the electron energy and the local electron potential -- corresponding to the bowl -- but until now, the orbits hadn\u2019t been imaged directly.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPlaced in a magnetic field, these orbits normally drift along lines of nearly constant electric potential. But when a graphene sample has small fluctuations in the potential, these \u0022drift states\u0022 can become trapped at a hill or valley in the material that has closed constant potential contours. Such trapping of charge carriers is important for the quantum Hall effect, in which precisely quantized resistance results from charge conduction solely through the orbits that skip along the edges of the material. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study focused on one particular electron orbit: a zero-energy orbit that is unique to graphene. Because electrons are matter waves, interference within a material affects how their energy relates to the velocity of the wave -- and reflected waves added to an incoming wave can combine to produce a slower composite wave. Electrons moving through the unique \u0022chicken-wire\u0022 arrangement of carbon-carbon bonds in the graphene interfere in a way that leaves the wave velocity the same for all energy levels. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to finding that energy states follow contours of constant electric potential, the researchers discovered specific areas on the graphene surface where the orbital energy of the electrons changes from one atom to the next. That creates an energy gap within isolated patches on the surface. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022By examining their distribution over the surface for different magnetic fields, we determined that the energy gap is due to a subtle interaction with the substrate, which consists of multilayer graphene grown on a silicon carbide wafer,\u0022 First explained. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn multilayer epitaxial graphene, each layer\u0027s symmetrical sublattice is rotated slightly with respect to the next. In prior studies, researchers found that the rotations served to decouple the electronic properties of each graphene layer. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our findings hold the first indications of a small position-dependent interaction between the layers,\u0022 said David L. Miller, the paper\u0027s first author and a graduate student in First\u0027s laboratory. \u0022This interaction occurs only when the size of a cyclotron orbit -- which shrinks as the magnetic field is increased -- becomes smaller than the size of the observed patches.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe origin of the position dependent interaction is believed to be the \u0022moir\u00e9 pattern\u0022 of atomic alignments between two adjacent layers of graphene. In some regions, atoms of one layer lie atop atoms of the layer below, while in other regions, none of the atoms align with the atoms in the layer below. In still other regions, half of the atoms have neighbors in the underlayer, an instance in which the symmetry of the carbon atoms is broken and the Landau level -- discrete energy level of the electrons -- splits into two different energies. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EExperimentally, the researchers examined a sample of epitaxial graphene grown at Georgia Tech in the laboratory of Professor Walt de Heer, using techniques developed by his research team over the past several years. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey used the tip of a custom-built scanning-tunneling microscope (STM) to probe the atomic-scale electronic structure of the graphene in a technique known as scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The tip was moved across the surface of a 100-square nanometer section of graphene, and spectroscopic data was acquired every 0.4 nanometers. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe measurements were done at 4.3 degrees Kelvin to take advantage of the fact that energy resolution is proportional to the temperature. The scanning-tunneling microscope, designed and built by Joseph Stroscio at NIST\u0027s Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, used a superconducting magnet to provide the magnetic fields needed to study the orbits. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to First, the study raises a number of questions for future research, including how the energy gaps will affect electron transport properties, how the observed effects may impact proposed bi-layer graphene coherent devices -- and whether the new phenomenon can be controlled. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This study is really a stepping stone in long path to understanding the subtleties of graphene\u0027s interesting properties,\u0022 he said. \u0022This material is different from anything we have worked with before in electronics.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to those already mentioned, the study also included Walt de Heer, Kevin D. Kubista, Ming Ruan, and Markus Kinderman from Georgia Tech and Gregory M. Rutter from NIST. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Semiconductor Research Corporation and the W.M. Keck Foundation. Additional assistance was provided by Georgia Tech\u0027s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel Robinson (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:abby@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eabby@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Findings May Have Implications for Device Designers"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have taken one more step toward understanding the unique and often unexpected properties of graphene, a two-dimensional carbon material that has attracted interest because of its potential applications in future generations of electronic devices.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers take a new step to understanding graphene properties."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2010-08-09 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:15","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-08-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-08-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"60373":{"id":"60373","type":"image","title":"Moire alignment of graphene","body":null,"created":"1449176267","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:57:47","changed":"1475894523","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:03","alt":"Moire alignment of graphene","file":{"fid":"191110","name":"tpx85581.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tpx85581_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tpx85581_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":953599,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tpx85581_0.jpg?itok=4b2fa4es"}},"60374":{"id":"60374","type":"image","title":"Graphene Electron Motion","body":null,"created":"1449176267","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:57:47","changed":"1475894523","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:03","alt":"Graphene Electron Motion","file":{"fid":"191111","name":"tdc85581.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tdc85581_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tdc85581_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":192342,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tdc85581_0.jpg?itok=TH4hzXiY"}}},"media_ids":["60373","60374"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.mrsec.gatech.edu\/","title":"Materials Research Science and Engineering Center"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/pfirst.html","title":"Phillip First"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"6884","name":"electron"},{"id":"609","name":"electronics"},{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"10361","name":"orbits"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"52890":{"#nid":"52890","#data":{"type":"news","title":"One-step Process Produces Both P-type and N-type Doping in Graphene","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA simple one-step process that produces both n-type and p-type doping of large-area graphene surfaces could facilitate use of the promising material for future electronic devices. The doping technique can also be used to increase conductivity in graphene nanoribbons used for interconnects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy applying a commercially-available spin-on-glass (SOG) material to graphene and then exposing it to electron-beam radiation, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology created both types of doping by simply varying the exposure time. Higher levels of e-beam energy produced p-type areas, while lower levels produced n-type areas. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe technique was used to fabricate high-resolution p-n junctions. When properly passivated, the doping created by the SOG is expected to remain indefinitely in the graphene sheets studied by the researchers. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is an enabling step toward making possible complementary metal oxide graphene transistors,\u0022 said Raghunath Murali, a senior research engineer in Georgia Tech\u0027s Nanotechnology Research Center. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA paper describing the technique appeared February 10, 2010 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EApplied Physics Letters\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was supported by the Semiconductor Research Corporation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through the Interconnect Focus Center. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the new doping process, Murali and graduate student Kevin Brenner begin by removing flakes of graphene one to four layers thick from a block of graphite. They place the material onto a surface of oxidized silicon, then fabricate a four-point contact device. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENext, they spin on films of hydrogen silsesquoxane (HSQ), then cure certain portions of the resulting thin film using electron beam radiation. The technique provides precise control over the amount of radiation and where it is applied to the graphene, with higher levels of energy corresponding to more cross-linking of the HSQ. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We gave varying doses of electron-beam radiation and then studied how it influenced the properties of carriers in the graphene lattice,\u0022 Murali said. \u0022The e-beam gave us a fine range of control that could be valuable for fabricating nanoscale devices. We can use an electron beam with a diameter of four or five nanometers that allows very precise doping patterns.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EElectronic measurements showed that a graphene p-n junction created by the new technique had large energy separations, indicating strong doping effects, he added. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers elsewhere have demonstrated graphene doping using a variety of processes including soaking the material in various solutions and exposing it to a variety of gases. The Georgia Tech process is believed to be the first to provide both electron and hole doping from a single dopant material. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDoping processes used for graphene are likely to be significantly different from those established for silicon use, Murali said. In silicon, the doping step substitutes atoms of a different material for silicon atoms in the material\u2019s lattice. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the new single-step process for graphene, the doping is believed to introduce atoms of hydrogen and oxygen in the vicinity of the carbon lattice. The oxygen and hydrogen don\u0027t replace carbon atoms, but instead occupy locations atop the lattice structure. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Energy applied to the SOG breaks chemical bonds and releases hydrogen and oxygen which bond with the carbon lattice,\u0022 Murali said. \u0022A high e-beam energy converts the whole SOG structure to more of a network, and then you have more oxygen than hydrogen, resulting in a p-type doping.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn volume manufacturing, the electron beam radiation would likely be replaced by a conventional lithography process, Murali said. Varying the reflectance or transmission of the mask set would control the amount of radiation reaching the SOG, and that would determine whether n-type or p-type areas are created. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Making everything in a single step would avoid some of the expensive lithography steps,\u0022 he said. \u0022Gray-scale lithography would allow fine control of doping across the entire surface of the wafer.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor doping bulk areas such as interconnects that do not require patterning, the researchers simply coat the area with HSQ and expose it to a plasma source. The technique can make the nanoribbons up to 10 times more conductive than untreated graphene. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause HSQ is already familiar to the microelectronics industry, the one-step approach to doping could help integrate graphene into existing processes, avoiding a disruption of the massive semiconductor design and fabrication system, Murali noted. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver the past two years, researchers in the Nanotechnology Research Center had observed changes caused by application of HSQ during electrical testing. Only recently did they take a closer look at what was happening to understand how to take advantage of the phenomenon. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor the future, they\u0027d like to better understand how the process works and whether other polymers might provide better results. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We need to have a better understanding of how to control this process because variability is one of the issues that must be controlled to make manufacturing feasible,\u0022 Murali explained. \u0022We are trying to identify other polymers that may provide better control or stronger doping levels.\u0022 \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"A simple one-step process that produces both n-type and p-type doping of large-area graphene surfaces could facilitate use of the promising material for future electronic devices.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A simple doping technique could facilitate graphene devices"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2010-02-11 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:05:33","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-02-11T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2010-02-11T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"52891":{"id":"52891","type":"image","title":"Electrical measurements of graphene","body":null,"created":"1449175459","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:44:19","changed":"1475894476","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:16","alt":"Electrical measurements of graphene","file":{"fid":"146095","name":"toj27664.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toj27664_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/toj27664_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1326151,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/toj27664_0.jpg?itok=e5Df_xSv"}},"52892":{"id":"52892","type":"image","title":"Graduate student Kevin Brenner","body":null,"created":"1449175459","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:44:19","changed":"1475894476","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:16","alt":"Graduate student Kevin Brenner","file":{"fid":"146096","name":"the27664.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/the27664_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/the27664_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1386708,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/the27664_0.jpg?itok=TvoYkyqH"}},"52893":{"id":"52893","type":"image","title":"Graduate student Kevin Brenner","body":null,"created":"1449175459","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:44:19","changed":"1475894476","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:16","alt":"Graduate student Kevin Brenner","file":{"fid":"146097","name":"tpa27664.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tpa27664_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tpa27664_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":735708,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tpa27664_0.jpg?itok=if3W9je0"}}},"media_ids":["52891","52892","52893"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.nrc.gatech.edu\/","title":"Nanotechnology Research Center"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.mirc.gatech.edu\/raghu\/","title":"Raghunath Murali"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"8458","name":"doping"},{"id":"609","name":"electronics"},{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"7435","name":"material"},{"id":"4261","name":"transistor"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72030":{"#nid":"72030","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Scientists Report Java Tsunami Gave No Warning","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThough categorized as magnitude 7.8, the earthquake could scarcely be felt by beachgoers that afternoon.  A low tide and wind-driven waves disguised the signs of receding water, so when the tsunami struck, it caught even lifeguards by surprise.  That contributed to the death toll of more than 600 persons in Java, Indonesia.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The general assumption was that if you were near the coast where the earthquake took place, you would feel it and be able to run to higher ground,\u0022 said Hermann Fritz, first author of a new \u003Cem\u003EGeophysical Research Letters \u003C\/em\u003Epaper about the July 17, 2006 tsunami.  \u0022This event caught people by surprise and showed that it\u0027s not always that simple.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe earthquake was slow rupturing, so it didn\u0027t produce strong ground shaking on Java that might have alerted people on the beach, he explained.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENo local warning was issued for the tsunami waves, which arrived only tens of minutes after the earthquake.  Fortunately, the event took place on a Monday.  Had the massive waves hit the day before, which was a major national holiday, the popular beach would have been much more crowded - and the toll higher.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Warning systems typically don\u0027t work very well for locations near earthquakes, where there are only tens of minutes between the earthquake and the tsunami\u0027s arrival,\u0022 noted Fritz, a Georgia Institute of Technology assistant professor who led an inspection team to Java a week after the event.  \u0022It\u0027s pretty much a spontaneous self-evacuation.  You normally feel the earthquake or see the ocean withdraw. If you hear the noise in the last tens of seconds before it hits, then it\u0027s just a matter of who makes it and who doesn\u0027t.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe survey team, which included scientists from five different countries, interviewed survivors and studied evidence left behind by the tsunami, including debris fields.  Beyond the quiet nature of the catastrophe, they discovered evidence of a 21-meter (65-foot) wave that hit a portion of the coastline near the island of Nusa Kambangan, indicating a second event that may have added to the severity of the disaster.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EElsewhere along the 300 kilometers of coastline studied by the International Tsunami Survey team, the waves ranged from 5 to 7 meters, 16 to 24 feet.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This event indicates that there was likely a combination of both a tectonic tsunami and a submarine landslide or a canyon failure triggered by the earthquake,\u0022 said Fritz, whose research is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation. \u0022The runup was unusually high along one portion of the coast, too much for a 7.8 magnitude earthquake.  The only explanation we could think of is that a submarine mass movement triggered by the earthquake could have added to the effect of the earthquake, given the essentially straight coastline with little room for large-scale tsunami focusing.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor people in seismically-active areas like Indonesia, an earthquake usually provides the first warning of a tsunami.  Whether caused by an earthquake or an underwater landslide, the first visible sign of an oncoming tsunami is often a rapid withdrawal of the ocean that exposes the seafloor or coral reefs.  When that appears, the first tsunami wave won\u0027t be far behind.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the July 2006 Java tsunami, lifeguards did not notice the withdrawal because the water was receding anyway because of a normal low tide - and because of large wind-produced waves.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The lifeguards did not recognize the precursors of the tsunami, either the shaking of the earth or the drawing down of the sea,\u0022 said Fritz, who also interviewed survivors of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami.  \u0022The irony is that many of the lifeguards survived because they were in tall concrete structures sitting more than four meters above the ground, getting just their feet wet - a classic example of vertical evacuation in engineered structures.  We interviewed one of them, and it was quite moving.  It was his job to watch out for the people on the beach, and what happened was pretty tough on him.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESurvivors compared the sound of the tsunami to that of an aircraft landing or a loud boiling sound.  \u0022That primarily comes from the bore forming, or breaking of the waves a couple of hundred meters off shore,\u0022 Fritz explained.  \u0022In high impact areas, the first tsunami wave then comes in as a rolling wave of water, whereas in low-impact areas it may only be recognized as an unusually fast and high tide.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA tsunami normally produces more than one wave, and the waves can be 10 or 20 minutes apart.  Often, the second or third wave is the largest, so many deaths occur when victims return to low-lying areas to look for relatives or assess damage after the first wave hits.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn Indonesia, the government has instituted education programs to help residents respond to tsunami warning signs by quickly moving to higher ground.  In many cases, safety can mean moving a mile inland or 10 meters up a hill.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s always going to be difficult to provide a warning in Java because the earthquake zone is so near,\u0022 explained Fritz, a faculty member at Georgia Tech\u0027s Savannah, Ga. campus.  \u0022It\u0027s most critical for people to be able to evacuate themselves.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn other locations, such as the Hawaiian Islands, warning systems are useful because tsunamis caused by continental earthquakes take hours to reach the islands, he said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the deep ocean, tsunami waves move at the speed of a jet aircraft.  However, when they approach land, the waves slow as their height builds and energy dissipates.  By the time they roll onto a beach, the waves may be moving at vehicle highway speed, but that quickly drops as they encounter structures and vegetation.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If you start running from the beach when the tsunami strikes, chances are you are not going to make it,\u0022 Fritz said. \u0022But if you have a head-start, you have a much better chance - if you know where you\u0027re going.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Hermann Fritz (912-966-7947); E-mail (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:hermann.fritz@gtsav.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ehermann.fritz@gtsav.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Waves reached-65 feet in disaster last summer"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Though categorized as magnitude 7.8, the earthquake could scarcely be felt by beachgoers that afternoon.  A low tide and wind-driven waves disguised the signs of receding water, so when the tsunami struck, it caught even lifeguards by surprise -- contributing to the death toll.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Study shows lack of warning in Java disaster"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-06-19 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-06-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-06-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72031":{"id":"72031","type":"image","title":"Coastal tsunami damage","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"},"72032":{"id":"72032","type":"image","title":"Interviewing a survivor","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"},"72033":{"id":"72033","type":"image","title":"Height distribution of waves","body":null,"created":"1449177425","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:05","changed":"1475894649","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:09"}},"media_ids":["72031","72032","72033"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtsav.gatech.edu\/go\/faculty\/hermann-fritz-ph-d","title":"Hermann Fritz"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtsav.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Savannah"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"5770","name":"Earthquake"},{"id":"7559","name":"Java"},{"id":"347","name":"tsunami"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72510":{"#nid":"72510","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Analyses of Rare Tsunami Earthquake Yield Insight","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAnalyses of a classic, slow-rupturing tsunami earthquake whose massive waves devastated the coast of Java, Indonesia, this past summer are providing insight to seismologists and engineers, who want to better understand these rare events, recommend strategies to improve safety and perhaps provide long-range forecasts of potential danger zones worldwide.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the surprises is data indicating that a secondary underwater movement amplified the original tsunami to create a wave run-up more than 60 feet high along more than a one-mile section of coastline. Data also raise the possibility that some regional geophysical characteristic may be making Java more vulnerable to tsunami earthquakes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers from across the globe will present new analyses of seismic data, field survey information and modeling results of the July 17, 2006 tsunami earthquake at the American Geophysical Union\u0027s (AGU) fall meeting in San Francisco. Andrew Newman, an assistant professor of geophysics at the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and Susan Bilek, an assistant professor of geophysics at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology are presiding over the Dec. 11 session devoted to the July disaster.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Sharing what we\u0027re learning will help us to better characterize tsunami earthquakes and where they occur,\u0022 Newman said. \u0022We\u0027ll also be able to better assess in the future when these kind of earthquakes occur whether they are likely to create tsunamis.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOnly about 0.1 percent of earthquakes of a 6.0 or larger magnitude on the Richter scale in the past 40 years have been classified as tsunami earthquakes, but their potentially catastrophic impact demands investigation into why and where they occur, Newman explained.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA tsunami earthquake is a slow-rupturing quake that occurs near the ocean floor. It uplifts a piece of the sea floor, and that deformation displaces water that propagates out to create a tsunami. Just 30 feet of slip in tectonic plates can create a 60-foot or higher wave on shore, and local wave run-up can be even higher, Newman noted.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESeismic data on the Java event revealed that the earthquake, which measured 7.7 on the Richter scale, did indeed rupture slowly compared to a typical earthquake, Newman said. It created a deadly tsunami that hit a 300-mile stretch of Java\u0027s coastline and claimed more than 600 lives in a 125-mile-long, high-impact area. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENewman and Bilek analyzed the distribution of aftershocks that occurred in the two weeks following the July 17 event. Most of them occurred at shallow depths and close to the trench -- the area where the Australian and Sunda plates collided. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The nature of these aftershocks was a dead giveaway that this event was a classic tsunami earthquake,\u0022 Newman explained. \u0022Only tsunami earthquakes rupture in the shallowest portion of the trench -- only a few kilometers below the sea floor.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe July 2006 tsunami earthquake was the second such event to occur on the Java trench in the past 40 years; the previous one happened in 1994. \u0022There may be something going on in this particular trench -- some regional characteristic -- that is increasing the potential for tsunami earthquakes in this area,\u0022 Newman noted. His previous study of global data from 1970 to 2000 showed no indication of any seismic characteristics that made tsunami earthquakes occur more frequently in certain regions, but the Java event has renewed his interest in this possibility.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn another presentation in the same AGU meeting session, Hermann Fritz, a Georgia Tech assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, will report the findings of the International Tsunami Survey Team (ITST) that he led into Java about two weeks after the tsunami earthquake. The team gathered perishable data on wave run-up, inundation, damage to structures, and sediment erosion and deposition along a 350-mile stretch of coastline. They recorded numerous eyewitness accounts on video to document survival strategies, as well as wave sequence and periods. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMost areas were hit by waves not exceeding 30 feet, but the team documented greater impact to a one-mile-long stretch of coastline on the island of Nusa Kambangan. It is a restricted-access area because high-security prisons are located there. In this area, the tsunami wave size exceeded 60 feet and inundated the coastline for more than half a mile inland, killing 19 inmates. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The violent tsunami impact on Nusa Kambangan was visualized by a sharp trimline carved into the impact zone,\u0022 Fritz said. \u0022It shredded an entire forest and caused massive beach erosion of more than a meter vertically. The violent impact extended several miles beyond the area of island coastline we visited, but the rest was not accessible. We were the only survey team that was granted access -- which was in the company of federal agents -- to the off-limits island.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This was an unusually high wave run-up for an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7,\u0022 Fritz explained. \u0022So we presume there was some local forcing, or underwater earth movement, such as a sub-marine landslide or slump, that may have been triggered by the earthquake and caused a larger tsunami to hit this local area.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMost of the tsunami\u0027s casualties -- more than 400 of them -- occurred in Java\u0027s prime beach-tourist destination of Pagandaran, which is more than 20 miles west of Nusa, Fritz said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs is common with slow-rupturing tsunami earthquakes, most people onshore in Java did not feel any shaking when the quake occurred 125 miles offshore, Fritz noted.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Even the trained lifeguards on the beaches had a hard time recognizing the classic tsunami harbinger of initial shoreline recession,\u0022 he added. \u0022They didn\u0027t notice it because of the large surf waves that day.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning following the earthquake, it did not result in a local warning and evacuation because of communication and other logistical problems, Fritz said. But even if there had been a local warning, people would only have had 10 to 15 minutes at most to evacuate because the earthquake occurred so close to shore, he added.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFritz and the survey team called for better education of the public to help them recognize the precursors of a tsunami. \u0022Even if people feel weak ground-shaking on shore, they should move to higher ground,\u0022 he said. \u0022There\u0027s typically some degree of ocean drawback and\/or an initial higher-than-normal wave, though the first wave is rarely the biggest one. Also, when people evacuate the beach, they need to stay away from the shore for the recommended six hours.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers, including Fritz and his survey team colleagues, are working with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to improve public education about tsunamis. Public awareness has improved in Indonesia, Fritz said, but needs a boost in other at-risk areas, including the Pacific Northwest coastline of the United States, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Peru. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact: \u003C\/strong\u003E John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Andrew Newman (404-894-3976); E-mail:  (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:andrew.newman@eas.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eandrew.newman@eas.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Hermann Fritz (912-966-7947 or 912-695-4997); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:hermann.fritz@gtsav.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ehermann.fritz@gtsav.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E  Jane M. Sanders\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Researchers improve understanding and recommend strategies to improve safety"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Analyses of a classic, slow-rupturing tsunami earthquake whose massive waves devastated the coast of Java, Indonesia, this past summer are providing insight to seismologists and engineers.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Tsunami earthquake study yields insight."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2006-12-08 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:29","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2006-12-08T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2006-12-08T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72511":{"id":"72511","type":"image","title":"Java tsunami survivor","body":null,"created":"1449177934","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:25:34","changed":"1475894658","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:18"},"72512":{"id":"72512","type":"image","title":"Tsunami earthquake map","body":null,"created":"1449177934","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:25:34","changed":"1475894658","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:18"},"72513":{"id":"72513","type":"image","title":"Java coastline damage","body":null,"created":"1449177934","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:25:34","changed":"1475894658","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:18"}},"media_ids":["72511","72512","72513"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtsav.gatech.edu\/cee\/groups\/tsunami\/","title":"Hermann Fritz"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ce.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Civil and Environmental Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/shadow.eas.gatech.edu\/~anewman\/","title":"Andrew Newman"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"5770","name":"Earthquake"},{"id":"7588","name":"geophysics"},{"id":"170891","name":"seismology"},{"id":"347","name":"tsunami"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71222":{"#nid":"71222","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Technique Measures Ultrashort Laser Pulses at Focus","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELasers that emit ultrashort pulses of light are used for numerous applications including micromachining, microscopy, laser eye surgery, spectroscopy and controlling chemical reactions. But the quality of the results is limited by distortions caused by lenses and other optical components that are part of the experimental instrumentation.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo better understand the distortions, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology developed the first device to directly measure complex ultrashort light pulses in space and time at and near the focus. Measuring the pulse at the focus is important because that\u0027s where the beam is most intense and where researchers typically utilize it. Knowing how the light is distorted allows researchers to correct for the aberrations by changing a lens or using a pulse shaper or compressor to manipulate the pulse into the desired form. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Researchers have always measured the pulse immediately as it exited the laser, so they didn\u0027t realize the extent to which the pulse became distorted by the time it reached the focus after traveling through the optics and lenses in the system,\u0022 said Rick Trebino, a professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s School of Physics and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Ultrafast Optical Physics.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe device was described in a presentation at the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics on May 8. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation and published in the August 2007 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EOptics Express\u003C\/em\u003E. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt is difficult to measure ultrashort pulses because they typically last between a few femtoseconds and a picosecond, which are 10(-15) and 10(-12) of a second, and faster than the response time of the fastest electronics.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The light comes out as a train of extremely short bursts. The laser crams all of the energy of a continuous laser into a few femtoseconds, which creates really intense laser pulses,\u0022 said Pam Bowlan, a graduate student supported by the Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results (TI:GER) program. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo achieve the highest possible intensity of the laser, the pulse must be as small as possible in space and as short as possible in time. However, focused pulses nearly always have distortions in time that vary significantly from point to point in space due to lens aberrations in focusing optics.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo address those issues, the new device, called SEA TADPOLE (Spatial Encoded Arrangement for Temporal Analysis by Dispersing a Pair of Light E-fields), allows researchers to measure complicated ultrashort pulses simultaneously in space and time as they go through the focus. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A lot of chemists and biologists use ultrafast lasers, so it was important that our device be easy to use because non-laser scientists don\u0027t want to spend all day measuring their laser pulses,\u0022 noted Bowlan.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team - which also included former graduate students Pablo Gabolde and Selcuk Akturk - used the concept of interferometry to measure a pulse in space and time. Two pulses, one reference and one unknown, were sent through optical fibers. The fibers were mounted on a scanning stage so that the pulses could be measured at many locations around the focus. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe pulses were crossed and an interference pattern was recorded for each color of the pulse at each location with a digital camera. The patterns were used to determine the shape of the unknown pulse in space and time and to create movies showing how the intensity and color of the pulse changed in space and time as it focused. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Because the laser pulses enter SEA TADPOLE through optical fibers, which only collect a very small portion of the light, the device naturally measures pulses with high spatial resolution and can measure them at a focus spot size smaller than a micron,\u0022 explained Bowlan. To further improve the spatial resolution of the device, the research team began to use specialized fibers, called near-field scanning optical microscopy fibers, which can resolve features smaller than the wavelength of the light.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers tested the device by measuring ultrashort pulses focused by various lenses, since each lens can cause different complex distortions. To validate the measurements, Bowlan performed simulations of pulses propagating through the experimental lenses. Results showed that a common plano-convex lens displayed chromatic and spherical aberrations, whereas more expensive aspheric and doublet lenses exhibited mostly chromatic aberrations.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESpherical aberrations occur when the light that strikes the edges of the lens gets focused to a different point than the light that strikes the center, creating a larger, inhomogeneous focused spot size. Chromatic aberrations occur because the many colors in the laser travel at different speeds and do not stay together in space and time as the pulse passes through glass components in the experimental setup, such as lenses. As a result, each color arrives at the focus at a different time, creating a rainbow of colors in the electric field images. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAberrations can drastically increase the pulse length, which decreases the laser intensity. A lower intensity forces researchers to increase the power of the laser, increasing the possibility of damaging the sample. Aberrations can also yield odd pulse and beam shapes at the focus, which complicate the interpretation of the experiment or application.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our system tells researchers what types of aberrations are present in instrumentation, which then allows them to test different lenses in the instrumentation setup or use a pulse shaper to create the desired pulse at the focus that\u0027s free of distortions,\u0022 added Bowlan.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"SEA TADPOLE allows researchers to create distortion-free pulses"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Researchers have developed a system that measures aberrations caused by ultrashort laser pulses passing through lenses or other instrumentation. Knowing how the light is distorted allows researchers to correct for the aberrations.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"New device measures complex ultrashort pulses in space and time"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2008-05-08 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-05-08T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-05-08T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71223":{"id":"71223","type":"image","title":"SEA TADPOLE","body":null,"created":"1449177358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:58","changed":"1475894632","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:52"}},"media_ids":["71223"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1364\/OE.15.010219","title":"Optics Express article"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/rtrebino.html","title":"Rick Trebino"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7388","name":"aberration"},{"id":"7393","name":"aspheric"},{"id":"7395","name":"chromatic"},{"id":"7384","name":"distortion"},{"id":"7394","name":"doublet"},{"id":"7397","name":"electric field"},{"id":"7382","name":"femptosecond"},{"id":"6574","name":"fibers"},{"id":"2336","name":"FOCUS"},{"id":"7389","name":"interferometry"},{"id":"4260","name":"laser"},{"id":"2945","name":"lens"},{"id":"7392","name":"microscopy"},{"id":"7390","name":"near-field"},{"id":"1143","name":"optical"},{"id":"7383","name":"picosecond"},{"id":"7386","name":"pulse"},{"id":"170872","name":"scanning"},{"id":"170873","name":"SEA TADPOLE"},{"id":"168013","name":"spatial"},{"id":"169576","name":"spherical"},{"id":"7385","name":"temporal"},{"id":"7381","name":"ultrashort"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71328":{"#nid":"71328","#data":{"type":"news","title":"AFM Shows Liquids Adjust Viscosity When Confined, Shaken","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGetting ketchup out of the bottle isn\u0027t always easy. However, shaking the bottle before trying to pour allows the thick, gooey ketchup to flow more freely because it becomes more fluid when agitated. The opposite is not typically true - a liquid such as water does not become a gel when shaken.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, new research published in the March 14 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EPhysical Review Letters \u003C\/em\u003E shows that when fluids like water and silicon oil are confined to a nanometer-sized space, they behave more like ketchup or toothpaste. Then, if these confined liquids are shaken, they become fluidic and exhibit the same structural and mechanical properties as those in thicker layers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study - the first to use an atomic force microscope to measure the viscosity of confined fluids - revealed that these liquids can respond and modify their viscosity based on environmental changes. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Knowing this could be very important,\u0022 said Elisa Riedo, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics. \u0022If a lubricant used in a piece of machinery becomes thick and gelatinous when squeezed between two solid surfaces, serious problems could occur. However, if the machine vibrated, the liquid could become fluidized.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy, Riedo and graduate student Tai-De Li used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure the behavior of thin and thick layers of liquids while they were vibrated. A nanometer-size spherical silicon tip was used to approach a mica surface immersed in water or silicon oil, while small lateral oscillations were applied to the cantilever support.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Some researchers have measured the force it takes to squeeze out a fluid, but we took a different approach,\u0022 explained Riedo. \u0022We are the first group to use AFM to study the viscosity of confined fluids from direct high-resolution lateral force measurements.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe normal and lateral forces acting on the tip were measured directly and simultaneously as a function of the liquid film thickness. The ratio of stress to strain under vibratory conditions, called the viscoelastic modulus, was also measured at different frequencies and strains.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERiedo and Li measured the relaxation times of two wetting liquids: water and silicone oil (octamethylcylotetrasiloxane), which is primarily used as a lubricant or hydraulic fluid, and is the main ingredient in Silly Putty.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The relaxation time describes how active the molecules are. A longer relaxation time means it takes longer for the molecules to rearrange themselves back into their original shape after shaking them,\u0022 said Li. \u0022Liquids have very short relaxation times - as soon as one stops shaking a bottle of water, it reverts to its original configuration.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EExperimental results showed that the relaxation time became orders of magnitude longer in water and silicone oil when they were confined, meaning they behaved more like gels or glass. The researchers also showed that the relaxation times depended on the shaking speed when the liquids were confined. However, in thick layers that were not confined, the molecules showed no dependence on the shaking speed and always relaxed very quickly, meaning they behaved like a \u0027normal\u0027 liquid.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELonger relaxation times were observed when the water film was less than one nanometer thick, composed of about three molecules of water stacked on top of each other. Otherwise, its properties were the same as in a bottle of water. For silicone oil, a thickness of four nanometers was required before the properties were like those of a glassy material.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We observed a nonlinear viscoelastic behavior remarkably similar to that widely observed in metastable complex fluids, such as gels or supercooled liquids,\u0022 noted Riedo. \u0022Because we observed these phenomena in both water and silicone oil, we believe they are very general phenomena and may apply to all wetting liquids.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince the behavior of confined water observed in these experiments is similar to the behavior of supercooled water at -98.15 degrees Celsius, the researchers are currently examining whether confinement defines a lower effective temperature in the confined liquid.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"A new study - the first to use an atomic force microscope to measure the viscosity of confined fluids - shows that liquids can respond and modify their viscosity based on environmental changes.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Liquids can modify their viscosity based on environmental"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2008-04-29 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-04-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-04-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71329":{"id":"71329","type":"image","title":"Elisa Riedo 1","body":null,"created":"1449177367","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:07","changed":"1475894634","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:54"},"71330":{"id":"71330","type":"image","title":"Tai-De AFM scanner","body":null,"created":"1449177367","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:07","changed":"1475894634","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:54"},"71331":{"id":"71331","type":"image","title":"AFM liquid cell","body":null,"created":"1449177367","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:07","changed":"1475894634","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:54"}},"media_ids":["71329","71330","71331"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevLett.100.106102","title":"Physical Review Letters article"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/eriedo.html","title":"Elisa Riedo"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3105","name":"atomic"},{"id":"7420","name":"confined"},{"id":"2402","name":"film"},{"id":"2473","name":"fluid"},{"id":"7419","name":"force"},{"id":"3132","name":"liquid"},{"id":"2834","name":"mechanical"},{"id":"7392","name":"microscopy"},{"id":"5926","name":"Molecules"},{"id":"7425","name":"nanometer"},{"id":"7427","name":"oscillate"},{"id":"6773","name":"relaxation"},{"id":"170875","name":"shake"},{"id":"170876","name":"silicon oil"},{"id":"170877","name":"structural"},{"id":"170878","name":"supercool"},{"id":"7423","name":"vibrate"},{"id":"7424","name":"viscosity"},{"id":"788","name":"Water"},{"id":"7428","name":"wetting"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71334":{"#nid":"71334","#data":{"type":"news","title":"OLED Sealing Process Reduces Water Intrusion and Increases Lifetime","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers have developed an improved organic light emitting diode (OLED) sealing process to reduce moisture intrusion and improve device lifetime.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOLEDs are promising for the next generation of displays and solid state lighting because they use less power and can be more efficiently manufactured than current technology. However, the intrusion of moisture into the displays can damage or destroy an OLED\u0027s organic material.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022OLEDs have better color and flexibility and the capability of larger displays, but companies still need an inexpensive encapsulation method that can be used to mass produce organic electronics that don\u0027t allow moisture in,\u0022 said Wusheng Tong, a senior research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EManufacturers now seal displays in an inert atmosphere or in a vacuum environment. They glue a glass lid on top of the display substrate with a powder inside the display to absorb moisture that diffuses through the glue. These seals are expensive and labor-intensive to assemble.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith funding from GTRI\u0027s independent research and development program, Tong and his GTRI collaborators - senior research scientist Hisham Menkara and principal research scientist Brent Wagner - have replaced the glass enclosure with a thin-film barrier formed by a less expensive conventional deposition method. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We chose a passivation coating process that could be performed at room temperature so that the organic material remained intact,\u0022 said Tong.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers selected advanced ion assisted deposition, which utilizes reactive ions to deposit a high-density, pinhole-free thin silicon oxynitride (SiON) film on the OLED surface. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Ideally, the film should be as thin as possible, but if it\u0027s too thin, a pinhole or other defect could appear and cause a problem,\u0022 explained Tong. \u0022We found that a film of 50-200 nanometer thickness was perfect.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring testing, the SiON-encapsulated OLEDs showed no sign of degradation after seven months in an open-air environment, while the OLEDs without the coating degraded completely in less than two weeks under the same conditions.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen Tong conducted accelerating aging tests in an environmental chamber that maintained a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius and 50 percent relative humidity, the OLEDs encapsulated with SiON films showed little degradation for at least two weeks. The OLEDs without encapsulation, however, decomposed immediately.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We\u0027ve demonstrated that this deposition process improves the lifetime of the OLEDs by blocking the intrusion of moisture, so now we\u0027re hoping to work with industry partners to develop a mass production process for our encapsulation technique,\u0022 added Tong.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Researchers have developed an improved organic light emitting diode (OLED) sealing process to reduce moisture intrusion and improve device lifetime. They are using advanced ion assisted deposition to deposit a high-density, pinhole-free thin silicon oxynitride film on the OLED surface. The process can be completed at room temperature, which keeps the organic material intact.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Depositing silicon oxynitride film on OLED surface improves life"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2008-04-22 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-04-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-04-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71335":{"id":"71335","type":"image","title":"OLED encapsulation1","body":null,"created":"1449177367","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:07","changed":"1475894634","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:54"},"71336":{"id":"71336","type":"image","title":"OLED encapsulation 2","body":null,"created":"1449177367","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:07","changed":"1475894634","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:54"},"71337":{"id":"71337","type":"image","title":"OLED encapsulation 3","body":null,"created":"1449177367","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:07","changed":"1475894634","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:54"}},"media_ids":["71335","71336","71337"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1326","name":"advanced"},{"id":"7208","name":"assisted"},{"id":"7310","name":"coat"},{"id":"7311","name":"coating"},{"id":"7339","name":"deposition"},{"id":"7431","name":"encapsulate"},{"id":"2402","name":"film"},{"id":"7019","name":"ion"},{"id":"7430","name":"light emitting diode"},{"id":"7433","name":"moisture"},{"id":"2387","name":"oled"},{"id":"2289","name":"organic"},{"id":"7434","name":"oxynitride"},{"id":"170879","name":"seal"},{"id":"167355","name":"silicon"},{"id":"788","name":"Water"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71429":{"#nid":"71429","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Fiber-based Nanotechnology Could Power Electronic Devices","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENanotechnology researchers are developing the perfect complement to the power tie: a \u0022power shirt\u0022 able to generate electricity to power small electronic devices for soldiers in the field, hikers and others whose physical motion could be harnessed and converted to electrical energy.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe February 14 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature\u003C\/em\u003E details how pairs of textile fibers covered with zinc oxide nanowires can generate electrical current using the piezoelectric effect.  Combining current flow from many fiber pairs woven into a shirt or jacket could allow the wearer\u0027s body movement to power a range of portable electronic devices.  The fibers could also be woven into curtains, tents or other structures to capture energy from wind motion, sound vibration or other mechanical energy.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The fiber-based nanogenerator would be a simple and economical way to harvest energy from physical movement,\u0022 said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regents professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  \u0022If we can combine many of these fibers in double or triple layers in clothing, we could provide a flexible, foldable and wearable power source that, for example, would allow people to generate their own electrical current while walking.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Emory-Georgia Tech Nanotechnology Center for Personalized and Predictive Oncology.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe microfiber-nanowire hybrid system builds on the nanowire nanogenerator that Wang\u0027s research team announced in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E in April 2007.  That system generates current from arrays of vertically-aligned zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires that flex beneath an electrode containing conductive platinum tips.  The nanowire nanogenerator was designed to harness energy from environmental sources such as ultrasonic waves, mechanical vibrations or blood flow.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe nanogenerators developed by Wang\u0027s research group take advantage of the unique coupled piezoelectric and semiconducting properties of zinc oxide nanostructures, which produce small electrical charges when they are flexed.  After a year of development, the original nanogenerators - which are two by three millimeters square - can produce up to 800 nanoamperes and 20 millivolts.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe microfiber generators rely on the same principles, but are made from soft materials and designed to capture energy from low-frequency mechanical energy.  They consist of DuPont Kevlar fibers on which zinc oxide nanowires have been grown radially and embedded in a polymer at their roots, creating what appear to be microscopic baby-bottle brushes with billions of bristles.  One of the fibers in each pair is also coated with gold to serve as the electrode and to deflect the nanowire tips.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The two fibers scrub together just like two bottle brushes with their bristles touching, and the piezoelectric-semiconductor process converts the mechanical motion into electrical energy,\u0022 Wang explained.  \u0022Many of these devices could be put together to produce higher power output.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWang and collaborators Xudong Wang and Yong Qin have made more than 200 of the fiber nanogenerators.  Each is tested on an apparatus that uses a spring and wheel to move one fiber against the other.  The fibers are rubbed together for up to 30 minutes to test their durability and power production.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESo far, the researchers have measured current of about four nanoamperes and output voltage of about four millivolts from a nanogenerator that included two fibers that were each one centimeter long. With a much improved design, Wang estimates that a square meter of fabric made from the special fibers could theoretically generate as much as 80 milliwatts of power.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFabrication of the microfiber nanogenerator begins with coating a 100-nanometer seed layer of zinc oxide onto the Kevlar using magnetron sputtering.  The fibers are then immersed in a reactant solution for approximately 12 hours, which causes nanowires to grow from the seed layer at a temperature of 80 degrees Celsius.  The growth produces uniform coverage of the fibers, with typical lengths of about 3.5 microns and several hundred nanometers between each fiber.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo help maintain the nanowires\u0027 connection to the Kevlar, the researchers apply two layers of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) to the fiber.  \u0022First we coat the fiber with the polymer, then with a zinc oxide layer,\u0022 Wang explained.  \u0022Then we grow the nanowires and re-infiltrate the fiber with the polymer.  This helps to avoid scrubbing off the nanowires when the fibers rub together.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFinally, the researchers apply a 300 nanometer layer of gold to some of the nanowire-covered Kevlar.  The two different fibers are then paired up and entangled to ensure that a gold-coated fiber contacts a fiber covered only with zinc oxide nanowires.  The gold fibers serve as a Shottky barrier with the zinc oxide, substituting for the platinum-tipped electrode used in the original nanogenerator.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo ensure that the current they measured was produced by the piezoelectric-semiconductor effect and not just static electricity, the researchers conducted several tests.  They tried rubbing gold fibers together, and zinc oxide fibers together, neither of which produced current.  They also reversed the polarity of the connections, which changed the output current and voltage.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy allowing nanowire growth to take place at temperatures as low as 80 degrees Celsius, the new fabrication technique would allow the nanostructures to be grown on virtually any shape or substrate.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a next step, the researchers want to combine multiple fiber pairs to increase the current and voltage levels.  They also plan to improve conductance of their fibers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, one significant challenge lies head for the power shirt - washing it.  Zinc oxide is sensitive to moisture, so in real shirts or jackets, the nanowires would have to be protected from the effects of the washing machine, Wang noted.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research is supported by the NSF\u0027s Division of Materials Research through grant 0706436.  \u0022This multi-disciplinary research grant enables materials scientists and engineers from varied backgrounds to work together toward translating basic and applied research into viable technologies,\u0022 noted Harsh Deep Chopra, NSF\u0027s program manager.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Zhong Lin Wang (404-894-8008); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:zhong.wang@mse.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ezhong.wang@mse.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"\u0022Power shirt\u0022 would harvest energy from physical movement"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Nanotechnology researchers are developing the perfect complement to the power tie: a \u0022power shirt\u0022 able to generate electricity to power small electronic devices for soldiers in the field, hikers and others whose physical motion could be harnessed and converted to electrical energy.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Nanogenerators could power electronics from physical movement"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2008-02-13 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-02-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2008-02-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71430":{"id":"71430","type":"image","title":"Z.L. Wang and microfiber nanogenerator","body":null,"created":"1449177376","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:16","changed":"1475894637","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:57"},"71431":{"id":"71431","type":"image","title":"Microscope image","body":null,"created":"1449177376","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:16","changed":"1475894637","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:57"},"71432":{"id":"71432","type":"image","title":"Fiber nanogenerator schematic","body":null,"created":"1449177376","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:16","changed":"1475894637","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:57"}},"media_ids":["71430","71431","71432"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.nanoscience.gatech.edu\/zlwang\/","title":"Team Web site"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2123","name":"current"},{"id":"436","name":"electricity"},{"id":"1493","name":"Fiber"},{"id":"1334","name":"nanogenerator"},{"id":"3517","name":"power"},{"id":"7487","name":"zinc-oxide"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71878":{"#nid":"71878","#data":{"type":"news","title":"A Better Definition for the Kilogram?","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHow much is a kilogram?  It turns out that nobody can say for sure, at least not in a way that won\u0027t change ever so slightly over time.  The official kilogram - a cylinder cast 118 years ago from platinum and iridium and known as the International Prototype Kilogram or \u0022Le Gran K\u0022 - has been losing mass, about 50 micrograms at last check.  The change is occurring despite careful storage at a facility near Paris.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u0027s not so good for a standard the world depends on to define mass.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENow, two U.S. professors \u0027 a physicist and mathematician \u0027 say it\u0027s time to define the kilogram in a new and more elegant way that will be the same today, tomorrow and 118 years from now.  They\u0027ve launched a campaign aimed at redefining the kilogram as the mass of a very large - but precisely-specified - number of carbon-12 atoms.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our standard would eliminate the need for a physical artifact to define what a kilogram is,\u0022 said Ronald F. Fox, a Regents\u0027 Professor Emeritus in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  \u0022We want something that is logically very simple to understand.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETheir proposal is that the gram - 1\/1000th of a kilogram - would henceforth be defined as the mass of exactly 18 x 14074481\u003Csup\u003E3\u003C\/sup\u003E carbon-12 atoms.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe proposal, made by Fox and Theodore P. Hill - a Professor Emeritus in the Georgia Tech School of Mathematics - first assigns a specific value to Avogadro\u0027s constant.  Proposed in the 1800s by Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro, the constant represents the number of atoms or molecules in one mole of a pure material - for instance, the number of carbon-12 atoms in 12 grams of the element.  However, Avogadro\u0027s constant isn\u0027t a specific number; it\u0027s a range of values that can be determined experimentally, but not with enough precision to be a single number.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESpurred by Hill\u0027s half-serious question about whether Avogadro\u0027s constant was an even or odd number, in the fall of 2006 Fox and Hill submitted a paper to \u003Cem\u003EPhysics Archives \u003C\/em\u003Ein which they proposed assigning a specific number to the constant - one of about 10 possible values within the experimental range.  The authors pointed out that a precise Avogadro\u0027s constant could also precisely redefine the measure of mass, the kilogram.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETheir proposal drew attention from the editors of \u003Cem\u003EAmerican Scientist\u003C\/em\u003E, who asked for a longer article that was published in March 2007.  The proposal has so far drawn five letters, including one from Paul J. Karol, chair of the Committee on Nomenclature, Terminology and Symbols of the American Chemical Society.  Karol added his endorsement to the proposal and suggested making the number divisible by 12 - which Fox and Hill did in an addendum by changing their number\u0027s final digit from 8 to 6.  So the new proposal for Avogadro\u0027s constant became 84446886\u003Csup\u003E3\u003C\/sup\u003E, still within the range of accepted values.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFast-forward to September 2007, when Fox read an Associated Press article on the CNN.com Web site about the mass disappearing from the International Prototype Kilogram.  While the AP said the missing mass amounted to no more than \u0027the weight of a fingerprint,\u0027 Fox argues that the amount could be significant in a world that is measuring time in ultra-sub-nanoseconds and length in ultra-sub-nanometers.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESo Fox and Hill fired off another article to \u003Cem\u003EPhysics Archive\u003C\/em\u003E, this one proposing to redefine the gram as 1\/12th the mass of a mole of carbon 12 - a mole long being defined as Avogrado\u0027s number of atoms.  They now hope to generate more interest in their idea for what may turn out to be a competition of standards proposals leading up to a 2011 meeting of the International Committee for Weights and Measures.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt least two other proposals for redefining the kilogram are under discussion.  They include replacing the platinum-iridium cylinder with a sphere of pure silicon atoms, and using a device known as the \u0027watt balance\u0027 to define the kilogram using electromagnetic energy.  Both would offer an improvement over the existing standard - but not be as simple as what Fox and Hill have proposed, nor be exact, they say.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Using a perfect numerical cube to define these constants yields the same level of significance - eight or nine digits - as in those integers that define the second and the speed of light,\u0022 Hill said.  \u0022A purely mathematical definition of the kilogram is experimentally neutral - researchers may then use any laboratory method they want to approximate exact masses.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe kilogram is the last major standard defined by a physical artifact rather than a fundamental physical property.  In 1983, for instance, the distance represented by a meter was redefined by how far light travels in 1\/299,792,458 seconds - replacing a metal stick with two marks on it.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We suspect that there will be some public debate about this issue,\u0022 Fox said.  \u0022We want scientists and science teachers and others to think about this problem because we think they can have an impact.  Public discussion may play an important role in determining how one of the world\u0027s basic physical constants is defined.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHow important is this issue to the world\u0027s future technological development?  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When you make physical and chemical measurements, it\u0027s important to have as high a precision as possible, and these standards really define the limits of precision,\u0022 Fox said.  \u0022The lack of an accurate standard leaves some inconsistency in how you state results.  Having a unique standard could eliminate that.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the new definition would do away with the need for a physical representation of mass, Fox says people who want a physical artifact could still have one - though carbon can\u0027t actually form a perfect cube with the right number of atoms.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd building one might take some time.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022You could imagine having a lump of matter that actually had exactly the right number of atoms in it,\u0022 Fox noted.  \u0022If you could build it by some kind of self-assembly process - as opposed to building it atom-by-atom, which would take a few billion years - you could have new kilogram artifact made of carbon.  But there\u0027s really no need for that. Even if you built a perfect kilogram, it would immediately be inaccurate as soon as a single atom was sloughed off or absorbed.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Ron Fox (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:ron.fox@physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eron.fox@physics.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Ted Hill (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:hill@math.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ehill@math.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Scientists propose a precise integer number of carbon atoms"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Two Georgia Tech emeritus professors - a physicist and mathematician - say it\u0027s time to define the kilogram in a new and more elegant way. They\u0027ve made a proposal to redefine the kilogram as the mass of a very large - but precisely-specified - number of carbon-12 atoms.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech profs offer new kilogram definition"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2007-09-21 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71879":{"id":"71879","type":"image","title":"Ronald F. Fox","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71880":{"id":"71880","type":"image","title":"Theodore P. Hill","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"},"71881":{"id":"71881","type":"image","title":"Computer-generated International Prototype Kilogra","body":null,"created":"1449177414","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:54","changed":"1475894644","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:04"}},"media_ids":["71879","71880","71881"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.americanscientist.org\/template\/AssetDetail\/assetid\/54773","title":"American Scientist article"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.math.gatech.edu\/~hill\/","title":"Theodore P. Hill"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/rfox.html","title":"Ronald F. Fox"},{"url":"http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/0709.2576v1","title":"Physics Archive article"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2007\/TECH\/science\/09\/12\/shrinking.kilogram.ap\/index.html","title":"CNN.com article on kilogram"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7541","name":"kilogram"},{"id":"5340","name":"mass"},{"id":"169415","name":"Standard"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"70822":{"#nid":"70822","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Physicists Set New Record for Quantum Memory Storage and Retrieval","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPhysicists have taken a significant step toward creation of quantum networks by establishing a new record for the length of time that quantum information can be stored in and retrieved from an ensemble of very cold atoms.  Though the information remains usable for just milliseconds, even that short lifetime should be enough to allow transmission of data from one quantum repeater to another on an optical network.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new record - 7 milliseconds for rubidium atoms stored in a dipole optical trap - was reported December 7 in the online version of the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Physics \u003C\/em\u003Eby researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology.   The previous record for storage time was 32 microseconds, a difference of more than two orders of magnitude.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is a really significant step for us, because conceptually it allows long memory times necessary for long-distance quantum networking,\u0022 said Alex Kuzmich, associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics and a co-author of the paper.  \u0022For multiple architectures with many memory elements, several milliseconds would allow the movement of light across a thousand kilometers.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe keys to extending the storage time included the use of a one-dimensional optical lattice to help confine the atoms and selection of an atomic phase that is insensitive to magnetic effects.  The research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the A.P. Sloan Foundation and the U.S. Office of Naval Research.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe general purpose of quantum networking or quantum computing is to distribute entangled qubits - two correlated data bits that are either \u00220\u0022 or \u00221\u0022 - over long distances.  The qubits would travel as photons across existing optical networks that are part of the global telecommunications system.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause of loss in the optical fiber that makes up networks, repeaters must be installed at regular intervals - about every 100 kilometers - to boost the signal.  Those repeaters will need quantum memory to receive the photonic signal, store it briefly and then produce a photonic signal that will carry the information to the next node, and on to its final destination.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor their memory, the Georgia Tech researchers used an ensemble of rubidium-87 atoms that is cooled to almost absolute zero to minimize atomic motion.  To store information, the entire atomic ensemble is exposed to laser light carrying a signal, which allows each atom to participate in the storage as part of a \u0022collective excitation.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn simple terms, each atom \u0022sees\u0022 the incoming signal - which is a rapidly oscillating electromagnetic field - slightly differently.  Each atom is therefore imprinted with phase information that can later be \u0022read\u0022 from the ensemble with another laser.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEven though they are very cold, the atoms of the ensemble are free to move in a random way.  Because each atom stores a portion of the quantum information and that data\u0027s usefulness depends on each atom\u0027s location in reference to other atoms, significant movement of the atoms could destroy the information.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The challenge for us in implementing these long-lived quantum memories is to preserve the phase imprinting in the atomic ensemble for as long as possible,\u0022 explained Stewart Jenkins, a School of Physics research scientist who participated in the research.  \u0022It turns out that is difficult to do experimentally.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo extend the lifetime of their memory, the Georgia Tech researchers took two approaches.  The first was to confine the atoms using an optical lattice composed of laser beams.  Because of the laser frequencies chosen, the atoms are attracted to specific locations within the lattice, though they are not held tightly in place.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause the ensemble atoms are affected by environmental conditions such as magnetism, the second strategy was to use atoms that had been pumped to the so-called \u0022clock transition state\u0022 that is relatively insensitive to magnetic fields. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The most critical aspect to getting these long coherence times was the optical lattice,\u0022 Jenkins explained.  \u0022Although atoms had been confined in optical lattices before, what we did was to use this tool in the context of implementing quantum memory.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOther research teams have stored quantum information in single atoms or ions.  This simpler approach allows longer storage periods, but has limitations, he said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The advantage of using these ensembles as opposed to single atoms is that if we shine into them a \u0022read\u0022 laser field, because these atoms have a particular phase imprinted on them, we know with a high degree of probability that we are going to get a second photon - the idler photon - coming out in a particular direction,\u0022 Jenkins explained.  \u0022That allows us to put a detector in the right location to read the photon.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the work significantly advances quantum memories, practical quantum networks probably are at least a decade away, Kuzmich believes.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In practice, you will need to make robust repeater nodes with hundreds of memory elements that can be quickly manipulated and coupled to the fiber,\u0022 he said.  \u0022There is likely to be slow progress in this area with researchers gaining better and better control of quantum systems.  Eventually, they will get good enough so we can make a jump to having systems that can work outside the laboratory environment.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to Kuzmich and Jenkins, the research team included Ran Zhao, Yaroslav Dudin, Corey Campbell, Dzmitry Matsukevich, and Brian Kennedy, a professor in the School of Physics.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364; E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Advance takes a significant step toward quantum networking"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Physicists have taken a significant step toward creation of quantum networks by establishing a new record for the length of time that quantum information can be stored in and retrieved from an ensemble of very cold atoms.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers have extended the lifetime for quantum memory"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2008-12-07 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2008-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"70823":{"id":"70823","type":"image","title":"Quantum memory research","body":null,"created":"1449177314","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:14","changed":"1475894623","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:43"},"70824":{"id":"70824","type":"image","title":"Quantum memory researchers","body":null,"created":"1449177314","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:14","changed":"1475894623","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:43"},"70825":{"id":"70825","type":"image","title":"Quantum memory research","body":null,"created":"1449177314","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:14","changed":"1475894623","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:43"}},"media_ids":["70823","70824","70825"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/qoptics\/","title":"Alex Kuzmich research group"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1228","name":"memory"},{"id":"1745","name":"networks"},{"id":"1744","name":"quantum"},{"id":"167167","name":"storage"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"70991":{"#nid":"70991","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Severe Storms Research Center Boosts Defenses Against Twisters","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe tornado that ripped through downtown Atlanta on March 14, 2008, produced a death, psychological shock and some $150 million in damage. Yet it was hardly an isolated event. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia ranks high among tornado-plagued areas of the United States. It was 18th among the most affected states between 1953 and 2004. And in 2007, Georgia experienced 42 twisters; only seven states suffered more hits.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHelping to protect Georgia residents against such violent weather is the job of the researchers of the Severe Storms Research Center (SSRC) at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). One of their tasks: to explore and develop new technologies able to improve both the accuracy and the timeliness of tornado warnings. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, NEXRAD Doppler radar technology is state-of-the-art in the U.S., which is ravaged by more tornadoes than anyplace else on Earth. NEXRAD offers about a 15-minute average advance warning that a tornado may hit. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022That\u0027s a big improvement over the old days, when a funnel cloud on the horizon was often the first warning,\u0022 said John Trostel, deputy director of the SSRC. \u0022Before NEXRAD was established in the 1990s, you would have been lucky to have gotten a 30-second warning.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe GTRI center was founded after a tornado struck Gainesville, Ga., with no warning in March 1998, leaving 11 people dead in Hall County, recalls SSRC Director Gene Greneker. A task force formed by then-Georgia Gov. Zell Miller recommended a severe-storms center with several missions, including conducting cutting-edge research, collecting and archiving storm data and improving detection and warning. The center was initially funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and on-going support has come through the state of Georgia with the continuing involvement of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA). \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Part of our goal is to explore what\u0027s different about the severe storms of north Georgia,\u0022 Greneker said. \u0022Tornadoes in Georgia are often short-lived events that take place over a few minutes, while those in Kansas or Oklahoma may last for an hour.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENEXRAD continues to be the first line of tornado defense, Greneker explains. Earlier weather radars dating back to the 1950s could sometimes reveal the classic \u0022hook\u0022 echo on some tornadoes, but NEXRAD is far more effective. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EToday\u0027s national network of NEXRAD stations uses three-dimensional Doppler technology to detect wind direction and other factors; the information shows up on-screen in brightly colored cells that resemble the pixels of a heavily magnified digital photo. When winds in a given area begin to twist in opposite directions - a tornadic phenomenon called wind shear - two cells form a distinctive on-screen \u0022couplet\u0022 that alerts weather watchers a tornado may be forming. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESSRC uses several tools to amass and study NEXRAD data, including GR2Analyst software, developed in Georgia, and a WDSS-II analysis station. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I\u0027m seeing very interesting trends in the number of tornadoes that occur annually in Georgia,\u0022 Trostel said. \u0022There was an average of about 15 to 25 events from 1950 through 1970, then a peak in the early 1970s to over 40 events, and then a return to 15 to 25. But since 2000, the trend in the number of annual events appears to be again increasing.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENew Insights into Tornadoes \u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENEXRAD is an important tool, Trostel acknowledges. Yet to increase the weather watcher\u0027s arsenal, and potentially improve warning times and accuracy, GTRI researchers are developing additional approaches to tornado detection and monitoring. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrently, SSRC studies North Georgia weather using 12 research systems that use a wide variety of instruments, sensors, computers and software, with two more systems under development. Researchers involved in the effort include Greneker, Trostel, Ed Reedy, Tom Perry and Jenny Matthews, as well as a number of students. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong the SSRC\u0027s top areas of study is the complex role that lightning and acoustics play in North Georgia\u0027s severe storms and in the formation of tornadoes. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELightning\u003C\/strong\u003E - Researchers based at GTRI\u0027s Cobb County Research Facility are pursuing several approaches that could potentially correlate lightning\u0027s behavior with tornado activity: \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ELightning mapping arrays \u003C\/em\u003Euse multiple receiving stations to monitor severe storms as they move through an area. The SSRC and other Atlanta-area weather stations - such as the National Weather Service at Peachtree City - are developing a six-station array that will augment data already coming from an existing array in northern Alabama; \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EElectric field mills \u003C\/em\u003Emeasure the enormous changes in electric fields between fair weather and severe storms, providing important data that can even correlate raindrop size and frequency with other storm parameters; \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EA lighting polarization ratio station \u003C\/em\u003Emonitors the horizontally and vertically polarized radio-frequency signals created by lightning strokes, providing data on the behavior of cloud- to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning. Greater understanding of lightning, especially the less-understood cloud-to-cloud variety, could shed light on tornado formation; \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EGamma-ray detectors \u003C\/em\u003Erecord the gamma- and X-rays that emanate from lightning strokes, and offer the potential to correlate the appearance of these powerful phenomena with tornado activity. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAcoustic signals \u003C\/strong\u003E- Severe storms emit very low-frequency sounds -- in the range of 50 hertz and below, which is analogous to the sonic footprint of an earthquake. Tornado vortices appear to emit these \u0022infra-sounds\u0022 in frequencies ranging from 1 hertz down to tenths of a hertz. At the Cobb Country Research Facility, GTRI researchers are building an array of low-frequency sensors that may allow them to identify sonic signatures unique to tornadoes. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETrostel notes that there are myriad ways to study severe storms, many of them surprisingly cost-efficient. He points to a field mill developed by a local high-school student; constructed from such materials as a coffee can, it can detect electrical fields associated with storms. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This device does a very good job, and it cost $87,\u0022 Trostel said. \u0022We want to get Georgia high-school science classes to construct and deploy these detectors - and then we could track storm-related electrical fields as they progress across the state.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThis article was originally published in the Summer 2008 issue of Georgia Tech\u0027s Research Horizons magazine.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E); Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirkeng@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirkeng@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-33640; E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Trostel (404-407-7690); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:john.trostel@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejohn.trostel@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Center\u0027s mission is to protect Georgia citizens"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"The Severe Storms Research Center explores and develops new technologies for improving the accuracy and timeliness of tornado warnings.  Part of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), the Center is studying the complex role that lightning and acoustics play in severe storms.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Research center aims to protect Georgians against tornadoes"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2008-09-25 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-09-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"70992":{"id":"70992","type":"image","title":"Sferic antenna","body":null,"created":"1449177338","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:38","changed":"1475894625","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:45"},"70993":{"id":"70993","type":"image","title":"Electric field mill","body":null,"created":"1449177338","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:38","changed":"1475894625","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:45"},"70994":{"id":"70994","type":"image","title":"Radar screen","body":null,"created":"1449177338","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:38","changed":"1475894625","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:45"}},"media_ids":["70992","70993","70994"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/centers\/ssrc","title":"Severe Storms Research Center"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1501","name":"acoustic"},{"id":"1396","name":"lightning"},{"id":"170862","name":"storm"},{"id":"1233","name":"tornado"},{"id":"2027","name":"warning"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"71128":{"#nid":"71128","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Study Reveals Principles Behind Gold Nanocluster Stability","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA report published in the July 8 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E (\u003Cem\u003EPNAS\u003C\/em\u003E) is the first to describe the principles behind the stability and electronic properties of tiny nanoclusters of metallic gold. The study, which confirms the \u0027divide and protect\u0027 bonding structure, resulted from the work of researchers at four universities on two continents.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022While gold nanoparticles are being used by so many researchers - chemists, materials scientists and biomedical engineers - no one understood their molecular and electronic structures until now,\u0022 said Robert Whetten, a professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s School of Physics and School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. \u0022This research opens a new window for nanoparticle chemistry.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGold and sulfur atoms tend to aggregate in specific numbers and highly symmetrical geometries. Sometimes these clusters are called \u0027superatoms\u0027 because they can mimic the chemistry of single atoms of a completely different element.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers commonly use gold nanoparticles because they are stable and exhibit distinct optical, electronic, electrochemical and bio-labeling properties. However, understanding the physicochemical properties of such clusters is a challenge, according to Whetten, because that requires knowledge of their atomic structures. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA significant advance came in late 2007 though, when Stanford University researchers reported the first-ever total structure determination of a 102-atom gold cluster. The X-ray structure study revealed that pairs of organic sulfur (\u0027thiolate\u0027) groups extracted gold atoms from the gold layer to form a linear thiolate-gold-thiolate bridge while interacting weakly with the metal surface below. These gold-thiolate complexes formed a sort of protective crust around the nanoparticles.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This discovery contradicted what most chemists believed was going on - which was that the sulfur atom merely sat atop the uppermost gold layer, bound to three adjacent metal atoms,\u0022 said Whetten.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith the experimentally determined structural coordinates, an international team of researchers from Georgia Tech, Stanford University, the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden set out to determine the electronic principles underlying the 102-atom gold compound and others like it. The team conducted large-scale electronic structure calculations in supercomputing centers in Espoo, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; and Juelich, Germany.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers found that the 102-atom gold cluster was a \u0027superatom\u0027 with a core of 79 gold atoms arranged into a truncated decahedron: two pyramids with pentagonal bases joined together into a faceted shape, but with the pyramids-tips chopped off. Around the core, 23 gold atoms formed an unusual pattern, joining the thiolates in shapes that resemble handles. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe results confirmed the \u0027divide and protect\u0027 structure first predicted by team member Hannu Hakkinen, a professor at the University of Jyvaskyla and former senior research scientist at Georgia Tech in the laboratory of Uzi Landman. Hakkinen and Henrik Gronbeck of the Chalmers University of Technology previously proposed that a cluster of 38-atom gold contained a central metallic core of 14 gold atoms and a protective layer of 24 gold atoms bound to sulfur. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In 2006, we predicted that gold atoms in this bonding motif were divided in two groups - those that made the metal core and those that helped to protected it,\u0022 explained Hakkinen. \u0022Now there was evidence that this was true.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the study reported in \u003Cem\u003EPNAS\u003C\/em\u003E, the researchers found that the clusters were stable because the surface gold atoms in the core each had at least one surface-chemical bond and the gold core exhibited a strong electron shell closing.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith the 102-atom gold cluster, each gold atom in the cluster donated one valence electron. Forty-four of those electrons were immobilized in bonds between gold atoms and thiolates, leaving 58 electrons to fill a shell around the \u0027superatom.\u0027 In this configuration, the cluster wouldn\u0027t benefit from adding or shedding electrons, which would destabilize its structure.  This process is similar to what happens in noble gases, which are chemically inert because they have just the right number of electrons to fill a shell around each atom\u0027s nucleus.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAssociated with the filled electron shell, the gold-thiolate compound also had a major energy gap to unoccupied states. The calculated energy gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital states for the 102-atom compound was significant - 0.5 electron volts. Metals typically have a gap of zero, so this gap indicates an atypical electronic stability of the compound, explained Whetten.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBesides the 102-atom compound, the researchers also determined the electronic structures for 11-, 13- and 39-atom gold cluster compounds. They found that the 11- and 13-gold atom clusters form closed electronic shells with 8 electrons and the 39-atom gold clusters with 34.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The theoretical concepts published in this paper provide a solid background for further understanding of the distinct electrical, optical and chemical properties of the stable mono-layer-protected gold nanoclusters,\u0022 said Whetten, whose funding for this research came from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. Former Georgia Tech graduate student Ryan Price and current graduate student James Bradshaw also contributed to this work.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study also shows that experimentally well-characterized, structure-resolved, thermodynamically stable species of thiolate-, phosphine-halide-, and phosphine-thiolate-protected gold nanoparticles share common factors underlying their stability. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOnce this initial work was completed, the researchers started predicting the structures of other stable gold cluster compositions that are still awaiting a precise structure determination.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIn the March 26 issue of the \u003Cem\u003EJournal of the American Chemical Society\u003C\/em\u003E, the research team predicted the structure for a cluster containing 25 gold atoms. They determined that the structure was comprised of an icosahedron-like 13-atom gold core protected by six \u0027V-shaped\u0027 long units, creating a \u0027divide and protect\u0027 composition. The structural prediction was recently confirmed by another group\u0027s experimental work.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We now have a unified model that provides a solid background for nanoengineering ligand-protected gold clusters for applications in catalysis, sensing, photonics, bio-labeling and molecular electronics,\u0022 said Hakkinen.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAdditional authors on the \u003Cem\u003EPNAS\u003C\/em\u003E paper included Michael Walter, Jaakko Akola and Olga Lopez-Acevedo of the University of Jyvaskyla; and Pablo Jadzinsky, Guillermo Calero and Christopher Ackerson of Stanford University.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"International team confirms \u0027divide and protect\u0027 bonding structure"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A report published in the July 8 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E (PNAS) is the first to describe the principles behind the stability and electronic properties of tiny nanoclusters of metallic gold.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers from four universities report on nanoclusters"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2008-07-11 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-07-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-07-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71129":{"id":"71129","type":"image","title":"102-atom gold nanocluster","body":null,"created":"1449177348","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:48","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"},"71130":{"id":"71130","type":"image","title":"25-atom gold nanocluster","body":null,"created":"1449177348","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:48","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"},"71131":{"id":"71131","type":"image","title":"39- and 11-atom gold nanoclusters","body":null,"created":"1449177348","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:48","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"}},"media_ids":["71129","71130","71131"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/faculty\/Whetten\/","title":"Robert Whetten"},{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.0801001105","title":"PNAS article"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7288","name":"bio-labeling"},{"id":"2507","name":"catalysis"},{"id":"89","name":"chemistry"},{"id":"2529","name":"cluster"},{"id":"7283","name":"divide"},{"id":"7287","name":"electrochemical"},{"id":"6884","name":"electron"},{"id":"4186","name":"electronic"},{"id":"213","name":"energy"},{"id":"7291","name":"gap"},{"id":"2185","name":"gold"},{"id":"7082","name":"metal"},{"id":"3030","name":"molecular"},{"id":"2286","name":"nano"},{"id":"2528","name":"nanocluster"},{"id":"1143","name":"optical"},{"id":"7282","name":"orbital"},{"id":"2290","name":"photonics"},{"id":"7284","name":"protect"},{"id":"170866","name":"stability"},{"id":"169761","name":"structure"},{"id":"170840","name":"sulfur"},{"id":"170867","name":"superatom"},{"id":"167325","name":"supercomputer"},{"id":"7289","name":"thiol"},{"id":"7290","name":"valence"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Robinson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Robinson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["abby@innovate.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46381":{"#nid":"46381","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Nanogenerators Produce Electricity from Running Rodents","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECould hamsters help solve the world\u2019s energy crisis? Probably not, but a hamster wearing a power-generating jacket is doing its own small part to provide a new and renewable source of electricity.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd using the same nanotechnology, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have also generated electrical current from a tapping finger \u2013 moving the users of BlackBerry devices, cell phones and other handhelds one step closer to powering them with their own typing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cUsing nanotechnology, we have demonstrated ways to convert even irregular biomechanical energy into electricity,\u201d said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regent\u2019s professor in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering. \u201cThis technology can convert any mechanical disturbance into electrical energy.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe demonstrations of harnessing biomechanical energy to produce electricity were reported February 9 in the online version of the American Chemical Society journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ENano Letters\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Air Force, and the Emory-Georgia Tech Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study demonstrates that nanogenerators \u2013 which Wang\u2019s team has been developing since 2005 \u2013 can be driven by irregular mechanical motion, such as the vibration of vocal cords, flapping of a flag in the breeze, tapping of fingers or hamsters running on exercise wheels. Scavenging such low-frequency energy from irregular motion is significant because much biomechanical energy is variable, unlike the regular mechanical motion used to generate most large-scale electricity today.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe nanogenerator power is produced by the piezoelectric effect, a phenomenon in which certain materials \u2013 such as zinc oxide wires \u2013 produce electrical charges when they are bent and then relaxed. The wires are between 100 and 800 nanometers in diameter, and between 100 and 500 microns in length.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo make their generators, Wang\u2019s research team encapsulated single zinc oxide wires in a flexible polymer substrate, the wires anchored at each end with an electrical contact, and with a Shottky Barrier at one end to control current flow. They then attached one of these single-wire generators to the joint area of an index finger, or combined four of the single-wire devices on a \u201cyellow jacket\u201d worn by the hamster.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe running and scratching of the hamster \u2013 and the tapping of the finger \u2013 flexed the substrate in which the nanowires were encapsulated, producing tiny amounts of alternating electrical current. Integrating four nanogenerators on the hamster\u2019s jacket generated up to 0.5 nanoamps; less current was produced by the single generator on the finger.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWang estimates that powering a handheld device such as a Bluetooth headset would require at least thousands of these single-wire generators, which could be built up in three-dimensional modules.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond the finger-tapping and hamster-running, Wang believe his modules could be implanted into the body to harvest energy from such sources as muscle movements or pulsating blood vessels. In the body, they could be used to power nanodevices to measure blood pressure or other vital signs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause the devices produce alternating current, synchronizing the four generators on the hamster\u2019s back was vital to maximizing current production. Without the synchronization, current flow from one generator could cancel out the flow from another.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team \u2013 which also included Rusen Yang, Yong Qin, Cheng Li and Guang Zhu \u2013 solved that problem by using a substrate that was flexible in only one direction, forcing the generators to flex together. Still, there was substantial variation in the output from each generator. The differences result from variations in the amount of flexing and from inconsistencies in the hand-built devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe nanogenerators have to be synchronized, with the output of all of them coordinated so the current adds up constructively,\u201d Wang noted. \u201cThrough engineering, we would expect this can be resolved in the future through improved design and more consistent manufacturing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo ensure that the current measured was actually produced by the generators, the researchers took several precautions. For instance, they substituted carbon fibers \u2013 which are not piezoelectric \u2013 for the zinc oxide nanowires and measured no output electrical signal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team encountered a number of obstacles related to its four-legged subjects. Wang\u2019s team first tried to outfit a rat with the power-generating jacket, but found that the creature wasn\u2019t very interested in running.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the suggestion of Wang\u2019s daughter, Melissa, the researchers found that hamsters are more active creatures \u2013 but only after 11 p.m. They had to experiment with a jacket configuration that was tight enough to stay on and to wrinkle the nanogenerator substrate \u2013 but not so tight as to make the hamster uncomfortable.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe believe this is the first demonstration of using a live animal to produce current with nanogenerators,\u201d Wang added. \u201cThis study shows that we really can harness human or animal motion to generate current.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Brett Israel (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact\u003C\/strong\u003E: Zhong Lin Wang (404-894-8008) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:zhong.wang@mse.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ezhong.wang@mse.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Tapping Finger Also Helps Generate Electricity"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECould hamsters help solve the world\u2019s energy crisis? Probably not, but a hamster wearing a power-generating jacket is doing its own small part to provide a new and renewable source of electricity.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Biomechanical energy from humans and animals produces electricit"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-02-13 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-02-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2009-02-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46382":{"id":"46382","type":"image","title":"Hamster with generator","body":null,"created":"1449174401","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:41","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"Hamster with generator","file":{"fid":"101139","name":"tbm29278.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbm29278_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbm29278_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":505490,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tbm29278_0.jpg?itok=NbAfR1Qg"}},"46383":{"id":"46383","type":"image","title":"Hamster in wheel","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"Hamster in wheel","file":{"fid":"101140","name":"tur28844.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tur28844_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tur28844_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1800055,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tur28844_0.jpg?itok=Jq1xVkYE"}}},"media_ids":["46382","46383"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/movies\/hamster-power.mpg","title":"Video of hamster generating current"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/FacultyStaff\/MSE_Faculty_researchbios\/Wang\/wang.html","title":"Zhong Lin Wang"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.nanoscience.gatech.edu\/zlwang\/","title":"Team Web site"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1335","name":"biomechanical"},{"id":"436","name":"electricity"},{"id":"1334","name":"nanogenerator"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46384":{"#nid":"46384","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Learn Why Robots Get Stuck in the Sand","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EToday\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"New Study Could Help Future Space Robots"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A new study takes what may be the first detailed look at the problem of robot locomotion on granular surfaces. Among the study","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study provides details of robot travel on granular surface"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-02-09 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-02-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2009-02-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46385":{"id":"46385","type":"image","title":"SandBot","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"SandBot","file":{"fid":"101141","name":"txc17406.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/txc17406_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/txc17406_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1655382,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/txc17406_0.jpg?itok=RtpvrkaR"}},"46386":{"id":"46386","type":"image","title":"SandBot","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"SandBot","file":{"fid":"101142","name":"tih17406.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tih17406_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tih17406_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1259577,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tih17406_0.jpg?itok=NczTdjdi"}}},"media_ids":["46385","46386"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/movies\/SandBot.wmv","title":"Video of SandBot (wmv format)"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/dgoldman.html","title":"Daniel Goldman"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1357","name":"granular"},{"id":"377","name":"locomotion"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"169242","name":"sand"},{"id":"1359","name":"terrain"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["avogel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46397":{"#nid":"46397","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers See Complex Atomic Choreography as Crystals Melt","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EConga lines of atoms wend their way through a crystal, their numbers growing as more and more atoms join the migration. The worm-like lines of atoms randomly converge, forming tangles that evolve into droplets of liquid that signal the beginning of the complicated process known as melting.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThat\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Conga lines of atoms wend their way through a crystal, their numbers growing as more and more atoms join the migration. The worm-like lines of atoms randomly converge, forming tangles that evolve into droplets of liquid that signal the beginning of the complicated process known as melting.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Simulations reveal what happens when crystals melt from the insi"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-02-02 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-02-02T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2009-02-02T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46398":{"id":"46398","type":"image","title":"Atomic simulations","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"Atomic simulations","file":{"fid":"101158","name":"tld80977.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tld80977_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tld80977_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1902490,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tld80977_0.jpg?itok=6eSxrW1n"}},"46399":{"id":"46399","type":"image","title":"Atomic simulation","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"Atomic simulation","file":{"fid":"101159","name":"tlo81215.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tlo81215_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tlo81215_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":801335,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tlo81215_0.jpg?itok=DIc6FyI1"}},"46400":{"id":"46400","type":"image","title":"Atomic simulation","body":null,"created":"1449174428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:27:08","changed":"1475894419","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:19","alt":"Atomic simulation","file":{"fid":"101160","name":"ttw80977.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttw80977_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ttw80977_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1302652,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ttw80977_0.jpg?itok=Xf_kfRQ7"}}},"media_ids":["46398","46399","46400"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/FacultyStaff\/MSE_Faculty_researchbios\/Li\/li.html","title":"Mo Li"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1437","name":"atoms"},{"id":"1434","name":"crystal"},{"id":"1435","name":"melting"},{"id":"167045","name":"simulation"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46204":{"#nid":"46204","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Protocols Will Test Effects of RFID Systems on Medical Devices","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERadio frequency identification (RFID) systems are widely used for applications that include inventory management, package tracking, toll collection, passport identification and airport luggage security. More recently, these systems have found their way into medical environments to track patients, equipment assets and staff members.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHowever, there is currently no published standardized, repeatable methodology by which manufacturers of RFID equipment or medical devices can assess potential issues with electromagnetic interference and evaluate means to mitigate them.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo resolve these concerns, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) recently began developing testing protocols for RFID technology in the health care setting. The test protocol development is being overseen by AIM Global, the international trade association representing automatic identification and mobility technology solution providers, and also includes MET Laboratories, a company that provides testing and certification services for medical devices.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A comprehensive set of test protocols, which are sufficiently precise to permit repeatable results, is required to understand if there is an interaction between various types of RFID systems and active implantable medical devices, electronic medical equipment, in vitro diagnostic equipment and biologics. Only after the protocols are developed will we be able to investigate the cause of any interactions, the result of any interactions, and ways manufacturers might eliminate or mitigate interactions,\u0022 said Craig K. Harmon, president and CEO of Q.E.D. Systems and chairman of AIM Global\u0027s RFID Experts Group. This group is overseeing the Health Care Initiative and includes representatives from 40 organizations in the United States, Europe and Asia.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGTRI researchers will test how RFID systems affect the function of implantable and wearable medical devices, such as pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, neurostimulators, implantable infusion pumps and cardiac monitors. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The internal components, firmware and hardware of every company\u0027s devices are different, meaning that each device can respond differently to the same electromagnetic environment. Since there have been various preliminary tests and publications from different organizations indicating that there may or may not be issues with RFID system environments and these devices, it is important to standardize the way to test such devices,\u0022 said Ralph Herkert, director of GTRI\u0027s Medical Device Test Center.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHerkert and Gisele Bennett, director of GTRI\u0027s Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory, will evaluate and determine the best method for measuring whether interference takes place as a result of RFID emission in both active and passive RFID technologies covering the spectrum from low-frequency to ultra high-frequency. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers will test whether radio frequency-emitting devices cause any negative effects on the medical devices, and under what conditions these effects might occur. Testing will also determine whether specific medical devices are particularly susceptible to certain radio frequency identification characteristics and if any corrective actions can be taken to mitigate such susceptibility.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedical device testing is not new for GTRI, which established its Medical Device Test Center more than 14 years ago. The facility was created to enable manufacturers of implantable cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators to work with providers of electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems, used by retailers, libraries and other establishments to prevent theft and track inventory. The center\u0027s original mission was to help manufacturers improve compatibility between implantable medical devices and EAS systems that radiate electromagnetic energy. In 2006, GTRI expanded its operations and facilities to test new types of security and logistical systems (SLS), including RFID. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo test the effects of RFID systems on medical devices, the researchers simulate real-world conditions by placing a medical device in a tank of saline solution that simulates the electrical characteristics of body tissue and fluid. The medical device is then exposed to different RFID technologies. Several tests are performed with the device placed in different orientations to represent how people typically interact with the emissions. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We think the testing procedure for RFID systems will be similar to the EAS system procedure, but there are a few more challenges with the RFID systems because a person doesn\u0027t always pass through a portal,\u0022 noted Bennett, who is also a member of AIM Global\u0027s RFID Experts Group. \u0022Medical devices can be affected by active tags with stronger signals or RFID systems reading passive tag signals.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe test protocols developed by GTRI will be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for concurrence, after which a worldwide certification program will be launched and other testing facilities will be invited to participate.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFunding to develop these test guidelines is currently being provided by GTRI, but the researchers are actively looking for external funding.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We have more than 35 years of experience at GTRI testing medical device interference and we think that testing the effects of RFID on medical devices is an important area to pursue,\u0022 added Bennett.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) recently began developing testing protocols for RFID technology in the health care setting. The researchers will test whether radio frequency-emitting devices cause any negative effects on the medical devices.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"GTRI is developing protocols to test RFID systems in medical set"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2009-10-06 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:14","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-10-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-10-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46205":{"id":"46205","type":"image","title":"Ralph Herkert RFID","body":null,"created":"1449174358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:58","changed":"1475894412","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:12","alt":"Ralph Herkert RFID","file":{"fid":"101013","name":"tfh34608.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tfh34608_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tfh34608_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1257665,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tfh34608_1.jpg?itok=nSq5CQtq"}},"46206":{"id":"46206","type":"image","title":"GTRI medical device RFID testing","body":null,"created":"1449174358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:58","changed":"1475894412","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:12","alt":"GTRI medical device RFID testing","file":{"fid":"101014","name":"tec34608.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tec34608.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tec34608.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1145146,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tec34608.jpg?itok=1iUKy02y"}},"46207":{"id":"46207","type":"image","title":"Ralph Herkert medical device testing","body":null,"created":"1449174358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:58","changed":"1475894412","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:12","alt":"Ralph Herkert medical device testing","file":{"fid":"101015","name":"tuy34608.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tuy34608.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tuy34608.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":845938,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tuy34608.jpg?itok=Lc6R11qE"}}},"media_ids":["46205","46206","46207"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/eosl.gtri.gatech.edu\/Capabilities\/CentersofExcellence\/MedicalDeviceTesting\/tabid\/141\/Default.aspx","title":"GTRI Medical Device Test Center"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4468","name":"cardiac monitors"},{"id":"4465","name":"Cardioverter Defibrillator"},{"id":"4462","name":"Electromagnetic Interference"},{"id":"4464","name":"Implantable Device"},{"id":"4467","name":"infusion pumps"},{"id":"4460","name":"Medical Devices"},{"id":"4463","name":"Medical Equipment"},{"id":"4466","name":"Neurostimulators"},{"id":"4461","name":"Pacemaker"},{"id":"4459","name":"Radio Frequency Identification"},{"id":"503","name":"RFID"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["avogel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46222":{"#nid":"46222","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Friction Differences Offer New Means for Manipulating Nanotubes","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENanotubes and nanowires are promising building blocks for future integrated nanoelectronic and photonic circuits, nanosensors, interconnects and electro-mechanical nanodevices.  But some fundamental issues remain to be resolved -- among them, how to position and manipulate the tiny tubes.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPublishing in the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Materials \u003C\/em\u003Ethis week, researchers from four different institutions report measuring different friction forces when a carbon nanotube slides along its axis compared to when it slides perpendicular to its axis.  This friction difference has its origins in soft lateral distortion of the tubes when they slide in the transverse direction.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe findings not only could provide a better understanding of fundamental friction issues, but from a more practical standpoint, offer a new tool for assembling nanotubes into devices and clarify the forces acting on them.  Asymmetries in the friction could potentially also be used in sorting nanotubes according to their chirality, a property that is now difficult to measure with other means.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip is scanned transversely across a multi-walled carbon nanotube, the amount of friction measured is twice as much as when the same tube is scanned longitudinally, along the length of the tube.  The researchers attribute this difference to what they call \u0022hindered rolling\u0022 -- additional effort required to overcome the nanotube\u0027s tendency to roll as the AFM tip strokes across it rather than along it.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Because the energy required to move in one direction is twice as much as required to move in the other direction, this could be an easy way to control the assembly of carbon nanotubes for nanoelectronics, sensors and other applications,\u0022 said Elisa Riedo, co-author of the study and an associate professor in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  \u0022To assemble nanotubes on a surface, you need to know how they interact and what force is needed to move them.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe combined theoretical and experimental study was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.  Other institutions contributing to the project include the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, International School for Advanced Studies and CNR Democritos Laboratory -- all in Trieste, Italy -- and the University of Hamburg in Germany.  The paper was published in advance online on September 13 by the journal \u003Cem\u003ENature Materials\u003C\/em\u003E. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ECarbon nanotubes have exceptional thermal, mechanical and electrical properties that have generated considerable interest since they were first reported in 1991.  Though friction has been studied before in nanotubes, this research is the first to provide detailed information about the frictional forces at work in both the longitudinal and transverse directions when the tubes interact with an AFM tip. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFriction is one of the oldest problems in physics and one of the most important to everyday life.  It is estimated that the losses in the U.S. economy due to friction total about 6 percent of the gross national product.  Friction is even more important to micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and nanoscale devices because these smaller systems are more affected by surface forces than large systems.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As systems become smaller and smaller, it becomes more important to understand how to address friction,\u0022 said Riedo.  \u0022Surface forces can prevent micro and nano systems from operating at all.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EExperimentally, the researchers scanned an atomic force microscope tip longitudinally along a series of multiwalled carbon nanotubes held stationary on a substrate.  They also conducted a series of similar scans in the transverse direction. The researchers applied a consistent force on the AFM tip in both scanning directions, and relied on powerful Van der Waals forces to hold tubes in place on the substrate. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When you scan a nanotube transversely, you are probing something very different,\u0022 said Riedo.  \u0022You are also probing additional dissipation modes due to a kind of swaying motion in which energy is also dissipated through movement of the nanotube as it alters its cross section.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe experiment showed that greater forces were required to move the tip in the transverse direction.  Using molecular dynamics simulations, collaborators Erio Tosatti and Xiaohua Zhang at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, International School for Advanced Studies and CNR Democritos Laboratory analyzed the phenomenon to understand what was happening.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In principle, there seems to be no reason why the frictional forces required to move the AFM tip would be different in one direction,\u0022 Riedo noted.  \u0022But the theory confirmed that this \u0027hindered rolling\u0027 and soft mode movement of the nanotubes are the sources of the higher friction when the tip moves transversely.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause the nanotube-tip system is so simple, it offers an ideal platform for studying basic friction principles, which are important to all moving systems.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This kind of system gives you the opportunity to explore friction using an ideal experiment so you can really probe the energy dissipation mechanism,\u0022 Riedo explained.  \u0022The system is so simple that you can distinguish between the dissipation mechanisms, which you can\u0027t usually do well in macro-scale systems.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBased on the molecular dynamics simulations, Riedo and Tosatti believe that the friction anisotropy will be very different in chiral nanotubes versus non-chiral -- left-to-right symmetric -- nanotubes.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Because of the chirality, the tip moves in a screw-like fashion, creating hindered rolling even for longitudinal sliding,\u0022 Tosatti said.  \u0022Thus, the new measuring technique may suggest a simple way to sort the nanotubes; among the next steps in the research will be to show experimentally that this can be done.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to the researchers already mentioned, co-authors for this paper include Christian Klinke at the Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University of Hamburg, and Marcel Lucas and Ismael Palaci at Georgia Tech.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Understanding the basic mechanism of friction in carbon nanotubes will help us in designing devices with them in the future,\u0022 Riedo added.  \u0022We have shown an anisotropy in the friction coefficient of carbon nanotubes in the transverse and longitudinal directions, which has its origin in the soft lateral distortion of tubes when the tip-tube contact is moving in the transverse direction.  Our findings could help in developing better strategies for chirality sorting, large-scale self-assembling of nanotubes on surfaces, and designing nanotube adhesives and nanotube-polymer composite materials.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Variations Could Help in Assembling and Sorting Structures"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Publishing in the journal Nature Materials, researchers report measuring different friction forces when a carbon nanotube slides along its axis compared to when it slides perpendicular to its axis. The observation could provide a new tool for assembling and sorting nanotubes.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Scientists discover variations in friction forces on nanotubes"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-09-15 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:14","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-09-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-09-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46223":{"id":"46223","type":"image","title":"AFM tip interactions","body":null,"created":"1449174358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:58","changed":"1475894412","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:12","alt":"AFM tip interactions","file":{"fid":"101026","name":"tsb28437.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsb28437.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tsb28437.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":374096,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tsb28437.jpg?itok=NUGo8kuV"}},"46224":{"id":"46224","type":"image","title":"Hindered rolling","body":null,"created":"1449174358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:58","changed":"1475894412","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:12","alt":"Hindered rolling","file":{"fid":"101027","name":"tlc28437.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tlc28437.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tlc28437.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":58941,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tlc28437.jpg?itok=Qd9P4wkl"}}},"media_ids":["46223","46224"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/eriedo.html","title":"Elisa Riedo"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4340","name":"assembly"},{"id":"379","name":"friction"},{"id":"7073","name":"manipulation"},{"id":"3246","name":"nanotubes"},{"id":"7074","name":"nanowires"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46254":{"#nid":"46254","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Graphene Shows High Current Capacity \u0026 Thermal Conductivity","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERecent research into the properties of graphene nanoribbons provides two new reasons for using the material as interconnects in future computer chips.  In widths as narrow as 16 nanometers, graphene has a current carrying capacity approximately a thousand times greater than copper -- while providing improved thermal conductivity.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe current-carrying and heat-transfer measurements were reported by a team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology.  The same team had previously reported measurements of resistivity in graphene that suggest the material\u0027s conductance would outperform that of copper in future generations of nanometer-scale interconnects.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Graphene nanoribbons exhibit an impressive breakdown current density that is related to the resistivity,\u0022 said Raghunath Murali, a senior research engineer in Georgia Tech\u0027s Nanotechnology Research Center.  \u0022Our measurements show that these graphene nanoribbons have a current carrying capacity at least two orders of magnitude higher than copper at these size scales.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMeasurements of thermal conductivity and breakdown current density in narrow graphene nanoribbons were reported June 19 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EApplied Physics Letters\u003C\/em\u003E.  The research was supported by the Semiconductor Research Corporation\/DARPA through the Interconnect Focus Center and by the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative through the Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery and Exploration (INDEX). \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe unique properties of graphene -- which is composed of thin layers of graphite -- make it attractive for a wide range of potential electronic devices.  Murali and his colleagues have been studying graphene as a potential replacement for copper in on-chip interconnects, the tiny wires that are used to connect transistors and other devices on integrated circuits.  Use of graphene for these interconnects, they believe, would help extend the long run of performance improvements in integrated circuit technology.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our measurements show that graphene nanoribbons have a current carrying capacity of more than 10^8 amps per square centimeter, while a handful of them exceed 10^9 amps per square centimeter,\u0022 Murali said. \u0022This makes them very robust in resisting electromigration and should greatly improve chip reliability.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EElectromigration is a phenomenon that causes transport of material, especially at high current density.  In on-chip interconnects, this eventually leads to a break in the wire, which results in chip failure.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are learning a lot of new things about this material, which will lead researchers to consider other potential applications,\u0022 said Murali.  \u0022In addition to the high current carrying capacity, graphene nanoribbons also have excellent thermal conductivity.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause heat generation is a significant cause of device failure, the researchers also measured the ability of the graphene nanostructures to conduct heat away from devices.  They found that graphene nanoribbons have a thermal conductivity of more than 1,000 watts per meter Kelvin for structures less than 20 nanometers wide.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This high thermal conductivity could allow graphene interconnects to also serve as heat spreaders in future generations of integrated circuits,\u0022 said Murali.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo study the properties of graphene interconnects, Murali and collaborators Yinxiao Yang, Kevin Brenner, Thomas Beck and James Meindl began with flakes of multi-layered graphene removed from a graphite block and placed onto an oxidized silicon substrate.  They used electron beam lithography to construct four electrode contacts, then used lithography to fabricate devices consisting of parallel nanoribbons of widths ranging between 16 and 52 nanometers and lengths of between 0.2 and 1 micron.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe breakdown current density of the nanoribbons was then studied by slowly applying an increasing amount of current to the electrodes on either side of the parallel nanoribbons.  A drop in current flow indicated the breakdown of one or more of the nanoribbons.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn their study of 21 test devices, the researchers found that the breakdown current density of graphene nanoribbons has a reciprocal relationship to the resistivity. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecause graphene can be patterned using conventional chip-making processes, manufacturers could make the transition from copper to graphene without a drastic change in chip fabrication.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Graphene has very good electrical properties,\u0022 Murali said.  \u0022The data we have developed so far looks very promising for using this material as the basis for future on-chip interconnects.\u0022\t\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Study Examined Graphene Nanoribbons as Narrow as 16 Nanometers"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"Recent research into the properties of graphene nanoribbons provides two new reasons for using the material as interconnects in future computer chips.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Research gives new reasons for using graphene in computer chips"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2009-07-29 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:14","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-07-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-07-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46255":{"id":"46255","type":"image","title":"Graphene nanoribbons","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Graphene nanoribbons","file":{"fid":"101048","name":"tco80273.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tco80273_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tco80273_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":174089,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tco80273_0.jpg?itok=a-DN97Uv"}}},"media_ids":["46255"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kd6zzwhfEqw","title":"Graphene Nanoscale Heat Pipes for Chip Cooling (YouTube Video)"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.nrc.gatech.edu\/","title":"Nanotechnology Research Center"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2505","name":"conductivity"},{"id":"2123","name":"current"},{"id":"429","name":"graphene"},{"id":"432","name":"nanoribbon"},{"id":"7112","name":"thermal"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"46266":{"#nid":"46266","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Study Reveals Sandfish Tucks Legs to Slither Like Snake Through Sand","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA study published in the July 17 issue of the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E details how sandfish -- small lizards with smooth scales -- move rapidly underground through desert sand. In this first thorough examination of subsurface sandfish locomotion, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology found that the animals place their limbs against their sides and create a wave motion with their bodies to propel themselves through granular media.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When started above the surface, the animals dive into the sand within a half second. Once below the surface, they no longer use their limbs for propulsion -- instead, they move forward by propagating a traveling wave down their bodies like a snake,\u0022 said study leader Daniel Goldman, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Physics.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWith funding from the National Science Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the research team used high-speed X-ray imaging to visualize sandfish -- formally called \u003Cem\u003EScincus scincus \u003C\/em\u003E-- burrowing into and through sand. The team used that information to develop a physics model of the lizard\u0027s locomotion.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe sandfish used in this study inhabits the Sahara desert in Africa and is approximately four inches long. It uses its long, wedge-shaped snout and countersunk lower jaw to rapidly bury into and swim within sand. The sandfish\u0027s body has flattened sides and is covered with smooth shiny scales, its legs are short and sturdy with long and flattened fringed toes and its tail tapers to a fine point.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWatch a video of a sandfish using its limbs to run on the surface and rapidly bury into the interior of granular media \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/movies\/1172490s1.mov\u0022\u003E here\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWatch a video of a sandfish slither like a snake through granular media \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/movies\/1172490s2.mov\u0022\u003E here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWatch a video of a sandfish swim through granular media with opaque markers on its body that clearly show that its limbs are held close to its body during swimming \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/movies\/1172490s3.mov\u0022\u003E here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ETo conduct controlled experiments with the sandfish, Goldman and graduate students Ryan Maladen, Yang Ding and Chen Li built a seven-inch by eight-inch by four-inch-deep glass bead-filled container with tiny holes in the bottom through which air could be blown. The air pulses elevated the beads and caused them to settle into a loosely packed solid state. Repeated pulses of air compacted the material, allowing the researchers to closely control the density of the material. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESince a sandfish might encounter and need to move through different densities of sand in the desert, the researchers tested whether sandfish locomotion changed when burrowing through media with volume fractions of 58 and 62 percent -- typical values for desert sand. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Since loosely packed media is easier to push through and closely packed is harder to push through, we thought there should be some difference in the sandfish\u0027s locomotion,\u0022 said Goldman. \u0022But the results surprised us because the density of the granular media did not affect how the sandfish traveled through the sand; it was always the same undulatory wavelike pattern.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor a given wave frequency, the swimming speed depended only on the frequency of the wave and not on the density. Unexpectedly though, the animals could swim a bit faster in closely packed material by using a higher frequency range. The team also varied the diameter of the glass beads, but still observed similar wavelike motion. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy tracking the sandfish in the X-ray images as it swam through the glass beads, Goldman was able to characterize the sandfish\u0027s motion -- called its kinematics -- as the form of a single-period sinusoidal wave that traveled from the head to the tail. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The large amplitude waves over the entire body are unlike the kinematics of other undulatory swimming organisms that are the same size as the sandfish, like eels, which propagate waves that start with a small amplitude that gets larger toward the tail,\u0022 explained Goldman. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter collecting the experimental data, Goldman\u0027s team developed a physics model to predict the speed at which sandfish swim through sand. The model was inspired by the resistive force theory, which allowed the researchers to partition the body of the sandfish into segments, each of which generated thrust and experienced drag when moving through the granular environment. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When you balance the thrust and drag, you get motion at some velocity, but we needed to determine the forces on the animal segments because we don\u0027t have the appropriate equations for drag force during movement through granular media,\u0022 explained Goldman.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo establish these equations, the researchers measured the granular thrust and drag forces on a small stainless steel cylindrical rod, thus allowing them to predict the wave efficiency and optimal kinematics. They found that the faster the sandfish propagate the wave, the faster they move forward through granular media -- up to speeds of six inches per second. This speed allows the animal to escape predators, the heat of the desert surface and quickly swim to ambush surface prey they detect from vibrations. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The results demonstrate that burrowing and swimming in complex media like sand can have intricacy similar to that of movement in air or water, and that organisms can exploit the solid and fluid-like properties of these media to move effectively within them,\u0022 noted Goldman.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to having a biological impact, this study\u0027s results also have ecological significance, according to Goldman. Understanding the mechanics of subsurface movement could reveal how the actions of small burrowing organisms like worms, scorpions, snakes and lizards can transform landscapes by their burrowing actions. This research may also help engineers build sandfish-like robots that can travel through complex environments.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If something nasty was buried in unconsolidated material, such as rubble, debris or sand, and you wanted to find it, you would need a device that could scamper on the surface, but also swim underneath the surface,\u0022 Goldman said. \u0022Since our work aims to fundamentally understand how the best animals in nature move in these complex unstructured environments, it could be very valuable information for this type of research.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Award No. PHY-0749991 and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the researcher and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.\u003C\/em\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E Daniel Goldman (404-894-0993); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:daniel.goldman@physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Edaniel.goldman@physics.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"In the first thorough examination of subsurface sandfish locomotion, researchers found that the small lizards place their limbs against their sides and create a wave motion like snakes to propel themselves through granular media.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Study shows how small lizards move rapidly underground through s"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2009-07-16 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:14","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-07-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-07-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46267":{"id":"46267","type":"image","title":"Sandfish lizard","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Sandfish lizard","file":{"fid":"101056","name":"tjw66159.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tjw66159_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tjw66159_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":633936,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tjw66159_0.jpg?itok=98LitytK"}},"46268":{"id":"46268","type":"image","title":"Dan Goldman scincus scincus","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Dan Goldman scincus scincus","file":{"fid":"101057","name":"tpd66160.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tpd66160_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tpd66160_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1373316,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tpd66160_0.jpg?itok=yHS8UAZS"}},"46269":{"id":"46269","type":"image","title":"Dan Goldman sandfish","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Dan Goldman sandfish","file":{"fid":"101058","name":"tbc66160.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbc66160_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbc66160_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":682990,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tbc66160_0.jpg?itok=HNynnYb3"}}},"media_ids":["46267","46268","46269"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/research\/goldman\/","title":"Daniel Goldman"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"},{"url":"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1172490","title":"Science article"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7118","name":"desert"},{"id":"7123","name":"drag"},{"id":"987","name":"imaging"},{"id":"7121","name":"kinematics"},{"id":"7116","name":"lizard"},{"id":"377","name":"locomotion"},{"id":"1383","name":"model"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"169242","name":"sand"},{"id":"169581","name":"sandfish"},{"id":"170845","name":"scincus"},{"id":"170846","name":"skink"},{"id":"170847","name":"slither"},{"id":"169001","name":"Snake"},{"id":"7122","name":"thrust"},{"id":"7119","name":"undulation"},{"id":"7120","name":"wave"},{"id":"1448","name":"x-ray"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["avogel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"390961":{"#nid":"390961","#data":{"type":"news","title":"HAWC captures evidence of powerful cosmic visitors","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the shadow of Mexico\u2019s tallest mountain, an array of 300 water-filled silver tanks is capturing the calling cards left by powerful visitors from our galaxy and beyond. The tanks are the most visible components of the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC), a one-of-its-kind facility designed to gather information about high-energy gamma rays entering the Earth\u2019s atmosphere.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInformation about these gamma rays, which shower the Earth with charged particles, could expand our knowledge of black holes, supernovae and other cosmic gamma ray sources. Built through a partnership between the United States and Mexico, HAWC adds yet another component to the toolbox of techniques astrophysicists can use to study the universe. The facility officially began operation March 20.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are conducting a survey in space and in time,\u201d said Ignacio Taboada, an associate professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E School of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E who was involved in the design and construction of HAWC, and now serves as the data analysis coordinator for the facility. \u201cThere are regions of the sky that nobody has examined in detail. We may find something entirely new, especially outside the galactic plane.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough HAWC, scientists will gather information on gamma rays that carry about a trillion times more energy than the photons that enter our eyes and allow us to see. When one of these gamma rays collides with Earth\u2019s upper atmosphere, it produces a shower of particles that rains down through the lower atmosphere in a pancake pattern, at almost the speed of light.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt times, these particles may pass through HAWC\u2019s water-filled tanks, creating a flash of blue light known as Cherenkov radiation. That light, sometimes just a handful of photons, will be captured by four photomultiplier tubes located at the base of each light-tight tank. By measuring the intensity of the light and comparing the nanosecond differences in its arrival times at different tanks in the array, scientists will be able to compute the energy of the gamma rays and also the direction from which they came.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe can do a new kind of astronomy with very high energy gamma rays,\u201d said Taboada, who supervised design and construction of the system that monitors the health of HAWC\u2019s 1,200 sensitive photomultiplier tubes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHAWC works as a survey instrument, capturing information from nearly two-thirds of the sky with each rotation of the Earth. Because it can detect Cherenkov radiation day and night, HAWC could capture the first signs of a new gamma ray source, alerting astronomers to use more narrowly-focused instruments to gather more detailed data.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHAWC will be looking all the time in all directions, and that is advantageous for catching things that change quickly in time or discovering things in the sky that nobody has looked at before,\u201d Taboada added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETaboada is specifically interested in transient events that take place in a thousand seconds or less. Once events of interest are identified, the facility will allow long-term study of objects that are typically observed only when they are bright enough to command attention.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSupermassive black holes often produce jets that are variable over time,\u201d Taboada explained. \u201cVery few of these have been studied in an unbiased way. We need to be able to look at a source like that all the time, and HAWC will allow us to do that.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELike many modern observatories, HAWC will produce massive amounts of data \u2013 upwards of 10 terabytes per day. Rough analysis on-site will reduce the amount of data, but finding the interesting needle in this haystack will require advanced data analysis. Complicating that task is filtering out cosmic rays, which are detected more frequently than the gamma rays.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHAWC was built at a location 13,500 feet above sea level on the slopes of Volc\u00e1n Sierra Negra in central Mexico. The location was chosen because its high altitude shortens the distance the particles must travel to be detected.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEach of the detector tanks, which are 4 \u00bd meters high and 7 \u00bd meters in diameter, holds 50,000 gallons of ultra-pure water. The 300 tanks are spread across an area the size of three football fields. Construction required nearly six years and cost approximately $14 million, supported by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT) in Mexico.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe capabilities of HAWC complement those of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory located at the South Pole. Taboada is involved in that observatory, too, and says that while the two facilities measure different types of cosmic visitors, they can tell a more complete story together.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere are sources that produce neutrinos that are also expected to produce gamma rays, so there are objects we should observe jointly between HAWC and IceCube,\u201d he said. \u201cThe information you get from looking at neutrinos and gamma rays are different, so you can look at the same object in the sky in different ways, allowing us to learn more.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETaboada cautions that HAWC conducts basic science that helps us learn more about the universe \u2013 without specific applications in sight.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBasic science never answers the question of what this is useful for,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if you look at the history of modern science, you will find over and over again that basic science has resulted in dramatic benefits to humankind.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Brett Israel (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the shadow of Mexico\u2019s tallest mountain, an array of 300 water-filled silver tanks is capturing the calling cards left by powerful visitors from our galaxy and beyond. The tanks are the most visible components of the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC), a one-of-its-kind facility designed to gather information about high-energy gamma rays entering the Earth\u2019s atmosphere.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"In the shadow of Mexico\u2019s tallest mountain, an array of 300 water-filled silver tanks is capturing the calling cards left by powerful visitors from our galaxy and beyond."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-03-26 12:50:54","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:05","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-03-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-03-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"390931":{"id":"390931","type":"image","title":"HAWC Observatory Panorama","body":null,"created":"1449246312","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:12","changed":"1475894403","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:03","alt":"HAWC Observatory Panorama","file":{"fid":"75534","name":"hawk-panorama.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawk-panorama.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawk-panorama.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1768866,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawk-panorama.jpg?itok=rLb0WB7L"}},"390941":{"id":"390941","type":"image","title":"HAWC Observatory Construction","body":null,"created":"1449246312","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:12","changed":"1475894403","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:03","alt":"HAWC Observatory Construction","file":{"fid":"75535","name":"hawc-jordan_goodman_6b5938c1-2c34-408c-b649-977bbcd67b52.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawc-jordan_goodman_6b5938c1-2c34-408c-b649-977bbcd67b52.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hawc-jordan_goodman_6b5938c1-2c34-408c-b649-977bbcd67b52.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1243475,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hawc-jordan_goodman_6b5938c1-2c34-408c-b649-977bbcd67b52.jpg?itok=1YS2JCkR"}}},"media_ids":["390931","390941"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"122621","name":"gamma rays"},{"id":"122611","name":"HAWC"},{"id":"122631","name":"High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory"},{"id":"30781","name":"Ignacio Taboada"},{"id":"4254","name":"observatory"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"53839":{"#nid":"53839","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Photonic Material May Facilitate All-Optical Switching and Computing","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA class of molecules whose size, structure and chemical composition have been optimized for photonic use could provide the demanding combination of properties needed to serve as the foundation for low-power, high-speed all-optical signal processing. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAll-optical switching could allow dramatic speed increases in telecommunications by eliminating the need to convert photonic signals to electronic signals \u2013 and back \u2013 for switching. All-optical processing could also facilitate photonic computers with similar speed advances. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDetails of these materials \u2013 and the design approach behind them \u2013 were reported February 18th in Science Express, the rapid online publication of the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E. Conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis work provides proof that at least from a molecular point of view, we can identify and produce materials that have the right properties for all-optical processing,\u201d said Seth Marder, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and co-author of the paper. \u201cThis opens the door for looking at this issue in an entirely different way.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe polymethine organic dye materials developed by the Georgia Tech team combine large nonlinear properties, low nonlinear optical losses, and low linear losses. Materials with these properties are essential if optical engineers are to develop a new generation of devices for low-power and high-contrast optical switching of signals at telecommunications wavelengths. Keeping data all-optical would greatly facilitate the rapid transmission of detailed medical images, development of new telepresence applications, high-speed image recognition \u2013 and even the fast download of high-definition movies. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut favorable optical properties these new materials developed at Georgia Tech have only been demonstrated in solution. For their materials to have practical value, the researchers will have to incorporate them in a solid phase for use in optical waveguides \u2013 and address a long list of other challenges. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have developed high-performing materials by starting with optimized molecules and getting the molecular properties right,\u201d said co-author Joseph Perry, also a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. \u201cNow we have to figure out how to pack them together so they have a high density and useful physical forms that would be stable under operation.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMarder, Perry and collaborators in Georgia Tech\u2019s Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE) have been working on the molecules for several years, refining their properties and adding atoms to maximize their length without inducing symmetry breaking, a phenomenon in which unequal charges build up within molecules. This molecular design effort, which builds on earlier research with smaller molecules, included both experimental work \u2013 and theoretical studies done in collaboration with Jean-Luc Bredas, a also a professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe design strategies identified by the research team \u2013 which also included Joel Hales, Jonathan Matichak, Stephen Barlow, Shino Ohira, and Kada Yesudas \u2013 could be applied to development of even more active molecules, though Marder believes the existing materials could be modified to meet the needs of all-optical processing \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor this class of molecules, we can with a high-degree of reliability predict where the molecules will have both large optical nonlinearities and low two-photon absorption,\u201d said Marder. \u201cNot only can we predict that, but using well-established chemical principles, we can tune where that will occur such that if people want to work at telecommunications wavelengths, we can move to where the molecules absorb to optimize its properties.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESwitching of optical signals carried in telecommunications networks currently requires conversion to electrical signals, which must be switched and then converted back to optical format. Existing electro-optical technology may ultimately be able to provide transmission speeds of up to 100 gigabits-per-second. However, all-optical processing could theoretically transmit data at speeds as high as 2,000 gigabits-per-second, allowing download of high-definition movies in minutes rather than hours. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEven if the frequency of signals coming and going is high, there is a latency that causes a bottleneck for the signals until the modulation and switching are done,\u201d Perry explained. \u201cIf we can do that all optically, then that delay can be reduced. We need to get electronics out of the system.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPerry and Marder emphasize that many years of research remain ahead before their new materials will be practical. But they believe the approach they\u2019ve developed charts a path toward all-optical systems. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhile we have not made all-optical switches, what we have done is provide a fundamental understanding of what the systems are that could have the combined set of properties that would make this possible,\u201d Marder said. \u201cConceptually, we have probably made it over the hump with this class of molecules. The next part of this work will be difficult, but it will not require a fundamental new understanding of the molecular structure.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis article is based on work supported in part by the STC program of the National Science Foundation under agreement DMR-0120967, the DARPA MORPH Program and ONR (N00014-04-0095 and N00014-06-1-0897) and the DARPA ZOE Program (W31P4Q-09-1-0012). The comments and opinions expressed are those of the researchers and do not necessarily represent the views of the NSF, DARPA or ONR.\u003C\/em\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 314\u003Cbr \/\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E). \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA class of molecules whose size, structure and chemical composition have been optimized for photonic use could provide the demanding combination of properties needed to serve as the foundation for low-power, high-speed all-optical signal processing.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Dye-based materials may provide the basis for all-optical networks"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2010-02-23 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:05","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-02-23T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2010-02-23T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"53840":{"id":"53840","type":"image","title":"Professor Seth Marder","body":null,"created":"1449175342","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:42:22","changed":"1475894406","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:06","alt":"Professor Seth Marder","file":{"fid":"170991","name":"tiz58650.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tiz58650_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tiz58650_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1150222,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tiz58650_0.jpg?itok=eaL-O43G"}},"53841":{"id":"53841","type":"image","title":"Seth Marder \u0026 team","body":null,"created":"1449175342","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:42:22","changed":"1475894406","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:06","alt":"Seth Marder \u0026 team","file":{"fid":"170992","name":"tmr58650.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tmr58650_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tmr58650_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1097968,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tmr58650_0.jpg?itok=Md_XMabo"}},"53842":{"id":"53842","type":"image","title":"Prof. Joe Perry","body":null,"created":"1449175428","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:43:48","changed":"1475894468","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:08","alt":"Prof. Joe Perry","file":{"fid":"171058","name":"ted58650.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ted58650_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ted58650_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1417499,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ted58650_0.jpg?itok=ArlnPF6D"}}},"media_ids":["53840","53841","53842"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.cope.gatech.edu\/","title":"COPE"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/faculty\/Marder\/","title":"Seth Marder"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/faculty\/Perry\/","title":"Joseph Perry\\\u0027s home page"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.bredators.gatech.edu\/","title":"Jean-Luc Bredas"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1745","name":"networks"},{"id":"2768","name":"optics"},{"id":"2290","name":"photonics"},{"id":"170836","name":"switching"},{"id":"1463","name":"Telecommunications"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"389951":{"#nid":"389951","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Snake robots learn to turn by following the lead of real sidewinders","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) who develop snake-like robots have picked up a few tricks from real sidewinder rattlesnakes on how to make rapid and even sharp turns with their undulating, modular device.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorking with colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Zoo Atlanta, they have analyzed the motions of sidewinders and tested their observations on CMU\u2019s snake robots. They showed how the complex motion of a sidewinder can be described in terms of two wave motions \u2013 vertical and horizontal body waves \u2013 and how changing the phase and amplitude of the waves enables snakes to achieve exceptional maneuverability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019ve been programming snake robots for years and have figured out how to get these robots to crawl amidst rubble and through or around pipes,\u201d said Howie Choset, professor at CMU\u2019s Robotics Institute. \u201cBy learning from real sidewinders, however, we can make these maneuvers much more efficient and simplify user control. This makes our modular robots much more valuable as tools for urban search-and-rescue tasks, power plant inspections and even archaeological exploration.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir findings are being published this week in the \u003Cem\u003EProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003C\/em\u003E Early Edition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe work is a continuation of collaboration between Choset; Daniel Goldman, a Georgia Tech associate professor of physics, and Joseph Mendelson III, director of research at Zoo Atlanta. An earlier study, published on Oct. 10, 2014, in the journal \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E, analyzed the ability of sidewinders to quickly climb sandy slopes. It showed that despite the snake\u2019s hundreds of body elements and thousands of muscles, the sidewinding motion could be simply modeled as a combination of a vertical and horizontal body wave.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith the model in hand and with a method to measure the movements of living snakes, the team, led by Henry Astley, a postdoctoral researcher in Goldman\u2019s group, was able to observe that sidewinders make gradual changes in direction by altering the horizontal wave while keeping the vertical wave constant. They also discovered that making a large phase shift in the vertical wave enabled the snake to make a sharp turn in the opposite direction.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EApplying these controls to the robot allowed the robot to replicate the turns of the snake, while also simplifying control.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy looking for insights in nature, we were able to dramatically improve the control and maneuverability of the robot,\u201d Astley said, \u201cwhile at the same time using the robot as a tool to test the theorized control mechanisms of biological sidewinders.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe modular snake robot used in this study was specifically designed to pass horizontal and vertical waves through its body to move in three-dimensional spaces. The robot is two inches in diameter and 37 inches long; its body consists of 16 joints, each joint arranged perpendicular to the previous one. That allows it to assume a number of configurations and to move using a variety of gaits \u2013 some similar to those of a biological snake.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Office, the Georgia Tech School of Biology and the Elizabeth Smithgall Watts Endowment. In addition to those already named, the research team included Miguel Serrano, Patricio Vela and David L. Hu of Georgia Tech, and Chaohui Gong, Jin Dai and Matthew Travers of Carnegie Mellon.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon, Georgia Tech: (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Byron Spice, Carnegie Mellon (412-268-9068) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:bspice@cs.cmu.edu\u0022\u003Ebspice@cs.cmu.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Byron Spice, Carnegie Mellon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at Carnegie Mellon University who develop snake-like robots have picked up a few tricks from real sidewinder rattlesnakes on how to make rapid and even sharp turns with their undulating, modular device.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers who develop snake-like robots have picked up a few tricks from real sidewinder rattlesnakes on how to make rapid and even sharp turns with their undulating, modular device."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-03-24 09:21:48","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:00","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-03-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-03-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"389911":{"id":"389911","type":"image","title":"Sidewinder study","body":null,"created":"1449246312","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:12","changed":"1475894378","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:38","alt":"Sidewinder study","file":{"fid":"75514","name":"sidewinder023_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sidewinder023_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sidewinder023_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1463254,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sidewinder023_0.jpg?itok=qqDGbN9H"}},"389921":{"id":"389921","type":"image","title":"Sidewinder study2","body":null,"created":"1449246312","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:12","changed":"1475894349","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:09","alt":"Sidewinder study2","file":{"fid":"75515","name":"sidewinder020.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sidewinder020.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/sidewinder020.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1984469,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/sidewinder020.jpg?itok=-X1fMQpN"}},"389931":{"id":"389931","type":"image","title":"Snake robot","body":null,"created":"1449246312","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:25:12","changed":"1475894349","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:09","alt":"Snake robot","file":{"fid":"75516","name":"snake_robot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snake_robot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/snake_robot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":371436,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/snake_robot.jpg?itok=5ntgvUzi"}}},"media_ids":["389911","389921","389931"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"},{"id":"152","name":"Robotics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"47881","name":"Dan Goldman"},{"id":"1356","name":"robot"},{"id":"170833","name":"sidwinder"},{"id":"169244","name":"snake robot"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"384001":{"#nid":"384001","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech joins hunt for gravitational waves as a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith the arrival of associate professor Laura Cadonati, the Georgia Institute of Technology is now part of another major international scientific research project: the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELIGO will for the first time directly detect gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time predicted a century ago by Einstein with his theory of general relativity. Detecting and characterizing gravitational waves will unveil a new perspective of the cosmos, complementing the view provided by electromagnetic waves such as visible light, X-rays, radio, infrared and gamma rays.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECadonati, currently chair of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration data analysis council, has joined the Center for Relativistic Astrophysics (CRA) in the Georgia Tech School of Physics. The center is devoted to interdisciplinary research and education linking astrophysics, astroparticle physics, cosmology and gravitational physics. In addition to Cadonati, the LIGO effort at Georgia Tech will also include Deirdre Shoemaker, an associate professor in the School of Physics and director of the CRA, and will involve close collaboration with Pablo Laguna, chair of the School of Physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the search for gravitational waves, LIGO-related researchers at Georgia Tech will model sources of gravitational waves and analyze the large amount of data collected by LIGO. Their focus will be on those gravitational waves produced by transient cataclysmic events such as collisions of neutron stars and black holes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s involvement will also include a high-performance computing facility and the construction of a remote monitoring facility with live data feeds from LIGO observatories in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington. The campus facility will also provide training for scientists to learn the intricacies of the LIGO instruments and the complexities involved in the analysis of the data. The facility will also include a tabletop interferometer to be used for student training and outreach. Participation and leadership in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration will enable research opportunities for Georgia Tech faculty members working on big data analysis, optical interferometry and related technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough the School of Physics and the CRA, Georgia Tech is already a participant in other major astrophysics projects. Ignacio Taboada, associate professor in the School of Physics, leads astroparticle efforts at Georgia Tech connected with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, located at the South Pole, and the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC) to be inaugurated in Sierra Negra, Mexico. Assistant professor Nepomuk Otte, also in the School of Physics and a member of the CRA, leads efforts as part of the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) and Cherenkov Telescope Array.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWith the detection of gravitational waves adding to discoveries with electromagnetic waves and astroparticles, we will complete the multi-messenger trifecta to gain better understanding of our universe,\u201d said Cadonati. \u201cGravitational waves add a different perspective because they are not produced by motion or interaction of charged particles, but from the rapid motion of highly compact objects.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause gravitational waves travel almost undisturbed through matter, when they arrive in the LIGO detector, they will still carry detailed information about the source that produced them. But obtaining this pristine information comes with a price, Cadonati noted: \u201cThe fact that gravitational waves travel undamaged through intervening objects makes them extremely difficult to catch.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy the time a gravitational wave arrives on Earth, its effects are almost imperceptible. Nonetheless, the waves will produce deformation on the objects they traverse, with larger objects affected more by the deformation. Each LIGO observatory is constructed in an L-shape, with arms four kilometers in length containing instruments capable of detecting miniscule stretching and contracting of the arms at size scales of a thousandth the diameter of a proton.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe measurements require precision interferometry. A powerful laser is split into two beams, each one traveling down a different arm of the instrument. The beams bounce off a mirror at the end of each arm and return to the center exactly out of phase, cancelling out the energies of each. However, if the passing of a gravitational wave lengthens one arm while shortening the other \u2013 as predicted by general relativity \u2013 the beams will no longer be exactly out of phase. Controlling for other possible perturbations such as quantum noise, emission of even a few photons from the recombined laser beams will provide indication of a gravitational wave.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGravitational waves impinging on Earth will arrive at the LIGO detectors in Washington State and Louisiana at different times. As with the triangulation used in global positioning systems, slight differences in what the observatories measure should allow scientists to determine where the waves originated in galaxies billions of light years away.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese will be very tricky measurements to do,\u201d added Cadonati, who\u2019s interested in the evidence of transient events. Ultimately, however, LIGO should be able to obtain information about background gravitational waves, which could provide new information on the earliest seconds of the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf we become very good as measuring gravitational waves, we could go after the gravitational waves from the Big Bang,\u201d she said. \u201cThose waves are still out there, and they could provide a new way to probe what happened in the early universe.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe LIGO facilities in Louisiana and Washington State have been built, turned on and are being tested, but are not yet operating at full power. The goal is to start observations by the end of 2015, Cadonati said. An earlier facility known as initial LIGO demonstrated that the concept would work, but the proof will be observing a gravitational wave rippling through the Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough measuring gravitational waves is the goal for LIGO, attaining that goal will facilitate a larger objective: combining information from LIGO, IceCube and observatories measuring electromagnetic radiation. Observing the same event with three different \u201cmessengers\u201d could unlock some of the greatest mysteries of the universe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you\u2019ve got gravitational waves, electromagnetic radiation and neutrinos, and at the same time see a gamma-ray burst, that would be the holy grail of multi-messenger astronomy,\u201d said Shoemaker. \u201cBringing all these signals together will help us break the code for understanding what is happening in the universe.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Brett Israel (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWith the arrival of associate professor Laura Cadonati, the Georgia Institute of Technology is now part of another major international scientific research project: the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO).\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech is now part of another major international scientific research project: the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2015-03-04 09:32:43","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:46","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-03-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-03-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"383961":{"id":"383961","type":"image","title":"LIGO in Hanford, Washington","body":null,"created":"1449246246","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:24:06","changed":"1475894378","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:38","alt":"LIGO in Hanford, Washington","file":{"fid":"75349","name":"aerial5-hanford.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/aerial5-hanford.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/aerial5-hanford.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4174107,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/aerial5-hanford.jpg?itok=f2DLFp9w"}},"383981":{"id":"383981","type":"image","title":"LIGO laser splitter","body":null,"created":"1449246246","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:24:06","changed":"1475894398","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:58","alt":"LIGO laser splitter","file":{"fid":"75351","name":"cabling_install-livingston.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cabling_install-livingston.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cabling_install-livingston.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3431306,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cabling_install-livingston.jpg?itok=FaTs5V4W"}},"383991":{"id":"383991","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech LIGO scientists","body":null,"created":"1449246246","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:24:06","changed":"1475894393","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:53","alt":"Georgia Tech LIGO scientists","file":{"fid":"75352","name":"cadonati-shoemaker3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cadonati-shoemaker3.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/cadonati-shoemaker3.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1979434,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/cadonati-shoemaker3.jpg?itok=3xG6lr3E"}}},"media_ids":["383961","383981","383991"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13402","name":"Deirdre Shoemaker"},{"id":"120171","name":"general relativity"},{"id":"99091","name":"Gravitational waves"},{"id":"120191","name":"Laura Cadonati"},{"id":"120161","name":"LIGO"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39451","name":"Electronics and Nanotechnology"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearch News\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E(404) 894-6986\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72205":{"#nid":"72205","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Water Flows Like Molasses on the Nanoscale","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA Georgia Tech research team has discovered that water exhibits very different properties when it is confined to channels less than two nanometers wide - behaving much like a viscous fluid with a viscosity approaching that of molasses. Determining the properties of water on the nanoscale may prove important for biological and pharmaceutical research as well as nanotechnology. The research appears in the March 15 issue of the journal Physical Review B.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn its bulk liquid form, water is a disordered medium that flows very readily. When most substances are compressed into a solid, their density increases. But water is different; when it becomes ice, it becomes less dense. For this reason, many scientists reasoned that when water is compressed (as it is in a nanometer-sized channel), it should maintain its liquid properties and shouldn\u0027t exhibit properties that are akin to a solid. Several earlier studies came to that very conclusion - that water confined in a nano-space behaves just like water does in the macro world. Consequently, a number of scientists considered the case to be closed.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut when Georgia Tech experimental physicist Elisa Riedo and her team directly measured the force of pure water in a nanometer-sized channel, they found evidence suggesting that water was organized into layers. Riedo conducted these measurements by recording the force placed on a silicon tip of an atomic force microscope as it compressed water.  The water was confined in a nanoscale thin film on top of a solid surface. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Since water usually has a low viscosity, the force you would expect to feel as you compress it should be very small,\u0022 said Riedo, assistant professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Physics. \u0022But when we did the experiment, we found that when the distance between the tip and the surface is about one nanometer, we feel a repulsive force by the water that is much stronger than what we would expect.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs the tip compresses the water even more, the repulsive force oscillates, indicating that the water molecules are forming layers. As the tip continues to increase its pressure on a layer, the layer collapses and the water flows out horizontally.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In effect, the confined water film behaves effectively like a solid in the vertical direction by forming layers parallel to the confining tip and surface, while maintaining its liquidity in the horizontal direction where it can flow out - resembling some phases of liquid crystals,\u0022 said Uzi Landman, director of the Center for Computational Materials Science, Regents\u0027 and Institute professor, and Callaway Chair of Physics at Georgia Tech.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA theoretical physicist, Landman conducted the first-ever computer simulations of these forces for tip-confined water films and found good correspondence between his team\u0027s theoretical predictions and the experiments. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESo why did Riedo and Landman\u0027s results differ from their peers? According to Landman, most previous studies on confined water were limited by technology at the time and could not directly measure the behavior in the last two nanometers. Instead they had to measure other properties and infer the forces acting in films of one nanometer thickness or less. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If you want force, it is preferable to measure it,\u0022 he said. \u0022This is the first experiment to directly measure the force and it\u0027s the first simulation done of these forces. The fact that we have direct measurements married with theoretical results is rather conclusive.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERiedo and Landman conducted their experiments in several different environments. They found that the layering effect was more pronounced when water was placed on top of hydrophilic surfaces that allow water to wet the solid surface, such as glass. When the water was confined by hydrophobic surfaces where water tends to bead up, like graphite, the effect was still present, but less pronounced.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt the same time, Riedo\u0027s team was measuring the vertical force exerted on the tip by the confined water film, they also measured the film viscosity by measuring the lateral force. They found that when water was placed on a hydrophilic surface, the viscosity began to increase dramatically as the thickness of the confined film reached the 1.5 nanometer range. As they continued to compress the water and measure the lateral forces, the viscosity increased by a factor of 1,000 to 10,000.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOn hydrophobic surfaces, they did not see such an increase in viscosity. The results of the molecular dynamics simulations support these findings, showing a dramatically decreased mobility for sub-nanometer thick water films under hydrophilic confinement. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Water is a wonderful lubricant,\u0022 said Riedo, \u0022but it flows too easily for many applications. At the one nanometer scale, water is a viscous fluid and could be a much better lubricant.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUnderstanding the properties of water at this scale could also be important for biological and pharmaceutical research, especially in understanding processes that depend on hydrated ionic transport through nanoscale channels and pores.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERiedo and Landman\u0027s next steps are to introduce impurities in the water to study how that affects its properties.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETai-De Li, Robert Szoszkiewicz and Jianping Gao also contributed to this research, which was supported by the National Science Foundation, the American Chemical Society Petroleum Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the U.S. Department of Energy.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"A Georgia Tech research team has discovered that water exhibits very different properties when it is confined to channels less than two nanometers wide - behaving much like a viscous fluid with a viscosity approaching that of molasses. Determining the properties of water on the nanoscale may prove important for biological and pharmaceutical research as well as nanotechnology.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Water plays by different rules when it\u0027s nano-sized"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-04-24 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:18","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72206":{"id":"72206","type":"image","title":"Water layers on the nanoscale","body":null,"created":"1449177446","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:26","changed":"1475894651","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:11"}},"media_ids":["72206"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/eriedo.html","title":"Elisa Riedo"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/ulandman.html","title":"Uzi Landman"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2394","name":"elisa"},{"id":"1631","name":"landman"},{"id":"2286","name":"nano"},{"id":"382","name":"nanoscience"},{"id":"2396","name":"nanotech"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"},{"id":"2395","name":"riedo"},{"id":"2251","name":"uzi"},{"id":"788","name":"Water"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"388861":{"#nid":"388861","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Continues to Help Excite Atlanta about Science","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELast year was big! Bigger and better than anticipated.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cLast year\u0027s festival thoroughly eclipsed my expectations,\u201d said Paul Goldbart, dean of Georgia Tech\u2019s College of Sciences,\u0026nbsp;of the 2014 Atlanta Science Festival (ASF). \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to nudge along an existing program and even improve it here and there. It\u2019s quite another to make a whole science festival where there wasn\u2019t one \u2014 and to have some 30,000 people from our community engage in it.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022intro-text\u0022\u003EIt didn\u2019t matter that it was the first-ever ASF. Those 30,000 attended more than 100 events at 50 venues\u0026nbsp;over eight days.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022intro-text\u0022\u003EBuilding on last year\u2019s momentum, from March 21 to 28, ASF organizers and co-founders \u2014 Emory University, Georgia Tech, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber \u2014\u0026nbsp;will have events on offer for those of all ages interested in exploring the worlds of science and technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022intro-text\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/features\/tech-continues-help-excite-atlanta-about-science\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERead the full story about the 2015 Atlanta Science Festival.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThis year\u0027s festival will have more than 100 events on offer for those of all ages interested in exploring the worlds of science and technology\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"This year\u0027s festival will have more than 100 events on offer for those of all ages interested in exploring the worlds of science and technology"}],"uid":"28128","created_gmt":"2015-03-19 12:28:49","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:54","author":"Nihit Tiwari","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-03-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-03-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"389011":{"id":"389011","type":"image","title":"Atlanta Science Festival Logo","body":null,"created":"1449246288","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:24:48","changed":"1475894349","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:09","alt":"Atlanta Science Festival Logo","file":{"fid":"75495","name":"asflogo-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/asflogo-2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/asflogo-2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":113958,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/asflogo-2.jpg?itok=wbHqy6sX"}},"388871":{"id":"388871","type":"image","title":"Superhero Night at the Museum at the 2014 Atlanta Science Festival","body":null,"created":"1449246288","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:24:48","changed":"1475894151","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:35:51","alt":"Superhero Night at the Museum at the 2014 Atlanta Science Festival","file":{"fid":"75490","name":"superhero_night_at_the_museum_at_the_2014_atlanta_science_festival.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/superhero_night_at_the_museum_at_the_2014_atlanta_science_festival.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/superhero_night_at_the_museum_at_the_2014_atlanta_science_festival.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":216650,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/superhero_night_at_the_museum_at_the_2014_atlanta_science_festival.jpg?itok=qP-Znb9N"}}},"media_ids":["389011","388871"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/atlantasciencefestival.org\/","title":"Atlanta Science Festival"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"489","name":"atlanta"},{"id":"66491","name":"Atlanta Science Festival"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1564","name":"community"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brigitte.espinet@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EBrigitte Espinet\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"377491":{"#nid":"377491","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New Regulations Tighten Controls for Federal Awards","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEffective since December 26, 2014, the federal government\u2019s Uniform Requirements law is streamlining guidance and increasing accountability for recipients of federal funding. This federal law affects practically all of Georgia Tech\u2019s $700 million in funded research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a result of this law, there are now tighter timeframes and increased responsibility for award recipients. This means administrative reports will have to be submitted more quickly and often with a greater level of documentation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf you perform government-funded research, financial performance and technical performance are linked in the minds of the agencies,\u201d said Jilda Garton, vice president for research and general manager of Georgia Tech Research Corporation. \u201cThe idea that you can perform the research now and catch up on the paperwork later is something we will have to be more careful about.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Uniform Requirements were developed in response to a directive from President Barack Obama to streamline guidance and increase accountability for federal grants. The Council on Financial Assets Reform (COFAR) took eight sets of existing regulations and collapsed them into one set, published in December 2013. As the new set of regulations was being developed, Georgia Tech and all others affected by the proposed changes were invited to provide comments and suggestions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to tightening the reporting timeframe, the government also is interested in seeing the award recipients\u2019 internal control processes and will require a higher documentation standard for purchasing. For example, purchasing materials or supplies that cost more than $3,000 will require getting two quotes and choosing the less expensive option, or ensuring a valid reason for not choosing the less expensive option.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPrior to this law, we didn\u2019t require bids on anything under $10,000, but that has changed to $3,000,\u201d said Garton. \u201cTherefore, a lot more purchases will have to be documented.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause this change will require many university procurement systems to be updated, this purchasing requirement will not go into effect until July 1, 2016.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe good news for Georgia Tech is that if you make purchases through Buzzmart there is already a competitive process, so you won\u2019t have to provide additional documentation,\u201d Garton said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch6\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom \u2018Should\u2019 to \u2018Must\u2019\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h6\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGarton noted that many rules that used to be \u201cgood practices\u201d under the old regulations are now requirements. The word \u201cshould\u201d has changed to \u201cmust,\u201d and her office counted 823 \u201cmusts\u201d in the new document.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut, award recipients will not receive additional funding to help them comply with the Uniform Requirements. Some may view this as another administrative burden.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHow can we do more with the same amount of funding is the trick,\u201d Garton said. \u201cOur interdisciplinary taskforce and department administrators from the College of Engineering, the College of Sciences, the College of Architecture, the College of Computing, and GTRI have been working on this since April. They have been part of the process because they will get the operational responsibility. We are doing our very best to make these changes as modest as possible, to automate systems wherever we can, and to bring everything into compliance.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe plan is to streamline the research administration process and create an electronic pathway to make it easier for faculty to do what they need to do and get the documentation required.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are trying to give them better tools, easier access, faster ways to do things, and improve the information they have to manage,\u201d Garton said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAll faculty members already have access to My Research Portal, an online system that provides customized access to every system they will need for research administration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIf we do it right, this will be a win for the government and a win for us, too,\u201d said Garton. \u201cWe will be able to give our faculty a better handle on what\u2019s happening with their grants in real time. They will have better capacity to manage their grants. That helps them as much as it helps us.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs a result of the Uniform Requirements law, there are now tighter timeframes and increased responsibility for federal award recipients. This means reports will have to be submitted more quickly and often with a greater level of documentation.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The federal government\u2019s Uniform Requirements law is streamlining guidance and increasing accountability for recipients of federal funding."}],"uid":"27713","created_gmt":"2015-02-11 15:48:27","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:50","author":"Victor Rogers","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-02-11T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-02-11T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"377721":{"id":"377721","type":"image","title":"Magnifying Glass","body":null,"created":"1449246205","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:23:25","changed":"1475894342","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:02","alt":"Magnifying Glass","file":{"fid":"75193","name":"osp-hp-image.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/osp-hp-image.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/osp-hp-image.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":49053,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/osp-hp-image.jpg?itok=nK2Mg5t2"}}},"media_ids":["377721"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.osp.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Office of Sponsored Programs"},{"url":"http:\/\/osp.gatech.edu\/research-portal","title":"My Research Portal"},{"url":"http:\/\/osp.gatech.edu\/uniform-administrative-requirements","title":"Uniform Administrative Requirements"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"137","name":"Architecture"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:victor.rogers@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EVictor Rogers\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-894-6398\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["victor.rogers@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72592":{"#nid":"72592","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Ga. Tech Announces Two Honorary Degree Recipients","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology announced today that Dr. Catherine Br\u00c3\u00a9chignac and Mr. Cecil J. \u0022Pete\u0022 Silas will receive honorary doctoral degrees at the university\u0027s fall Commencement ceremony in December.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Both Dr. Br\u00c3\u00a9chignac, a renowned scientist and scholar in the area of nanophysics, and Mr. Silas, a dedicated alumnus and former CEO of Phillips Petroleum, meet the highest standards that can be set for receipt of an honorary degree,\u0022 said Georgia Tech President G. Wayne Clough. \u0022We are pleased to recognize both of them for their service to Georgia Tech.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBr\u00c3\u00a9chignac is the current president of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in France, the largest and most influential scientific organization in Europe. Br\u00c3\u00a9chignac is known within the international scientific community as a specialist in atomic physics working at the interface of nuclear and molecular physics. Since the early 1990s, she has been a research collaborator with Georgia Tech faculty and recently has been instrumental in the establishment of a formal partnership between CNRS and Georgia Tech to engage in research of mutual interest. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2001 Br\u00c3\u00a9chignac\u0027s extensive work with Tech faculty led to her appointment as adjunct professor of physics and distinguished visiting scholar chair at Georgia Tech.  Georgia Tech has been collaborating with the CNRS since 1998 when a Georgia Tech Lorraine-CNRS Telecom lab opened on the Georgia Tech Lorraine campus in Metz, France.  Recently this relationship has been strengthened with the formation of an international partnership known as \u0027Unite Mixte Internationale (UMI)\u0027 between Georgia Tech and CNRS.  This partnership is the first of its kind in France, where CNRS has partnered with a non-French entity (Georgia Tech) to engage in research of mutual interest.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESilas received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech and had a distinguished business career at Phillips Petroleum, culminating with a decade of service as its chairman and chief executive officer. Silas has been a civic leader at the local, state and national levels, including service as chairman of Junior Achievement, the National Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute.  He has also been very supportive of the Institute for many years, including service on the Georgia Tech Foundation Board of Trustees and the Georgia Tech Advisory Board. This honorary degree recognizes his outstanding career in the energy field, his lifelong commitment to community service and his dedication and service to his alma mater.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOver the years Silas has provided significant leadership to his alma mater. He chaired the National Campaign Steering Committee for the five-year Campaign for Georgia Tech, which began with a $300 million goal and raised more than $700 million. He served as a trustee of the Georgia Tech Foundation for 18 years, and continues his relationship with the Foundation board as a trustee emeritus. He also served on the Georgia Tech Advisory Board for six years, including a one-year term as its chairman. He is a member of The Hill Society, which recognizes the Institute\u0027s principal philanthropists. In recognition of his efforts, Georgia Tech has presented him with the Joseph Mayo Pettit Alumni Distinguished Service Award, the Georgia Tech Alumni Exceptional Achievement Award, and the Scholar-Athlete Total Person Award.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a student at Georgia Tech, Silas was a recognized leader on the basketball court, and he subsequently played on the U.S. basketball team that won the 1955 Pan American games in Mexico City. He has been inducted into both the Georgia Tech Athletic Hall of Fame and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPast recipients of honorary degrees from Georgia Tech include: Jimmy Carter, Ivan Allen Jr., Jacques Nasser, Jack Kilby, Shirley Jackson, Elizabeth Dole, Glen Robinson, John Young, John Slaughter, Alan Kay and Wallace H. Coulter.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Br\u00c3\u00a9chignac and Silas to be recognized"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"The Georgia Institute of Technology announced today that Dr. Catherine Br\u00c3\u00a9chignac and Mr. Cecil J. \u0022Pete\u0022 Silas will receive honorary doctoral degrees at the university\u0027s fall Commencement ceremony in December.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Br\u00c3\u00a9chignac and Silas to be recognized"}],"uid":"27301","created_gmt":"2006-10-06 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:42","author":"Elizabeth Campell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2006-10-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2006-10-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72593":{"id":"72593","type":"image","title":"Dr. Catherine Br\u00c3\u00a9chignac","body":null,"created":"1449177942","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:25:42","changed":"1475894661","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:21"},"72594":{"id":"72594","type":"image","title":"Mr. Cecil J. \u0022Pete\u0022 Silas","body":null,"created":"1449177942","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:25:42","changed":"1475894661","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:21"}},"media_ids":["72593","72594"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/commencement\/","title":"Commencement Information"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2667","name":"Brechignac"},{"id":"15021","name":"Catherine Br\u00e9chignac"},{"id":"2664","name":"Cecil Silas"},{"id":"2668","name":"CNRS"},{"id":"627","name":"commencement"},{"id":"355","name":"honorary"},{"id":"2669","name":"Lorraine"},{"id":"2665","name":"pete silas"},{"id":"2670","name":"Phillips Petroleum"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72238":{"#nid":"72238","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Seats Helped Ancient Greeks Hear From Back Row","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs the ancient Greeks were placing the last few stones on the magnificent theater at Epidaurus in the fourth century B.C., they couldn\u0027t have known that they had unwittingly created a sophisticated acoustic filter. But when audiences in the back row were able to hear music and voices with amazing clarity (well before any theater had the luxury of a sound system), the Greeks must have known that they had done something very right because they made many attempts to duplicate Epidaurus\u0027 design, but never with the same success.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have pinpointed the elusive factor that makes the ancient amphitheater an acoustic marvel. It\u0027s not the slope, or the wind - it\u0027s the seats. The rows of limestone seats at Epidaurus form an efficient acoustics filter that hushes low-frequency background noises like the murmur of a crowd and reflects the high-frequency noises of the performers on stage off the seats and back toward the seated audience member, carrying an actor\u0027s voice all the way to the back rows of the theater. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research, done by acoustician and ultrasonics expert Nico Declercq, an assistant professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Georgia Tech Lorraine in France, and Cindy Dekeyser, an engineer who is fascinated by the history of ancient Greece, appears in the April issue of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile many experts speculated on the possible causes for Epidaurus\u0027 acoustics, few guessed that the seats themselves were the secret of its acoustics success. There were theories that the site\u0027s wind - which blows primarily from the stage to the audience - was the cause, while others credited masks that may have acted as primitive loudspeakers or the rhythm of Greek speech. Other more technical theories took into account the slope of the seat rows.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen Declercq set out to solve the acoustic mystery, he too had the wrong idea about how Epidaurus carries performance sounds so well. He suspected that the corrugated, or ridged, material of the theater\u0027s limestone structure was acting as a filter for sound waves at certain frequencies, but he didn\u0027t anticipate how well it was controlling background noise.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When I first tackled this problem, I thought that the effect of the splendid acoustics was due to surface waves climbing the theater with almost no damping,\u0022 Declercq said. \u0022While the voices of the performers were being carried, I didn\u0027t anticipate that the low frequencies of speech were also filtered out to some extent.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut as Declercq\u0027s team experimented with ultrasonic waves and numerical simulations of the theater\u0027s acoustics, they discovered that frequencies up to 500 Hz were held back while frequencies above 500 Hz were allowed to ring out. The corrugated surface of the seats was creating an effect similar to the ridged acoustics padding on walls or insulation in a parking garage.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESo, how did the audience hear the lower frequencies of an actor\u0027s voice if they were being suppressed with other background low frequencies? There\u0027s a simple answer, said Declercq. The human brain is capable of reconstructing the missing frequencies through a phenomenon called virtual pitch. Virtual pitch helps us appreciate the incomplete sound coming from small loudspeakers (in a laptop or a telephone), even though the low (bass) frequencies aren\u0027t generated by a small speaker.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Greeks\u0027 misunderstanding about the role the limestone seats played in Epidaurus\u0027 acoustics likely kept them from being able to duplicate the effect. Later theaters included different bench and seat materials, including wood, which may have played a large role in the gradual abandonment of Epidaurus\u0027 design over the years by the Greeks and Romans, Declercq said.\u003Cem\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The theater at Epidaurus has been known for centuries as an acoustic marvel that allowed spectators to hear in the back row - without the aid of modern microphones or sound systems. Georgia Tech researchers have discovered that Epidaurus\u0027 limestone seats created a sophisticated acoustic filter that carried instruments and voices all the way to the back of the theater.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Theater\u0027s limestone seats formed acoustic filter"}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2007-04-04 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:37","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-04-04T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2007-04-04T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72239":{"id":"72239","type":"image","title":"Theater at Epidaurus","body":null,"created":"1449177446","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:26","changed":"1475894653","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:13"}},"media_ids":["72239"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/fac_staff\/ac_fac\/academic.faculty\/Declercq_Nico.html","title":"Nico Declercq"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.me.gatech.edu\/","title":"George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"137","name":"Architecture"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"148","name":"Music and Music Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2446","name":"acoustic filter"},{"id":"2440","name":"acoustics"},{"id":"516","name":"engineering"},{"id":"541","name":"Mechanical Engineering"},{"id":"2443","name":"Nico Declercq"},{"id":"168904","name":"sound"},{"id":"2441","name":"theater at Epidaurus"},{"id":"2442","name":"theatre at Epidaurus"},{"id":"2444","name":"Woodfruff School of Mechanical Engineering"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72315":{"#nid":"72315","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Fluid Dynamics Works on Nanoscale in Real World","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn 2000, Georgia Tech researchers showed that fluid dynamics theory could be modified to work on the nanoscale, albeit in a vacuum. Now, seven years later they\u0027ve shown that it can be modified to work in the real world, too - that is, outside of a vacuum. The results appear in the February 9 issue of Physical Review Letters (PRL).\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUnderstanding the motion of fluids is the basis for a tremendous amount of engineering and technology in contemporary life. Planes fly and ships sail because scientists understand the rules of how fluids like water and air behave under varying conditions. The mathematical principles that describe these rules were put forth more than 100 years ago and are known as the Navier-Stokes equations. They are well-known and understood by any scientist or student in the field. But now that researchers are delving into the realm of the small, an important question arisen: namely, how do these rules work when fluids and flows are measured on the nanoscale? Do the same rules apply or, given that the behavior of materials in this size regime often has little to do with their macro-sized cousins, are there new rules to be discovered?\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0027s well-known that small systems are influenced by randomness and noise more than large systems. Because of this, Georgia Tech physicist Uzi Landman reasoned that modifying the Navier-Stokes equations to include stochastic elements - that is give the probability that an event will occur - would allow them to accurately describe the behavior of liquids in the nanoscale regime.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWriting in the August 18, 2000, issue of Science, Landman and post doctoral fellow Michael Moseler used computer simulation experiments to show that the stochastic Navier-Stokes formulation does work for fluid nanojets and nanobridges in a vacuum. The theoretical predictions of this early work have been confirmed experimentally by a team of European scientists (see the December 13, 2006, issue of Physical Review Letters).  Now, Landman and graduate student Wei Kang have discovered that by further modifying the Moseler-Landman stochastic Navier-Stokes equations, they can accurately describe this behavior in a realistic non-vacuous environment.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There was a strong opinion that fluid dynamics theory  would stop being valid for small systems,\u0022 said Landman, director of the Center for Computational Materials Science, Regents\u0027 and Institute professor, and Callaway chair of physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. \u0022It was thought that all you could do was perform extensive, as well as expensive, molecular dynamic simulations or experiments, and that continuum fluid dynamics theory could not be applied to explain the behavior of such small systems.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe benefit of the new formulations is that these equations can be solved with relative ease in minutes, in comparison to the days and weeks that it takes to simulate fluid nano structures, which can contain as many as several million molecules. Equally difficult, and sometimes even harder, are laboratory experiments on fluids in this regime of reduced dimensions.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn this study, Landman and Wei  simulated a liquid propane bridge, which is a slender fluid structure connecting two larger bodies of liquid, much like a  liquid channel connecting two rain puddles. The bridge was six nanometers in diameter and 24 nanometers long. The object was to study how the bridge collapses.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the study performed in 2000, Landman simulated a bridge in a vacuum. The bridge broke in a symmetrical fashion, pinching in the middle, with two cones on each side. This time, the simulation focused on a model with a nitrogen gas environment surrounding the bridge at different gas pressures.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen the gas pressure was low (under 2 atmospheres of nitrogen), the breaking occurred in much the same way that it did in the previous vacuum computer experiment. But when the pressure was sufficiently high (above 3.5 atmospheres), 50 percent of the time the bridge broke in a different way. Under high pressure, the bridge tended to create a long thread and break asymmetrically on one side or the other of the thread instead of in the middle. Until now, such asymmetric long-thread collapse configuration has been discussed only for macroscopically large liquid bridges and jets.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnalyzing the data showed that the asymmetric breakup of the nanobridge in a gaseous environment relates to molecular evaporation and condensation processes and their dependence on the curvature of the shape profile of the nanobridge.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If the bridge is in a vacuum, molecules evaporating from the bridge are sucked away and do not come back\u0022 said Landman. \u0022But if there are gas molecules surrounding the bridge, some of the molecules that evaporate will collide with the gas, and due to these collisions  the scattered molecules may change direction and come back to the nanobridge and condense on it.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs they return they may fill in spaces where other atoms have evaporated. In other words, the evaporation-condensation processes serve to redistribute the liquid propane along the nanobridge, resulting in an asymmetrical shape of the breakage. The higher the pressure is surrounding the bridge, the higher the probability that the evaporating atoms will collide with the gas and condense on the nanobridge. Landman and Wei have shown that these microscopic processes can be included in the stochastic hydrodynamic Navier-Stokes equations, and that the newly modified equations reproduce faithfully the results of their atomistic molecular dynamics experiments.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Knowing that the hydrodynamic theory, that is the basis of venerable technologies around us, can be extended to the nanoscale is fundamentally significant, and a big relief\u0022 said Landman. \u0022Particularly so, now that we have been able to use it to describe the behavior of nanofluids in a non-vacuous environment - since we expect that this is where most future applications would occur.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECaption for Photo one, hi-res download\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nA typical break-up process of a propane liquid bridge (blue) at 185 K in an ambient nitrogen gas (yellow) environment (density of 6:0 kg=m3, with a corresponding partial pressure of 0.36 MPa), recorded in a MD simulation at t=0 (a), 400 (b), 760 (c), and 840 ps (d). The break-up profile is shown in (d), exhibiting a geometry of a long thread pinching on the left. The length of the nanobridge is 30 nm, and its initial average radius is 3 nm.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECaption for Photo two, hi-res download\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nA typical break-up process of a propane liquid bridge in vacuum at 185 K, recorded in a MD simulation, at t= 0 (a), 200 (b), 400 (c), and 547 ps (d). The break-up profile is shown in (d), exhibiting a geometry of two cones joined at the apex and pinching in the middle. The length of the nanobridge is 30 nm, and its initial average radius is 3 nm. Note also some evaporation of the bridge molecules.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis research is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"In 2000, Georgia Tech researchers showed that fluid dynamics theory could be modified to work on the nanoscale, albeit in a vacuum. Now, seven years later they\u0027ve shown that it can be modified to work in the real world, too - that is, outside of a vacuum.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Scientists show theory works outside of a vacuum"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-02-23 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:37","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-02-23T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-02-23T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72316":{"id":"72316","type":"image","title":"Nanobrdige in a realistic atmosphere","body":null,"created":"1449177454","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:34","changed":"1475894656","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:16"},"72317":{"id":"72317","type":"image","title":"Nanobridge in a vacuum","body":null,"created":"1449177454","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:34","changed":"1475894656","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:16"}},"media_ids":["72316","72317"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/ulandman.html","title":"Uzi Landman"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2473","name":"fluid"},{"id":"1631","name":"landman"},{"id":"2286","name":"nano"},{"id":"2472","name":"nanobridge"},{"id":"382","name":"nanoscience"},{"id":"2251","name":"uzi"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72346":{"#nid":"72346","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Scientists Find Why Conductance of Nanowires Vary","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA Georgia Tech physics group has discovered how and why the electrical conductance of metal nanowires changes as their length varies.  In a collaborative investigation performed by an experimental team and a theoretical physics team, the group discovered that measured fluctuations in the smallest nanowires\u0027 conductance are caused by a pair of atoms, known as a dimer, shuttling back and forth between the bulk electrical leads. Determining the structural properties of nanowires is a big challenge facing the future construction of nanodevices and nanotechnology. The paper appears in the January 26th issue of Physical Review Letters.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022By combining the data from the electrical conductance experiments with high-level first principles quantum mechanical calculations, we\u0027ve been able to draw an accurate picture of the physical mechanisms that govern these properties. It\u0027s like measuring current through an object you can\u0027t see to tell you what it looks like,\u0022 said Uzi Landman, director of the Center for Computational Materials Science, Regents\u0027 and Institute professor, and Callaway chair of physics at Georgia Tech.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELeading the experimental team, Alexei Marchenkov, assistant professor in the School of Physics, formed niobium nanowires using the mechanically controlled break junction technique - that is bending a thin nanofabricated strip of niobium until it breaks. In the final stage before the strip breaks completely, all that\u0027s left is a nanowire made of a short chain of niobium atoms that bridge the gap between the two sides of the strip. Working at low temperatures, Marchenkov was able to hold the nanowires at successive stretching stages for many hours, long enough to perform thorough conductance measurements, and much longer than the seconds typically characteristic of this technique.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EConducting the experiment at 4.2 degrees Kelvin (far below niobium\u0027s superconductivity transition temperature of 9.2 Kelvin), as well as performing measurements  above the transition temperature, Marchenkov\u0027s team measured the electrical conductance of the atomic nanowire as it is stretched during the bending of the strip. As this bending occurs, the atoms separate from each other. The researchers were capable of controlling this separation with a precision better than 1 picometer (one thousandth of a nanometer), which is about 100 times smaller than the typical size of atoms.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs the nanowire is slowly pulled, the conductance drops. The drop in conductance was gradual until a rapid decrease in the conductance was observed in a narrow region of just 0.1 angstrom . Upon further pulling of the wire, the conductance resumed its gradual decline.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Focusing on this narrow region, we found that this steep drop in conductance wasn\u0027t as smooth as it seemed at first,\u0022 said Marchenkov. \u0022We saw that the conductance actually jumps between two values.  Close to the onset of the rapid drop, the conductance was mostly rather high and then there would be random short periods were it drops to a significantly lower value. On the other side of the interval, the pattern reversed itself and  mostly the low conductance values were spotted with  the random occurrence of sharp  spikes of high conductance,\u0022 said Marchenkov.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022That\u0027s where the theoretical simulations come in,\u0022 said Landman. \u0022We needed to find out what physical phenomenon would account for these sharp drops and spikes in the conductance.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt first, the team thought a single atom must be randomly shuttling itself back and forth between two positions in the space separating the electrical leads, but the data didn\u0027t fit. So, they tried running the simulations with a connected pair of atoms, or dimer.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When we performed electronic structure and electrical conductance calculations on a shuttling dimer, we found good agreement with the experimentally measured conductance and its variation with the wire length,\u0022 said Landman.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen the dimer is closer to one lead, the electrons that make up the electrical current have a longer way to hop from the dimer to the other lead, making current flow more difficult. When the dimer is in the center between the leads, the distance the electrons have to hop is shorter and more manageable, allowing the current to flow better. As the wire bends more and more, the dimer begins to spend more of its time closer to one electrical lead than in the center, accounting for the overall decrease in conductance.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Determining the structures of nanowires is a very big challenge in this field,\u0022 said Landman. \u0022This research shows that if you make detailed measurements and analyze them theoretically, you can determine the physical structures. In this way, measurements of electronic transport can serve not only as a probe of the electronic state of nanowires but also as a microscopy of the atomic arrangements,\u0022 said Landman.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"A Georgia Tech physics group has discovered how and why the electrical conductance of metal nanowires changes as their length varies. Determining the structural properties of nanowires is a big challenge facing the future of nanotechnology.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Discovery has implications for nanotech development"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-02-02 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:37","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-02-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-02-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72347":{"id":"72347","type":"image","title":"Dimer illustration","body":null,"created":"1449177454","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:34","changed":"1475894656","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:16"},"72348":{"id":"72348","type":"image","title":"Electrical leads","body":null,"created":"1449177454","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:34","changed":"1475894656","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:16"}},"media_ids":["72347","72348"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/amarchenkov.html","title":"Alexei Marchenkov"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/ulandman.html","title":"Uzi Landman"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2504","name":"conductance"},{"id":"2505","name":"conductivity"},{"id":"2503","name":"dimer"},{"id":"1631","name":"landman"},{"id":"2334","name":"marchenkov"},{"id":"2286","name":"nano"},{"id":"382","name":"nanoscience"},{"id":"107","name":"Nanotechnology"},{"id":"2502","name":"nanowire"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}},"72349":{"#nid":"72349","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Physicist Pens Nanocatalysis Book","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA Georgia Tech researcher and his colleague have written the first book on nanocatalysis. Appropriately titled \u0022Nanocatalysis,\u0022 the book explores the properties of catalysts, mainly gold, when they are reduced in size to the nanometer scale. At this size, gold, which is notorious for being inert in its bulk form, becomes highly reactive and able to assist in promoting chemical reactions.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 500-page book was edited by Uzi Landman, director of the Center for Computational Materials Science, Regents\u0027 \u0026amp; Institute professor and Callaway chair of physics at Georgia Tech, and Ueli Heiz, professor of chemistry at the Technical University of Munich.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe work contains five chapters, the first, a 220-page chapter on the properties of gold as a catalyst authored by T.M. Bernhardt, Heiz and Landman. The other five chapters were penned by noteable researchers in the field of nanocatalysis.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is important book because nanocatalyis is a field that introduces the uniqueness of nano-sized materials. It\u0027s not simply an extension of surface science,\u0022 said Landman.  \u0022It focuses on the effect of dimensionality and size as bringing new and unique chemical properties.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech physicist Uzi Landman, along with a colleague from Technical University of Munich, has written the first book in the field of nanocatalysis.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Work is the first in its field"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2007-02-02 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:37","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2007-02-02T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2007-02-02T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"72350":{"id":"72350","type":"image","title":"Nanocatalyis, the book","body":null,"created":"1449177454","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:17:34","changed":"1475894656","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:16"}},"media_ids":["72350"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.phys.chemie.tu-muenchen.de\/","title":"Ueli Heiz"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/ulandman.html","title":"Uzi Landman"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"149","name":"Nanotechnology and Nanoscience"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1302","name":"book"},{"id":"2507","name":"catalysis"},{"id":"2506","name":"catalyst"},{"id":"1631","name":"landman"},{"id":"2286","name":"nano"},{"id":"2508","name":"nanocatalysis"},{"id":"960","name":"physics"},{"id":"2251","name":"uzi"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}