materials scientist

For decades, scientists have debated whether or not gasses could display the same magnetic properties as solids. Now, thanks to some MIT scientists, they know the answer is a freezing cold yes.

MIT researchers have observed magnetism in an atomic gas of lithium cooled down to 150 millionths of a degree above absolute zero. This experiment represents a point of unification between condensed matter research and the field of atomic science and lasers, and could influence areas such as data storage and medical diagnostics.

The headline couldnt be more attractive—A Laptop 40-Hour Battery? Alas, all this is just speculation raised from some juiced theoretical prototypes at the moment. Regardless, in the ScienceNOW article by Robert Service, a research team, lead by Yi Cui, a materials scientist at Stanford University, is cited as developing a battery anode from nanowire strands of silicon which can hold a charge up to 10 times longer than conventional carbon anodes. Whats holding this technology back from reaching your laptops battery? Designing a cathode that is equally able to hold a charge that is 10 times greater than current technology. Lets just hope that these new 10x batteries dont produce 10x-sized laptop fires.—Dave Prochnow

A new type of solar cell may one day prove so inexpensive and flexible, it could be used to turn your clothes into portable power sources—keeping you warm or cool, or charging your phone. Materials scientist Paul Alivisatos and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, mixed P3HT, a plastic that conducts electricity, with nanorods made from cadmium selenide, a semiconductor material. This mixture was then "spin-cast" onto a glass base, a process similar to swirling a wineglass so that the wine spreads into a thin film.