Thursday, March 31, 2022

Word Watch


I like words, and I like to keep track of the new ones we see out there. 

Image credit: Papers, Christa Doodoo Upsplash, 2022

A novel approach to wirelessly power wearable devices
Jun 2021, phys.org

Parasitic electromagnetic waves and Body-coupled powering:
As a complementary source of power, the NUS team also looked into harvesting energy from the environment. Their research found that typical office and home environments have parasitic electromagnetic (EM) waves that people are exposed to all the time, for instance, from a running laptop. The team's novel receiver scavenges the EM waves from the ambient environment, and through a process referred to as body-coupled powering, the human body is able to harvest this energy to power the wearable devices, regardless of their locations around the body.

Foam 'fizzics'
June 2021, phys.org

Hooked on fizzics:
This is just the UCLA science writer talking about the life cycle of liquid foams.

Study shows food choices at an 'all-you-can-eat' buffet tied to likelihood for weight gain
Aug 2021, phys.org

Hyperpalatable:
"Hyperpalatable foods have combinations of ingredients that can enhance a food's palatability and make a food's rewarding properties artificially strong."

Shares slide after China brands online games 'electronic drugs'
Aug 2021, BBC News

Electronic drugs:
Somebody better start asking the hard questions (why didn't the United States come up with this term?)

New coating technology uses 'nanoworms' to kill COVID-19
Sep 2021, phys.org

Antiviral polymer nanowires:
An antiviral surface coating technology of worm-like structures sprayed on face masks could provide an extra layer of protection against COVID-19 and the flu.

Brain molecule helps 'wake up' cells that could help tackle MS and similar diseases, study shows
Sep 2021, phys.org

Fractalkine:
An immunological molecule called fractalkine can boost the production of brain cells that produce myelin, a key factor in diseases such as multiple sclerosis, according to recent research from the University of Alberta.

Antibacterial nanozymes - Healing chronic wounds with nanochemistry
Sep 2021, phys.org

Nanozymes:
Antibiotic enzymes - deactivates wound-infecting bacteria using a solution of nanocapsules that alter the wound environment and unleash reactive oxygen species.

The plant invaders posing a headache for conservationists
Sep 2021, phys.org

Alien Taxa has a ring to it:
Environmental Impacts Classification of Alien Taxa - it's a new global classification system from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and it's about invasive plants.

Facebook gives users 'more control' over news feed
Nov 2021, BBC News

Algorithmic interference:
Give their users an option to use the sites without any kind of algorithmic interference.

Researchers one step closer to optoacoustic endoscopic probe for microsurgery
Dec 2021, phys.org

Come on with that title though.

A mass of human brain cells in a petri dish has been taught to play Pong
Dec 2021, phys.org

They're calling the mass of human brain cells a cyborg:
The mass, which the researchers call a cyborg, created by placing human stem cells on top of a micro-electric array, where they grew into brain cells. 

Electrical signals are sent to the array to tell them where the ball is located. If electrodes to the right of a cluster fire, for example, the brain cells know that the ball is to their left. The distance of the signal gives the cells information regarding frequency. As with real Pong, the paddle can only move left and right.

The cyborg was taught to play the game in the same way as are humans—by playing the game repeatedly
feedback in the form of electrical signals in the electrodes.

"The cyborg"

Photon recycling: The key to high-efficiency perovskite solar cells
Jan 2022, phys.org

Photon recycling:
Scientists demonstrated the role of the re-use of photons and light scattering effects in perovskite solar cells, providing a pathway towards high-efficiency solar energy conversion. Such a process of recursively re-absorbing and re-emitting the photons is called photon recycling.

Biohybrid fish made from human cardiac cells swims like the heart beats
Feb 2022, phys.org
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-02-biohybrid-fish-human-cardiac-cells.html 

Biohybrid fish:
Harvard University researchers, in collaboration with colleagues from Emory University, have developed the first fully autonomous biohybrid fish from human stem-cell derived cardiac muscle cells. 

Ukraine says it is fighting first 'hybrid war'
Mar 2022, BBC News

Review bombs:
This is actually a different version of the term; where they're not trying to deflate ratings, but to "review bomb" Russian businesses online with messages about the war.

Physicists report on 'quantum boomerang' effect in disordered systems
Mar 2022, phys.org

Quantum boomerang:
The boomerang effect has its roots in a phenomenon that physicist Philip Anderson predicted roughly 60 years ago, a disorder-induced behavior called Anderson localization that inhibits transport of electrons. The disorder, according to the paper's lead author Roshan Sajjad, can be the result of imperfections in a material's atomic lattice, whether they be impurities, defects, misalignments or other disturbances.

Physicists harness electrons to make 'synthetic dimensions'
Mar 2022, phys.org

Synthetic Dimensions:
Sounds cool; honestly I have to say I have no idea what they're talking about, way over my head: Rice University physicists are pushing spatial boundaries in new experiments. They've learned to control electrons in gigantic Rydberg atoms with such precision they can create "synthetic dimensions," important tools for quantum simulations.

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