Insulators

January 1, 20242min readResearchers harness acoustics principles to seal out noise pollutionBy Rachel Berkowitz Constant city noise has been linked to long-term health problems, but it's hard to keep out of homes and businesses; low-frequency sounds such as traffic and construction propagate easily through walls and other solid materials. Expensive, specialized paneling can help, but a new study in the Journal of Applied Physics shows how everyday materials and clever physics can also do the trick, creating a kind of…

Researchers have discovered that microscopically localized defects significantly impact thermal conduction in insulators. This finding, resulting from supercomputer-aided research on numerous crystalline materials, could advance the design of more energy-efficient nanoscale thermal insulators through defect engineering.Scientists at the NOMAD Laboratory at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society have shed light on the microscopic mechanisms that determine thermal conduction in heat insulators. Through their…

Who would’ve thought the lowly cooler would one day be elevated to an object of status? Rolling up to the beach with a Yeti in tow is now as much a status symbol as the car that got you there, but there’s another company vying for that same level of brand recognition with a slick cooler called the Tempo that promises to outperform what’s already on the market, and look good while keeping your drinks cool.What Was Your First Experience with Super Mario Bros? | io9 InterviewWith disposable styrofoam coolers on their way out…

Image: Hector Vivas (Getty Images)Los Angeles officials voted to ban styrofoam and other single-use plastics on Thursday in a move to become a “zero waste” city. The 12 city council members who were present at the meeting voted unanimously in favor of the ban, prohibiting the distribution and sale of expanded polystyrene products, more commonly known as Styrofoam. The city’s ban comes as two other ordinances were passed including closing loopholes in the single-use plastic bag ban instated in 2013 and passing requirements…

Photonic materials are the ones that emit, detect or manipulate light. These materials play a crucial role in various sectors such as telecommunications, data processing and storage, and solar cells. Because of their vast usage, there is a continuous need to make them efficient. Researchers, at the University of Central Florida (UCF), are developing new photonic materials that could one day enable ultra-fast, light-based computing. Known as topological insulators, the unique materials are like wires that have been turned…