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Category: mobile phones

Silicon Is Coming to Smartphone Batteries for a Big Energy Boost

A novel lithium-ion battery that uses silicon in its anodes may have the highest energy density of any battery currently commercially available. Its manufacturer, Enovix, says it has shipped the new battery to a leading smartphone company for a debut in mobile phones later this year.

Many of the lithium-ion batteries that power everything from mobile devices to electric cars use graphite in their anodes. However, for decades, researchers have investigated silicon as a replacement for this graphite. In theory, silicon offers roughly 10 times the energy density of graphite in lithium-ion batteries.

“Basically, graphite holds on to lithium using holes in its structure,” says Raj Talluri, CEO of Enovix. “In contrast, with silicon in the anodes—usually a silicon oxide or a silicon carbide—lithium actually chemically combines with the silicon to form a new material. This lets a silicon-based anode hold on to much more lithium than graphite during charging. When the battery discharges, the silicon material goes back to its original state.”

How does HSV-2 shedding affect immunity in female genital tract tissues?

Here, Jennifer M. Lund & team report immune cells mobilize and co-localize in the vaginal epithelium, expressing cytotoxic, inflammatory and immunoregulatory genes that may promote tissue homeostasis to limit damage:

The image shows visualization of cells on a representative tissue section for spatial transcriptomics.

Address correspondence to: Jennifer M. Lund, 1,100 Fairview Ave. N., E5-110, Seattle, Washington 98,109, USA. Phone: 206.667.2217; Email: jlund@fredhutch.org. Or to: Jairam R. Lingappa, 908 Jefferson St., Box 359,927, Seattle, Washington 98,104, USA. Phone: 206.520.3822; Email: lingappa@uw.edu.

Abstract: Caught in the crossfire: cardiac complications of cancer therapy

In this Review, Emilio Hirsch discuss the mechanisms and therapeutic strategies for cardiotoxicity caused by chemotherapy, targeted agents, and immune modulators.

1Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, Molecular Biotechnology Center “Guido Tarone”, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.

2University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Address correspondence to: Emilio Hirsch or Alessandra Ghigo, Via Nizza 52, 10126, Turin, Italy. Phone: 39.011.670.6425; Email: emilio.hirsch@unito.it (EH). Phone: 39.011.670.6335; Email: alessandra.ghigo@unito.it (AG). Or to: Hossein Ardehali, 3,838 North Campbell Avenue, Building 2, Tucson, Arizona 85,719, USA. Phone: 520.626.6453; Email: hardehali@arizona.edu.

Analog hardware may solve Internet of Things’ speed bumps and bottlenecks

The ubiquity of smart devices—not just phones and watches, but lights, refrigerators, doorbells and more, all constantly recording and transmitting data—is creating massive volumes of digital information that drain energy and slow data transmission speeds. With the rising use of artificial intelligence in industries ranging from health care and finance to transportation and manufacturing, addressing the issue is becoming more pressing.

A research team led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst aims to address the problem with new technology that uses old-school analog computing: an electrical component known as a memristor.

“Certainly, our society is more and more connected, and the number of those devices is increasing exponentially,” says Qiangfei Xia, the Dev and Linda Gupta professor in the Riccio College of Engineering at UMass Amherst. “If everyone is collecting and processing data the old way, the amount of data is going to be exploding. We cannot handle that anymore.”

New Android malware uses AI to click on hidden browser ads

A new family of Android click-fraud trojans leverages TensorFlow machine learning models to automatically detect and interact with specific advertisement elements.

The mechanism relies on visual analysis based on machine learning instead of predefined JavaScript click routines, and does not involve script-based DOM-level interaction like classic click-fraud trojans.

The threat actor is using TensorFlow.js, an open-source library developed by Google for training and deploying machine learning models in JavaScript. It permits running AI models in browsers or on servers using Node.js.

Ultrafast spectroscopy reveals step-by-step energy flow in germanium semiconductors

Whether in a smartphone or laptop, semiconductors form the basis of modern electronics and accompany us constantly in everyday life. The processes taking place inside these materials are the subject of ongoing research. When the electrons in a semiconductor material are activated using light or an electrical voltage, the excited electrons also set the atomic lattice in motion. This results in collective vibrations of the atoms, known as phonons or lattice vibrations, which interact with each other and with the electrons themselves.

These tiny lattice vibrations play a vital role in how energy flows and dissipates through the material—in other words, in how efficiently the energy is redistributed and how strongly the material heats up. Different approaches can be used to control and monitor the propagation of lattice vibrations—and therefore to make the semiconductor more effective and more efficient.

Detailed knowledge of the mechanisms of energy loss and potential overheating is essential in order to design new materials and devices that heat up less, recover faster or respond to external excitation more precisely. A team led by Professor Ilaria Zardo from the University of Basel reports on the unprecedented accuracy they achieved in measurements of energy flow processes within the semiconductor germanium, which is frequently used in computer technology. Their paper is published in Advanced Science.

Engineers just created a “phonon laser” that could shrink your next smartphone

Engineers have created a device that generates incredibly tiny, earthquake-like vibrations on a microchip—and it could transform future electronics. Using a new kind of “phonon laser,” the team can produce ultra-fast surface waves that already play a hidden role in smartphones, GPS systems, and wireless tech. Unlike today’s bulky setups, this single-chip device could deliver far higher performance using less power, opening the door to smaller, faster, and more efficient phones and wireless devices.

New class of strong magnets uses earth-abundant elements, avoids rare-earth metals

Georgetown University researchers have discovered a new class of strong magnets that do not rely on rare-earth or precious metals—a breakthrough that could significantly advance clean energy technologies and consumer electronics such as motors, robotics, MRI machines, data storage and smart phones.

A key figure of merit for a magnet is the ability of its magnetization to strongly prefer a specific direction, known as magnetic anisotropy, which is a cornerstone property for modern magnetic technologies.

Today, the strongest anisotropy materials for permanent magnets depend heavily on rare-earth elements, which are expensive, environmentally damaging to mine and vulnerable to supply-chain disruptions and geopolitical instability. For thin film applications, certain alloys of iron and platinum have become the materials of choice for next generation magnetic recording media, which contain precious metal platinum. Finding high-performance alternatives based on earth-abundant elements has therefore been a long-standing scientific and technological challenge.

Inflammation without a LAIR to hide in…

Jacqueline E. Payton & team show loss of LAIR1 results in inflammation-mediated tissue damage and immune defects, leading to S. aureus susceptibility observed in cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma:

The figure shows LAIR1 is protective in S. aureus skin infection in mice.

Address correspondence to: Jacqueline E. Payton, Washington University Department of Pathology and Immunology, 660 S. Euclid Ave., Box 8,118, St. Louis, Missouri 63,110, USA. Phone: 314.362.5935; Email: jpayton@wustl.edu.

What immune differences distinguish latent autoimmune diabetes in adults from type 1 diabetes?

Ivan I. Golodnikov & team report a calmer immune response in slower autoimmune diabetes, offering insight into why some patients lose insulin production more gradually:

The figure shows an atlas of PBMC from healthy donors and patients with latent autoimmune diabetes mellitus (LADA) and Type1 Diabetes (T1D).

Address correspondence to: Ivan I. Golodnikov, 11 Dm. Ulyanova Street, 117,036 Moscow, Russian. Phone: 7.985.352.05.75; Email: miloru9@gmail.com.

Find articles by Golodnikov, I. in: | Google Scholar

1Endocrinology Research Centre, Moscow, Russia.

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