SOUND WAVES CONVERTED TO ELECTROMAGNETIC ENGERY

Researchers in Japan and Germany have converted energy from soundwaves into electromagnetic energy, trapping a magnetic "spin current" between metal layers. In the experiment, when sound waves are directed at an interface between the thin metal layer and magnetic material, electrical signals are generated at a pair of electrodes attached above. When the soundwaves reach the magnetic material, this creates a spin current that gets picked up by three layers of metal. This is where the exercise class-sounding reverse spin Hall effect kicks in, transforming it into an electrical voltage.

scientists believe that it should be possible to generate that mystical electromagnetic energy from any material in the future. At the moment, the project is looking into materials that are able to eke out more voltage from the process.

SCIENTIST ATTEMPTING TO GIVE ALL METAL CELLS "LIFE"

A Scottish research group is hoping to create reproductive synthetic cells made completely from metal. At this stage, the idea of sentient metallic life remains a distant sci-fi dream, but researchers at the University of Glasgow have already birthed iChells -- inorganic chemical cells. These bubbles, formed from the likes of tungsten, oxygen and phosphorus, can already self-assemble, possess an internal structure, and are capable of the molecular in-and-outs expected of its biological counterparts. Researchers are still tackling how to give these little wonders the ability to self-replicate, and possibly evolve.

SCIENTIST FIND LESS DAMAGING HEART DEFIBRILLATION METHOD

A team of researchers have found a way to shock a coding patient's heart, while leaving other organs and tissues undamaged from the defibrillator. Current devices send a single high voltage pulse of electrical energy to a patient's chest in order to fix an irregular or nonexistent heart beat; traditionally, what often results is damage to point of contact and surrounding skin cells, muscles and tissues, but a team of whiz kids have seemingly figured out a way to dodge the dreadfulness.

Led by scientists Stefan Luther and Flavio Fenton, the team claims that by using a series of five pulses of less potent shocks (instead of a single concentrated charge), docs can see an 84 percent reduction in damaging power. This new technology -- coined low-energy antifibrillation pacing (LEAP) -- can also be used in implanted defibrillators, not just the well-known flappy paddles. Due to the relatively low emissions, both the patient and such implants have extended lives.

CONDUCTIVE NANOCOATING COULD LEAD TO WEARABLE DEVICES

Flexible is the new rigid in the gadget world, from OLED panels and e-paper displays to, of course, the adorable PaperPhone. Now researchers at North Carolina State University are hoping to take flexible to the next level by applying a conductive nanocoating – thousands of times thinner than a human hair – to ordinary textiles.

Their technique, called atomic layer deposition, grows an inorganic coating atop cloths like woven cotton. The treated fabric conducts electricity, opening the door to thin, wearable devices with the flexibility of everyday clothing. The technology's still in its nano-infancy, but who knows: maybe a few years from now you'll be sporting a genuinely playable Angry Birds shirt.

SCIENTIST TRAP ANTI-MATTER FOR ALMOST 17 MINUTES...SCOTTY WOULD BE PROUD

What happened to antimatter? That's the grand riddle that scientists are attempting to piece together, but it takes quite a bit of work to conduct experiments on the elusive mirror image of matter (remember, matter is anything that has a volume and occupies mass).

But CERN scientists have now been able to isolate unstable antimatter for a grand total of nearly 17 minutes. That's a far cry from experiments performed last fall, when scientists were only able to record the presence of antimatter for fractions of seconds. The increased longevity should now give researchers the time they need to perform studies on antiatoms related to charge-parity-time reversal (CPT) symmetry.

So just how difficult is it to trap antimatter for study? Just like in Star Trek, the combination of matter and antimatter particles leads to the annihilation of both and the production of a small flash of energy. Thus, to successfully trap antimatter, researchers use magnetic fields to contain antiatoms. When they turn off the field, the resulting annihilation events–recorded by a special detector–clue the scientists into just how many antiatoms are left after a set period of containment time.

"In the beginning we were turning off our trap as soon as possible after each attempt to make anti-atoms, so as not to miss any," said the University of California, Berkeley's Joel Fajans.
In the case of CERN's research, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research has been experimenting with the creation of antihydrogen atoms. The longer lifespan of these antihydrogen atoms will now allow researchers to perform more precise spectroscopy and comparisons of these antimatter elements against their hydrogen counterparts.