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Tracking air pollution disparities -- daily -- from space

Studies have shown that pollution, whether from factories or traffic-snarled roads, disproportionately affects communities where economicall...

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Sounds of the past give new hope for coral reef restoration

Young fish can be drawn to degraded coral reefs by loudspeakers playing the sounds of healthy reefs, according to new research published today in Nature Communications.


An international team of scientists from the UK's University of Exeter and University of Bristol, and Australia's James Cook University and Australian Institute of Marine Science, say this "acoustic enrichment" could be a valuable tool in helping to restore damaged coral reefs.


Working on Australia's recently devastated Great Barrier Reef, the scientists placed underwater loudspeakers playing healthy reef recordings in patches of dead coral and found twice as many fish arrived -- and stayed -- compared to equivalent patches where no sound was played.


"Fish are crucial for coral reefs to function as healthy ecosystems," said lead author Tim Gordon, of the University of Exeter.


"Boosting fish populations in this way could help to kick-start natural recovery processes, counteracting the damage we're seeing on many coral reefs around the world."


This new technique works by regenerating the sounds that are lost when reefs are quietened by degradation.






"Healthy coral reefs are remarkably noisy places -- the crackle of snapping shrimp and the whoops and grunts of fish combine to form a dazzling biological soundscape. Juvenile fish home in on these sounds when they're looking for a place to settle," said senior author Professor Steve Simpson, also of the University of Exeter.


"Reefs become ghostly quiet when they are degraded, as the shrimps and fish disappear, but by using loudspeakers to restore this lost soundscape, we can attract young fish back again.


Australian Institute of Marine Science fish biologist Dr Mark Meekan added: "Of course, attracting fish to a dead reef won't bring it back to life automatically, but recovery is underpinned by fish that clean the reef and create space for corals to regrow."


The study found that broadcasting healthy reef sound doubled the total number of fish arriving onto experimental patches of reef habitat, as well as increasing the number of species present by 50%.


This diversity included species from all sections of the food web -- herbivores, detritivores, planktivores and predatory piscivores.






Different groups of fish provide different functions on coral reefs, meaning an abundant and diverse fish population is an important factor in maintaining a healthy ecosystem.


Professor Andy Radford, a co-author from the University of Bristol, said: "Acoustic enrichment is a promising technique for management on a local basis.


"If combined with habitat restoration and other conservation measures, rebuilding fish communities in this manner might accelerate ecosystem recovery.


"However, we still need to tackle a host of other threats including climate change, overfishing and water pollution in order to protect these fragile ecosystems."


Gordon added: "Whilst attracting more fish won't save coral reefs on its own, new techniques like this give us more tools in the fight to save these precious and vulnerable ecosystems.


"From local management innovations to international political action, we need meaningful progress at all levels to paint a better future for reefs worldwide."


Story Source:


Materials provided by University of Exeter. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.






#Nature | https://sciencespies.com/nature/sounds-of-the-past-give-new-hope-for-coral-reef-restoration/

Aegean volunteers battle to turn plastic waste tide



In its two years of operation, Aegean Rebreath has amassed 9,000 plastic water bottles, 3,6 tonnes of fishing net and 289 tyres

In its two years of operation, Aegean Rebreath has amassed 9,000 plastic water bottles, 3,6 tonnes of fishing net and 289 tyres


Dressed in her protective wetsuit and scuba gear, Antigone Kouteri jumps into the murky waters of Zakynthos harbour in search of plastics—and promptly snags her arm on a submerged object.

"It was a tyre," offers her patrol mate Efthymis, coming up with a discarded beer bottle. "My treat!" he jibes.


The Ionian island of Zakynthos is one of Greece's most pristine travel destinations, renowned for its azure waters and fabulous beaches, an environment clean enough to be a major Mediterranean nesting ground sought out by loggerhead sea turtles.


But even here, poses a grave threat to wildlife.


Kouteri is one of nearly a dozen volunteers from Aegean Rebreath, a Greek organisation formed in 2017 to protect Aegean biodiversity from waste.


Within three hours, the team has collected four tyres, two shopping carts, a street lamp, metal boxes, , dozens of bottles and several kilometres of fishing line.


"Marine litter is a global issue, so it is (present) in Greece. More than 70 percent of is plastic in Greece," says Katerina Tsagari, a biologist at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research near Athens.


Tsagari says her team has found litter, most of it plastic, in about 75 percent of loggerhead sea turtles tested.




WWF has reported that Greece produces 700,000 tonnes of plastic per year, of which 11,500 tonnes end up in the sea

WWF has reported that Greece produces 700,000 tonnes of plastic per year, of which 11,500 tonnes end up in the sea



Overall, they have found plastic ingestion in between 20 and 45 percent of the species tested, which include fish and mussels.


With a coastline of some 14,000 kilometres (8,500 miles), one of the longest in the southeastern Mediterranean, Greece attracts tens of millions of tourists every year.


It's a regional problem. The Mediterranean, a partly closed sea, accumulates 570,000 tonnes of plastic annually from surrounding countries, according to the World Wildlife Fund.


WWF has reported that Greece produces 700,000 tonnes of plastic per year, or 68 kilos per capita. Out of that, 11,500 tonnes end up in the sea, it said.


'Junkyard' beneath the waves


"There is a junkyard beneath the blue waters," says Violetta Walczyk, a Greek-Polish lawyer active with Aegean Rebreath.



On the Cycladic island of Andros, mounds of waste from a 2011 hilltop landfill collapse are still to be found in the sea below.




A newly-wed couple looks at the rubbish collected from the sea by volunteers from Aegean Rebreath

A newly-wed couple looks at the rubbish collected from the sea by volunteers from Aegean Rebreath



In its two years of operation, Aegean Rebreath has amassed 9,000 , 3,6 tonnes of fishing net and 289 tyres.


The government readily admits that nearly 40 tonnes of plastic waste end up in Greek seas every day.


It recently started a campaign to phase out single-use plastics such as cups and straws—no small feat in a country with a huge coffee-to-go market.


Speaking to AFP last month, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that marine protection was a "key priority" for a country so dependent on tourism.


Greece continues to pay millions of euros in fines to the European Commission concerning the operation of illegal landfills.


But recycling efforts are still basic. Greece last year eliminated free supermarket bags, long after other European countries.


"Recycling in Greece is a joke," snorts George Sarelakos, the co-founder of Aegean Rebreath.




Aegean Rebreath, a Greek organisation formed in 2017 to protect Aegean biodiversity from waste

Aegean Rebreath, a Greek organisation formed in 2017 to protect Aegean biodiversity from waste



"Every municipality has its own policy, there is no central strategy," he told AFP.


George Triantafyllou, the HCMR's head of research, says the institute is coordinating a European project, Claim, across 13 EU countries in addition to Tunisia and Lebanon to eliminate microplastics.


The project includes developing photocatalytic technology to accelerate the degradation of microplastics in seas and rivers, he notes.


The HCMR has also helped develop a floating litter-collection barrier that is currently deployed at the mouth of Kifissos river in Athens.


"I believe everybody should change habits. We don't have to use plastics in our everyday life," says George Triantaphyllidis.




Explore further



Researchers warn plastic pollution in Great Lakes growing concern to ecosystem



© 2019 AFP






Citation:
Aegean volunteers battle to turn plastic waste tide (2019, December 1)
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#Environment | https://sciencespies.com/environment/aegean-volunteers-battle-to-turn-plastic-waste-tide/

(Almost) nothing can stop bacterium decimating Florida's oranges



HLB-infected citrus fruit at a University of Florida research orchard in Fort Pierce

HLB-infected citrus fruit at a University of Florida research orchard in Fort Pierce


Peter Spyke has two types of oranges in his groves: those that are the color orange—and those that are green, unsaleable and responsible for the collapse of Florida's orange crop over the past 15 years.

Florida farmers have observed, almost powerless, the spread of the huanglongbing bacterium ("yellow dragon disease" in Chinese), known worldwide as "HLB" and native to China. It was first reported in Florida in 2005, and has been conquering groves ever since.


The bacterium causes one of the most devastating citrus diseases called "greening": the leaves of the infected trees turn pale, the fruit fails to ripen and remain green, and eventually fall to the ground.


The bacterium is transmitted by a small insect called citrus psyllid.


Compared to the 2003-2004 season, Florida's orange production will be down by 80 percent this season (harvests last from November to April depending on the citrus variety). Grapefruits are the most affected.


"We've lost a great deal of our productive capacity and along with that we've lost juice plants, we've lost jobs, we've lost packing houses," said Spyke, a third-generation citrus farmer.


"At this point we haven't identified any way to make the trees immune to HLB," he said during a tour of his orchard.


Florida citrus farmers have generally been reluctant to destroy contaminated trees, and as a result 90 percent of their groves are infected—compared to only 19 percent in Brazil, while Europe so far has been spared the blight. Sprays used to treat trees in Florida have been ineffective.




"We've lost a great deal of our productive capacity," said Peter Spyke, a third-generation citrus farmer

"We've lost a great deal of our productive capacity," said Peter Spyke, a third-generation citrus farmer



Of 7,000 citrus growers in the state in 2004, 5,000 have thrown in the towel, according to The Washington Post.


Spyke is taking a long-term approach to the problem by searching for citrus varieties that are naturally more resistant to HLB. On his 30-acre farm he has planted two dozen varieties of citrus including lemons, oranges, mandarins and grapefruit.


The 68-year-old farmer knows it will take years, but is resigned to the idea that there is no miracle solution. He has also changed the way he looks after the trees.


"We have to use appropriate cultural practices that will help it deal with the disease," he told AFP.


One solution is to feed the plants "slow release" fertilizer, so that the nutrient supply is regular and continuous.


This apparently helps some trees fight against the effects of HLB, which literally "starves" them to death.



This is one of the recommendations given by a research laboratory that focuses on citrus just a 10-minute drive from Spyke's farm.




Johnny Ferrarezi is one of the University of Florida researchers trying to find a solution to the HLB blight

Johnny Ferrarezi is one of the University of Florida researchers trying to find a solution to the HLB blight



GMOs to the rescue?


The University of Florida's employs 40 scientists including researcher Johnny Ferrarezi.


"Everyone really wants to see a deadline for solving that, unfortunately we scientists don't have it," Ferrarezi said.


"What's very important to say is that—after 15 years handling this disease in Florida, we did acquire a lot of knowledge that can allow us to manage the groves in a way better way."


The laboratory, under pressure from the industry and based on their research, has made available new varieties of oranges and mandarins that can produce more fruit despite the bacteria.


The lab has even suggested a simple and effective but expensive solution: covering the citrus with huge protective nets that block HLB-carrying insects, called Citrus Under Protective Screen or CUPS.


In an industry already suffering from a downturn, the question of dollars often comes up, as was the case at a late November meeting organized by the state.


"We still need the research dollars to go towards research and development of future developing new products, the big word, GMOs," said a citrus grower named Frank Youngman.


Researchers are hard at work searching for a genetically modified alternative, but these mutant oranges are far from being ready to be planted.




Explore further



New California lab seeks cure to deadly citrus disease



© 2019 AFP






Citation:
(Almost) nothing can stop bacterium decimating Florida's oranges (2019, December 1)
retrieved 1 December 2019
from https://phys.org/news/2019-12-bacterium-decimating-florida-oranges.html



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Warming toll: 1 degree hotter, trillions of tons of ice gone



Warming toll: 1 degree hotter, trillions of tons of ice gone

In this Oct. 31, 2019, file photo, a firefighter battles the Maria Fire in Somis, Calif. Since leaders first started talking about tackling the problem of climate change, the world has spewed more heat-trapping gases, gotten hotter and suffered hundreds of extreme weather disasters. Fires have burned, ice has melted and seas have grown. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, Fire)


Since leaders first started talking about tackling the problem of climate change, the world has spewed more heat-trapping gases, gotten hotter and suffered hundreds of extreme weather disasters. Fires have burned, ice has melted and seas have grown.

The first United Nations diplomatic conference to tackle climate change was in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Here's what's happened to Earth since:


— The in the air has jumped from about 358 parts per million to nearly 412, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That's a 15% rise in 27 years.


— Emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from fossil fuel and industry jumped from 6.06 billion metric tons of carbon in 1992 to 9.87 billion metric tons in 2017, according to the Global Carbon Project. That's a 63% increase in 25 years.


— The global average temperature rose a tad more than a degree Fahrenheit (0.57 degrees Celsius) in 27 years, according to NOAA.


— Since Jan. 1, 1993, there have been 212 weather disasters that cost the United States at least $1 billion each, when adjusted for inflation. In total, they cost $1.45 trillion and killed more than 10,000 people. That's an average of 7.8 such disasters per year since 1993, compared with 3.2 per year from 1980 to 1992, according to NOAA.




Warming toll: 1 degree hotter, trillions of tons of ice gone

In this June 3, 2017, file photo, the coal-fired Plant Scherer, one of the nation's top carbon dioxide emitters, stands in the distance in Juliette, Ga. Since leaders first started talking about tackling the problem of climate change, the world has spewed more heat-trapping gases, gotten hotter and suffered hundreds of extreme weather disasters. Fires have burned, ice has melted and seas have grown. (AP Photo/Branden Camp, File)



— The U.S. Climate Extremes Index has nearly doubled from 1992 to 2018, according to NOAA. The index takes into account far-from-normal temperatures, drought and overall dry spells, abnormal downpours.


— Nine of the 10 costliest hurricanes to hit the United States when adjusted for inflation have struck since late 1992. The other one, Andrew at No. 6, hit in August 1992, according to NOAA.


— The number of acres burned by wildfires in the United States has more than doubled from a five-year average of 3.3 million acres in 1992 to 7.6 million acres in 2018.


— The annual average extent of Arctic sea ice has shrunk from 4.7 million square miles (12.1 million square kilometers) in 1992 to 3.9 million square miles (10.1 million square kilometers) in 2019, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. That's a 17% decrease.


— The Greenland ice sheet lost 5.2 trillion tons (4.7 trillion metric tons) of ice from 1993 to 2018, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


— The Antarctic ice sheet lost 3 trillion tons (2.7 trillion metric tons) of ice from 1992 to 2017, according to a study in the journal Nature.


— The global sea level has risen on average 2.9 millimeters a year since 1992. That's a total of 78.3 millimeters, or 3.1 inches, according to NOAA.




Explore further



Hotter, weirder: How climate has changed Earth



© 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.






Citation:
Warming toll: 1 degree hotter, trillions of tons of ice gone (2019, December 1)
retrieved 1 December 2019
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Virtual reality won't make cows happier, but it might help us see them differently



Virtual reality won't make cows happier, but it might help us see them differently

The grass may be greener in virtual reality, but you can’t eat it. Credit: Moscow Ministry of Agriculture and Food


Earlier this week, Russian farmers announced they are testing virtual reality (VR) for dairy cows.

Conducted at the RusMoloko farm near Moscow, the trials supposedly use specially adapted goggles to show the a view of a pleasant field in summer. The idea is to make the cows happier, which in turn could make them produce more milk.


Some have doubts over whether the tests are real, and it wouldn't be the first time pictures of animals in VR headsets have been used to capture public attention. Similar images of CatVR and "virtual free range" chickens have appeared in the past.


But to take the idea seriously, at least for a moment: can animals perceive virtual reality the same way we do? And would it do them any good?


Virtual entertainment for animals


Unfortunately for the emerging VR industry, there is little to suggest that gazing on a virtual landscape will make cattle happier.


Visual stimulation may be beneficial to some species of animals, but the research relates mostly to primates. Horses in a stable do seem to benefit from a view of other horses and an open window. But the sounds, smells, breeze and associated temperature changes in the make for a far richer sensory experience than VR can offer.


Could for animals ever be a good idea? Cognition researchers working with chimpanzees have given the animals access to a virtual maze environment to study their spatial cognition abilities.


In this research the chimps were given food rewards when they successfully located objects in the maze. There's no evidence they enjoyed the VR experience for its own sake. And the chimps didn't wear VR headsets; the virtual world was displayed on a computer screen and the animals navigated using a joystick.



A visual VR experience might be appealing to humans, but would likely have less inherent value for animals. Humans can understand symbolic imagery, complex language-based events, and the written word. So visual technologies such as television, smartphones and VR can provide us with long-lasting entertainment, intellectual stimulation, and social connection.


This is not so for other species. While some dogs might watch TV, their interest is usually short-lived unless it has a meaningful outcome, such as the opportunity to chase and bark at animals on the screen. Similarly, some cats play with iPads and digital toys for short periods, but usually only keep up the behaviour if they are intermittently given a reward when they catch the "prey".


Real entertainment for cows


Despite evidence that cattle have the capacity for complex thoughts and feelings, an increasing number of cows are housed year-round in relatively boring and restrictive indoor environments.


At the same time, there is interest in providing cattle with "environmental enrichment". This takes the form of objects and activities to provide physical and mental stimulation, in the same vein as toys and puzzles for pets and zoo animals. As well as improving the animals' well-being, it seems to improve dairy production outcomes.


Good animal enrichment addresses the physical and behavioural needs of different species that are not already met in their existing environment. Good enrichment can also give animals more agency – more control over their lives and their environment. For cows, enrichment might look more like a sophisticated brush than a VR headset.


In our research, we have investigated approaches to designing technology-based enrichment that responds to animals' real needs. In 2016 we trialled digital enrichment for orangutans at Melbourne Zoo, offering the animals a range of games and apps that could be made more complex as animals learn.


How tech for animals can change humans


There seems to be something inherently fascinating in seeing animals using technology that is "meant for humans".


When we provided digital games for orangutans at Melbourne Zoo, we investigated the effect on visitors' perceptions of the primates. We found that seeing the animals using technology influenced people's empathy for the orangutans. Others have also proposed that digital games for pigs might encourage people to reflect on the needs of farm animals.


So while VR for cows may not directly improve their well-being, it just might encourage people to think more about what animals need.




Explore further



Touchscreens for dogs, wearables for chickens—welcome to the world of animal technology



Provided by
The Conversation





This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.The Conversation






Citation:
Virtual reality won't make cows happier, but it might help us see them differently (2019, November 29)
retrieved 29 November 2019
from https://phys.org/news/2019-11-virtual-reality-wont-cows-happier.html



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#Biology | https://sciencespies.com/biology/virtual-reality-wont-make-cows-happier-but-it-might-help-us-see-them-differently/

Our place in the universe will change dramatically in the next 50 years – here's how

In 1900, so the story goes, prominent physicist Lord Kelvin addressed the British Association for the Advancement of Science with these words: "There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now."

How wrong he was. The following century completely turned physics on its head. A huge number of theoretical and experimental discoveries have transformed our understanding of the universe, and our place within it.


Don't expect the next century to be any different. The universe has many mysteries that still remain to be uncovered—and new technologies will help us to solve them over the next 50 years.


The first concerns the fundamentals of our existence. Physics predicts that the Big Bang produced equal amounts of the matter you are made of and something called antimatter. Most have an antimatter twin, identical but with the opposite electric charge. When the two meet, they annihilate each other, with all their energy converted into light.


But the universe today is made almost entirely out of matter. So where has all the antimatter gone?


The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has offered some insight into this question. It collides protons at unimaginable speeds, creating heavy particles of matter and antimatter that decay into lighter particles, several of which had never been seen before.


The LHC has shown that matter and antimatter decay at slightly different rates. This goes part—but nowhere near all—of the way to explaining why we see an asymmetry in nature.


The problem is that compared to the precision physicists are used to, the LHC is like playing table tennis with a tennis racquet. As protons are made up of , when they collide their innards get sprayed all over the place, making it much harder to spot new particles among the debris. This makes it difficult to accurately measure their properties for further clues to why so much antimatter has disappeared.


Three new colliders will change the game in the coming decades. Chief among them is the Future Circular Collider (FCC) – a 100km tunnel encircling Geneva, which will use the 27km LHC as a slipway. Instead of protons, the colliders will smash together electrons and their antiparticles, positrons, at much higher speeds than the LHC could achieve.



Unlike protons, electrons and positrons are indivisible—so we'll know exactly what we're colliding. We'll also be able to vary the energy at which the two collide, to produce specific antimatter particles, and measure their properties—particularly the way they decay—much more accurately.


These investigations could reveal entirely new physics. One possibility is that the disappearance of antimatter could be related to the existence of dark matter—the thus far undetectable particles that make up a whopping 85% of mass in the universe. The absence of and prevalence of dark matter probably owe themselves to the conditions present during the Big Bang, so these experiments probe right into the origins of our existence.


Its impossible to predict how as-yet hidden discoveries from collider experiments will change our lives. But the last time we looked at the world through a more powerful magnifying glass, we discovered subatomic particles and the world of quantum mechanics—which we're currently harnessing to revolutionise computing, medicine and energy production.


Alone no more?


Just as much remains to be discovered on the cosmic scale—not least the age-old question of whether we're alone in the universe. Despite the recent discovery of liquid water on Mars, there is not yet any evidence of microbial life. Even if found, the planet's harsh environment means it would be incredibly primitive.


The search for life on planets in other has so far not borne fruit. But the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, launching in 2021, will revolutionise the way that we detect habitable exoplanets.


Unlike previous telescopes, which measure the dip in a star's light as an orbiting planet passes in front of it, James Webb will use an instrument called a coronagraph to block the light from a star entering the telescope. This works in much the same way as using your hand to block sunlight from entering your eyes. The technique will allow the telescope to directly observe small planets that would ordinarily be overwhelmed by the bright glare of the star they orbit.


Not only will the James Webb telescope be able to detect new planets, but it will also be able to determine if they're able to support life. When the light from a star reaches a planet's atmosphere, certain wavelengths are absorbed, leaving gaps in the reflected spectrum. Much like a barcode, these gaps provide a signature for the atoms and molecules of which the planet's atmosphere is made.


The telescope will be able to read these "barcodes" to detect whether a planet's atmosphere has the necessary conditions for life. In 50 years' time, we could have targets for future interstellar space missions to determine what, or who, may live there.


Closer to home, Jupiter's moon, Europa, has been identified as somewhere in our own solar system that could harbour life. Despite its (−220°C), gravitational forces from the ultra-massive planet it orbits may slosh water beneath the surface around sufficiently to prevent it from freezing, making it a possible home for microbial or even aquatic life.


A new mission called Europa Clipper, set for launch in 2025, will confirm whether a sub-surface ocean exists and identify a suitable landing site for a subsequent mission. It will also observe jets of liquid water fired out from the planet's icy surface to see if any organic molecules are present.


Whether its the tiniest building blocks of our existence or the vastness of space, the universe still holds a number of mysteries about its workings and our place within it. It will not give up its secrets easily—but the chances are that the universe will look fundamentally different in 50 years' time.




Explore further



Theorists suggest 'Higgs Troika' may have been responsible for disappearance of antimatter



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Our place in the universe will change dramatically in the next 50 years – here's how (2019, November 29)
retrieved 30 November 2019
from https://phys.org/news/2019-11-universe-years.html



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Researchers find potential solution to overheating mobile phones


by National University of Singapore.




Researchers find potential solution to overheating mobile phones

Future magnon torque based devices such as this could allow for faster electronic gadgets that require less power and do not overheat. Credit: National University of Singapore.


Modern computer memory encodes information by switching magnetic bits within devices. Now, a ground-breaking study conducted by researchers from NUS Electrical and Computer Engineering has found a new efficient way of using 'spin waves' to switch magnetization at room temperature for more energy-efficient spin memory and logic devices.

Traditional electronic chips suffer from substantial "Joule heat," which occurs due to the flow of an electric current producing high temperatures. It is caused by rapid motion and frequent collision among moving charges inside the devices. This severe issue not only causes a large amount of power dissipation, but also hinders the chip's processing speed and limits the number of chips that can be incorporated into appliances.


"We always encounter such problems and inconveniences when using our phones, computers and other electronic devices. We often find that these devices are becoming 'hot' and 'slow,' moreover, we need to charge them frequently and have to bring another portable charger sometimes," explained Professor Yang Hyunsoo, the team leader of this research.


So, rather than adopting standard electron injection methods used in traditional electronics, Prof Yang's team creatively used "" to switch magnetization. Spin waves are propagating disturbances in the ordering of magnetic materials, and from the quasiparticle point of view, spin waves are known as "magnons."


The team built a bilayer system consisting of an antiferromagnetic magnon transport channel and a topological insulator spin source. In a world's first, they then successfully demonstrated spin wave driven magnetization switching in the adjacent ferromagnetic layer with a high efficiency at room temperature.


The new switching scheme based on spin waves can avoid moving charges. Therefore, much less Joule heat and power dissipation would be expected for devices. The advance of spin wave based switching could open a new avenue for energy-efficient chips.


The results of the study were published on 29 November 2019 in Science.


Spin waves and magnon torque


"The spin waves (magnons) can deliver spin information even in insulators without involving moving charges. This unique property potentially allows longer spin propagation but with lower dissipation compared to electron spins," explained Dr. Wang Yi, the first author of this work.


"Then we can control the magnetization if we transfer the spin information from the magnons to the local magnetization, which can be understood as 'magnon torques,'" said Dr. Wang. Just as a linear force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist to an object. "Hence, this new way to manipulate the magnetization can be used for future data memory and logic devices," he added.


Potential applications and next steps


"Our work first shows that the magnon torque is sufficient to switch the magnetization at room temperature. Even the efficiency of the magnon torque is comparable with previously pursued electrical spin torque efficiency. We believe it can be substantially enhanced by engineering devices further, so that the magnon torque will become more energy efficient," Prof Yang said.


"We know that the electrical spin torque has opened the era for spintronic device applications such as magnetic random access memories (MRAMs). We believe our report of the new magnon torque scheme for magnetization switching is a game-changing idea in spintronics. It will invigorate not only a new research area in magnonics, but also practical devices operated by magnons," Dr. Wang stated.


Next, the research team will further engineer the efficiency of magnon torques and explore all magnon devices without involving electrical parts. In addition, the operation frequency of spin waves is in the terahertz range. Terahertz devices can transmit data at significantly higher speeds than currently possible. "Therefore, magnon torque based devices will allow the implementation of ultrahigh speed applications in the future," Prof Yang said.




Explore further



Small magnets reveal big secrets



More information:
Yi Wang et al. Magnetization switching by magnon-mediated spin torque through an antiferromagnetic insulator, Science (2019). DOI: 10.1126/science.aav8076





Provided by
National University of Singapore.






Citation:
Researchers find potential solution to overheating mobile phones (2019, November 29)
retrieved 30 November 2019
from https://phys.org/news/2019-11-potential-solution-overheating-mobile.html



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