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#materials — Public Fediverse posts

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  1. 🔬 Chinese researchers grew a rare form of graphene at over 99% stacking purity, solving a manufacturing bottleneck that could matter for future quantum computing.

    Rhombohedral graphene layers stack in an ABC pattern instead of the usual AB. That tiny shift creates flat electronic bands with exotic properties like superconductivity and the quantum anomalous Hall effect, relevant to topological qubits.

    Until now, the only way to get it was peeling graphite with tape and hunting under a microscope for the <1% of flakes with the right stacking.

    A Peking University team led by Liu Kaihui used a copper-nickel alloy on a stepped sapphire surface to guide graphene into rhombohedral stacking during growth, reaching >99% phase purity at sizes up to 160x80 micrometers. Published in Science on July 23, 2026.

    No qubits were encoded and no quantum gates operated. This is a materials breakthrough, not a quantum computer. But reliable manufacturing of the material is the prerequisite for everything that comes next.

    Sources:
    graphene-info.com/researchers-
    xenospectrum.com/en/pku-rhombo

    #graphene #quantum #materials

  2. 🔬 Chinese researchers grew a rare form of graphene at over 99% stacking purity, solving a manufacturing bottleneck that could matter for future quantum computing.

    Rhombohedral graphene layers stack in an ABC pattern instead of the usual AB. That tiny shift creates flat electronic bands with exotic properties like superconductivity and the quantum anomalous Hall effect, relevant to topological qubits.

    Until now, the only way to get it was peeling graphite with tape and hunting under a microscope for the <1% of flakes with the right stacking.

    A Peking University team led by Liu Kaihui used a copper-nickel alloy on a stepped sapphire surface to guide graphene into rhombohedral stacking during growth, reaching >99% phase purity at sizes up to 160x80 micrometers. Published in Science on July 23, 2026.

    No qubits were encoded and no quantum gates operated. This is a materials breakthrough, not a quantum computer. But reliable manufacturing of the material is the prerequisite for everything that comes next.

    Sources:
    graphene-info.com/researchers-
    xenospectrum.com/en/pku-rhombo

    #graphene #quantum #materials

  3. 💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🐌🫧 The grove snail secretes five distinct kinds of #mucus from a shared #protein base.

    German researchers found that #collagen IV and @calcium work together, cross-linking into networks of varying density to give each #slime different mechanical properties. Lab work, from cryo-scanning electron #microscopy to #proteomics, unpacks the #chemistry behind each output.

    👉 arstechnica.com/science/2026/0

    #snails #biology #nanochemistry #science #zoology #materials #nature #gastropods #research

  4. 💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🐌🫧 The grove snail secretes five distinct kinds of #mucus from a shared #protein base.

    German researchers found that #collagen IV and @calcium work together, cross-linking into networks of varying density to give each #slime different mechanical properties. Lab work, from cryo-scanning electron #microscopy to #proteomics, unpacks the #chemistry behind each output.

    👉 arstechnica.com/science/2026/0

    #snails #biology #nanochemistry #science #zoology #materials #nature #gastropods #research

  5. Need to do a material haul before I can continue the foundation project.

    XPS foam panels, glue, cement.

    Also more sphagnum moss from the forest. That stuff is the best.

    #Renovation #Moss #LogHouse #Materials

  6. Need to do a material haul before I can continue the foundation project.

    XPS foam panels, glue, cement.

    Also more sphagnum moss from the forest. That stuff is the best.

    #Renovation #Moss #LogHouse #Materials

  7. 2 Torsten Slok, chief economist, Apollo Global Management: #Healthcare #margins have halved since 2015; #consumerstaples are stuck near 6% and #consumer #discretionary near 8%; #energy and #materials have given back most of their 2022-23 gains; #realestate is going sideways; and … 🧵

  8. 2 Torsten Slok, chief economist, Apollo Global Management: #Healthcare #margins have halved since 2015; #consumerstaples are stuck near 6% and #consumer #discretionary near 8%; #energy and #materials have given back most of their 2022-23 gains; #realestate is going sideways; and … 🧵

  9. 💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🐌🌧️ #MaxPlanck researchers collected brown-lipped #snails on rainy days, fed them cucumbers and lichen, then coaxed out five different kinds of #mucus.

    Each #slime uses the same #proteins with varying concentrations, plus different amounts of #calcium and other ions. The result is a lubricant for gliding, two defensive options, a winter seal, and an adhesive that sticks to #wood, #glass, and #aluminum.

    👉 npr.org/2026/08/06/nx-s1-59203

    #biomimicry #materials #nature #science #animals #biology #adaptation

  10. 💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🐌🌧️ #MaxPlanck researchers collected brown-lipped #snails on rainy days, fed them cucumbers and lichen, then coaxed out five different kinds of #mucus.

    Each #slime uses the same #proteins with varying concentrations, plus different amounts of #calcium and other ions. The result is a lubricant for gliding, two defensive options, a winter seal, and an adhesive that sticks to #wood, #glass, and #aluminum.

    👉 npr.org/2026/08/06/nx-s1-59203

    #biomimicry #materials #nature #science #animals #biology #adaptation

  11. ASTM International's additive manufacturing committee has proposed a new design guide for 3D printed ceramic parts. The framework aims to help manufacturers avoid shrinkage and embrittlement during the sintering process. Ceramics offer strength, heat resistance and electrical insulation but are brittle and require special design rules for AM. tctmagazine.com/astm-to-establ #3Dprint #3Dprinting #Materials

  12. ASTM International's additive manufacturing committee has proposed a new design guide for 3D printed ceramic parts. The framework aims to help manufacturers avoid shrinkage and embrittlement during the sintering process. Ceramics offer strength, heat resistance and electrical insulation but are brittle and require special design rules for AM. tctmagazine.com/astm-to-establ #3Dprint #3Dprinting #Materials

  13. 💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🕸️🧬 Spider #silk gets its toughness from spidroin #proteins built of stiff blocks and stretchy springs, which #spiders spin into fiber at room temperature.

    Scientists researching biomaterials now engineer silk in #bacteria to form drug-delivery reservoirs, wound scaffolds, and even #3D-printed bone-repair structures.

    👉 theconversation.com/producing-

    #science #biology #medicine #engineering #materials #insects #nature #research

  14. 💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🕸️🧬 Spider #silk gets its toughness from spidroin #proteins built of stiff blocks and stretchy springs, which #spiders spin into fiber at room temperature.

    Scientists researching biomaterials now engineer silk in #bacteria to form drug-delivery reservoirs, wound scaffolds, and even #3D-printed bone-repair structures.

    👉 theconversation.com/producing-

    #science #biology #medicine #engineering #materials #insects #nature #research

  15. Kupros has launched Cu29, a conductive copper filament for FDM 3D printing that enables electronics prototyping without specialised equipment. The startup overcame skepticism from experts who claimed copper could never be 3D printed. Cu29 allows makers to create conductive traces on standard desktop printers. 3dnatives.com/en/3dstartup-kup #3Dprint #3Dprinting #Materials

  16. Kupros has launched Cu29, a conductive copper filament for FDM 3D printing that enables electronics prototyping without specialised equipment. The startup overcame skepticism from experts who claimed copper could never be 3D printed. Cu29 allows makers to create conductive traces on standard desktop printers. 3dnatives.com/en/3dstartup-kup #3Dprint #3Dprinting #Materials

  17. From Massachusetts' own Worcester Polytechnic Institute, researchers have developed a building material that could replace concrete:

    sciencedaily.com/releases/2026

    It "removes more carbon than it produces"!

    Concrete poses a massive problem as it relates to the climate emergency, so I had to share this discovery.

    #climate #construction #materials #research #Massachusetts #MA

  18. From Massachusetts' own Worcester Polytechnic Institute, researchers have developed a building material that could replace concrete:

    sciencedaily.com/releases/2026

    It "removes more carbon than it produces"!

    Concrete poses a massive problem as it relates to the climate emergency, so I had to share this discovery.

    #climate #construction #materials #research #Massachusetts #MA