Friday 2 July 2021

A Half Year Pause. Stormy Times Ahead?

 Baltic Dry Index. 3338 -45   Brent Crude 75.83

Spot Gold 1778

Coronavirus Cases 02/04/20 World 1,000,000

Deaths 53,100

Coronavirus Cases 02/07/21 World 183,427,884

Deaths 3,971,594

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”

George Orwell

In the Asian stock casinos, more caution ahead of today’s US employment report and the outcome of today’s delayed OPEC meeting.

The usual dress up the stock indexes for the end of month, quarter and half year over, none of the casino gamblers feel the need for now to be a hero.

In the USA, it’s time to celebrate their independence from the GB tyrant mad King George III.

Sleepy times.

Stocks in mainland China and Hong Kong fall nearly 2%; oil prices muted as investors await OPEC+ meeting

SINGAPORE — Asia-Pacific stocks were mixed in Friday trade as investors look ahead to a closely-watched U.S. jobs report set to be released later.

Mainland Chinese stocks were among the biggest losers regionally as the Shanghai composite fell around 1.6% while the Shenzhen component dropped 1.856%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 1.6%.

Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan nudged 0.23% higher while the Topix index gained 0.7%. South Korea’s Kospi climbed about 0.1%.

Shares in Australia rose as the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.44%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.82%.

Investor focus on Friday was likely on the U.S. Labor Department’s monthly jobs report, set to be out on Friday. Economists expect nonfarm payrolls grew by 706,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate fell to 5.6% from 5.8%, according to Dow Jones.

Oil prices were little changed in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures below the flatline as they traded at $75.82 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures hovered above the flatline at $75.26 per barrel.

U.S. crude futures on Thursday hit their highest level since October 2018, while Brent jumped 2%.

The moves came as a meeting among OPEC and its allies, an energy alliance often called OPEC+, was delayed to Friday. The delay came after the United Arab Emirates objected to a new oil deal, Reuters reported Thursday, citing OPEC+ sources.

“Our bullish tilt on crude oil remains,” analysts at OCBC Treasury Research wrote in a Friday note. “We expect some form of reduced compromise to be ironed out by today.”

More

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/02/asia-markets-us-jobs-report-currencies-oil.html

S&P 500 rises for sixth consecutive day, Dow and Nasdaq rise to start third quarter

July 1, 2021 / 4:56 PM

July 1 (UPI) -- The S&P 500 climbed for a sixth consecutive day Thursday as all three major indexes posted gains to start off the second half of 2021.

The S&P gained 0.52% to rise to a new record at 4,319.94 points at the end of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also increased 131.02 points, or 0.38%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.13%.

Energy stocks helped lead Thursday's rise as West Texas Intermediate crude rose above $75 per barrel and Chevron stock gained 1.4% as one of the best performing on the Dow.

Nike was also among the Dow leaders, rising 2.27%, while Walgreens, which was one of the best performing stocks on the Dow in the first half of the year, fell 7.41%.

Thursday's gains also came amid positive economic data as the Labor Department reported that total initial unemployment claims for last week were 364,000, a decrease of 51,000 claims.

More

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2021/07/01/SP-500-rises-sixth-consecutive-day-Dow-Nasdaq-rise-third-quarter/6651625170535/

Job growth likely will look stronger in June report as companies scramble to find workers

June jobs growth is expected to outpace May and more Americans rejoined the workforce, even as companies continued to struggle to find employees to hire.

Economists expect nonfarm payrolls grew by 706,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate fell to 5.6% from 5.8%, according to Dow Jones. That compares to 559,000 jobs created in May. Average hourly earnings are expected to have jumped 0.3% in June over May, and on a year-over-year basis were expected to rise by 3.6%, after a 1.98% increase in May.

“I think June is the last month where the numbers are going to be severely constrained by the [labor] supply issue,” Amherst Pierpoint chief economist Stephen Stanley said. “The supply issues won’t go away but it will start to dissipate.”

Hiring has not been nearly as robust as economists had been expecting, and Stanley said there are several factors behind the worker shortage. For one, some workers remain concerned about the virus and do not yet feel comfortable at work as vaccines continue to get rolled out. Others are likely waiting until September, when children return to school before rejoining the work force.

But Stanley also said the enhanced $300 weekly unemployment benefits from the federal government is a factor, though some states are curtailing the extra payments which expire for everyone in September.

There are some encouraging signs, like far fewer first-time unemployment claims, which fell to 364,000 last week, the lowest pace since March 2020.

“I think there will be room for much bigger increases, not just in restaurants but across the board, and people will start to come back to the labor market in bigger numbers,” Stanley said. “I think the monthly gains are going to pick up from here. ... Everybody’s pointing to September as the big month, and I think that’s right, mainly because of schools going back.”

Stanley said the June employment report has historically been impacted negatively by the end of the school year, when workers are furloughed. But this year since many schools were not fully opened, and there won’t be big layoffs, that seasonal factor may show up as a positive.

----Citigroup economists expect 860,000 jobs were added in June. They said if hiring was stronger, that could impact expectations for the Federal Reserve.

“Fed officials have recently focused more on the strong labor demand backdrop and have been somewhat less concerned by weaker-than-expected employment readings resulting from labor supply shortages,” the Citi economists noted. “This suggests to us that the larger market reaction would be in the event of an upside surprise” of more than one million.

The Citi economists said if June’s report is strong, it may be that the more robust labor market the Fed expects in the fall could have started to appear early. Markets could react more if the data is stronger-than-expected since it may trigger an earlier than anticipated move by the Fed to slow down its bond buying, or quantitative easing program.

More

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/01/job-growth-looked-stronger-in-june-as-companies-scrambled-to-find-workers.html?recirc=taboolainternal

In other news, far from exiting Brexit GB as project fear had forecast, Nissan is expanding in EUSSR free UK. In or out of the unreformed, unreformable EUSSR, life goes on, no kidding.

Nissan announces plans to build EV battery ‘gigafactory’ in UK

Published Thu, Jul 1 2021 3:05 AM EDT

Nissan on Thursday announced plans to build a £1 billion ($1.38 billion) “gigafactory” in Sunderland, U.K, in a major boost to the country’s electric vehicle plans.

The Japanese automaker said it was launching the project — dubbed Nissan EV36Zero — along with Envision AESC, a battery technology company, and Sunderland City Council.

Nissan, which has been manufacturing in Sunderland for 35 years, said 1,650 new jobs would be created at the hub: 900 at Nissan and 750 at Envision AESC.

Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday, Nissan’s Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta said the move demonstrated “our roadmap to … carbon neutrality.”

So-called gigafactories — a term coined by Tesla CEO Elon Musk — are facilities that produce batteries for electric vehicles on a large scale.

Nissan joins a number of other major automotive firms attempting to focus on the development of batteries for electric cars.

----Back in March, Germany’s Volkswagen announced it was aiming to establish several gigafactories in Europe by the end of the decade.

Chip shortage

While his discussion with CNBC focused on Thursday’s announcement, the global chip shortage is a reminder that the autos sector, like many others, is still facing some headwinds.

Gupta acknowledged the situation around semiconductors had been a “challenge, not only for Nissan but for all the automotive manufacturers.”

“But let me say that, post pandemic, this is [the] new normal, because we plan our supply chain based on predictable scenarios, and this is [an] unpredictable scenario.”

Nissan had started to work on its digital supply chain system, he added, and how to improve its forecast for better planning.

More

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/01/nissan-announces-plans-to-build-ev-battery-gigafactory-in-uk.html

Global Inflation Watch.           

Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians, inflation now needs an entire section of its own.

Up first, in commodities, the cure for high prices is usually high prices.

Still, despite what Brad McMillan, CIO at Commonwealth Financial Network said, one swallow doesn’t make for a summer. Even so, lumber down, many more to go.

Lumber prices dive more than 40% in June, biggest monthly drop on record

Published Wed, Jun 30 2021 9:36 AM EDT Updated Wed, Jun 30 2021 4:00 PM EDT

The great lumber bubble of 2021 has popped.

After a jaw-dropping rally this spring, lumber prices have come back down to earth as supply increased, speculative trading action cooled and homebuilding demand eased. Lumber futures tanked more than 40% in June alone, suffering their worst month on record dating back to 1978. The building commodity is down more than 18% in 2021, headed for the first negative first half since 2015.

At their peak on May 7, lumber prices hit an all-time high of $1,670.50 per thousand board feet on a closing basis, which was more than six times higher than their pandemic low in April 2020.

The quick reversal of lumber’s monthslong rally came as Americans started to go on vacations again amid the economic reopening instead of taking on renovation and building projects. Many who are fearful of persistent inflation also took comfort in the drastic decline in prices in the face of cooling demand.

“This drop suggests that the cause of that inflation—the mismatch of supply and demand—will not last forever,” said Brad McMillan, CIO at Commonwealth Financial Network. “As suppliers across industries get their acts together, those shortages will fade, along with the inflation. That looks to be happening for lumber now and will happen for other inputs later.”

Goldman Sachs analysts said Tuesday that their channel checks suggested increasing consumer hesitancy around some home improvement projects given sticker shock from the rapid rise in certain commodity prices this year, notably lumber.

More

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/30/lumber-prices-dive-more-than-40percent-in-june-biggest-monthly-drop-on-record.html

Propane Prices Are Cooking, Signaling Higher Winter Heating Bills for Many

Overseas demand has depleted domestic stockpiles, leading to potential cold-weather price surges for U.S. households

July 1, 2021 5:30 am ET

Propane has rarely been so expensive this time of year, and prices may have to move higher yet to ensure ample supply for winter, when millions of rural Americans rely on the fuel to heat their homes.

At hubs in Mont Belvieu, Texas, and Conway, Kan., propane futures traded Wednesday at $1.09 and 95 cents a gallon, respectively. Those prices are roughly twice their levels during the past two summers. Spot prices have moved in a similar way. 

Retail prices have also risen, though not as sharply. The Energy Information Administration said U.S. households can expect to spend an average of 14% more on propane this winter than they did during last year’s—and significantly more than that if the weather is colder than forecast. 

Now is the time of year when many Americans purchase propane for their grills, but those filling up cylinders ahead of Fourth of July cookouts aren’t driving the gains. Prices have risen because of booming exports, February’s freeze and drillers who have eased off since last year’s Covid-19 pandemic lockdown sank energy prices

Those factors—and a lot of outdoor heating during the pandemic—have drawn down domestic propane inventories to 17% less than a year ago and about 15% below the five-year average.

More

https://www.wsj.com/articles/propane-prices-are-cooking-signaling-higher-winter-heating-bills-for-many-11625116423

Drought’s Toll on U.S. Agriculture Points to Even-Higher Food Prices

Depleted snowmelt and dry weather darken outlook for crops and threaten to extend a run-up in beef, pork and milk costs

July 1, 2021 7:00 am ET

The Southwest is suffering through one of its worst droughts on record amid a critical reduction in the amount of water from snowpack runoff.

Roughly 9.8% of the U.S. is currently in what climate experts refer to as exceptional drought, the most severe designation, which is characterized by widespread crop and pasture losses and shortages in reservoirs, streams and wells amounting to water emergencies. About 44% of the nation is experiencing some level of drought, with a further 13% currently affected by drier-than-normal conditions.

Reduced snowmelt is one of several factors that contribute to drought conditions, along with dry weather, warmer temperatures and population growth, which puts added strain on water resources.

The current drought is on pace to be one of the worst ever. One of the hardest-hit states is California, home to about 70,000 farms and ranches with a combined output of about $50 billion a year. The dairy industry accounts for the largest chunk of the state’s agricultural revenue, followed by almonds and grapes.

The agricultural industry throughout the West has suffered in the past decade from a number of climate-related disasters, including a severe drought in 2014-15. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has said federal support and relief programs “need to be redesigned to meet the reality of longer-term weather incidents and climate-related incidents that create not just a month, or two- or six-month, problem, but create years of problems and potentially decades worth of problems.”

Snowmelt is a critical part of precious water resources in the Southwest, acting as a natural reservoir that provides water deep into the summer months. During the winter and into the spring, snow accumulates in mountain ranges across the West. When warmer temperatures arrive at high elevations, the snow melts and water is distributed throughout surrounding regions.

The magnitude, timing and duration of snowmelt can affect water resources throughout the year. Annual snowpack levels have declined in the past half century, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and snowpack was particularly low this year.

More

https://www.wsj.com/articles/droughts-toll-on-u-s-agriculture-points-to-even-higher-food-prices-11625137201

Australian job vacancies surge to record, firms struggle to find workers

July 1, 2021 4:02 AM

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Job vacancies in Australia hit record highs in the May quarter to be 57% above pre-pandemic levels, while businesses in all sectors reported difficulties in finding workers in a rapidly growing economy.

In a major boost for the employment outlook, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics out on Thursday showed vacancies in the three months to May surged 23.4%, from the previous quarter, to 362,500.

That was 132,000 higher than in February last year before the coronavirus forced the closure of much of the economy.

While a fresh outbreak had recently closed some cities, the demand for labour showed no sign of waning with 22% of businesses reporting at least one vacancy.

“There has been a steady increase in the proportion of businesses reporting at least one vacancy, after it fell to 7% in May 2020, early in the pandemic,” said Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS.

“Businesses across all industries have reported difficulties in filling vacancies.”

Employment has beaten all forecasts in recent month to drive the jobless rate down to 5.1%, far from the top of 7.5% hit last July when lockdowns tipped the economy into recession.

The private sector led the charge with positions rising by almost a quarter to 203,00 in the three months to May, while public sector vacancies grew 10%.

More

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-economy-vacancies/australian-job-vacancies-surge-to-record-firms-struggle-to-find-workers-idUSKCN2E7363

Under Armour posts more than 2,300 new jobs and hikes minimum hourly pay 50% to $15

Last Updated: June 30, 2021 at 8:33 a.m. ET First Published: June 28, 2021 at 2:52 p.m. ET

Under Armour seeks to hire thousands of workers amid a labor shortage.

Under Armour Inc. posted more than 2,300 jobs in the second quarter according to GlobalData research, a “hiring spree” that comes at a time when finding new workers has become more difficult.

As things get back to normal, Under Armour is coming back strongly with sales up sharply,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of U.S. retail for GlobalData.

“Against this backdrop, the business is more confident in recruiting for positions it put on hold during the pandemic. The business is also moving strategically by placing more emphasis on direct-to-consumer sales, which necessitates additional roles.”

Under Armour UAA, +0.38% UA, +0.16% reported first-quarter earnings that beat expectations last month. The athletic retailer also raised its full-year forecasting, now guiding for a profit versus previous guidance for a loss.

See: Under Armour average selling price in shoes is outperforming Nike

Chief Executive Patrik Frisk said the company would continue to invest in its team and processes after a pandemic year in which e-commerce for the company, and many others, soared.

GlobalData says the company is looking to fill positions both in stores and its warehouses, as well as seasonal jobs, with most of the positions in the U.S. and Canada.

Last month, Under Armour announced that it was raising its minimum wage to $15 for workers in the U.S. and C$15.25 for Canadian workers, a 50% increase, effective June 6. The previous minimum was $10 per hour.

Also: Six Flags offering seasonal workers up to $1,000 bonus

More

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/under-armour-posts-more-than-2-300-new-jobs-and-hikes-minimum-hourly-pay-50-to-15-11624906352?mod=home-page

Covid-19 Corner                       

This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.

Israel scrambles to curb jump in COVID infections

July 1, 2021

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel, a world leader in coronavirus vaccinations, reported its highest daily infection rate in three months as it scrambles to contain the spread of the new delta variant.

Authorities are racing to vaccinate children and are considering tighter travel restrictions at the country’s main airport.

The Health Ministry on Thursday reported 307 new cases on Wednesday, the highest in nearly three months and a rise from 293 newly-diagnosed cases a day earlier. The health ministry reportedly expects those numbers to jump in coming days, raising concerns that Israel is plunging back toward a crisis.

In recent months, Israel has reopened businesses, schools and event venues, lifting nearly all restrictions after it inoculated some 85% of the adult population. It’s now seen as an early-warning system of sorts for other nations.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday announced a drive to inoculate thousands of children by mid-month.

Though worrying, the trend still shows little uptick when it comes to deaths from the virus. In the past two weeks, the ministry recorded only one. In Israel, 5.1 million people, among its population of 9.3 million, have received the required double dose of vaccinations. Another 400,000 have received at least one dose.

Israel recorded its highest number of vaccinations of children this week and has re-imposed a rule requiring people to wear masks indoors. Bennett for the first time appointed a coronavirus commissioner to manage arrivals at the main gateway into Israel, Ben Gurion International Airport, which he called “a huge national vulnerability.”

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked on Wednesday said officials are prepared to close the airport if the trend worsens.

More

https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-israel-coronavirus-pandemic-health-02cb24a60d6aa5d3fe0ebf713219e37f

Parts of Indonesia are running out of hospital beds as delta variant surges, health minister says

Published Thu, Jul 1 2021 1:38 AM EDT

Indonesia’s government added hospital bed capacity in preparation for a post-holiday increase in Covid infections, but parts of the country are still running out of beds as daily cases surge to new highs, according to Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

He told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” that Indonesia has up to around 130,000 beds dedicated to Covid patients and, as of yesterday, 72,000 people are in isolation beds.

But he admitted that the Southeast Asian nation is facing two problems.

“The first issue is the acceleration is much faster than what we saw in January, February,” he said. “That’s why for a very dense area … we start the mobility restrictions next week, to make sure to reduce the speed of incoming patients to the hospital.”

He attributed the increase in new cases to the delta variant, which was first detected in India.

Indonesia tightened restrictions in infection hot spots last week and on Thursday announced that stricter emergency measures will be in place from July 3 to July 20.

The second issue is that infections are concentrated in certain parts of the country, especially its most populous island, Java.

“In Jakarta area, it’s already reaching 90% of the bed capacity,” he said on Wednesday.

Jan Gelfand of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said “lightning-fast action” is needed to give countries such as Indonesia access to vaccines.

“Every day we are seeing this Delta variant driving Indonesia closer to the edge of a Covid-19 catastrophe,” Gelfand, IFRC’s head of Indonesia delegation, said in a press release.

More

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/01/indonesias-health-minister-on-delta-covid-surge-hospital-capacity.html

U.S. surgeon general says Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine may protect people against delta variant

Published Wed, Jun 30 2021 8:43 PM EDT

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNBC on Wednesday there is reason to be hopeful that people who received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine may be protected against the virus’ delta variant.

Murthy pointed to data that showed the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot is highly effective against hospitalization from the more contagious variant. He also said people should think of the AstraZeneca vaccine “as a cousin” to J&J’s shot since it was “built on a similar platform.”

“While we are still awaiting direct studies of Johnson & Johnson and the delta variant, we have reasons to be hopeful, because the J&J vaccine has proven to be quite effective against preventing hospitalizations and deaths, with all the variants that we’ve seen to date,” Murthy told “The News with Shepard Smith.”

World Health Organization officials urged fully vaccinated people to continue to wear masks, social distance and practice other pandemic-related safety measures as the delta variant spreads across the globe.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, affirmed Wednesday that it’s leaving it up to states and local health officials to set guidelines around mask-wearing.

More

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/30/us-surgeon-general-johnson-johnson-covid-vaccine-may-protect-people-against-the-delta-variant.html

COVID-19 infections are rare and mild after vaccination

Rich Haridy  June 30, 2021

New research is showing that although some vaccinated people are still contracting COVID-19, they generally experience milder disease for a shorter period of time with a low viral load. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offers some of the first robust data tracking the severity of “breakthrough infections.”

Veteran BBC reporter Andrew Marr recently published an op-ed recounting his experiences of COVID-19. Marr was fully vaccinated, noting “I wasn't behaving recklessly – but I did feel pretty much invulnerable”.

Marr’s story didn’t end in hospitalization, but instead describes a few days of fever, aches and flu-like symptoms. While some may read his story as an example of vaccine failure, it is in fact quite the opposite. At 61 years old Marr is without a doubt a prime example of someone at a high-risk of severe COVID-19, yet vaccination turned the disease into something that took him less than a fortnight to recover from.

“I recovered quite quickly and, it seems, completely,” Marr writes. “By the time my quarantine ended, I felt fine.”

A new study is offering some strong data on how vaccination can attenuate COVID-19 in the few people who still develop the disease. The research looks at data from two ongoing studies funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Pfizer and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were the only candidates used in the cohort studied.

The studies are following several thousand front-line workers, tracking infection and re-infection in vaccinated and unvaccinated subjects. Those involved in the study supply weekly nasal swab PCR tests, regardless of vaccination status.

Up to mid April 2021 the new research counted 204 SARS-CoV-2 infections in the entire cohort of 3,975. Only five of those infections occurred in fully vaccinated subjects and 11 infections were detected in partially vaccinated subjects (≥14 days after dose 1 and <14 days after dose 2).

This means full vaccination was 91 percent effective at preventing any kind of SARS-CoV-2 infection, symptomatic or asymptomatic. These results match efficacy data reported last year from Phase 3 trials as well as early real-world data.

More

The new study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/coronavirus-vaccine-breakthrough-infection-mild-low-viral-load/?utm_source=New+Atlas+Subscribers&utm_campaign=6b4bc47012-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_07_01_08_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-6b4bc47012-90625829

Next, some vaccine links kindly sent along from a LIR reader in Canada. The links come from a most informative update from Stanford Hospital in California.

World Health Organization - Landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccineshttps://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines

NY Times Coronavirus Vaccine Trackerhttps://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html

Stanford Websitehttps://racetoacure.stanford.edu/clinical-trials/132

Regulatory Focus COVID-19 vaccine trackerhttps://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/covid-19-vaccine-tracker

Some other useful Covid links.

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus resource centre

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Rt Covid-19

https://rt.live/

Centers for Disease Control Coronavirus

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

The Spectator Covid-19 data tracker (UK)

https://data.spectator.co.uk/city/national

 

Technology Update.

With events happening fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section. Updates as they get reported.

Stretching changes the electronic properties of graphene

Date:  June 29, 2021

Source:  Swiss Nanoscience Institute, University of Basel

Summary:  The electronic properties of graphene can be specifically modified by stretching the material evenly, say researchers. These results open the door to the development of new types of electronic components.

The electronic properties of graphene can be specifically modified by stretching the material evenly, say researchers at the University of Basel. These results open the door to the development of new types of electronic components.

Graphene consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. The material is very flexible and has excellent electronic properties, making it attractive for numerous applications -- electronic components in particular.

Researchers led by Professor Christian Schönenberger at the Swiss Nanoscience Institute and the Department of Physics at the University of Basel have now studied how the material's electronic properties can be manipulated by mechanical stretching. In order to do this, they developed a kind of rack by which they stretch the atomically thin graphene layer in a controlled manner, while measuring its electronic properties.

Sandwiches on the rack

The scientists first prepared a "sandwich" comprising a layer of graphene between two layers of boron nitride. This stack of layers, furnished with electrical contacts, was placed on a flexible substrate.

The researchers then applied a force to the center of the sandwich from below using a wedge. "This enabled us to bend the stack in a controlled way, and to elongate the entire graphene layer," explained lead author Dr. Lujun Wang.

"Stretching the graphene allowed us to specifically change the distance between the carbon atoms, and thus their binding energy," added Dr. Andreas Baumgartner, who supervised the experiment.

Altered electronic states

The researchers first calibrated the stretching of the graphene using optical methods. They then used electrical transport measurements to study how the deformation of the graphene changes the electronic energies. The measurements need to be performed at minus 269°C for the energy changes to become visible.

"The distance between the atomic nuclei directly influences the properties of the electronic states in graphene," said Baumgartner, summarizing the results. "With uniform stretching, only the electron velocity and energy can change. The energy change is essentially the 'scalar potential' predicted by theory, which we have now been able to demonstrate experimentally."

These results could lead, for example, to the development of new sensors or new types of transistors. In addition, graphene serves as a model system for other two-dimensional materials that have become an important research topic worldwide in recent years.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210629120709.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmatter_energy%2Fgraphene+%28Graphene+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

Another weekend and a storm, possible hurricane brewing in the Atlantic. It’s still early for Atlantic hurricanes and far to early to know if it will head towards Florida.

We need to follow developments with the Delta variant of Covid-19 infections too. Is the Delta variant starting to escape from the current vaccines? Hopefully not, but if the vaccine was weaponized there would be a high probability that that was what the originators intended.

Have a great, safe weekend everyone.

“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims, but accomplices.”

George Orwell

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