We need all our best brains to solve global challenges. And we need to empower women who want an intellectual life to explore big ideas. But, over 99 per cent of physics students at Burkina Faso’s largest university are male…
Tag: CHEMISTRY/PHYSICS/MATERIALS SCIENCES
Quantum phase transition discovered in a quasi-2D system consisting purely of spins
The study could have applications in spintronics and quantum computing; it was conducted by an international collaboration and published in Nature; its first author is a researcher at the University of São Paulo
Harnessing the dark side
Optical singularities could be used for a wide range of applications from super resolution imaging to optical trapping
Phasecraft reveals a more efficient method for modelling electrons in materials
UK quantum software startup Phasecraft, spun out of UCL and University of Bristol, releases peer-reviewed research that shows significant improvement beyond previous techniques for simulating fermions on quantum computers
HighT-Tech’s innovative approach to catalyst development wins The Spinoff Prize 2021
London | New York | Darmstadt, 12 July 2021 The Spinoff Prize 2021, a Nature Research Award supported by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany has been awarded to HighT-Tech, a spinoff* of The University of Maryland, College Park in the United…
New electronic paper displays brilliant colours
Imagine sitting out in the sun, reading a digital screen as thin as paper, but seeing the same image quality as if you were indoors. Thanks to research from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, it could soon be a reality.…
How chemistry makes carbon dioxide removal possible (video)
WASHINGTON, July 12, 2021 — Over the last couple hundred years, the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has skyrocketed. If we don’t remove at least some of it, there will be even more heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes and…
Theoretical model able to reliably predict low-temperature properties of compounds
A paper by Kazan Federal University appeared in early access in Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids.
Giving a “tandem” boost to solar-powered water splitting
Scientists combine two promising photocatalysts to obtain higher solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency and durability in a water splitting cell.
Scientists observe a new type of topological defect in chiral magnets for the first time
“Topological defects” are formed when the symmetry of a magnetic material is disrupted. Domain walls (DWs) are a type of topological defect that separates regions of different magnetic orientations. A widely studied phenomenon, the manipulation of these defects has potential…
RIXS demonstrates magnetic behaviour in nickelate superconductors
New findings in a new material bring us closer to understanding superconductivity
Harvard-led physicists take big step in race to quantum computing
Team develops simulator with 256 qubits, largest of its kind ever created
Discovery of a mechanism for efficient autophagosome formation
Revealing the molecular role of the most famous autophagy factor
NIST uses method to understand the molecular underpinnings of a disease affecting corals
Coral reefs are a favorite spot for scuba divers and are among the world’s most diverse ecosystems. For example, the Hawaiian coral reefs, known as the “rainforests of the sea,” host over 7,000 species of marine animals, fishes, birds and…
Programmable structures from the printer
Researchers at the University of Freiburg and the University of Stuttgart have developed a new process for producing movable, self-adjusting materials systems with standard 3D-printers. These systems can undergo complex shape changes, contracting and expanding under the influence of moisture…
Black hairstyles will inspire innovative building materials in new research
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Natural Black hair texture and styling practices – such a braiding, locking and crocheting – will help inspire and generate novel building materials and architecture structures using computational design processes in new research funded by the…
New 3D printable phase-changing composites can regulate temperatures inside buildings
Materials could be used to reduce excess energy usage
Goldilocks planets ‘with a tilt’ may develop more complex life
Planets which are tilted on their axis, like Earth, are more capable of evolving complex life. This finding will help scientists refine the search for more advanced life on exoplanets. This NASA-funded research is presented at the Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference.…
Study sheds light on mechanism of liposome accumulation in tumors
CU Cancer Center researcher says results could impact how we diagnose, monitor, and treat tumors with liposomes.
The pressure is off and high temperature superconductivity remains
Development of a new pressure-quench technique demonstrates superconductivity in iron selenide crystals sans pressure
Solving the plastic shortage with a new chemical catalyst
In a year that has already battered manufacturing supply chains, yet another shortage is complicating manufacturers’ and consumers’ lives: plastics, and the food packaging, automotive components, clothing, medical and lab equipment and countless other items that rely on them. But…
Unlocking radiation-free quantum technology with graphene
“Heavy fermions” are an appealing theoretical way to produce quantum entangled phenomena, but until recently have been observed mostly in dangerously radioactive compounds. A new paper shows it is possible to make them in subtly modified graphene
Hybrid enzyme catalysts synthesized by a de novo approach for expanding biocatalysis
The two major challenges in industrial enzymatic catalysis are the limited number of chemical reaction types that are catalyzed by enzymes and the instability of enzymes under harsh conditions in industrial catalysis. Expanding enzyme catalysis to a larger substrate scope…
Researchers use JUWELS for record-breaking simulations of turbulence’s smallest structures
International collaboration focuses on including intermittency in turbulence simulations.
Bringing chemical production and manufacturing together
Development of a small, flexible and cost-effective acrylonitrile modular reactor could give carbon fiber producers better access to affordable feedstock
Collective battery storage beneficial for decarbonized world
Batteries are potentially a game-changing technology as we decarbonize our economy, and their benefits are even greater when shared across communities, a University of Otago-led study has found. Co-author Associate Professor Michael Jack, Director of the Energy Programme in the…
Depression, suicidal thoughts plague ailing coal miners, study finds
More than a third of coal miners and former coal miners suffering from black lung disease struggle with depression, and more than one in 10 has recently considered suicide, a new study finds. The study is believed to be the…
A scalable multilayer metafabric provides passive daytime radiative cooling
Researchers present a new, scalable metafabric knitted with composite microfibers that provides daytime radiative cooling functionality in a durable textile. Our rapidly warming world has created a demand for innovative new textiles that help passively cool those who wear them.…
Of the same stripe: Turing patterns link tropical fish and bismuth crystal growth
Scientists prove Turing patterns, usually studied in living organisms and chemical systems, also manifest at the nanoscale in monoatomic bismuth layers
Partnership contributes toward sharp eyes for MOLLER experiment
The MOLLER experiment has received additional grants totaling $9 million
First study of nickelate’s magnetism finds a strong kinship with cuprate superconductors
New nickelate materials give scientists an exciting new window into how unconventional superconductors carry electric current with no loss at relatively high temperatures
Sandia-led center to advance understanding of new solar panel technology
Research will support perovskite technology performance, reliability, bankability
Early Earth was bombarded by series of city-sized asteroids
Scientists know that the Earth was bombarded by huge impactors in distant time, but a new analysis suggest that the number of these impacts may have been x10 higher than previously thought. This translates into a barrage of collisions, similar…
New clues to why there’s so little antimatter in the universe
Imagine a dust particle in a storm cloud, and you can get an idea of a neutron’s insignificance compared to the magnitude of the molecule it inhabits.
Soft shell makes hard ceramic less likely to shatter
Rice lab shows complex, 3D-printed schwarzites withstand pressure when coated
Tiny tools: Controlling individual water droplets as biochemical reactors
Scientists develop a method to better manipulate tiny droplets in lab-on-a-chip applications for biochemistry, cell culturing, and drug screening
Scientists home in on recipe for entirely renewable energy
Scientists from Trinity College Dublin are homing in on a recipe that would enable the future production of entirely renewable, clean energy from which water would be the only waste product. Using their expertise in chemistry, theoretical physics and artificial…
Quantum particles: Pulled and compressed
Very recently, researchers led by Markus Aspelmeyer at the University of Vienna and Lukas Novotny at ETH Zurich cooled a glass nanoparticle into the quantum regime for the first time. To do this, the particle is deprived of its kinetic…
Harnessing AI to discover new drugs
Nature has a vast store of medicinal substances. “Over 50 percent of all drugs today are inspired by nature,” says Gisbert Schneider, Professor of Computer-Assisted Drug Design at ETH Zurich. Nevertheless, he is convinced that we have tapped only a…
Researchers identify ultrastable single atom magnet
Researchers at the IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience at Ewha Womans University (QNS) have shown that dysprosium atoms resting on a thin insulating layer of magnesium oxide have magnetic stability over days. In a study published in Nature Communications they…
New composites with magnetolectrical properties will help treat neurodegenerative diseases
Scientists found new opportunities to improve the magnetoelectric properties of polymer nanocomposites.
New clues to why there’s so little antimatter in the universe
Radioactive molecules are sensitive to subtle nuclear phenomena and might help physicists probe the violation of the most fundamental symmetries of nature.
Engineered protein inspired by nature may help plastic plague
Cheap to produce and long to degrade, plastic was once a manufacturing miracle. Now, plastic is an environmental plague, clogging landfills and choking waterways. A Japan-based research team has turned back to nature to develop an approach to degrading the…
Igniting plasmas in liquids
This is how a nanosecond plasma forms and spreads in water via tunnel effects
Quantum laser turns energy loss into gain?
A new laser that generates quantum particles can recycle lost energy for highly efficient, low threshold laser applications
University of Liverpool leads £1.17 million innovative future MSR reactor project
Liverpool leads £1.17 million innovative future MSR reactor project
Cutting through noise for better solar cells
As society moves towards a renewable energy future, it’s crucial that solar panels convert light into electricity as efficiently as possible. Some state-of-the-art solar cells are close to the theoretical maximum of efficiency–and physicists from the University of Utah and…
New game-changing zeolite catalysts synthesized
A research team at POSTECH has uncovered a promising new zeolite, anticipated to be a turning point for the oil refining and petrochemical industries. This research was recently published in the scientific journal Science on July 2, 2021. The team…
Enzyme from fungi shows molecules which way to turn
Xue Sherry Gao and team isolate natural catalysts for better drug synthesis
Ultrathin semiconductors electrically connected to superconductors for the first time
For the first time, University of Basel researchers have equipped an ultrathin semiconductor with superconducting contacts. These extremely thin materials with novel electronic and optical properties could pave the way for previously unimagined applications. Combined with superconductors, they are expected…