Category: Technology

An international research collaboration led by the University of Surrey’s Nuclear Physics Group has overturned the long-standing belief that the atomic nucleus of llead-208 (²⁰⁸Pb) is perfectly spherical. The discovery challenges fundamental assumptions about nuclear structure and has far-reaching implications for our…

While early language models could only process text, contemporary large language models now perform highly diverse tasks on different types of data. For instance, LLMs can understand many languages, generate computer code, solve math problems, or answer questions about images and audio.…

Conventional drones use visual sensors for navigation. However, environmental conditions like dampness, low light, and dust can hinder their effectiveness, limiting their use in disaster-stricken areas. Researchers from Japan have developed a novel bio-hybrid drone by combining robotic elements with odor-sensing antennae…

All humans need clean water to live. However, purifying water can be energy-intensive, so there is great interest in improving this process. Researchers at Tohoku University have reported a strategy using data-driven predictions coupled with precise synthesis to accelerate the development of…

Astronomers have peered through the atmosphere of a planet beyond the Solar System, mapping its 3D structure for the first time. By combining all four telescope units of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), they found powerful winds carrying…

A groundbreaking study explores Ba-Si orthosilicate oxynitride-hydride (Ba3SiO5−xNyHz) as a sustainable catalyst for ammonia synthesis, offering a potential alternative to traditional transition metal-based systems. Synthesized through low-temperature solid-state reactions and enhanced with ruthenium nanoparticles, these compounds demonstrated improved catalytic performance under milder…

When analyzing odorants in food or their raw materials, the formation of artifacts can significantly distort the results. In a new comparative study, two researchers from the Leibniz-Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich have shown that the…

Jumping workouts could help astronauts prevent the type of cartilage damage they are likely to endure during lengthy missions to Mars and the Moon, a new Johns Hopkins University study suggests. The research adds to ongoing efforts by space agencies to protect…

What if time is not as fixed as we thought? Imagine that instead of flowing in one direction — from past to future — time could flow forward or backwards due to processes taking place at the quantum level. This is the…

Traditional black holes, as predicted by Albert Einstein’s theory of General Relativity, contain what are known as singularities, i.e. points where the laws of physics break down. Identifying how singularities are resolved in the context of quantum gravity is one of the…

Humanity may not be extraordinary but rather the natural evolutionary outcome for our planet and likely others, according to a new model for how intelligent life developed on Earth. The model, which upends the decades-old “hard steps” theory that intelligent life was…

A unique dataset of Type Ia Supernovae being released today could change how cosmologists measure the expansion history of the Universe. Dr Mathew Smith and Dr Georgios Dimitriadis from Lancaster University are both members of the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), a wide-field…

Ripples, like ones produced by raindrops falling in a puddle, are also called capillary waves. Studied since antiquity, they have garnered considerable interest in modern science due to their ability to reveal information about the medium on which they travel. This makes…

The core of a massive cluster of galaxies appears to be pumping out far more stars than it should. Now researchers at MIT and elsewhere have discovered a key ingredient within the cluster that explains the core’s prolific starburst. In a new…

Monash research could transform how broken bones are treated, with the development of a special zinc-based dissolvable material that could replace the metal plates and screws typically used to hold fractured bones together. Surgeons routinely use stainless steel or titanium, which stay…

An extraordinary event consistent with a neutrino with an estimated energy of about 220 PeV (220 x 1015 electron volts or 220 million billion electron volts), was detected on February 13, 2023, by the ARCA detector of the kilometre cubic neutrino telescope…

Combustion engines, the engines in gas-powered cars, only use a quarter of the fuel’s potential energy while the rest is lost as heat through exhaust. Now, a study published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces demonstrates how to convert exhaust heat into…

Researchers at Rutgers University-New Brunswick have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that will help predict endangered whale habitat, guiding ships along the Atlantic coast to avoid them. The tool is designed to prevent deadly accidents and inform conservation strategies and responsible…

Researchers have developed a new AI algorithm, called Torque Clustering, that is much closer to natural intelligence than current methods. It significantly improves how AI systems learn and uncover patterns in data independently, without human guidance. Torque Clustering can efficiently and autonomously…

Euclid blasted off on its six-year mission to explore the dark Universe on 1 July 2023. Before the spacecraft could begin its survey, the team of scientists and engineers on Earth had to make sure everything was working properly. During this early…

A biomaterial that can mimic certain behaviors within biological tissues could advance regenerative medicine, disease modeling, soft robotics and more, according to researchers at Penn State. Materials created up to this point to mimic tissues and extracellular matrices (ECMs) — the body’s…

In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers from Nagoya University in Japan and the Slovak Academy of Sciences have unveiled new insights into the interplay between quantum theory and thermodynamics. The team demonstrated that while quantum theory does not inherently forbid violations of the…

Measurements and data collected from space can be used to better understand life on Earth. An ambitious, multinational research project funded by NASA and co-led by UC Merced civil and environmental engineering Professor Erin Hestir demonstrated that Earth’s biodiversity can be monitored…

Most of the information we have about planets beyond our solar system (exoplanets) comes from looking at dips in starlight as these planets pass in front of their host star. This technique can give clues about the planet’s size (by looking at…

A collaborative research team led by Professor Jinah Jang from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Creative IT Engineering at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) and Professor Charles Lee from The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in…

As winter storms and summer heat waves increasingly stress the nation’s power grids, Stevens researchers have developed a new way to identify the homes most vulnerable to blackouts — without even visiting them. The timing couldn’t be more critical. With more than…

Ibogaine — a psychoactive plant derivative — has attracted attention for its anti-addictive and anti-depressant properties. But ibogaine is a finite resource, extracted from plants native to Africa like the iboga shrub (Tabernanthe iboga) and the small-fruited voacanga tree (Voacanga africana). Further,…

The great ice streams of the Antarctic and Greenland are like frozen rivers, carrying ice from the massive inland ice sheets to the sea — and a change in their dynamics will contribute significantly to sea-level rise. In order to estimate just…

For the first time astronomers have succeeded in observing the magnetic field around a young star where planets are thought to be forming. The team was able to use dust to measure the three-dimensional structure “fingerprint” of the magnetic field. This will…

A new climate modeling study published in the journal Science Advances by researchers from the IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan National University in South Korea presents a new scenario of how climate and life on our planet would change…

Combining two semiconductor thin films into a tandem solar cell can achieve high efficiencies with a minimal environmental footprint. Teams from HZB and Humboldt University Berlin have now presented a CIGS-perovskite tandem cell that sets a new world record with an efficiency…

In many parts of India, a single noxious pollutant from coal-fired power stations drags down annual wheat and rice yields by 10% or more, according to a new study by Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability researchers. The two grains are critical for…

A groundbreaking University of Hawai’i at Manoa study on the freezing of water droplets suspended in air sheds light on a key process in Earth’s water cycle: the transformation of supercooled water into ice. Conducted using a novel cryogenically cooled ultrasonic levitation…

A team led by a Rutgers-New Brunswick scientist has concluded water did not arrive as early during Earth’s formation as previously thought, an insight that bears directly on the question of when life originated on the planet. The finding, reported in the…

It’s been known for some time that radiation impacts the structural integrity of concrete. However, until now the details of this were unknown. Researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, can finally demonstrate what properties of concrete affect its structural characteristics…

The idea of traveling through interstellar space using spacecraft propelled by ultrathin sails may sound like the stuff of sci-fi novels. But in fact, a program started in 2016 by Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner known as the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative has…

A carnation-like nanostructure could someday be used in bandages to promote wound healing. Researchers report in ACS Applied Bio Materials that laboratory tests of their nanoflower-coated dressings demonstrate antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and biocompatible properties. They say these results show these tannic acid and…

Much like the windy weather patterns that affect the Earth’s surface, our planet’s oceans experience their own distinct weather patterns. These weather patterns, known as eddies, are circular currents of water that are typically about 100 kilometers wide. A new study of…

Recycling lithium-ion batteries to recover their critical metals has significantly lower environmental impacts than mining virgin metals, according to a new Stanford University lifecycle analysis published in Nature Communications. On a large scale, recycling could also help relieve the long-term supply insecurity…

Every cell in your body contains the same genetic sequence, yet each cell expresses only a subset of those genes. These cell-specific gene expression patterns, which ensure that a brain cell is different from a skin cell, are partly determined by the…

Finding patterns and reducing noise in large, complex datasets generated by the gravitational wave-detecting LIGO facility just got easier, thanks to the work of scientists at the University of California, Riverside. The UCR researchers presented a paper at a recent IEEE big-data…

In 1934, French entomologist Antoine Magnan wrote that bumblebees “should not be able to fly,” as their small wings should theoretically not be able to produce enough lift. It took modern high-speed camera technology to uncover what allowed airborne insects to fly:…

How can the latest technology, such as solar cells, be improved? An international research team led by the University of Göttingen is helping to find answers to questions like this with a new technique. For the first time, the formation of tiny,…

Across cosmic history, powerful forces have acted on matter, reshaping the universe into an increasingly complex web of structures. Now, new research led by Joshua Kim and Mathew Madhavacheril at the University of Pennsylvania and their collaborators at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory…

Researchers at the University of Basel are able to test in parallel the effects of over 1500 active substances on cell metabolism. Their analysis also led to the discovery of previously unknown mechanisms for known medications. This approach might help scientists to…

As humankind imagines living off-planet — on the moon, Mars and beyond — the question of how to sustain life revolves around the physical necessities of oxygen, food and water. We know there is water on the moon, but how do we…

A collaborative study between researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), and the Institute for Biostatistics and Informatics in Medicine and Ageing Research, Rostock University Medical Center, Germany, investigated how advanced AI tools, like…

The organic material found in a few areas on the surface of dwarf planet Ceres is probably of exogenic origin. Impacting asteroids from the outer asteroid belt may have brought it with them. In the journal AGU Advances, a group of researchers…

Using syrup and baking soda, research at Niigata University has demonstrated the formation mechanism of rootless cones, small volcanic landforms commonly found on Earth and Mars. The study clarified, through an experimental approach, that a self-organization process determines the spatial distribution and…

NH3 is one of the most important chemicals in today’s world, as it is used in the production of fertilizers to boost agricultural yields and sustain the ever-growing global population. For over 100 years, NH3 production has relied on the Haber-Bosch (HB)…

Various methods are used to correct errors in quantum computers. Not all operations can be implemented equally well with different correction codes. Therefore, a research team from the University of Innsbruck, together with a team from RWTH Aachen and Forschungszentrum Jülich, has…

A research team led by Associate Professor Ding PAN from the Department of Physics and the Department of Chemistry at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), in collaboration with Prof. Yuan Yao from the Department of Mathematics, has made…

So-called “infinite-layer” nickelate materials, characterized by their unique crystal and electronic structures, exhibit significant potential as high-temperature superconductors. Studying these materials remains challenging for researchers; they have only been synthesized as thin films and then “capped” with a protective layer that could…

Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering have used machine learning to design nano-architected materials that have the strength of carbon steel but the lightness of Styrofoam. In a new paper published in Advanced Materials, a team…

Neuromorphic computing — a field that applies principles of neuroscience to computing systems to mimic the brain’s function and structure — needs to scale up if it is to effectively compete with current computing methods. In a review published Jan. 22 in…

Perovskite solar cells are a flexible and sustainable alternative to conventional silicon-based solar cells. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are part of an international team that was able to find — within only a few weeks — new organic…

Researchers from the University of British Columbia, the University of Washington, and Johns Hopkins University have identified a new class of quantum states in a custom-engineered graphene structure. Published today in Nature, the study reports the discovery of topological electronic crystals in…

Thanks to a new technology called Moscot (“Multi-Omics Single-Cell Optimal Transport”), researchers can now observe millions of cells simultaneously as they develop into a new organ — for example, a pancreas. This groundbreaking method was developed by an international research team led…

DNA-nanoparticle motors are exactly as they sound: tiny artificial motors that use the structures of DNA and RNA to propel motion by enzymatic RNA degradation. Essentially, chemical energy is converted into mechanical motion by biasing the Brownian motion. The DNA-nanoparticle motor uses…

Experiments from the Caltech lab of Chiara Daraio, G. Bradford Jones Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Physics and Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator, have yielded a fascinating new type of matter, neither granular nor crystalline, that responds to some stresses as…

The trick to creating a better quantum sensor? Just give it a little squeeze. For the first time ever, scientists have used a technique called “quantum squeezing” to improve the gas sensing performance of devices known as optical frequency comb lasers. These…

A research team at POSTECH, led by Professors Chulhong Kim (Department of Electrical Engineering, Department of Convergence IT Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Medical Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Artificial Intelligence) and Jinah Jang (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department…

The compound eyes of insects can detect fast-moving objects in parallel and, in low-light conditions, enhance sensitivity by integrating signals over time to determine motion. Inspired by these biological mechanisms, KAIST researchers have successfully developed a low-cost, high-speed camera that overcomes the…

By editing the polymers of discarded plastics, chemists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have found a way to generate new macromolecules with more valuable properties than those of the starting material. Upcycling may help remedy the roughly 450…

As the atmosphere continues to fill with greenhouse gases from human activities, many proposals have surfaced to “geoengineer” climate-saving solutions, that is, alter the atmosphere at a global scale to either reduce the concentrations of carbon or mute its warming effect. One…

The Universe really seems to be expanding fast. Too fast, even. A new measurement confirms what previous — and highly debated — results had shown: The Universe is expanding faster than predicted by theoretical models, and faster than can be explained by…

In the years following the launch of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have tallied over 1 trillion galaxies in the universe. But only one galaxy stands out as the most important nearby stellar island to our Milky Way — the magnificent Andromeda…

Astrophysicists led by a team from Trinity College Dublin have — for the first time — imaged a large number of exocomet belts around nearby stars, and the tiny pebbles within them. The crystal-clear images show light being emitted from these millimetre-sized…

In a remarkable feat of chemistry, a Northwestern University-led research team has developed the first two-dimensional (2D) mechanically interlocked material. Resembling the interlocking links in chainmail, the nanoscale material exhibits exceptional flexibility and strength. With further work, it holds promise for use…

You can probably complete an amazing number of tasks with your hands without looking at them. But if you put on gloves that muffle your sense of touch, many of those simple tasks become frustrating. Take away proprioception — your ability to…

With a more efficient method for artificial pollination, farmers in the future could grow fruits and vegetables inside multilevel warehouses, boosting yields while mitigating some of agriculture’s harmful impacts on the environment. To help make this idea a reality, MIT researchers are…

For humans, the most important star in the universe is our Sun. The second-most important star is nestled inside the Andromeda galaxy. Don’t go looking for it — the flickering star is 2.2 million light-years away, and is 1/100,000th the brightness of…

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and New York’s Columbia University have embedded transistors in a soft, conformable material to create a biocompatible sensor implant that monitors neurological functions through successive phases of a patient’s development. In a paper published recently…

How can we ensure that life-saving drugs or genetic therapies reach their intended target cells without causing harmful side effects? Researchers at Helmholtz Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) and Technical University Munich (TUM) have taken an important step to answer this question. They have…

Physicists have spent more than a century measuring and making sense of the strange ways that photons, electrons, and other subatomic particles interact at extremely small scales. Engineers have spent decades figuring out how to take advantage of these phenomena to create…

The night sky has always played a crucial role in navigation, from early ocean crossings to modern GPS. Besides stars, the United States Navy uses quasars as beacons. Quasars are distant galaxies with supermassive black holes, surrounded by brilliantly hot disks of…

Researchers at Kyushu University have developed a device that combines a catalyst and microwave flow reaction to efficiently convert complex polysaccharides into simple monosaccharides. The device utilizes a continuous-flow hydrolysis process, where cellobiose — a disaccharide made from two glucose molecules —…

A team led by researchers at the University of Tokyo have created a dataset of the whole atmosphere, enabling new research to be conducted on previously difficult-to-study regions. Using a new data-assimilation system called JAGUAR-DAS, which combines numerical modeling with observational data,…

Alloying, the art of blending metals with other elements, has long been a cornerstone of materials science and metallurgy, creating materials with tailored properties. In contrast, dealloying has been known primarily as a corrosive process that degrades materials over time by selectively…

Radiation testing suggests that solar cells made from carbon-based, or organic, materials could outperform conventional silicon and gallium arsenide for generating electricity in the final frontier, a study from the University of Michigan suggests. While previous research focused on how well organic…

Active bubbles hold potential in fields ranging from water purification to medicine. Researchers can generate microbubbles by exposing liquids to high-intensity ultrasonic waves, a process known as sonication, and these energy waves heat up and pressurize the bubbles. For example, when bubbles…

A whitish, grey patch that sometimes appears in the night sky alongside the northern lights has been explained for the first time by researchers at the University of Calgary. The article, which was published on Dec. 30 in the journal Nature Communications,…

Neal Iverson started with two lessons in ice physics when asked to describe a research paper about glacier ice flow that has just been published by the journal Science. First, said the distinguished professor emeritus of Iowa State University’s Department of the…

Construction materials such as concrete and plastic have the potential to lock away billions of tons of carbon dioxide, according to a new study by civil engineers and earth systems scientists at the University of California, Davis and Stanford University. The study,…

Researchers have found a low-power, inexpensive way for large numbers of devices, such as machines in factories and equipment in labs, to share information by efficiently using signals at untapped high frequencies. The technology could immediately enable low-cost, efficient real-time monitoring in…

In the same way that ChatGPT understands human language, a new AI model developed by Columbia computational biologists captures the language of cells to accurately predict their activities. Using a new artificial intelligence method, researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians…

The batteries used in our phones, devices and even cars rely on metals like lithium and cobalt, sourced through intensive and invasive mining. As more products begin to depend on battery-based energy storage systems, shifting away from metal-based solutions will be critical…

Food drying is a common process for preserving many types of food, including fruits and meat; however, drying can alter the food’s quality and nutritional value. In recent years, researchers have developed precision techniques that use optical sensors and AI to facilitate…

Uncovering the relationship between structure (connectivity) and function (neuronal activity) is a fundamental question across many areas of biology. However, investigating this directly in animal brains is challenging because of the immense complexity of their neural connections and the invasive surgeries that…

Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), Osaka University, and Hiroshima University have developed an advanced swarm navigation algorithm for cyborg insects that prevents them from becoming stuck while navigating challenging terrain. Published in Nature Communications, the new algorithm represents a…

Steroid hormones are among the most widespread aquatic micropollutants. They are harmful to human health, and they cause ecological imbalances in aquatic environments. At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), researchers have investigated how steroid hormones are degraded in an electrochemical membrane…

Hula hooping is so commonplace that we may overlook some interesting questions it raises: “What keeps a hula hoop up against gravity?” and “Are some body types better for hula hooping than others?” A team of mathematicians explored and answered these questions…

Rice University bioengineers have developed a new construction kit for building custom sense-and-respond circuits in human cells. The research, published in the journal Science, represents a major breakthrough in the field of synthetic biology that could revolutionize therapies for complex conditions like…

Scientists including an Oregon State University chemistry researcher have taken a key step toward next-generation optical computing and memory with the discovery of luminescent nanocrystals that can be quickly toggled from light to dark and back again. “The extraordinary switching and memory…

Life on Earth could not exist without carbon. But carbon itself could not exist without stars. Nearly all elements except hydrogen and helium — including carbon, oxygen and iron — only exist because they were forged in stellar furnaces and later flung…

Artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT have been touted for their promise to alleviate clinician workload by triaging patients, taking medical histories and even providing preliminary diagnoses. These tools, known as large-language models, are already being used by patients to make sense…

A new international study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that AI-based models can outperform human experts at identifying ovarian cancer in ultrasound images. The study is published in Nature Medicine. “Ovarian tumours are common and are often detected…

Fast radio bursts are brief and brilliant explosions of radio waves emitted by extremely compact objects such as neutron stars and possibly black holes. These fleeting fireworks last for just a thousandth of a second and can carry an enormous amount of…

Groundbreaking cerium oxide-based thermal switches achieve remarkable performance, transforming heat flow control with sustainable and efficient technology. Thermal switches, which electrically control heat transfer, are essential for the advancement of sophisticated thermal management systems. Historically, electrochemical thermal switches have been constrained by…

Mechanical force is an essential feature for many physical and biological processes. Remote measurement of mechanical signals with high sensitivity and spatial resolution is needed for a wide range of applications, from robotics to cellular biophysics and medicine and even to space…

The joint research team led by Sangdong Kim and Bongseok Kim from the Automotive Technology Division of DGIST (President Kunwoo Lee) has developed a new radar signal-processing technology that can dramatically enhance the resolution of existing low-resolution radars. This technology enables precise…

In a breakthrough set to revolutionize the semiconductor industry, the School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed the world’s first-of-its-kind deep-ultraviolet (UVC) microLED display array for lithography machines. This enhanced efficiency UVC microLED has…

Understanding the behavior of the molecules and cells that make up our bodies is critical for the advancement of medicine. This has led to a continual push for clear images of what is happing beyond what the eye can see. In a…

Academics from Northumbria University are part of an international research team which has used data from satellites to track changes in the thickness of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Global warming is causing the Ice Sheet to melt and flow more rapidly, raising…

Stanford Medicine researchers have built an artificial intelligence tool that can read thousands of doctors’ notes in electronic medical records and detect trends, providing information that physicians and researchers hope will improve care. Typically, experts seeking answers to questions about care need…

One of the biggest mysteries in science — dark energy — doesn’t actually exist, according to researchers looking to solve the riddle of how the Universe is expanding. For the past 100 years, physicists have generally assumed that the cosmos is growing…

Professor Jongmin Kim’s research team at POSTECH developed a new technology that improves the precision and integration density of synthetic genetic circuits. The research team led by Professor Jongmin Kim from the Department of Life Sciences at POSTECH, along with graduate students…

Professor Sangmin Lee from POSTECH’s Department of Chemical Engineering, in collaboration with 2024 Nobel Chemistry Laureate Professor David Baker from the University of Washington, has developed an innovative therapeutic platform by mimicking the intricate structures of viruses using artificial intelligence (AI). Their…

Digital healthcare consultations are not enough for a safe assessment of tonsillitis, according to a study from the University of Gothenburg. Reliability will not be sufficient, thus increasing the risk of over- or undertreatment of a sore throat. Tonsillitis is a common…

Quantum sensing is a rapidly developing field that utilizes the quantum states of particles, such as superposition, entanglement, and spin states, to detect changes in physical, chemical, or biological systems. A promising type of quantum nanosensor is nanodiamonds (NDs) equipped with nitrogen-vacancy…

The moment a child gets his/her first mobile phone as a gift is a source of worry for many parents. Concern about the risks associated with smartphone use has led to more and more initiatives trying to delay that moment. According to…

A research group led by Osaka University has developed a technology that allows androids to dynamically express their mood states, such as “excited” or “sleepy,” by synthesizing facial movements as superimposed decaying waves. Even if an android’s appearance is so realistic that…

A research team at POSTECH has developed a breakthrough technology that analyzes in real-time the deformation of ‘serpentine’ structures, a critical component of stretchable technology and visualizes the process through color changes. The team, led by Professor Su Seok Choi from the…

A research team led by Professor Jihyun Hong from the Department of Battery Engineering Department of the Graduate Institute of Ferrous & Eco Materials Technology at POSTECH, along with Dr. Gukhyun Lim, has developed a groundbreaking strategy to enhance the durability of…

Bright, twisted light can be produced with technology similar to an Edison light bulb, researchers at the University of Michigan have shown. The finding adds nuance to fundamental physics while offering a new avenue for robotic vision systems and other applications for…

A team led by researchers at the University of Toronto has created a platform, called SIMPL2, that revolutionizes the study of protein-protein interactions by simplifying detection while improving measurement accuracy. Interactions between proteins play a significant role in biological processes, including those…

At the Berlin synchrotron radiation source BESSY II, the largest magnetic anisotropy of a single molecule ever measured experimentally has been determined. The larger this anisotropy is, the better a molecule is suited as a molecular nanomagnet. Such nanomagnets have a wide…

Rapid advancements in solid-state battery technology are ushering in a new era of energy storage solutions, with the potential to revolutionize everything from electric vehicles to renewable energy systems. Evolutions in electrolyte engineering have played a key role in this progress, enhancing…

The aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system, which uses geothermal heat as a renewable energy source, is one of the solutions to reducing fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emission. This system stores heat underground in aquifers, using groundwater as a heat medium.…

Monitoring electrical signals in biological systems helps scientists understand how cells communicate, which can aid in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions like arrhythmia and Alzheimer’s. But devices that record electrical signals in cell cultures and other liquid environments often use wires…

While lithium-ion batteries have been the go-to technology for everything from smartphones and laptops to electric cars, there are growing concerns about the future because lithium is relatively scarce, expensive and difficult to source, and may soon be at risk due to…

Researchers at Rice University have made a meaningful advance in the simulation of molecular electron transfer — a fundamental process underpinning countless physical, chemical and biological processes. The study, published in Science Advances, details the use of a trapped-ion quantum simulator to…

As NASA’s Europa Clipper embarks on its historic journey to Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, Dr. Matt Powell-Palm, a faculty member at Texas A&M University’s J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering, has unveiled groundbreaking research that could transform our understanding of…

A brotherly research duo has discovered that when the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produces top quarks — the heaviest known fundamental particles — it regularly creates a property known as magic. This finding, published in Physical Review D, has implications for the…

New studies led by researchers at the University of Central Florida offer for the first time a clearer picture of how the outer solar system formed and evolved based on analyses of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and centaurs. The findings, published today in…

A fragment of ‘lost’ music found in the pages of Scotland’s first full-length printed book is providing clues to what music sounded like five centuries ago. Scholars from Edinburgh College of Art and KU Leuven in Belgium have been investigating the origins…

In a new study, participants tended to assign greater blame to artificial intelligences (AIs) involved in real-world moral transgressions when they perceived the AIs as having more human-like minds. Minjoo Joo of Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul, Korea, presents these findings in…

Reinforcement Learning, an artificial intelligence approach, has the potential to guide physicians in designing sequential treatment strategies for better patient outcomes but requires significant improvements before it can be applied in clinical settings, finds a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine and…

Microgravity is known to alter the muscles, bones, the immune system and cognition, but little is known about its specific impact on the brain. To discover how brain cells respond to microgravity, Scripps Research scientists, in collaboration with the New York Stem…

While electric vehicles have become a cornerstone of the global energy transition, new research led by Princeton University has demonstrated that refining the critical minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries could create pollution hotspots near manufacturing hubs. Focusing on China and India,…

In a world grappling with a multitude of health threats — ranging from fast-spreading viruses to chronic diseases and drug-resistant bacteria — the need for quick, reliable, and easy-to-use home diagnostic tests has never been greater. Imagine a future where these tests…

While the humble copper (Cu) may not boast the allure of gold or silver, its remarkable versatility makes it invaluable in cutting-edge research. A collaborative effort by scientists from Tohoku University, the Tokyo University of Science, and the University of Adelaide has…

New radio astronomy observations of a planetary system in the process of forming show that once the first planets form close to the central star, these planets can help shepherd the material to form new planets farther out. In this way each…

Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter have discovered that the volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io are each likely powered by their own chamber of roiling hot magma rather than an ocean of magma. The finding solves a 44-year-old mystery about the…

A new prototype device demonstrates an innovative approach to producing ammonia — a key component of fertilizer — that could transform an industry responsible for about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. The air around us contains a powerful solution for making…

The first-ever photo of a black hole rocked the world in 2019, when the Event Horizon Telescope, or EHT, published an image of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87, also known as Virgo A or NGC 4486,…

A newly developed tool that harnesses computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) may help clinicians rapidly evaluate placentas at birth, potentially improving neonatal and maternal care, according to new research from scientists at Northwestern Medicine and Penn State. The study, which was…

Metal scrap can be directly transformed and upgraded into high-performance, high-value alloys without the need for conventional melting processes, according to a new study from researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The research study, published this week in…

The plumbing systems in households can teem with generally harmless microbial life, but scientists have not had an opportunity to fully document the bacterial communities within people’s homes. The Safe Drinking Water Act requires monitoring by public water utilities, but those samples…

Canada should focus on building mass utility-scale solar mega-projects to kickstart its green energy transition, according to a new report from Simon Fraser University’s Clean Energy Research Group. The recommendation comes from a new paper published in the journal Solar Compass which…

Stunning new photographs by a Wellesley College-led team of astronomers have revealed a newly forming galaxy that looks remarkably similar to a young Milky Way. The extraordinary images — taken with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope — show a galaxy that glitters…

Machine-learning models can make mistakes and be difficult to use, so scientists have developed explanation methods to help users understand when and how they should trust a model’s predictions. These explanations are often complex, however, perhaps containing information about hundreds of model…

Today, carbon-fiber materials are nearly ubiquitous in the industrialized world, found in everything from hockey sticks to passenger airliners. With hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon fiber produced around the world every year, scientists have sought useful, cost-effective methods for recycling…

Playing video games is a rite of passage for many adolescents, but for some, it could also be the first step to a gaming addiction. “A number one concern for parents of children and teenagers is how much screen time and how…

The batteries of electric vehicles subject to the normal use of real world drivers — like heavy traffic, long highway trips, short city trips, and mostly being parked — could last about a third longer than researchers have generally forecast, according to…

A team of interdisciplinary scientists from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering under the College of Design and Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed flexible fibres with self-healing, light-emitting and magnetic properties. The Scalable Hydrogel-clad Ionotronic Nickel-core…

Researchers have developed a novel device that couples magnetic fields and kirigami design principles to remotely control the movement of a flexible dimpled surface, allowing it to manipulate objects without actually grasping them — making it useful for lifting and moving items…

Pesticides can be made more effective and environmentally friendly by improving how they stick to plant surfaces, thanks to new research led by Dr. Mustafa Akbulut, professor of chemical engineering at Texas A&M University. Akbulut and his research group have developed an…

In the future, hydrogen will be needed in a climate-neutral energy system to store energy, as a fuel, and a raw material for the chemical industry. Ideally, it should be produced in a climate-neutral way, using electricity generated from harnessing the sun’s…

A team of scientists has created a new shape-changing polymer that could transform how future soft materials are constructed. Made using a material called a liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE), a soft rubber-like material that can be stimulated by external forces like light…

In fields ranging from immunology and ecology to economics and thermodynamics, multi-scale complex systems are ubiquitous. They are also notoriously difficult to model. Conventional approaches take either a bottom-up or top-down approach. But in disturbed systems, such as a post-fire forest ecosystem…

Northwestern University scientists have designed a new implantable device that can monitor fluctuating levels of proteins within the body in real time. Inspired by fruit shaking off the branches of a tree, the device comprises strands of DNA that stick to proteins,…

An international team of researchers including The University of Tokyo Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU, WPI) has found evidence showing that old elliptical galaxies in the universe can form from intense star formation within early…

Two massive asteroids hit Earth around 35.65 million years ago, but did not lead to any lasting changes in the Earth’s climate, according to a new study by UCL researchers. The rocks, both several miles wide, hit Earth about 25,000 years apart,…

A team of researchers has beaten its own record for the fastest swimming soft robot, drawing inspiration from manta rays to improve their ability to control the robot’s movement in the water. “Two years ago, we demonstrated an aquatic soft robot that…

Trying to improve the efficiency of solar cells to become independent from fossil energy sources is a major goal of solar cell research. A team around the physicist Dr. Felix Lang from the University of Potsdam, Prof. Lei Meng and Prof. Yongfang…

New research reveals the unique human ability to conceptualize numbers may be rooted deep within the brain. Further, the results of the study by Oregon Health & Science University involving neurosurgery patients suggests new possibilities for tapping into those areas to improve…

The algorithms behind generative AI tools like DallE, when combined with physics-based data, can be used to develop better ways to model the Earth’s climate. Computer scientists in Seattle and San Diego have now used this combination to create a model that…

An Oregon State University researcher has helped create a new 3D printing approach for shape-changing materials that are likened to muscles, opening the door for improved applications in robotics as well as biomedical and energy devices. The liquid crystalline elastomer structures printed…

Scientists around the world rely on ocean monitoring tools to measure the effects of climate change. Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and their industry partners have advanced the technology available to measure carbon dioxide in the ocean. Their design, published…

A team of researchers led by Anna-Karin Gustavsson at Rice University has developed an innovative imaging platform that promises to improve our understanding of cellular structures at the nanoscale. This platform, called soTILT3D for single-objective tilted light sheet with 3D point spread…

The researchers, including physics education specialist Professor Philipp Bitzenbauer from Leipzig University, concentrate on what are known as qubits. These are two-state systems, the simplest and at the same time most important quantum systems that can be used to describe many situations.…

Researchers at the University of Sydney Nano Institute have made a significant advance in the field of molecular robotics by developing custom-designed and programmable nanostructures using DNA origami. This innovative approach has potential across a range of applications, from targeted drug delivery…

Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a new polymer design that appears to rewrite the textbook on polymer engineering. No longer is it dogma that the stiffer a polymeric material is, the less stretchable…

The increased use of a chemical compound to replace TNT in explosive devices has a damaging and long lasting effect on plants, new research has shown. In recent years, TNT has started to be replaced with DNAN, but until now very little…

LMU researchers have investigated how cationic polymers organize on a molecular level when transporting RNA drugs. Cationic polymers are promising tools for transporting RNA therapeutics or RNA vaccines. Like lipid nanocarriers, they are used to deliver mRNA medicines. The nanoscopic packaging materials…

A tiny, four-fingered “hand” folded from a single piece of DNA can pick up the virus that causes COVID-19 for highly sensitive rapid detection and can even block viral particles from entering cells to infect them, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers report.…

Large language models, a type of AI that analyses text, can predict the results of proposed neuroscience studies more accurately than human experts, finds a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers. The findings, published in Nature Human Behaviour, demonstrate…

Harvesting water from the air and decreasing humidity are crucial to realizing a more comfortable life for humanity. Water-adsorption polymers have been playing a key part in atmospheric water harvesting and desiccant air conditioning, but desorption so that the polymers can be…

The cells in our bodies are like bustling cities, running on an iron-powered system that uses hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) not just for cleaning up messes but also for sending critical signals. Normally, this works fine, but under stress, such as inflammation or…

Dr. Sofia Sheikh from the SETI Institute led a study that sheds new light on how pulsar signals — the spinning remnants of massive stars — distort as they travel through space. This study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, was performed by…

These are just two proposals that planetary scientists have come up with for what lies beneath the thick, bluish, hydrogen-and-helium atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune, our solar system’s unique, but superficially bland, ice giants. A planetary scientist at the University of California,…

When NASA’s Voyager 2 flew by Uranus in 1986, it captured grainy photographs of large ice-covered moons. Now nearly 40 years later, NASA plans to send another spacecraft to Uranus, this time equipped to see if those icy moons are hiding liquid…

A massive collision of galaxies sparked by one travelling at a scarcely-believable 2 million mph (3.2 million km/h) has been seen in unprecedented detail by one of Earth’s most powerful telescopes. The dramatic impact was observed in Stephan’s Quintet, a nearby galaxy…

A research team at the University of Vienna, led by medicinal chemist Markus Muttenthaler, has developed a new class of oral peptide therapeutic leads for treating chronic abdominal pain. This groundbreaking innovation offers a safe, non-opioid-based solution for conditions such as irritable…

Fields ranging from robotics to medicine to political science are attempting to train AI systems to make meaningful decisions of all kinds. For example, using an AI system to intelligently control traffic in a congested city could help motorists reach their destinations…

New Curtin University-led research has uncovered what may be the oldest direct evidence of ancient hot water activity on Mars, revealing the planet may have been habitable at some point in its past. The study analysed a 4.45 billion-year-old zircon grain from…

Solar and wind are quickly transforming the energy landscape — but if we are to realize the full potential of these intermittent, renewable energy sources, we’ll need safe, affordable batteries capable of storing it. As part of an effort to overcome the…

University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have found a way to simultaneously mitigate three types of defects in parts produced using a prominent additive manufacturing technique called laser powder bed fusion. Led by Lianyi Chen, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at UW-Madison, the…

Researchers at Rice University have found a new way to improve a key element of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems, which convert heat into electricity via light. Using an unconventional approach inspired by quantum physics, Rice engineer Gururaj Naik and his team designed a…

Archaeologists from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) are revolutionising the excavation and documentation of ancient sites with cutting-edge 3D immersive technologies. Archaeology studies the human past through the excavation of things people made and used thousands…

Chemists have developed a novel way to capture and convert carbon dioxide into methane, suggesting that future gas emissions could be converted into an alternative fuel using electricity from renewable sources. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas that accounts for a…

Tempted by lower prices and a nice river view? Houses for sale in a flood zone are around 10% cheaper than surrounding areas, according to new research. However, the reduced price tag is not worth the extra risk and can burden buyers…

Energy stored in thermochemical materials can effectively heat indoor spaces, particularly in humid regions, according to researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Working with industry representatives and researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the scientists determined…

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly automating tasks like translation, text classification and customer service. But tapping into an LLM’s power typically requires users to send their requests to a centralized server — a process that’s expensive, energy-intensive and often slow. Now,…

Alongside carbon dioxide, methane is a key driver of global warming. To detect and monitor the climate pollutants in the atmosphere precisely, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) have developed an advanced laser technology. A high-power…

Regulations imposed to protect the environment may continue to have impacts even after they are repealed. And those lingering impacts include some that run contrary to the goals of the policies. Such are te findings of a study published in the Journal…

A new route to materials with complex ‘disordered’ magnetic properties at the quantum level has been produced by scientists for the first time. The material, based on a framework of ruthenium, fulfils the requirements of the ‘Kitaev quantum spin liquid state’ —…

It’s a common sight — ants marching in an orderly line over and around obstacles from their nest to a food source, guided by scent trails left by scouts marking the find. But what happens when those scouts find a comestible motherlode?…

AI-based technologies are rapidly learning to see, converse, calculate and create. One thing they still don’t do well, however, is measure or “feel” surfaces — a purely mechanical function. “AI has more or less acquired the sense of sight, through advances in…