Researchers have used the coldest systems in the universe to realize in the laboratory gauge theories, key models of modern physics that describe the fundamental forces of Nature and the behavior of complex quantum materials.
An international collaboration of scientists has created and observed an entirely new class of vortices -- the whirling masses of fluid or air. A new article details laboratory studies of these 'exotic' whirlpools in an ultracold gas of...
A new study by physicists highlights one way that cyclic or 'bouncing' cosmologies fall flat. 'People proposed bouncing universes to make the universe infinite into the past, but what we show is that one of the newest types of these...
Researchers have improved the compressive strength and other properties of recycled concrete after high-pressure compaction. For example, one thermally treated sample exhibited >5× improvement compared with no thermal treatment. The...
Combining artificial intelligence and quantum mechanics, researchers have simulated what happens at the molecular level when water freezes. The result is the most complete yet simulation of the first steps in ice 'nucleation,' a process...
Today, the dominant, though energy-intensive method for capturing carbon dioxide for storage involves bubbling industrial emissions through liquid amines. MOFs and other porous materials are promising and more energy efficient. Now,...
A research group has engineered a bacterial strain capable of producing lutein. The research team applied systems metabolic engineering strategies, including substrate channeling and electron channeling, to enhance the production of...
Researchers have constructed the smallest flow-driven motors ever. Inspired by iconic Dutch windmills and biological motor proteins, they created a self-configuring flow-driven rotor from DNA that converts energy from an electrical or...
Researchers have demonstrated how a smart compiler specifically tailored for superconducting quantum hardware can optimize circuits and networks and execute less error-prone quantum algorithms such as Quantum Approximate Optimization...
When it comes to designing ultrabright solid-state fluorescent materials, bridged crystal designs might be the key to enabling monomeric emission and accessing novel crystalline systems, reveals a new study. A research team has now...
Pharmaceutically important and highly functional dialkyl ether structures have been synthesized from alkenes in just one rapid step, using a triple catalysis of light-mediated material, cobalt, and weak acid, instead of expensive strong...
A Purdue University chemical engineer has improved upon traditional methods to produce off-the-shelf human immune cells that show strong antitumor activity, according to a new article.
Machine learning, a tool increasingly used for the discovery and design of new materials, has now been adopted by researchers to design polymer brush films with desirable protein adsorption properties. Using a random forest regression...
Researchers have designed smart, color-controllable white light devices from quantum dots -- tiny semiconductors just a few billionths of a meter in size -- which are more efficient and have better color saturation than standard LEDs,...
Concerns regarding scarcity, high prices, and safety regarding the long-term use of lithium-ion batteries has prompted a team of researchers to propose a greener, more efficient, and less expensive energy storage alternative.
Chemists have developed a novel and straightforward way to produce complex organic molecules. Mild reaction conditions, simple operation, scalability and the use of an inexpensive and commercially available photosensitizer make the...
Scientists embedded elementary particles called muons into a many-layered nickel oxide superconductor to learn more about its magnetic properties. They discovered that waves of flip-flopping electron spins create magnetic excitations...
Quantum devices are a promising technological advance for the future, but this will hinge on the application of quantum optimal control top real-world devices. A new review looks at the status of the field as it stands.
Firing bricks and making mortar and cement is very costly, but organic chemists are working on more sustainable alternatives -- focusing on building materials made from waste products. In another move into the circular economy,...
A very special bonding state between atoms has been created in the laboratory: With a laser beam, atoms can be polarized so that they are positively charged on one side and negatively charged on the other. This makes them attract each...
Carbon nano-onions (CNOs), a form of carbon nanostructure with excellent electrical and thermal conductivities, find several applications in biomedicine, bioimaging, energy conversion, and electronics. However, conventional methods to...
A research team has succeeded in automating an established method for the gentle, artifact-avoiding isolation of volatile food ingredients. As the team's current comparative study now shows, automated solvent-assisted flavor evaporation...
Researchers have identified highly ionized species of the famous soccer ball-shaped 'Buckminsterfullerene' C60 molecule as plausible carriers of at least some of the most prominent and enigmatic Unidentified Infrared Emission (UIE) bands...
Previously, it has been impossible to capture the high-resolution images of nitrogenase, the only enzyme capable of reducing nitrogen into ammonia, during catalytic action. Now researchers report near-atomic-resolution snapshots of...
Researchers have developed a machine-learning algorithm that can teach computers to predict how molecules will bind to the surface and how strongly they will bind. The algorithm can assist in predicting efficiently and accurately whether...
Researchers have created protonic programmable resistors -- the building blocks of analog deep learning systems -- that can process data 1 million times faster than the synapses in the human brain. These ultrafast, low-energy resistors...
Scientists have used neutron scattering to determine whether a specific material's atomic structure could host a novel state of matter called a spiral spin liquid. By tracking tiny magnetic moments known as 'spins' on the honeycomb...
Researchers have developed a technique to control pH at the local level, creating a dense array of microsites where the amount of protons is 100 to 1000 times higher than the average in the rest of the solution.
Researchers have developed a new catalyst that improves the efficiency of converting butane, a component of natural gas, into butadiene -- a widely-used building block in synthetic rubber and a variety of plastics.
Researchers demonstrated a 3D-printed plasma sensor for satellites that works just as well as the expensive semiconductor sensors that take weeks of intricate fabrication in a cleanroom. These durable, precise sensors could be used on...
A method known as quantum key distribution has long held the promise of communication security unattainable in conventional cryptography. An international team of scientists has now demonstrated experimentally, for the first time, an...
An international team has successfully implemented an advanced form of quantum cryptography for the first time. Moreover, encryption is independent of the quantum device used and therefore even more secure against hacking attempts.
An enzyme that combats the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) may one day give scientists a potent new tool for reducing the amount of the gas in the atmosphere.