Small molecular twists may strengthen nature's magnetic compass
A collaborative research team led by Yasuhiro Kobori at Kobe University, together with researchers from Toho University, Saitama University, Nagoya Institute of Technology and the…
Lab-aged microplastics enable tests of interactions with contaminants
A newly published study advances our knowledge of how microplastics may age in the environment and whether they stick to other contaminants as they do so. Microplastics (MPs) are …
New X-ray method isolates faint signals from water at material surfaces
A research team from Toyohashi University of Technology, the Institute for Molecular Science and the Institute of Science Tokyo, led by Yu Kinjo and professor Ryugo Tero of Toyoha…
Electrical guardrails for charge carriers: A new approach to harness graphene for solar cells
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms in which electrons can move with high mobility, making it promising for high-speed electronic components. Yet it is not very efficient a…
New calculations reveal hidden pathways that let chemical reactions produce different products
Chemical reactions are often understood as molecules crossing a high-energy saddle point, known as a transition state, before following a downhill pathway toward a product. Conven…
Measuring multiple reactions on a single electrode with extraordinary sensitivity
A reaction on a single electrode can tell scientists a remarkable amount about the chemical nature and number of analytes involved. The challenge comes when they want to distingui…
Chemical recycling turns silicone waste into reusable building blocks with up to 99% yield
Silicones are widely used in industry, medicine and everyday products due to their exceptional thermal and chemical stability. However, it is precisely these properties that have …
How the quantum vacuum perturbs atoms, could shrink black holes and may have helped form galaxies
The word "vacuum" may conjure the image of empty space. Maybe you think of a region far outside the solar system without planets, debris, gas clouds or light. According to quantum…
Terahertz light distinguishes two groups of particles trapped inside superconducting vortices
Scientists at Rutgers and in Estonia have used invisible light to look into tiny magnetic whirlpools, called vortices, inside a superconductor, revealing details that could help r…
Machine learning helps track semiconductor defects under more realistic temperature conditions
All materials contain inherent defects. These are not always harmful, since they can be used to engineer and introduce certain properties into a material. However, it is crucial t…
Electrical signals reveal hidden magnetic information in altermagnets for first time
Researchers have experimentally demonstrated, for the first time, that it is possible to obtain from an altermagnet a spin current that can transport magnetic information. This re…
A blue laser for underwater communication and sensing
Researchers at EPFL have developed a chip-scale blue laser that combines stable light emission with rapid frequency control, opening possibilities for underwater communication, en…
One molecule, many atoms: Platinum bonds respond to surface features up to 10 nanometers away
Many chemical processes that sustain modern society depend on molecules binding to metal surfaces. The production of synthetic fertilizer, for example, relies on heterogeneous cat…
New catalyst builds proton highways to tackle a long-standing hurdle in green ammonia synthesis
Over a century ago, the Haber-Bosch process, a two-step reaction for the synthesis of ammonia (NH₃), an irreplaceable chemical for the fertilizer industry, prevented the world fro…
Theoretical method uses light to locate anyons, potential quantum computing building blocks
Theoretical physicists at Emory University have discovered a way to use light to detect the "spectral fingerprints" of anyons—exotic quasiparticles that emerge from the collective…
Using hydrogen to spark ammonia engines into life
"Ammonia was first used as a fuel during World War II, when gasoline was hard to get hold of," explains David Emberson, associate professor at NTNU's Department of Marine Technolo…
Ultrathin metal layer boosts spin-related signals, opening a door to ultralow-power electronics
Researchers at Kyushu University have found that an ultrathin layer of iridium manganese (IrMn) can improve two spin-related signals in a structure made of a magnetic insulator an…
Atomic magnetism reveals why iron, but not chromium, can produce ammonia using sunlight
Two nearly identical materials have completely different chemical behavior. Research teams at the University of Vienna and TU Wien studied catalysts that use the energy of sunligh…
Explaining the difference between brittle and ductile behavior in polymer glasses
Glasses are (mostly) brittle, metals can be ductile (plastic), and liquids flow easily. Polymers are interesting because they exhibit all three types of behavior, depending on the…
Same radical, different paths: X-ray snapshots reveal how neighboring molecules shape its movement
Chemical reactions have their own "impatient molecules." Unable to stay still even for a moment, they latch onto other molecules indiscriminately. Researchers have now found that …
Yeast paired with electricity can convert CO₂ into a chemical used in biodegradable plastics
To limit further climate change, researchers are exploring technologies that can convert atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) into useful products. In collaboration with BOKU Universi…
When simulations fall short, this spectrometer learns for itself
An NMR spectrometer can reveal molecular structure down to the atomic level, but weak signals limit what it can see. Now, Aarhus University researchers have used AI to let the spe…
The hydrogen atom: The raw material of the universe barely exists on Earth—now we've made it in a flask
What do you see when you look up at the night sky? While everyone may have a different answer, the truth is that almost everything out there is hydrogen. The first element in the …
Slow-motion electron camera reveals light-driven quantum jumps in graphene
Using a new slow-motion electron camera, physicists from Regensburg, Marburg and Jülich revealed how intense electric fields drive electrons in graphene, causing them to jump acro…