New converter could bridge light wavelength gap in quantum communications
Quantum networks, systems that connect devices using quantum mechanical effects, could potentially allow users to share information more securely and efficiently. Building these n…
Radio waves drive a fusion plasma current that could help reactors run continuously
For the first time, a team of physicists in the U.S. has clearly demonstrated a "helicon current drive" in a nuclear fusion experiment. Led by Jeff Lestz at General Atomics, San D…
Glowing ghoul or chemical tool? The toxic chemistry behind Victorian séances
In November 1857, during a séance in Jersey City, the medium Leah Brown claimed her body produced luminous particles. So intense was the luminosity emanating from her, she recalle…
Metalens microscope switches focus with voltage, not moving optics
Just as it is difficult for a camera to keep both a nearby flower and a distant mountain sharply focused at the same time, conventional optical microscopes face a similar challeng…
Beyond trial and error: Integrating computation, processing, and AI to design high-entropy alloys
Designing structural high-entropy alloys (SHEAs) means solving a problem with an enormous number of moving parts: which combinations of composition and processing conditions will …
Silent bacterial genes yield potential leads for future cancer drugs
Natural products produced by microorganisms are a promising source of new drugs. Researchers at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) and its Saarbrücken-based site, t…
Single optical element combines soft X-ray imaging and spectroscopy
An international research team from Germany, Switzerland and Japan has demonstrated in a recent study that a single reflection zone plate (RZP) can perform both soft X-ray imaging…
Keeping water molecules connected reduces carbon electrode corrosion
Carbon is inexpensive, conductive, and widely used in technologies such as fuel cells and water electrolyzers. But under strongly oxidizing conditions, carbon electrodes gradually…
Hydrogen production from seawater: Low-cost catalyst could cut energy use and resist corrosion
Using a range of advanced characterization techniques, researchers say they have developed a novel method with the potential to produce hydrogen from seawater using a process that…
AI-powered robotic laboratory paves the way for discovering next-generation heat-resistant coatings
Researchers have developed a self-driving laboratory that combines artificial intelligence and robotics to automate laboratory tasks, from accurately measuring and mixing chemical…
Interfacial intelligence: A new way to design polymer brushes
Polymer brushes are dense layers of polymer chains that can be engineered to change how a surface interacts with its surroundings. By controlling interactions with water, ions, pr…
Physicists reveal new paradigm for fiber growth in neurodegenerative diseases
Some proteins that are linked to neurodegenerative diseases can form both liquid droplets and amyloid fibers. But how are these two states connected, and where do the fibers grow?…
Diamond defects confirm 80-year-old theory of crystal stress
For the first time, researchers in Japan have directly mapped several components of the stress field surrounding an atomic-scale flaw in the crystal structure of diamond. Led by T…
Tiny shifts in iron content tip a potential memory material between competing magnetic states
A team of Yale researchers has figured out what gives a magnetic material its mysterious properties, a discovery that could help boost computing memory and the field of "spintroni…
An 'electron waiting room' helps blue titanium dioxide hold light energy longer
To produce hydrogen using sunlight, the energy obtained from light must be retained until it can be used in a chemical reaction. However, if an electron that has gained energy fro…
Ahead of their time: Restricted to pre-2018 research, AI flags hydrogen catalyst reported in later experiments
Researchers have used artificial intelligence to identify promising catalysts using only the scientific knowledge that was available years before their actual discovery. Their fin…
One extra quantum dot helps balance speed and stability in spin qubits
Quantum computers need qubits that can be controlled both quickly and reliably. Yet making semiconductor spin qubits faster often makes them more sensitive to electrical noise, cr…
Supercurrent enables the reading of quantum information without destroying it
One of the fundamental challenges of quantum computing is obtaining information from a quantum bit, or qubit. Unlike a conventional bit, which can be read repeatedly without alter…
Patterns of polar vortices discovered in lead-free superlattices on silicon
A team at HZB has, for the first time, reported polar vortices in (BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃)₁₀ superlattices on silicon. These results expand the range of materials and substrates on which p…
Tests reveal why titanium additions do not fully prevent pitting corrosion in stainless steel
Stainless steel is widely used for its corrosion resistance, but it is not invincible. In environments containing chloride ions, such as seawater, pitting corrosion can occur. The…
Single X-ray pulse reveals plasma nanostructures across scales with one camera
Understanding instabilities and turbulence in plasmas is one of the key challenges across a wide range of plasma research fields, including nuclear fusion, astrophysics and laser-…
'One-positron cyclotron' could test a key prediction of the Standard Model
The positron is the antimatter counterpart of the electron, identical in mass but carrying an equal and opposite electric charge. Like the electron, it also behaves like a tiny ba…
Counting magnetic flux quanta offers new way to measure photon numbers
Researchers at AIST have directly observed magnetic flux quanta generated in a superconductor by photon absorption and demonstrated a new principle of photon detection that identi…
Scientists demonstrate AI-designed enzyme for drug synthesis
The new RFD4-Proteina unified generative model for protein design—created by the Institute for Protein Design (IPD) in collaboration with NVIDIA—uses advanced AI to generate entir…