Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Police: Kansas soldier drives over gunman saving 'countless lives'
A solider stationed in Kansas saved "countless lives" when he drove his vehicle over a gunman who was shooting randomly at people from a bridge in Leavenworth, authorities said.
Michael Phillips and Sana Raoof to deliver student addresses
Two student orators will mark Harvard’s Honoring the Class of 2020, sharing their experiences and perspectives with 32,000 classmates. Harvard College senior Michael Phillips will deliver the Senior English Address while Harvard Medical...
Physicists measure a short-lived radioactive molecule for first time
Researchers have combined the power of a super collider with techniques of laser spectroscopy to precisely measure a short-lived radioactive molecule, radium monofluoride, for the first time.
A bio-inspired addition to concrete stops the damage caused by freezing and thawing
Concrete is one of the most durable building materials used in modern-day infrastructures, but it has a weakness -- ice -- which can cause it to crumble. Now, inspired by...
Making nuclear energy cost-competitive
Nuclear energy is a low-carbon energy source that is vital to decreasing carbon emissions. A critical factor in its continued viability as a future energy source is finding novel and innovative ways to...
Substantial quantities of tire particles contaminating rivers and ocean
Research reveals vital new information that will improve our scientific understanding of how tiny particles from tires, synthetic fibers from clothing and maritime gear enter the ocean.
U.S. Air Force scales back fitness testing, citing COVID-19 concerns
The U.S. Air Force announced a postponement of official physical fitness tests to Oct. 1 to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Circadian oscillation of a cyanobacterium doesn't need all three Kai proteins to keep going
Despite conventional understanding that three Kai proteins are required for the circadian oscillation of cyanobacteria, scientists discovered that even when one of them is destroyed, the oscillation is not completely...
These tiny, self-assembling traps capture PFAS
University at Buffalo chemists have shown that self-assembling molecular traps can be used to capture PFAS—dangerous pollutants that have contaminated drinking water supplies around the world.
Simple and readily available saline solution can reliably transport COVID-19 samples to testing labs
In the face of dwindling supplies of virus transport media, cheap and readily available phosphate buffered saline can be used to safely store and transport coronavirus samples for up to...
Avalanche photodiode breaks performance record for LiDAR receivers
Electrical and computer engineers have developed an avalanche photodiode that achieved record performance and has the potential to transform next generation night-vision imaging and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) receivers....
A potential explanation for urban smog: Aerosol particle growth higher in cold climates
The effect of nitric acid on aerosol particles in the atmosphere may offer an explanation for the smog seen engulfing cities on frosty days. Under laboratory conditions, researchers at CERN...
'Nature's antifreeze' provides formula for more durable concrete
Secrets to cementing the sustainability of our future infrastructure may come from nature, such as proteins that keep plants and animals from freezing in extremely cold conditions. Researchers have discovered...
Researchers take a cue from nature to create bulletproof coatings
Shrimp, lobsters and mushrooms may not seem like great tools for the battlefield, but three engineers from the University of Houston are using chitin—a derivative of glucose found in the...
Avalanche photodiode breaks performance record for LiDAR receivers
Electrical and computer engineers at the University of Virginia and University of Texas-Austin have developed an avalanche photodiode that achieved record performance and has the potential to transform next generation...
Clean without scrubbing and using chemicals
Scientists have developed a self-cleaning metallic surface. Engineers structured an aluminum plate with a laser process in such a way that water droplets no longer adhere and dirt particles can...
Hotel Ruthenium: how hydrogen checks in but never leaves
How does hydrogen form blisters in ruthenium mirrors for extreme UV (EUV) lithography machines? An M2i research project by Chidozie Onwudinanti and colleagues at DIFFER, Eindhoven University of Technology and...
Solving battery-free devices' short-term memory loss
For decades, researchers have been searching for a better battery. Now an international team presents a bold new solution: ditch the battery altogether.
Kirigami/origami: unfolding the new regime of advanced 3-D micro-/nanofabrication with 'folding'
3-D micro-/nanofabrication holds the key to building a large variety of micro-/nanoscale materials, structures, devices, and systems with unique properties that do not manifest in their 2-D planar counterparts. Recently,...
High-speed femtosecond laser plasmonic lithography of graphene oxide film
Graphene analogues such as graphene oxide (GO) and its reduced forms (rGO) are fascinating carbon materials due to the complementary properties endowed by the sp3-sp2 interconversion, revealing the substitutability and...
Scientists develop the most heat-resistant material ever created
A group of scientists from NUST MISIS developed a ceramic material with the highest melting point among currently known compounds. Due to the unique combination of physical, mechanical and thermal...
Ford designs software to kill viruses in police SUVs
Ford Motor Company unveiled new software Wednesday it says will kill germs inside vehicles by heating the interior to more than 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
Winds spread PFAS pollution far from a manufacturing facility
Concerns about environmental and health risks of some fluorinated carbon compounds used to make non-stick coatings and fire-fighting foams have prompted manufacturers to develop substitutes, but these replacements are increasingly...
Physicists test titanium target windows for particle beam
In the late 2020s, Fermilab will begin sending the world's most intense beam of neutrinos through Earth's crust to detectors in South Dakota for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment,...
Poor and black 'invisible cyclists' need to be part of post-pandemic transport planning too
As states and workplaces prepare to open up after the lockdown, many people are looking for alternatives to public transit to get to work.
Clean without scrubbing and using chemicals. Scientists develop self-cleaning aluminium surface
Dresden scientists have developed a self-cleaning metallic surface. A project team of Technische Universität Dresden and the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS structured an aluminium plate with...
New protocol for organic synthesis using organoboron compounds and visible-light
Alkyl radicals are carbon radicals of normal chain and branched chain alkanes, available as reaction intermediates even at late stages of synthesis. Recently, it has become possible to generate alkyl...
Scientists get a sneak peek of a key process in battery 'life'
Researchers from the Skoltech Center for Energy Science and Technology (CEST) visualized the formation of a solid electrolyte interphase on battery-grade carbonaceous electrode materials using in situ atomic force microscopy...