Latest science news in Physics & Chemistry
Power plant carbon capture could strain water supplies
“Water use is an important consideration in the implementation of Carbon Capture and Storage” Our energy and water systems are inextricably linked. Climate change necessitates that we transition to carbon-free...
Optical imaging of tissue mechanics via laser speckle rheology
A majority of disease conditions from cancer and atherosclerosis to neurodegenerative and orthopedic disorders are accompanied by changes in tissue stiffness. Clinical medicine has long relied on manual palpation of...
Former GOP fundraiser Louis DeJoy named U.S. postmaster general
Louis DeJoy, a former Republican Party fundraiser and ally of President Donald Trump's, has been appointed postmaster general.
Plasma electrons can be used to produce metallic films
Computers, mobile phones and all other electronic devices contain thousands of transistors linked together by thin films of metal. Scientists at Linköping University, Sweden, have developed a method that can...
Long-lived pionic helium: Exotic matter experimentally verified for the first time
Exotic atoms in which electrons are replaced by other subatomic particles of the same charge allow deep insights into the quantum world. After eight years of ongoing research, a group...
Powerful new magnet provides fresh insight into 'frozen' quantum materials
Researchers at the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have finished the preliminary commissioning of a new 14-tesla magnet at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). This new...
Breaking the blur barrier: Working around super-resolution imaging's glitches
Medical researchers face a hurdle when studying cells under an optical microscope—the laws of physics. Obtaining an image of anything below a certain size is complicated; optical apertures and the...
State-of-the-art lasers at the micro level
Many emerging technologies rely on high-quality lasers. Laser-based LiDAR sensors can provide highly accurate scans of three-dimensional spaces, and as such are crucial in applications ranging from autonomous vehicles to...
Pure red LEDs fulfill a primary goal
Making pure red LEDs from nitride crystals is a goal that has so far frustrated engineers. However, these LEDs are vital for building the next generation of energy-efficient micro-LED displays...
Technique to make functional materials based on polymers of metal clusters
Researchers at the universities of Jyvaskyla (Finland) and Xiamen (China) have discovered a novel way to make functional macroscopic crystalline materials out of nanometer-size 34-atom silver-gold intermetallic clusters. The cluster...
Letters to the Editor: Car crashes aren't contagious. Stop comparing coronavirus to them
Why the argument that we should reopen the economy because we don't shut it down over the thousands of car deaths every year is wrong.
Letters to the Editor: Does Trump think he can just bluff the coronavirus?
Trump might shut down the coronavirus task force. This won't do anything to boost our response to the pandemic.
China says experimental spaceship operating normally
A Chinese spaceship is working normally in orbit, with its solar panels in position and a communication link established, the government said Thursday.
U.S. hemp-based construction advances with fire-safety tests, new book
Industrial hemp used as a renewable construction material is gaining ground in the United States after fire safety tests and a new book from a university design and architecture program.
Neural network measures gas below a sensor's limit
A deep learning algorithm can find signals buried in noise
Shedding new light on nanolasers using 2-D semiconductors
In his latest line of research, Cun-Zheng Ning, a professor of electrical engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, and his peers explored the...
Microsoft just revamped its cheapest and fanciest Surface devices
New processor options give the Surface Go 2 more potential for power. (Microsoft/)The original Microsoft Surface Go was a big deal despite its relatively small $400 price tag. The entry-level tablet was somewhat...
Filtering out toxic chromium from water
Chemists have developed sponges to capture various target substances, like gold, mercury and lead, dissolved in solution. The sponges are actually porous crystals called metal organic frameworks, and now one...
Technologies to extract, purify critical rare earth metals could be a 'game changer'
The technology – developed and patented from the laboratory of Nien-Hwa Linda Wang, Purdue's Maxine Spencer Nichols Professor of Chemical Engineering – has successfully shown to separate the rare earth metals...
New rules for the physical basis of cellular organelle composition
New findings about critical cellular structures have upended common assumptions about their formation and composition and provided new insight how molecular machines are built in living cells.
Investigating the dynamics of stability
Scientists have gained important insight into the mechanisms that drive stability and activity in materials during oxygen evolution reactions. This insight will guide the practical design of materials for electrochemical...
Fiber optics capture seismic signatures of the rose parade
Interesting signatures of the Rose Parade were captured by fiber optic telecommunications cable lying below the parade route. Researchers describe how they converted these dark or 'unused' fibers within cables...
HBO Max orders dark comedy series with Jean Smart
HBO Max has ordered 10 episodes of an untitled dark comedy series starring Jean Smart.
Programming with the light switch
In the development of autonomous systems and materials, self-assembling molecular structures controlled by chemical reaction networks are increasingly important. However, there is a lack of simple external mechanisms that ensure...
If students can't come to chemistry, take chemistry to the students
Amy Petros, a University of North Texas chemistry professor, always encourages her students to be creative, work together and utilize the resources around them. In a time of social distancing...
Team develops large-scale stretchable and transparent electrodes
A Korean research team has developed a large-scale stretchable and transparent electrode for use as a stretchable display. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that a research...
Plasma medicine research highlights antibacterial effects and potential uses
As interest in the application of plasma medicine — the use of low-temperature plasma (LTP) created by an electrical discharge to address medical problems — continues to grow, so does...
Fossil fuel-free jet propulsion with air plasmas
Humans depend on fossil fuels as their primary energy source, especially in transportation. However, fossil fuels are both unsustainable and unsafe, serving as the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions....