Semiconductor substrate behaves ‘like the tail wagging the dog’, say scientists
The substrates on which semiconductor chip are grown usually get ignored, but they may be more important than we think. This is the finding of researchers in the US and Germany, who used high-energy...
View ArticleBilayer of ultracold atoms has just a 50 nm gap
Two Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) of magnetic atoms have been created just 50 nm apart from each other – giving physicists the first opportunity to study atomic interactions on this length scale....
View ArticleProtecting phone screens with non-Newtonian fluids
New research shows that phones could be strengthened by adding a layer of material to the screen that fluidized during an impact. In a paper published in PNAS, the team from the University of Edinburgh...
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Modified pulse tube refrigerator cuts cryogenic cooling times in half
How it works: the bottom animation shows how the addition of an adjustable needle valve between the refrigerator and helium reservoir prevents the relief valve from being used. (Courtesy: S....
View ArticleShip-based atomic clock passes precision milestone
A new ultra-precise atomic clock outperforms existing microwave clocks in time-keeping and sturdiness under real-world conditions. The clock, made by a team of researchers from the California, US-based...
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Sound and light waves combine to create advanced optical neural networks
One of the things that sets humans apart from machines is our ability to process the context of a situation and make intelligent decisions based on internal analysis and learned experiences. Recent...
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Dark-field X-ray imaging reveals potential of nanoparticle-delivered gene...
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder in which defects in the CFTR protein (arising from mutations in the CFTR gene) can cause life-threatening symptoms in multiple organs. In the respiratory system,...
View ArticleRadiation-transparent RF coil designed for MR guidance of particle therapy
Particle therapy is usually delivered using a large and costly gantry to change the angle of incidence of the therapeutic ion beam relative to the patient. If the patient were rotated instead, a...
View ArticleTetris-inspired radiation detector uses machine learning
Inspired by the tetromino shapes in the classic video game Tetris, researchers in the US have designed a simple radiation detector that can monitor radioactive sources both safely and efficiently....
View ArticleMagnetic islands stabilize fusion plasma, simulations suggest
By combining two different approaches to plasma stabilization, physicists in the US and Germany have developed a new technique for suppressing instabilities in tokamak fusion reactors. The team, led by...
View ArticleSynthetic diamonds grow in liquid metal at ambient pressure
The usual way of manufacturing synthetic diamonds involves applying huge pressures to carbon at high temperatures. Now, however, researchers at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in Korea have shown...
View ArticleImplantable and biocompatible battery powered by the body’s own oxygen
When a medical device such as a pacemaker or neurostimulator is implanted within a person’s body, the immediate question is how long its battery will function before requiring surgical removal and...
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Sucking up crude oil with laser-treated cork
New research suggests that laser-treated cork could be used to tackle crude oil spills. In a study published in Applied Physics Letters, researchers from China and Israel found that femtosecond laser...
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Pump–probe microscopy reveals how historical paintings fade
Mellowed yellows Despair is an example of how Edvard Munch used yellows in his paintings. (Edvard Munch 1894. File courtesy: Munchmuseet) New insights into how a yellow pigment widely used in...
View ArticleDomain walls in twisted graphene make 1D superconductors
Domain walls in graphene form strictly one-dimensional (1D) systems that can become superconducting via the so-called proximity effect. This is the finding of a team led by scientists at the University...
View ArticleNext-generation quantum sensors detect human biomagnetism
Anna Kowalczyk, an assistant professor in the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Human Brain Health, has set out to develop new tools that could help neuroscientists do their work better. “Our...
View ArticleVenus is losing water much faster than previously thought, study suggests
Venus could be shedding water to space at a much faster rate than previously thought. That is the conclusion of researchers in the US, who have identified a mechanism in the Venusian ionosphere that...
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Ancient lull in Earth’s magnetic field may have allowed large animals to evolve
The list of conditions required for complex life to emerge on Earth is contentious, poorly understood, and one item longer than it used to be. According to an international team of geoscientists, an...
View ArticleAntiviral hydrogel stops SARS-CoV-2 in its tracks
A new hydrogel binds to spike proteins in the SARS-CoV-2 virus like “molecular Velcro”, preventing it from interacting with potential host cells and inhibiting infection. According to its US-based...
View ArticleMetasurfaces make a single-shot polarization imaging system
The polarization of light scattered off an object provides a treasure trove of information. Techniques that image this polarization are often overlooked, however, because they are difficult to...
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