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New method recycles quantum dots used in microscopic lasers
Researchers at the University of Strathclyde, UK, have developed a new method to recycle the valuable semiconductor colloidal quantum dots used to fabricate supraparticle lasers. The recovered...
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Solid-state nuclear clocks brought closer by physical vapour deposition
Solid-state clock Illustration of how thorium atoms are vaporized (bottom) and then deposited in a thin film on the substrate’s surface (middle). This film could form the basis for a nuclear clock...
View ArticleSun-like stars produce ‘superflares’ about once a century
Stars like our own Sun produce “superflares” around once every 100 years, surprising astronomers who had previously estimated that such events occurred only every 3000 to 6000 years. The result, from a...
View ArticleQuasiparticles become massless – but only when they’re moving in the right...
Physicists at Penn State and Columbia University in the US say they have seen the “smoking gun” signature of an elusive quasiparticle predicted by theorists 16 years ago. Known as semi-Dirac fermions,...
View ArticleHigher-order brain function revealed by new analysis of fMRI data
An international team of researchers has developed new analytical techniques that consider interactions between three or more regions of the brain – providing a more in-depth understanding of human...
View ArticleVery thin films of a novel semimetal conduct electricity better than copper
Metals usually become less conductive as they get thinner. Niobium phosphide, however, is different. According to researchers at Stanford University, US, a very thin film of this non-crystalline...
View ArticleAltermagnets imaged at the nanoscale
A recently-discovered class of magnets called altermagnets has been imaged in detail for the first time thanks to a technique developed by physicists at the University of Nottingham’s School of Physics...
View ArticleAntimatter partner of hyperhelium-4 is spotted at CERN
CERN’s ALICE Collaboration has found the first evidence for antihyperhelium-4, which is an antimatter hypernucleus that is a heavier version of antihelium-4. It contains two antiprotons, an antineutron...
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Magnetic particle imaging designed for the human brain
Magnetic particle imaging (MPI) is an emerging medical imaging modality with the potential for high sensitivity and spatial resolution. Since its introduction back in 2005, researchers have built...
View ArticleNo-go theorem illuminates how quantum processes are constrained by classical...
Physicists have developed a new theoretical framework that helps make sense of how quantum processes are limited by the classical space–time in which they are embedded. One of these processes is the...
View ArticleString theory may be inevitable as a unified theory of physics, calculations...
Striking evidence that string theory could be the sole viable “theory of everything” has emerged in a new theoretical study of particle scattering that was done by a trio of physicists in the US. By...
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Could bubble-like microrobots be the drug delivery vehicles of the future?
Biomedical microrobots could revolutionize future cancer treatments, reliably delivering targeted doses of toxic cancer-fighting drugs to destroy malignant tumours while sparing healthy bodily tissues....
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Novel MRI technique can quantify lung function
Assessing lung function is crucial for diagnosing and monitoring respiratory diseases. The most common way to do this is using spirometry, which measures the amount and speed of air that a person can...
View ArticleWrinkles in spacetime could remember the secrets of exploding stars
Permanent distortions in spacetime caused by the passage of gravitational waves could be detectable from Earth. Known as “gravitational memory”, such distortions are predicted to occur most prominently...
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Microbeams plus radiosensitizers could optimize brain cancer treatment
Brain tumours are notoriously difficult to treat, resisting conventional treatments such as radiation therapy, where the deliverable dose is limited by normal tissue tolerance. To better protect...
View ArticleWhen charging quantum batteries, decoherence is a friend, not a foe
Devices like lasers and other semiconductor-based technologies operate on the principles of quantum mechanics, but they only scratch the surface. To fully exploit quantum phenomena, scientists are...
View ArticleNanocrystals measure tiny forces on tiny length scales
Two independent teams in the US have demonstrated the potential of using the optical properties of nanocrystals to create remote sensors that measure tiny forces on tiny length scales. One team is...
View ArticleNew candidate emerges for a universal quantum electrical standard
Physicists in Germany have developed a new way of defining the standard unit of electrical resistance. The advantage of the new technique is that because it is based on the quantum anomalous Hall...
View ArticleTerahertz light produces a metastable magnetic state in an antiferromagnet
Physicists in the US, Europe and Korea have produced a long-lasting light-driven magnetic state in an antiferromagnetic material for the first time. While their project started out as a fundamental...
View ArticleFast radio burst came from a neutron star’s magnetosphere, say astronomers
The exact origins of cosmic phenomena known as fast radio bursts (FRBs) are not fully understood, but scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have identified a fresh...
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