/ en-us Â鶹ÒùÔº internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ÒùÔºics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. In the 17th century, astronomers Christiaan Huygens and Giovanni Cassini trained their telescopes on Saturn and uncovered a startling truth: the planet's luminous bands were not solid appendages, but vast, separate rings composed of countless nested arcs. /news/2025-09-simulations-saturn-moon-enceladus-ice.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 30 Sep 2025 15:52:04 EDT news678466322 Researchers from The University of New Mexico and Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a novel computational framework that addresses a longstanding challenge in statistical physics. /news/2025-09-ai-tensor-network-based-framework.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Condensed Matter Tue, 30 Sep 2025 13:12:04 EDT news678456722 Plutonium has captured the attention of scientists since its discovery in the early 1940s. This enigmatic element has an important role to play in emerging energy technologies like nuclear batteries and reactors, but it also has complicated electronic behavior that causes some intriguing effects. Its electron structure contributes to unconventional entropic properties at low temperatures, multiple phase transitions before melting, and complex bonding patterns. /news/2025-09-covalent-bonds-alpha-plutonium-unusual.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 22 Sep 2025 12:00:03 EDT news677761046 A research team has developed a novel direct sampling method based on deep generative models. Their method enables efficient sampling of the Boltzmann distribution across a continuous temperature range. The findings have been published in Â鶹ÒùÔºical Review Letters. The team was led by Prof. Pan Ding, Associate Professor from the Departments of Â鶹ÒùÔºics and Chemistry, and Dr. Li Shuo-Hui, Research Assistant Professor from the Department of Â鶹ÒùÔºics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). /news/2025-09-deep-method-enables-efficient-boltzmann.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Condensed Matter Wed, 03 Sep 2025 16:20:03 EDT news676135202 Topological quantum systems are physical systems exhibiting properties that depend on the overall connectivity of their underlying lattice, as opposed to local interactions and their microscopic structure. Predicting the evolution of these systems over time and their long-range quantum correlations is often challenging, as their behavior is not defined by magnetization or other parameters linked to local interactions. /news/2025-08-topological-properties-quantum-liquids-rydberg.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Sun, 17 Aug 2025 08:00:02 EDT news674470369 The endangered South African cycad Encephalartos horridus may resemble a relic from the Jurassic age, but the species itself evolved long after dinosaurs disappeared. Still, it carries a biochemical legacy inherited from its distant ancestors—plants that once thrived alongside Jurassic fauna. A team led by Hiroshima University (HU) researchers found that its spiky, silvery-blue leaves owe their color not to pigment, but to a wax-based optical effect produced by a lipid compound that may date back to the dawn of land plants. /news/2025-08-rare-cycad-wax-crystals-conjure.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 08 Aug 2025 11:15:32 EDT news673870526 At the forefront of discovery, where cutting-edge scientific questions are tackled, we often don't have much data. Conversely, successful machine learning (ML) tends to rely on large, high-quality data sets for training. So how can researchers harness AI effectively to support their investigations? /news/2025-07-human-ai-teamwork-uncovers-hidden.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 17 Jul 2025 05:10:24 EDT news671947355 It can be found inside gas giants such as Jupiter and is briefly created during meteorite impacts or in laser fusion experiments: warm dense matter. This exotic state of matter combines features of solid, liquid and gaseous phases. Until now, simulating warm dense matter accurately has been considered a major challenge. /news/2025-06-enables-exotic-state.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Plasma Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 25 Jun 2025 15:21:38 EDT news670083690 Very soon after the Big Bang, the universe enjoyed a brief phase where quarks and gluons roamed freely, not yet joined up into hadrons such as protons, neutrons and mesons. This state, called a quark-gluon plasma, existed for a brief time until the temperature dropped to about 20 trillion Kelvin, after which this "hadronization" took place. /news/2025-05-thermodynamic-properties-quark-gluon-plasma.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Plasma Â鶹ÒùÔºics Fri, 30 May 2025 10:00:03 EDT news667816855 In the depths of the San Lázaro rock-shelter in Segovia, Central Spain, archaeologists from the Complutense University of Madrid and collaborators have uncovered a compelling trace of Neanderthal symbolic cognition: a pigment-marked granite stone bearing a human fingerprint, and the deliberate placement of red ocher in relation to three mostly natural indentations, creating the potential image of a human face. /news/2025-05-red-dot-year-fingerprint-stone.html Archaeology Wed, 28 May 2025 09:30:01 EDT news667642425 Wide binary stars with separation greater than about 2000 astronomical units are interesting natural laboratories that allow a direct probe of gravity at low acceleration weaker than about 1 nanometer per second squared. Astrophysicist Kyu-Hyun Chae at Sejong University (Seoul, South Korea) has developed a new method of measuring gravity with all three components of the velocities (3D velocities) of stars, as a major improvement over existing statistical methods relying on sky-projected 2D velocities. /news/2025-05-3d-velocity-analysis-wide-binaries.html Astronomy Tue, 27 May 2025 11:51:05 EDT news667565462 Materials with self-adaptive mechanical responses have long been sought after in material science. Using computer simulations, researchers at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Hyderabad, now show how such adaptive behavior can emerge in active glasses, which are widely used as models for biological tissues. /news/2025-05-uncover-mechanism-enabling-glasses-brittleness.html Soft Matter Mon, 19 May 2025 10:34:13 EDT news666869646 In the intricate world of quantum physics, where particles interact in ways that seem to defy the standard rules of space and time, lies a profound mystery that continues to captivate scientists: the nature of deconfined quantum critical points (DQCPs). These elusive critical phenomena break away from the conventional framework of physics, offering a fascinating glimpse into a realm where quantum matter behaves in ways that challenge our classical understanding of the fundamental forces shaping the universe. /news/2025-04-physicists-uncover-hidden-quantum-world.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 23 Apr 2025 09:59:04 EDT news664621142 Researchers from the Hefei Institutes of Â鶹ÒùÔºical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a neural network model based on self-attention mechanisms to rapidly predict radiation shielding designs for space reactors. /news/2025-04-intelligent-neural-network-space-reactor.html Space Exploration Tue, 22 Apr 2025 11:10:05 EDT news664539001 At hypersonic speeds, complexities occur when the gases interact with the surface of the vehicle, such as boundary layers and shock waves. Researchers in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, were able to observe new disturbances in simulations conducted for the first time in 3D. /news/2025-03-hypersonic-3d-simulations-expose-disturbances.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Soft Matter Wed, 26 Mar 2025 11:05:50 EDT news662205946 Many systems in nature—and in society—can suddenly change their properties: Water freezes at normal pressure at 32°F, a power grid collapses when a central substation fails, or a society splits into opposing factions following a major event. All of these processes are examples of so-called phase transitions—tipping points where a system abruptly shifts into a new state. /news/2025-03-suddenly-insights-hard-transitions.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 24 Mar 2025 15:10:04 EDT news662047406 Researchers at the Fritz Haber Institute have developed the Automatic Process Explorer (APE), an approach that enhances our understanding of atomic and molecular processes. By dynamically refining simulations, APE has uncovered unexpected complexities in the oxidation of palladium (Pd) surfaces, offering new insights into catalyst behavior. The study is published in the journal Â鶹ÒùÔºical Review Letters. /news/2025-03-machine-reveals-hidden-complexities-palladium.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 06 Mar 2025 15:49:54 EST news660498592 Quantum entanglement—a phenomenon where particles are mysteriously linked no matter how far apart they are—presents a long-standing challenge in the physical world, particularly in understanding its behavior within complex quantum systems. /news/2025-01-physicists-entanglement-microscopy-algorithm-quantum.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 23 Jan 2025 09:14:05 EST news656846041 A research team discovered a quantum state in which electrons move in a completely new way under a twisted graphene structure. The unique electronic state is expected to contribute to the development of more efficient and faster electronic devices. It may also be applicable to technologies such as quantum memory, which can process complex computations. /news/2025-01-electrons-graphene-fractional-quantum-hall.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 21 Jan 2025 12:57:07 EST news656686619 Nuclear fission is the most reliable source of antineutrinos, but they are difficult to characterize. A recent study suggests how their emission can be simulated most effectively. /news/2025-01-simulation-method-antineutrinos-emitted-nuclear.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 06 Jan 2025 10:00:37 EST news655380034 Pile up blocks until the tower collapses. But why does the tower always end up collapsing? Is it possible that it can be built ad infinitum? A study published in the International Journal of Solids and Structures explores the fascinating and complex dynamics of the stacking of blocks subjected to hazards. Carried out by Vincent Denoël, an engineer at the University of Liège, this research looks at the stochastic stability of stacks, providing crucial insights for engineering, construction and materials science. /news/2024-12-physics-random-stacking-perspectives-stability.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 17 Dec 2024 15:53:31 EST news653673208 A team of researchers has successfully demonstrated nonlinear Compton scattering (NCS) between an ultra-relativistic electron beam and an ultrahigh intensity laser pulse using the 4-Petawatt laser at the Center for Relativistic Laser Science (CoReLS) within the Institute for Basic Science at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Korea. /news/2024-11-nonlinear-compton-multi-petawatt-laser.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Optics & Photonics Mon, 25 Nov 2024 11:33:37 EST news651756805 From subatomic particles to complex molecules, quantum systems hold the key to understanding how the universe works. But there's a catch: when you try to model these systems, that complexity quickly spirals out of control—just imagine trying to predict the behavior of a massive crowd of people where everyone is constantly influencing everyone else. Turn those people into quantum particles, and you are now facing a "quantum many-body problem." /news/2024-10-benchmark-hardest-quantum-problems.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 17 Oct 2024 14:00:02 EDT news648138838 Solar flares are extremely intense events that occur in the sun's atmosphere, lasting anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. According to the standard flare model, the energy that triggers these explosions is transported by accelerated electrons that hurtle from the magnetic reconnection region in the corona to the chromosphere. /news/2024-09-validity-standard-solar-flares.html Astronomy Mon, 23 Sep 2024 14:37:04 EDT news646321022 By cleverly applying a computational technique, scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding the "pseudogap," a long-standing puzzle in quantum physics with close ties to superconductivity. The discovery, presented in Science, will help scientists in their quest for room-temperature superconductivity, a holy grail of condensed matter physics that would enable lossless power transmission, faster MRI machines and superfast levitating trains. /news/2024-09-mysteries-bizarre-pseudogap-quantum-physics.html Superconductivity Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 19 Sep 2024 14:55:04 EDT news645976501 Understanding how light travels through various materials is essential for many fields, from medical imaging to manufacturing. However, due to their structure, materials often show directional differences in how they scatter light, known as anisotropy. This complexity has traditionally made it difficult to accurately measure and model their optical properties. Recently, researchers have developed a new technique that could transform how we study these materials. /news/2024-09-method-propagation-anisotropic-materials.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 17 Sep 2024 13:09:55 EDT news645797385 A team of physicists from The University of Hong Kong (HKU), Texas Tech University (TTH), and the University of Michigan (UMich), has made an important discovery in the study of van der Waals (vdW) magnetic materials, a special class of materials with unique electronic and magnetic properties that make them attractive for use in various applications. /news/2024-09-physicists-capture-thickness-transitions-dimensional.html Condensed Matter Thu, 05 Sep 2024 09:24:04 EDT news644747042 A 3D quantum spin liquid has been discovered in the vicinity of a member of the langbeinite family. The material's specific crystalline structure and the resulting magnetic interactions induce an unusual behavior that can be traced back to an island of liquidity. An international team has made this discovery with experiments at the ISIS neutron source and theoretical modeling on a nickel-langbeinite sample. /news/2024-08-langbeinites-talents-3d-quantum-liquids.html Soft Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Fri, 23 Aug 2024 12:01:04 EDT news643633262 A team of scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has developed a machine-learning model to gain an atomic-level understanding of CO2 capture in amine-based sorbents. This innovative approach promises to enhance the efficiency of direct air capture (DAC) technologies, which are crucial for reducing the excessive amounts of CO2 already present in the atmosphere. /news/2024-07-probing-carbon-capture-atom-machine.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 31 Jul 2024 13:35:43 EDT news641651738 The ATLAS Experiment at CERN has made two years' worth of scientific data available to the public for research purposes. The data include recordings of proton–proton collisions from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at a collision energy of 13 TeV. /news/2024-07-cern-atlas-tb.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 01 Jul 2024 11:23:03 EDT news639051781