/ 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. Wrinkles can be an asset—especially for next-generation electronics. Rice University scientists have discovered that tiny creases in two-dimensional materials can control electrons' spin with record precision, opening the path to ultracompact, energy-efficient electronic devices. /news/2025-08-wrinkles-atomically-thin-materials-ultraefficient.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 21 Aug 2025 16:36:04 EDT news675012961 A team of researchers has discovered how a little-known type of symmetry in quantum materials, called nonsymmorphic symmetry, governs the way these materials interact with intense laser light. /news/2025-08-hidden-symmetries-ways-quantum-materials.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Thu, 21 Aug 2025 16:31:03 EDT news675012661 Valence electrons, located in the outermost shell of an atom, play an important role in driving chemical reactions and forming bonds with other atoms. /news/2025-08-ultrafast-ray-laser-tracks-motion.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 21 Aug 2025 10:20:58 EDT news674990454 Most of the drugs, plastics, and industrial materials widely used today are produced through chemical reactions. In general, most high-performance and sophisticated substances have complex structures, and their assembly involves multiple chemical reaction steps carried out one after another. This creates significant overhead, as each step requires specific conditions, reagents, and catalysts, as well as considerable energy and labor. /news/2025-08-catalyst-reactions-multiple-reaction-vessel.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 21 Aug 2025 09:44:03 EDT news674988241 The ancient Japanese art of paper-folding, or origami, is already inspiring the design of the next generation of space vehicles, but now there's a new family of origami shapes that could make them even more compact and reliable. /news/2025-08-spacecraft-boost-origami-patterns.html Space Exploration Thu, 21 Aug 2025 07:00:01 EDT news674915930 Scientists have discovered a way to control chemical reactions by carefully arranging copper atoms on a carbon-based material. With just tiny changes at the atomic scale, the same material can be switched to produce either hydrogen or methane from simple starting ingredients. /news/2025-08-atomic-scale-copper-reactions-hydrogen.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 20 Aug 2025 14:09:29 EDT news674917765 Most metals found in nature are actually in their oxide forms. To extract those metals for use in critical applications—ranging from infrastructure such as bridges and buildings to advanced technologies like airplanes, semiconductors or even quantum materials—those oxides must be reduced with gases. /news/2025-08-hydrogen-greener-faster-metal-production.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 20 Aug 2025 12:55:06 EDT news674913302 The performance of a fuel cell—a device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy—depends on how well the ions can move through the cell's material. Most current fuel cells operate at high temperatures above 500 °C. /news/2025-08-titanium-dioxide-doped-niobium-enable.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 20 Aug 2025 12:46:03 EDT news674912761 An international team of scientists, led by Northwestern University astrophysicists, has detected a never-before-seen type of exploding star, or supernova, that is rich with silicon, sulfur and argon. The study, "Extremely stripped supernova reveals a silicon and sulfur formation site," is published in the journal Nature. /news/2025-08-kind-supernova-reveals-dying-star.html Astronomy Wed, 20 Aug 2025 11:00:09 EDT news674811961 Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) packs so much chemical energy into a small space that it is powerful enough to fuel rockets. But this same ability to concentrate energy also makes hydrogen peroxide useful for more earthly energy applications, such as powering fuel cells. It also holds promise as a green and sustainable energy source: when hydrogen peroxide releases its stored energy, the main byproduct is simply water. /news/2025-08-sunlight-powered-catalyst-standard-hydrogen.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 19 Aug 2025 14:24:03 EDT news674832241 For decades, researchers around the world have searched for alternatives to iridium, an extremely rare, incredibly expensive metal used in the production of clean hydrogen fuels. /news/2025-08-hydrogen-iridium-problem-afternoon-megalibrary.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 19 Aug 2025 13:29:22 EDT news674828952 Researchers at The University of Osaka have discovered a new type of chiral symmetry breaking (CSB) in an organic crystalline compound. /news/2025-08-scientists-phenomenon-chiral-symmetry.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 19 Aug 2025 13:16:04 EDT news674828162 A new study, led by researchers at the University of Missouri, has uncovered how poplar trees can naturally adjust a key part of their wood chemistry based on changes in their environment. This discovery—the result of a collaboration with scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Georgia—could help create better biofuels and other sustainable products. /news/2025-08-poplar-tree-discovery-future-energy.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 19 Aug 2025 10:19:17 EDT news674817548 Nanocarbon materials with pointed geometries, such as graphene and carbon nanotubes, are considered promising candidates as sources for field emission electrons. However, their practical application remains limited due to difficulties in controlling the orientation and arrangement of these materials. /news/2025-08-mechanical-pencil-high-quality-electron.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 19 Aug 2025 09:14:03 EDT news674813641 A research team affiliated with UNIST has unveiled a technology that transforms nitrates found in wastewater into ammonia, a vital chemical and promising energy carrier, without carbon emissions. This advancement not only offers a sustainable method for ammonia production but also contributes to wastewater purification efforts. /news/2025-08-solar-powered-photoelectrochemical-nitrate-wastewater.html Materials Science Mon, 18 Aug 2025 15:35:28 EDT news674750115 Dr. Seon Joon Kim and his team at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)'s Convergence Research Center for SEIF have developed a high-conductivity amphiphilic MXene material that can be dispersed in water, polar and nonpolar organic solvents. /news/2025-08-high-amphiphilic-mxene-dispersed-wide.html Nanomaterials Mon, 18 Aug 2025 12:33:02 EDT news674739181 Since sending the first human into space in the 1960s, the solution to one key challenge has remained elusive: the efficient and reliable production of oxygen in space. On the International Space Station, this problem is addressed by heavy and energy-intensive systems that are not ideal for long-duration space missions. /news/2025-08-magnetism-efficient-oxygen-production-space.html Space Exploration Mon, 18 Aug 2025 11:57:20 EDT news674737034 Researchers have successfully improved a catalyst used in dry reforming reactions that produce energy from greenhouse gases. The newly developed self-generating catalyst offers high durability and significantly reduces metal usage compared to conventional catalysts, greatly enhancing economic efficiency. /news/2025-08-generating-catalyst-durability-limits-hydrogen.html Materials Science Mon, 18 Aug 2025 10:05:58 EDT news674730354 Researchers at San Diego State University and Michigan State University are shedding new light on how viruses meticulously pack their genetic material — a breakthrough that could help researchers engineer antivirals and gene therapies. /news/2025-08-viruses-diverse-rna-traits-genomes.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 15 Aug 2025 14:16:21 EDT news674486171 Electricity flows through wires to deliver power, but it loses energy as it moves, delivering less than it started with. But that energy loss isn't a given. Scientists at Penn State have found a new way to identify types of materials known as superconductors that allow power to travel without any resistance, meaning no energy is lost. /news/2025-08-theory-reveal-superconducting-materials.html Condensed Matter Superconductivity Fri, 15 Aug 2025 13:37:04 EDT news674483821 Researchers at the College of Design and Engineering (CDE) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a supramolecular co-assembly platform that produces chiral soft materials with strong and stable full-color circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) across the visible spectrum, including in red, which has historically been a difficult target. /news/2025-08-strategy-robust-circularly-polarized-luminescence.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Fri, 15 Aug 2025 12:38:59 EDT news674480331 Graphite is a key structural component in some of the world's oldest nuclear reactors and many of the next-generation designs being built today. But it also condenses and swells in response to radiation—and the mechanism behind those changes has proven difficult to study. /news/2025-08-graphite-pore-size-clues-nuclear.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Fri, 15 Aug 2025 10:07:05 EDT news674471221 Using artificial intelligence, MIT researchers have come up with a new way to design nanoparticles that can more efficiently deliver RNA vaccines and other types of RNA therapies. /news/2025-08-ai-nanoparticles-efficient-rna-vaccine.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 15 Aug 2025 05:00:01 EDT news674411341 Researchers at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge have demonstrated a new way to control radiation in the terahertz range—an often-overlooked part of the electromagnetic spectrum—with unprecedented dynamic range and speed. The findings could open the door to advanced technologies in communications, imaging, and sensing and mark major progress in the development of practical devices that operate in the terahertz range. /news/2025-08-graphene-capacitors-rapid-high-depth.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Fri, 15 Aug 2025 03:00:01 EDT news674445047 Researchers have developed a novel way for liquid crystals to retain information about their movement. Using this method could advance technologies like memory devices and sensors, as well as pave the way to future soft materials that are both smart and flexible. /news/2025-08-method-liquid-crystals-recall.html Soft Matter Thu, 14 Aug 2025 12:07:04 EDT news674392022 An international team of scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has developed a new type of ultracompact laser that is more energy efficient and consumes less power. /news/2025-08-energy-efficient-ultracompact-laser-loss.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 14 Aug 2025 11:34:04 EDT news674390042 A team led by scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have generated a highly exotic type of light beam, called a Poincaré beam, using the FERMI free-electron laser (FEL) facility in Italy, marking the first time such a beam has been produced with a FEL. /news/2025-08-laser-advance-stage-ray-science.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 14 Aug 2025 11:15:03 EDT news674388901 When two mesh screens or fabrics are overlapped with a slight offset, moiré patterns emerge as a result of interference caused by the misalignment of the grids. While these patterns are commonly recognized as optical illusions in everyday life, their significance extends to the nanoscale, such as in materials like graphene, where they can profoundly influence electronic properties. /news/2025-08-customized-moir-patterns-stacked-metal.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 13 Aug 2025 15:23:03 EDT news674317381 In a significant leap toward next-generation lithium battery design, researchers from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Peking University, led by Professor Xia Dingguo, have discovered a previously unknown anionic redox mechanism in an amorphous Li-V-O-F cathode featuring tetrahedral coordination. /news/2025-08-amorphous-cathode-reveals-voltage-oxygen.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 13 Aug 2025 11:50:03 EDT news674304602 Skyrmions are localized, particle-like excitations in materials that retain their structure due to topological constraints (i.e., restrictions arising from properties that remain unchanged under smooth deformations). These quasiparticles, first introduced in high-energy physics and quantum field theory, have since attracted intense interest in condensed matter physics and photonics, owing to their potential as robust carriers for information storage and manipulation. /news/2025-08-experimental-quantum-optical-skyrmions-semiconductor.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 13 Aug 2025 08:30:01 EDT news674226132