/ 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. 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 Scientists have turned a longstanding challenge in electronics—material defects—into a quantum-enhanced solution, paving the way for new-generation ultra-low-power spintronic devices. Spintronics, short for "spin electronics," is a field of technology that aims to go beyond the limits of conventional electronics. /news/2025-08-orbital-hall-effect-defects-spintronic.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Fri, 15 Aug 2025 12:35:04 EDT news674480100 Using new techniques, Yale researchers have demonstrated the ability to use lasers to cool quantized vibrations of sound within massive objects to their quantum ground state, the lowest energy allowable by quantum mechanics. This breakthrough could benefit communications, quantum computing, and other applications. The results are published in Nature Â鶹ÒùÔºics. /news/2025-08-lasers-crystal-vibrations-quantum-ground.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Fri, 15 Aug 2025 12:30:00 EDT news674479790 The reliable engineering of quantum states, particularly those involving several particles, is central to the development of various quantum technologies, including quantum computers, sensors and communication systems. These collective quantum states include so-called Dicke and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states, multipartite entangled states that can be leveraged to collect precise measurements, to correct errors made by quantum computers and to enable communication between remote devices leveraging quantum mechanical effects. /news/2025-08-grover-algorithm-efficiently-quantum-states.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Fri, 15 Aug 2025 07:30:02 EDT news674389561 In everyday life, continuously doing work on a system is found to heat it up. Rubbing your hands together warms them. Hammering a piece of metal makes it hot. Even without knowing the equations, we learn from experience: driving any system, whether by stirring, pressing, or striking, leads to a rise in the system's temperature. /news/2025-08-quantum-gas-physicists-body-dynamical.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 14 Aug 2025 14:00:16 EDT news674378821 The ability to move electron-hole pairs—called excitons—in desired directions is important for generating electricity and creating fuels. This happens naturally in photosynthesis, making it a source of inspiration to researchers innovating optoelectronic devices. /news/2025-08-evidence-hyperbolic-exciton-polaritons.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Thu, 14 Aug 2025 12:14:44 EDT news674392475 In a new study published in Nature Â鶹ÒùÔºics, scientists have achieved the first experimental observation of phonon angular momentum in chiral crystals. /news/2025-08-scientists-phonon-angular-momentum-chiral.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 14 Aug 2025 11:00:09 EDT news674383921 While conventional computers store information in the form of bits, fundamental pieces of logic that take a value of either 0 or 1, quantum computers are based on qubits. These can have a state that is simultaneously both 0 and 1. This odd property, a quirk of quantum physics known as superposition, lies at the heart of quantum computing's promise to ultimately solve problems that are intractable for classical computers. /news/2025-08-quantum-longer.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 13 Aug 2025 12:59:56 EDT news674308789 Neutrinos—ghostly particles that rarely interact with normal matter—are the sun's secret messengers. These particles are born deep within the sun, a byproduct of the nuclear fusion process which powers all stars. /news/2025-08-sun-secret-messengers-dune-reveal.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 13 Aug 2025 09:48:05 EDT news674297282 Medical imaging methods such as ultrasound and MRI are often affected by background noise, which can introduce blurring and obscure fine anatomical details in the images. For clinicians who depend on medical images, background noise is a fundamental problem in making accurate diagnoses. /news/2025-08-pixel-particle-analogy-quantum-math.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 12 Aug 2025 11:00:02 EDT news674132702 A photonics research group co-led by Gregor Weihs of the University of Innsbruck has developed a new technique for generating multi-photon states from quantum dots that overcomes the limitations of conventional approaches. This has immediate applications in secure quantum key distribution protocols, where it can enable simultaneous secure communication with different parties. /news/2025-08-quantum-dot-technique-multi-photon.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 11 Aug 2025 16:22:03 EDT news674148121 Sliding ferroelectrics are a type of two-dimensional (2D) material realized by stacking nonpolar monolayers (atom-thick layers that lack an electric dipole). When these individual layers are stacked, they produce ferroelectric materials with an intrinsic polarization (i.e., in which positive and negative charges are spontaneously separated), which can be switched using an external electric field that is perpendicular to them. /news/2025-08-domain-walls-polarization-ferroelectrics.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 11 Aug 2025 13:10:01 EDT news674133369 From lifelong farmers to backyard gardeners, most plant-lovers know that adding organic matter to a field, vegetable plot or flowerpot increases the soil's moisture. Now, for the first time, Northwestern University scientists have uncovered the molecular mechanisms that enable organic matter to boost soil's ability to retain water—even in desert-like conditions. The study is published in the journal PNAS Nexus. /news/2025-08-soil-driest-conditions.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 11 Aug 2025 12:35:04 EDT news674134502 In materials science, defects are usually seen as problems, unwanted microscopic features that degrade performance, reduce efficiency or shorten the lifespan of devices. But a recent breakthrough published in Advanced Materials is challenging that mindset. The study reveals that a specific structural "flaw" in crystals, known as the Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) fault, could be the key to developing brighter and more robust light-emitting materials. /news/2025-08-rethinking-imperfections-defects-powering-brighter.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 11 Aug 2025 12:19:48 EDT news674133578 Researchers at Kyushu University have developed a novel organic molecule that simultaneously exhibits two highly sought-after properties: efficient light emission suitable for advanced displays and strong light absorption for deep-tissue bioimaging. This breakthrough addresses a long-standing challenge in molecular design, paving the way for next-generation multifunctional materials. /news/2025-08-molecule-strong-emission-absorption-displays.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Fri, 08 Aug 2025 12:08:04 EDT news673873681 In the past, chemists have used temperature, pressure, light, and other chemical ways to speed up or slow down chemical reactions. Now, researchers at the University of Rochester have developed a theory that explains a different way to control chemical reactions—one that doesn't rely on heat or light but instead on the quantum environment surrounding the molecules. /news/2025-08-theory-quantum-jigsaw-puzzle-chemical.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 08 Aug 2025 11:20:01 EDT news673870516 Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" has stirred the souls of art lovers for over a century. Now, its swirling skies may also speak to physicists, as it echoes the patterns of quantum turbulence. /news/2025-08-quantum-starry-night-physicists-capture.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Fri, 08 Aug 2025 05:00:01 EDT news673796597 The ability to detect single photons (the smallest energy packets constituting electromagnetic radiation) in the infrared range has become a pressing need across numerous fields, from medical imaging and astrophysics to emerging quantum technologies. In observational astronomy, for example, the light from distant celestial objects can be extremely faint and require exceptional sensitivity in the mid-infrared. /news/2025-08-bottleneck-photon-2d-materials.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 07 Aug 2025 14:43:44 EDT news673796618 Most of us find it difficult to grasp the quantum world. According to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, it's like observing a dance without being able to see simultaneously exactly where someone is dancing and how fast they're moving—you always must choose to focus on one. /news/2025-08-visualization-quantum-motion-complex-molecule.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 07 Aug 2025 14:00:01 EDT news673777142 Researchers at European XFEL in Germany have tracked in real time the movement of individual atoms during a chemical reaction in the gas phase. Using extremely short X-ray flashes, they were able to observe the formation of an iodine molecule (Iâ‚‚) after irradiating diiodomethane (CHâ‚‚Iâ‚‚) molecules by infrared light, which involves breaking two bonds and forming a new one. /news/2025-08-individual-atoms-tracked-real-chemical.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 06 Aug 2025 11:33:04 EDT news673698781 Quantum distance refers to a measure of quantum mechanical similarity between two quantum states. A quantum distance of one means that the two quantum states are the same, whereas a quantum distance of zero implies that they are exactly the opposite. Â鶹ÒùÔºicists introduced this concept in the realm of theoretical science a long time ago, but its importance has been increasingly recognized in the field of physics only in recent times. /news/2025-08-scientists-quantum-metric-tensor-black.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 06 Aug 2025 11:05:04 EDT news673697101 In nanophotonics, tiny structures are used to control light at the nanoscale and render it useful for technological applications. A key element here is optical resonators, which trap and amplify light of a certain color (wavelength). /news/2025-08-ultrafast-asymmetric-silicon-metasurfaces-nanophotonics.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 06 Aug 2025 11:00:04 EDT news673626408 Three nano-glass spheres cling to one another. They form a tower-like cluster, similar to when you pile three scoops of ice cream on top of one another—only much smaller. The diameter of the nano cluster is ten times smaller than that of a human hair. /news/2025-08-pure-quantum-state-cooling.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 06 Aug 2025 05:00:03 EDT news673543434 EPFL researchers have developed a new imaging method using a single-photon camera that can characterize thousands of molecules quickly and simultaneously. The research is published in the journal Light: Science & Applications. /news/2025-08-ultrafast-imaging-method-characterizes-thousands.html Bio & Medicine Nanophysics Tue, 05 Aug 2025 11:24:00 EDT news673611836 A joint research team from Japan has observed "heavy fermions," electrons with dramatically enhanced mass, exhibiting quantum entanglement governed by the Planckian time—the fundamental unit of time in quantum mechanics. This discovery opens up exciting possibilities for harnessing this phenomenon in solid-state materials to develop a new type of quantum computer. The findings are published in npj Quantum Materials. /news/2025-08-heavy-fermions-entangled-discovery-planckian.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 05 Aug 2025 10:25:03 EDT news673608301 Quantum computers have the potential to solve problems far beyond the reach of today's fastest supercomputers. But today's machines are notoriously fragile. The quantum bits, or "qubits," that store and process information are easily disrupted by their environment, leading to errors that quickly accumulate. /news/2025-08-discarded-particles-dubbed-neglectons-universal.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 05 Aug 2025 05:00:03 EDT news673519082 In the everyday world that humans experience, objects behave in a predictable way, explained by classical physics. One of the important aspects of classical physics is that nothing, not even information, can travel faster than the speed of light. However, in the 1930s, scientists discovered that very small particles abide by some very different rules. One of the most mind-boggling behaviors exhibited by these particles is quantum entanglement—which Albert Einstein famously called "spooky action at a distance." /news/2025-08-scientists-quantum-entanglement-results-entangled.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 04 Aug 2025 11:30:05 EDT news673525229 Two recent studies by Professor Stefano Profumo at the University of California, Santa Cruz, propose theories that attempt to answer one of the most fundamental open questions in modern physics: What is the particle nature of dark matter? /news/2025-08-theories-dark-mirror-world-universe.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 04 Aug 2025 10:22:04 EDT news673521721 The brilliantly shiny diamond is more than just pretty; it's one of the hardest minerals on Earth, with a name derived from the Greek word adámas, meaning unbreakable. Scientists have now engineered a harder form of diamond known as bulk hexagonal diamond (HD)—a crystalline structure that has been theorized for over half a century to have physical properties superior to those of conventional diamond. /news/2025-08-scientists-superdiamonds-theoretically-hexagonal-crystal.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 04 Aug 2025 09:30:04 EDT news673518320