/ 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. Machine-learning models can speed up the discovery of new materials by making predictions and suggesting experiments. But most models today only consider a few specific types of data or variables. Compare that with human scientists who work in a collaborative environment and consider experimental results, the broader scientific literature, imaging and structural analysis, personal experience or intuition, and input from colleagues and peer reviewers. /news/2025-09-ai-driven-blends-literature-robotics.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 25 Sep 2025 14:34:05 EDT news678029641 Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have observed a doping-tunable charge density wave (CDW) in a single-layer semiconductor, Chromium(III) selenide (Cr2Se3), extending the CDW phenomenon from metals to doped semiconductors. /news/2025-09-doping-triggers-tunable-density-2d.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 24 Sep 2025 11:10:05 EDT news677931001 Researchers with the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have created an innovative method to visualize and analyze atomic structures within specially designed, ultrathin bilayer 2D materials. When precisely aligned at an angle, these materials exhibit unique properties that could lead to advancements in quantum computing, superconductors and ultraefficient electronics. /news/2025-09-scientists-visualize-atomic-moir-materials.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 23 Sep 2025 11:21:04 EDT news677845261 Researchers at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute of Chemical Energy Conversion and Clariant have unveiled new insights into the complex catalyst systems used in industrial ammonia production. By examining the structural evolution of these catalysts, the study highlights the critical role of promoters in enhancing performance and stability. /news/2025-09-catalyst-evolution-reveals-unsung-heroes.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 22 Sep 2025 14:19:03 EDT news677769541 Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have long been hailed as the future of clean mobility: cars that emit nothing but water while delivering high efficiency and power density. Yet a stubborn obstacle remains. The heart of the fuel cell, the platinum-based catalyst, is both expensive and prone to degradation. Over time, the catalyst deteriorates during operation, forcing frequent replacements and keeping hydrogen vehicles costly. /news/2025-09-atomic-ct-scan-reveals-gallium.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Mon, 15 Sep 2025 15:05:04 EDT news677167502 Using a combination of spectromicroscopy at BESSY II and microscopic analyses at DESY's NanoLab, a team has gained new insights into the chemical behavior of nanocatalysts during catalysis. /news/2025-09-metallic-nanocatalysts-catalysis.html Nanomaterials Wed, 10 Sep 2025 16:54:03 EDT news676742041 Researchers at National Taiwan University designed a graphene oxide biochar TiO2 nanocomposite that combines adsorption capacity with superior photocatalytic activity. With strong material characterization and optoelectronic properties, it offers a novel and sustainable solution for antibiotic removal from livestock wastewater. /news/2025-09-reusable-nanocomposite-adsorption-photocatalysis-advanced.html Nanomaterials Mon, 08 Sep 2025 12:16:03 EDT news676552561 In a recent study, Dr. Agata HaÅ‚uszko and colleagues discovered an ornament made from beetles in a cremation grave in DomasÅ‚aw, Poland. The work is published in the journal Antiquity. /news/2025-09-archaeologists-uncover-rare-beetle-ornament.html Archaeology Mon, 08 Sep 2025 09:32:55 EDT news676542768 Just one year after NREL materials science researchers Matthew Hautzinger and Sage Bauers met to exchange notes on underexplored materials in nanotechnology, their synthesis of promising Zintl-phase quantum dots is attracting attention with its bright photoluminescent glow, chemical stability, and Earth-abundant ingredients. /news/2025-09-built-brilliance-zintl-phase-quantum.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 04 Sep 2025 09:14:04 EDT news676196041 Dried fruit is a tasty snack or sweet addition to recipes, but the water removal process often requires heat and energy. In a step toward more sustainable food preservation, researchers reporting in ACS Food Science & Technology have developed a method for drying food at room temperature by adjusting air pressure conditions and using food-safe calcium chloride. /news/2025-08-dehydrates-fruit.html Biotechnology Agriculture Mon, 11 Aug 2025 16:31:02 EDT news674148661 Analysis of ocean sediments has surfaced geochemical clues in line with the possibility that an encounter with a disintegrating comet 12,800 years ago in the Northern Hemisphere triggered rapid cooling of Earth's air and ocean. Christopher Moore of the University of South Carolina, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the journal PLOS One on August 6, 2025. /news/2025-08-ocean-sediments-theory-comet-impact.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 06 Aug 2025 14:00:05 EDT news673613402 A new study uncovers revealing insights into how plastic materials used in electronics are formed, and how hidden flaws in their structure could be limiting their performance. /news/2025-08-molecular-imaging-uncovers-hidden-flaws.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Fri, 01 Aug 2025 10:20:07 EDT news673261637 Quantum stochastic rectification is a process observed in some physical systems, which entails the conversion of random quantum fluctuations (i.e., quantum noise) and a small oscillating signal, such as a weak alternating current or AC voltage, into a steady output (e.g., a direct current, or DC). This quantum effect has been previously reported in magnetic tunnel junctions that are driven by both quantum mechanics and randomness (i.e., stochastic processes). /news/2025-07-method-ultrafast-molecules.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 28 Jul 2025 07:00:01 EDT news672650459 Topological materials are a class of materials that exhibit unique electronic properties at their boundary (surface in 3D materials; edge in 2D materials) that are robust against imperfections or disturbances and are markedly different from their bulk properties. In other words, these materials could be insulators (i.e., resisting the flow of electrons or heat), and yet be conducting at their boundary (i.e., allowing electrons or heat to easily flow through them). /news/2025-07-uncover-topological-excitonic-insulator-tunable.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Fri, 25 Jul 2025 07:30:01 EDT news672571742 For the first time, spin waves, also known as magnons, have been directly observed at the nanoscale. This breakthrough was made possible by combining a high–energy-resolution electron microscope with a theoretical method developed at Uppsala University. The results open exciting new opportunities for studying and controlling magnetism at the nanoscale. /news/2025-07-nanoscale.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 24 Jul 2025 12:20:01 EDT news672578397 In a twist worthy of a detective novel, a long-misidentified fossil at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) has emerged as a key discovery in early animal evolution. /news/2025-07-fossil-thought-caterpillar-oldest-nonmarine.html Evolution Paleontology & Fossils Wed, 23 Jul 2025 05:00:02 EDT news672381997 Understanding how ancient species arranged themselves in space is a key puzzle in paleoecology, but direct evidence of how prehistoric organisms used their body structures to regulate spacing has long eluded scientists. Now, researchers in China have uncovered the first direct evidence: Approximately 436-million-year-old brachiopods from the early Silurian period used tiny, bristle-like structures called setae to maintain orderly, "checkerboard" spacing—ensuring they had enough room to thrive on the ancient seafloor. /news/2025-07-prehistoric-social-distancing-million-year.html Ecology Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 22 Jul 2025 07:00:02 EDT news672386135 Scientists use scanning tunneling microscopy to understand how a material's electronic or magnetic properties relate to its structure on the atomic scale. When using this technique, however, they can normally investigate only the uppermost atomic layer of a material. /news/2025-07-scanning-tunneling-microscopy-reveals-subsurface.html Nanophysics Fri, 18 Jul 2025 11:20:06 EDT news672056312 A new method turns noise into valuable data to enhance understanding of chemical reactions and material properties with unprecedented detail at the atomic level. The results of this research are now published in Nature. /news/2025-07-nobel-prize-idea-super-resolution.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:30:12 EDT news671890832 Imagine going through a surgery where the doctor proposes the use of a temporary implant that dissolves by itself with time in the human body, thereby avoiding a painful second surgery. As great as that would sound, the challenges are plenty when it comes to designing an implant that has mechanical properties close to that of the human bone, is biocompatible and degrades at an appreciable rate till the bone heals. /news/2025-07-retarding-corrosion-magnesium-alloy-polymer.html Polymers Materials Science Fri, 11 Jul 2025 09:07:42 EDT news671443656 Electrons play many roles in solid materials. When they are weakly bound and able to travel—i.e., mobile—they can enable electrical conduction. When they are bound, or "heavy," they can act as insulators. However, in certain solid materials, this behavior can be markedly different, raising questions about how these different types of electrons interact. /news/2025-07-heavy-electrons-cooperate-magic-angle.html Superconductivity Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 07 Jul 2025 08:45:04 EDT news671096702 If you have ever looked closely into a rockpool along the U.K. coastline, you may have been lucky enough to find a tiny hermit crab scuttling about. What you might not realize is that hermit crabs are constantly monitoring their environment for changes and threats. /news/2025-07-hermit-crabs-sensitive-claws-bolder.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 02 Jul 2025 09:24:03 EDT news670667041 A team of researchers from Tohoku University, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), and Cambridge University have demonstrated a new way to make a unique material called tin sulfide (SnS), which can help build better and more compact electronic devices. Their findings are published in Nano Letters. /news/2025-06-simple-solution-yields-ultra-thin.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Fri, 13 Jun 2025 09:34:44 EDT news669026079 The Apollo astronauts didn't know what they'd find when they explored the surface of the moon, but they certainly didn't expect to see drifts of tiny, bright orange glass beads glistening among the otherwise monochrome piles of rocks and dust. /news/2025-06-moon-shimmers-shiny-glass-beads.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 11 Jun 2025 16:55:03 EDT news668879701 The calcitic layers of the eggshells of archosaurs (including crocodilians and birds) and turtles are composed of distinctive crystalline structures known as eggshell units. Those growing from the shell membrane are called primary eggshell units (PEUs), while those forming within the calcitic layer are called secondary eggshell units (SEUs). Although rare in modern bird eggs, SEUs are common in dinosaur eggs. Due to the lack of in-depth research on this structure, however, scientists are uncertain whether they are biogenic or abiogenic in origin. /news/2025-05-dinosaur-eggshell-biogenic-secondary.html Evolution Paleontology & Fossils Fri, 30 May 2025 14:16:02 EDT news667833361 New techniques used to analyze soft tissue in dinosaur fossils may hold the key to new cancer discoveries, according to a study published in the journal Biology. /news/2025-05-dinosaurs-key-cancer-discoveries-highlights.html Molecular & Computational biology Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 29 May 2025 10:12:03 EDT news667732321 In March 2022, Stellenbosch University (SU) student Rohan Barnard was out on a farm in the Swartberg Mountains between Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn, flipping over rocks looking for ants, reptiles and other critters, when he stumbled upon the finding of a lifetime. /news/2025-05-fossil-velvet-worm-species-south.html Evolution Ecology Wed, 28 May 2025 15:28:07 EDT news667664872 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 Researchers have demonstrated that by using a semiconductor with flexible bonds, the material can be molded into various structures using nano containers, without altering its composition. The discovery could lead to the design of a variety of customized electronic devices using only a single element. /news/2025-05-mind-band-gap-nanoscale-elementary.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 21 May 2025 11:00:15 EDT news667035962 Grasses have evolved a wide variety of inflorescences, in which the seeds are arranged in many different ways: Some types form complex, branched inflorescences with multiple seeds, while others—such as barley—have much simpler inflorescences. In barley, each individual grain forms on a short axis called a "rachilla." /news/2025-05-barley-grain-production-linked-peptide.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Tue, 20 May 2025 14:35:03 EDT news666970501