/ en-us �鶹��Ժ internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: �鶹��Ժics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Materials scientists can learn a lot about a sample material by shooting lasers at it. With nonlinear optical microscopy—a specialized imaging technique that looks for a change in the color of intense laser light—researchers can collect data on how the light interacts with the sample, and through time-consuming and sometimes expensive analyses, characterize the material's structure and other properties. /news/2025-10-framework-interactions-nonlinear-optical-microscopy.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 15 Oct 2025 15:50:04 EDT news679762201 When Darwin Quiroz first started working with optics as an undergraduate, he was developing atomic magnetometers. That experience sparked a growing curiosity about how light interacts with matter, an interest that has now led him to a new technique in optical imaging. /news/2025-10-fluid-based-laser-scanning-brain.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 15 Oct 2025 11:59:03 EDT news679748341 Manufacturing better batteries, faster electronics, and more effective pharmaceuticals depends on the discovery of new materials and the verification of their quality. Artificial intelligence is helping with the former, with tools that comb through catalogs of materials to quickly tag promising candidates. /news/2025-10-quality-materials-easier-ai-tool.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 14 Oct 2025 14:57:04 EDT news679672621 Scientists at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) have discovered a way to control sound and vibrations using a concept inspired by "twistronics," a phenomenon originally developed for electronics. /news/2025-10-scientists-mechanical-vibrations-metamaterial.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Mon, 13 Oct 2025 15:00:08 EDT news679309802 This week, researchers discovered so-called "switchbacks" in Earth's magnetic field similar to observations of switchbacks in the sun's magnetic field. Scientists provided more evidence that ancient Rapa Nui engineers "walked" Easter Island's iconic statues along carefully designed roads. And satellite imagery revealed a record 20-meter-high ocean wave. We also reported on a unique method for eliciting childhood memories, the smallest chunk of dark matter ever observed, and the pernicious effects of empty praise from chatbots: /news/2025-10-saturday-citations-ai-chatbots-insincere.html Other Sat, 11 Oct 2025 08:50:01 EDT news679317280 Guided by the rhythms of the sea and the promise of discovery, Teledyne Marine and Rutgers University will set Redwing, an autonomous underwater vehicle, on its journey on Friday, Oct. 10, leading to its launch into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. /news/2025-10-autonomous-robot-glider-circle-globe.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 10 Oct 2025 10:19:14 EDT news679310350 Quantum defects are tiny imperfections in solid crystal lattices that can trap individual electrons and their "spin" (i.e., the internal angular momentum of particles). These defects are central to the functioning of various quantum technologies, including quantum sensors, computers and communication systems. /news/2025-10-strain-readout-quantum-technologies.html Quantum �鶹��Ժics Fri, 10 Oct 2025 06:30:01 EDT news679233299 With a clever design, researchers have solved eddy-current damping in macroscopic levitating systems, paving the way for a wide range of sensing technologies. /news/2025-10-freely-levitating-rotor-ultraprecise-sensors.html General �鶹��Ժics Quantum �鶹��Ժics Fri, 10 Oct 2025 05:00:01 EDT news679159441 The Gulf of Mexico, a regional ocean, is hugged by the southeastern United States and a large stretch of the Mexican coast, making it very important for both countries. The area helps bring goods to local and global markets, produces power for the country with off-shore oil rigs, and hosts a myriad of vacation-worthy beaches—so modeling and predicting its dynamics is a critical task. /news/2025-10-regional-ocean-dynamics-emulated-ai.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 08 Oct 2025 12:19:05 EDT news679144741 Heat has always been something we thought we understood. From baking bread to running engines, the idea seemed simple: heat spreads out smoothly, like water soaking through a sponge. That simple picture, written down by Joseph Fourier 200 years ago, became the foundation of modern science and engineering. /news/2025-10-nanochips-physicists-redefine.html General �鶹��Ժics Condensed Matter Mon, 06 Oct 2025 12:44:03 EDT news678973434 Researchers have created a chip-based device that can split phonons—tiny packets of mechanical vibration that can carry information in quantum systems. By filling a key gap, this device could help connect various quantum devices via phonons, paving the way for advanced computing and secure quantum communication. /news/2025-10-chip-based-phonon-splitter-hybrid.html Optics & Photonics Quantum �鶹��Ժics Mon, 06 Oct 2025 10:00:05 EDT news678963061 For people living near volcanoes, danger goes well beyond lava flows and clouds of ash. Some explosive eruptions can lead to dramatic collapses of the sides of a volcano, like those at Mount St. Helens, Washington, and Anak Krakatau, Indonesia. The latter triggered tsunamis blamed for most deaths from its historic eruptions in 1883. /news/2025-10-tool-volcano-slope-collapses-tsunamis.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 03 Oct 2025 12:37:05 EDT news678713822 A novel spectroscopic method developed at Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, enables highly sensitive analysis of molecules at material interfaces, using a combination of conventional ATR-IR, precise gap-control and advanced data processing. The technique offers a low-cost alternative to conventional interfacial spectroscopy and has potential applications in material sciences, nanotechnology, and biological sciences. /news/2025-10-gap-infrared-method-enables-analysis.html Analytical Chemistry Fri, 03 Oct 2025 11:21:04 EDT news678709262 To dramatically increase coral survival rates, scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) have developed innovative 3D-printed ceramic structures that provide crucial protection for baby corals. These new designs offer a low-cost and scalable solution to enhance reef recovery worldwide. /news/2025-09-3d-helix-baby-coral-survival.html Ecology Biotechnology Tue, 30 Sep 2025 14:42:34 EDT news678462148 Plants lack nerves, yet they can sensitively detect touch from other organisms. In the Venus flytrap, highly sensitive sensory hairs act as tactile sensing organs; when touched twice in quick succession, they initiate the closure cascade that captures prey. However, the molecular identity of the touch sensor has remained unclear. /news/2025-09-venus-flytrap-response-specialized-ion.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 30 Sep 2025 05:00:08 EDT news678377162 The terahertz (THz) band of the electromagnetic spectrum holds immense promise for next-generation technologies, including high-speed wireless communication, advanced encryption, and medical imaging. However, manipulating THz waves has long been a technical challenge, since these frequencies interact weakly with most natural materials. /news/2025-09-electrically-tunable-metasurface-real-thz.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 29 Sep 2025 12:21:04 EDT news678367261 One often-repeated example illustrates the mind-boggling potential of quantum computing: A machine with 300 quantum bits could simultaneously store more information than the number of particles in the known universe. /news/2025-09-physicists-quantum-bit-capable.html Quantum �鶹��Ժics Sun, 28 Sep 2025 08:50:01 EDT news678095146 Gravitational-wave detection technology is poised to make a big leap forward thanks to an instrumentation advance led by physicist Jonathan Richardson of the University of California, Riverside. A paper detailing the invention, published in the journal Optica, reports the successful development and testing of FROSTI, a full-scale prototype for controlling laser wavefronts at extreme power levels inside the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO. /news/2025-09-optics-sharper-gravitational.html Optics & Photonics Sat, 27 Sep 2025 07:26:33 EDT news678176750 Polymer-based conductive nanocomposites, particularly those incorporating carbon nanotubes, are highly promising for the development of flexible electronics, soft robotics and wearable devices. However, CNTs are difficult to work with as they tend to agglomerate, making it hard to obtain a uniform dispersion. Moreover, conventional methods limit control over CNT distribution and shape. /news/2025-09-3d-carbon-nanotube-sensors-potential.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Fri, 26 Sep 2025 11:43:03 EDT news678105781 Most Californians are familiar with earthquakes. But researchers say the state faces an overlooked threat: "supershear" earthquakes that move so fast they outrun their own seismic waves. /news/2025-09-scientists-california-destructive-supershear-earthquakes.html Earth Sciences Wed, 24 Sep 2025 11:50:01 EDT news677931148 Tiny bioreactors, called nanocultures, are opening up new possibilities for microbiome research, especially in harsh and dynamic environments. /news/2025-09-nanoculture-shell-frontiers-microbiome.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 23 Sep 2025 12:10:11 EDT news677848201 As the frequency and intensity of heat waves increase across the U.S., a similar but more striking phenomenon is occurring in American rivers. /news/2025-09-rivers-faster-air-analysis.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 22 Sep 2025 15:00:05 EDT news677491441 Manufacturers of infrared cameras face a growing problem: The toxic heavy metals in today's infrared detectors are increasingly banned under environmental regulations, forcing companies to choose between performance and compliance. /news/2025-09-eco-friendly-dark-colloidal-quantum.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 22 Sep 2025 13:19:19 EDT news677765954 A discovery involving researchers at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has, for the first time, revealed millisecond pulsations hidden within a powerful cosmic explosion known as a gamma-ray burst (GRB). /news/2025-09-heartbeat-newborn-neutron-star-distant.html Astronomy Mon, 22 Sep 2025 09:06:04 EDT news677750761 Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, together with international collaborators, have developed a new electron microscopy method that has enabled the first-ever imaging of vibrations, or phonons, in specific directions at the atomic scale. /news/2025-09-image-atomic-vibrations.html Condensed Matter Fri, 19 Sep 2025 12:11:57 EDT news677502711 Dark matter is an elusive type of matter that does not emit, reflect or absorb light, yet is predicted to account for most of the universe's mass. As it cannot be detected and studied using conventional experimental techniques, the nature and composition of dark matter have not yet been uncovered. /news/2025-09-plasmon-effects-neutron-star-magnetospheres.html Astronomy Fri, 19 Sep 2025 10:10:32 EDT news677495428 While many plans for quantum computers transmit data using the particles of light known as photons, researchers from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) are turning to sound. /news/2025-09-tomorrow-quantum.html Quantum �鶹��Ժics Thu, 18 Sep 2025 12:28:04 EDT news677417282 Copper selenide (Cu₂Se) attracts scientific interest for its thermoelectric ability to convert heat into electricity, but a lack of atomic-level understanding has limited its practical applications for decades. /news/2025-09-conquering-disorder-solid-liquid-ion.html Condensed Matter Wed, 17 Sep 2025 12:40:03 EDT news677331192 Quantum computing, an approach to deriving information that leverages quantum mechanical effects, relies on qubits, quantum units of information that can exist in superpositions of states. To effectively perform quantum computing, engineers and physicists need to be able to measure the state of qubits efficiently. /news/2025-09-device-amplifies-shielding-qubits-unwanted.html Superconductivity Quantum �鶹��Ժics Wed, 17 Sep 2025 06:30:01 EDT news677245404 Catalysts play an indispensable role in modern manufacturing. More than 80% of all manufactured products, from pharmaceuticals to plastics, rely on catalytic processes at some stage of production. Transition metals, in particular, stand out as highly effective catalysts because their partially filled d-orbitals allow them to easily exchange electrons with other molecules. This very property, however, makes them challenging to model accurately, requiring precise descriptions of their electronic structure. /news/2025-09-machine-quantum-chemistry-simulate-catalyst.html Analytical Chemistry Tue, 16 Sep 2025 16:30:01 EDT news677258570