/ 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. Imagine a Slushee composed of ammonia and water encased in a hard shell of water ice. Now picture these ice-encrusted slushballs, dubbed "mushballs," raining down like hailstones during a thunderstorm, illuminated by intense flashes of lightning. /news/2025-04-jupiter-enigmatic-weather-mushball-phenomenon.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 15 Apr 2025 15:10:05 EDT news663948269 Propane dehydrogenation (PDH) reaction is a highly endothermic reaction, typically requiring temperatures above 600°C in conventional thermo-catalysis. However, elevated temperatures lead to significant energy consumption, catalyst sintering, and coke deposition. Overcoming these thermodynamic and kinetic challenges to achieve propane dehydrogenation under ambient conditions remains a major goal in catalysis. /news/2025-04-dash-sunlight-propane-propylene-copper.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 15 Apr 2025 11:35:02 EDT news663935701 In the 1970s, NASA's Voyager probes passed through Jupiter's system and snapped pictures of its largest moons, also known as the Galilean moons. These pictures and the data they gathered offered the first hints that a global ocean may be beneath Europa's icy crust. Moreover, planetary models indicated that Europa's interactions with Jupiter's powerful gravity could lead to tidal flexing in the moon's interior. In short, scientists learned that Europa could have all the necessary ingredients for life in its interior. /news/2025-04-cryovolcanoes-europa.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:22:11 EDT news662739727 Researchers from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) and the University of Montpellier have successfully synthesized wafer-scale hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) exhibiting an AA-stacking configuration, a crystal structure previously considered unattainable. /news/2025-03-stacking-constraints-hexagonal-boron-nitride.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 20 Mar 2025 13:20:03 EDT news661695601 Hydrothermal alteration is a complex geological process that can later serve as an indicator of gold deposits for mineral explorers. The process sees hot and metal-rich fluids interact with surrounding rocks, causing chemical and mineralogical changes. /news/2025-03-potassium-plays-limited-role-gold.html Earth Sciences Thu, 06 Mar 2025 08:44:30 EST news660473065 A research team has successfully developed a new synthesis technology for 2D semiconductors. This technique enables the direct growth of wafer-scale single-crystal 2D semiconductors on various substrates. The research is published in Nature. /news/2025-03-synthesis-technology-crystal-2d-semiconductors.html Nanomaterials Wed, 05 Mar 2025 04:08:31 EST news660370098 Research Fellow Dr. Babak Bakhit has encountered one of his most challenging projects to date—contributing to the European Space Agency's (ESA) JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission. /news/2025-02-mission-life-jupiter-icy-moons.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Wed, 19 Feb 2025 07:44:22 EST news659173459 University of Missouri scientists are unlocking the secrets of halide perovskites—a material that's poised to reshape our future by bringing us closer to a new age of energy-efficient optoelectronics. /news/2025-01-scientists-harness-power-layered-crystals.html Condensed Matter Tue, 21 Jan 2025 14:29:03 EST news656692141 Approximately 66 million years ago, the Chicxulub asteroid, estimated to be 10–15 kilometers in diameter, struck the Yucatán Peninsula (in current-day Mexico), creating a 200-kilometer-wide impact crater. This impact triggered a chain reaction of destructive events, including a rapid climate change that eventually led to the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and, in total, about 75% of species on Earth. /news/2025-01-evidence-sulfur-role-dinosaur-extinction.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 16 Jan 2025 12:21:03 EST news656252461 A breakthrough in decoding the growth process of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), a 2D material, and its nanostructures on metal substrates could pave the way for more efficient electronics, cleaner energy solutions and greener chemical manufacturing, according to new research from the University of Surrey published in the journal Small. /news/2025-01-decoding-2d-material-growth-white.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 08 Jan 2025 16:39:40 EST news655576777 As the demand for thinner, lighter, and more flexible electronic devices grows, the need for advanced manufacturing processes has become critical. Polyimide (PI) films are widely used in these applications due to their excellent thermal stability and mechanical flexibility. They are crucial for emerging technologies like rollable displays, wearable sensors, and implantable photonic devices. /news/2025-01-graphene-technique-ultrathin-flexible-electronics.html Nanomaterials Wed, 08 Jan 2025 12:19:03 EST news655561141 After dominating the electronics industry for decades, conventional silicon-based transistors are gradually approaching their limits, which is preventing engineers from further reducing their size without affecting their performance. To continue advancing portable computers, smart phones and other devices, researchers have thus been exploring the potential of transistors based on two-dimensional (2D) materials. /news/2024-12-2d-materials-boost-p-transistor.html Nanophysics Tue, 17 Dec 2024 07:10:07 EST news653569321 Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have made tungsten disulfide nanotubes which point in the same direction when formed, for the first time. They used a sapphire surface under carefully controlled conditions to form arrayed tungsten disulfide nanotubes, each consisting of rolled nanosheets, using chemical vapor deposition. /news/2024-12-scientists-nanotubes.html Nanomaterials Mon, 16 Dec 2024 09:32:03 EST news653563921 A method that can grow a useful insulating material into exceptionally high-quality films that are just one atom thick and are suitable for industrial-scale production has been developed by an international team led by Xixiang Zhang from KAUST. /news/2024-12-hexagons-hexagonal-boron-nitride-2d.html Nanomaterials Mon, 02 Dec 2024 11:33:03 EST news652361581 Natural gas is a fossil fuel that is widely used in the U.S. for heating, cooking, and electricity generation, and it is also used as a chemical feedstock for the manufacture of plastics and other products. But because it consists primarily of the greenhouse gas methane, natural gas is one of the leading sources of methane emissions. /news/2024-11-inexpensive-catalyst-recycles-methane-emissions.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 21 Nov 2024 08:28:05 EST news651400081 Two-dimensional magnetic materials have remarkable potential applications in spin switches and storage devices. Designing innovative device architectures and exploring their electrical transport characteristics are becoming more and more important. /news/2024-11-unveil-proximity-electrical-properties-ptcri.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Fri, 08 Nov 2024 12:57:03 EST news650293022 Researchers are developing new ideas about the best ways to make lab-grown diamonds while minimizing other forms of carbon, such as soot. These diamonds aren't destined for rings and necklaces, though. These are the kinds that are needed for the computers, optics and sensors of the future. /news/2024-11-bright-future-diamond-electronics-sensors.html Condensed Matter Plasma Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 05 Nov 2024 09:13:06 EST news650020381 A U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) multi-disciplinary team developed a new paradigm for the control of quantum emitters, providing a new method for modulating and encoding quantum photonic information on a single photon light stream. /news/2024-10-paradigm-quantum-emitters-modulating-encoding.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 31 Oct 2024 14:15:38 EDT news649602935 Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Paragraf Limited have demonstrated a significant step forward in the development of graphene-based memristors and unlocking their potential for use in future computing systems and artificial intelligence (AI). /news/2024-10-graphene-based-memristors-closer-benefiting.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 24 Oct 2024 09:33:39 EDT news648981200 Quantum defects have the potential to act as ultra-sensitive sensors that could offer new kinds of navigation or biological sensor technology. /news/2024-10-harnessing-diamond-imperfections-frontier-quantum.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 17 Oct 2024 14:55:08 EDT news648395703 Deposits of ice in lunar dust and rock (regolith) are more extensive than previously thought, according to a new analysis of data from NASA's LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) mission. Ice would be a valuable resource for future lunar expeditions. Water could be used for radiation protection and supporting human explorers, or broken into its hydrogen and oxygen components to make rocket fuel, energy, and breathable air. /news/2024-10-lunar-mission-analysis-widespread-evidence.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 03 Oct 2024 12:52:03 EDT news647178721 A research group led by Prof. Wang Xianlong from the Hefei Institutes of Â鶹ÒùÔºical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has successfully synthesized high-energy-density materials cubic gauche nitrogen (cg-N) at atmospheric pressure by treating potassium azide (KN3) using the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique (PECVD). /news/2024-09-high-energy-density-cubic-gauche.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Fri, 27 Sep 2024 14:00:02 EDT news646644601 Research teams from Wuhan University and the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) have revealed new insights into the formation mechanism of nitrogen-vacancies (NV) centers in type-Ib diamonds, a phenomenon critical to quantum sensing and computing advancements. Using a novel irradiation and annealing method, the teams demonstrated how controlled temperature and orientation can significantly increase the density and depth of NV centers, paving the way for new applications in biological imaging and quantum technologies. /news/2024-09-secrets-diamond-insights-nitrogen-vacancy.html Condensed Matter Fri, 06 Sep 2024 11:39:03 EDT news644841541 Researchers have fabricated a quasi-one-dimensional van der Waals zirconium telluride thin film, which is a form of a substance that has long promised advances in quantum computing, nano-electronics and other advanced technologies. Until now, it has stumped scientists who have tried to manufacture it in large-scale quantities. /news/2024-08-technique-mass-fabricating-exotic-quasi.html Nanomaterials Tue, 27 Aug 2024 08:55:04 EDT news643967701 A Japanese research team led by Professor Minoru Osada from the Institute for Materials and Systems for Sustainability (IMaSS) at Nagoya University has pioneered a method for the high-speed, large-area deposition of two-dimensional (2D) materials, including oxides, graphene oxide, and boron nitride. This innovative technique, known as the "spontaneous integrated transfer method," was discovered by chance; however, it promises to revolutionize the production of nanosheets. /news/2024-08-high-large-area-deposition-nanofilm.html Nanomaterials Thu, 22 Aug 2024 11:03:03 EDT news643543381 In the scorching heat of summer, anyone who spends time outside—athletes, landscapers, kids at the park or beachgoers—could benefit from a cooling fabric. While there are some textiles that reflect the sun's rays or transfer heat away from the body, current options require boutique fibers or complex manufacturing processes. But now, researchers report a durable chalk-based coating that cools the air underneath treated fabric by up to 8 degrees Fahrenheit. /news/2024-08-chalk-based-coating-cooling-fabric.html Polymers Materials Science Wed, 21 Aug 2024 05:00:01 EDT news643370401 Researchers at Fraunhofer IAF have made a breakthrough in the field of semiconductor materials: With aluminum yttrium nitride (AlYN), they have succeeded in fabricating and characterizing a new and promising semiconductor material using the MOCVD process. /news/2024-08-semiconductor-material-alyn-energy-efficient.html Condensed Matter Wed, 14 Aug 2024 15:23:37 EDT news642867812 Bisphenols are widely used as the main raw material for plastics such as receipts, water bottles, water containers, and vinyl due to their heat-resistant and mechanochemical properties. Among bisphenols, bisphenol A (BPA), which we often refer to as an "endocrine-disrupting chemical," has been linked to adverse effects on reproduction, development, intelligence, and various metabolic diseases. /news/2024-08-rapid-emerging-endocrine-disruptors-wastewater.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 13 Aug 2024 09:51:03 EDT news642761461 Modern astronomy would struggle without AI and machine learning (ML), which have become indispensable tools. They alone have the capability to manage and work with the vast amounts of data that modern telescopes generate. ML can sift through large datasets, seeking specified patterns that would take humans far longer to find. /news/2024-08-fast-tracking-habitable-worlds.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 06 Aug 2024 09:34:42 EDT news642155676 Coupling electrochemical conversion of the greenhouse gas CO2 with renewable electricity sources—such as solar and wind—promises green production of high-demand chemicals and transportation fuels. Carbon dioxide coupling products such as ethylene, ethanol and acetic acid are particularly useful as feedstocks for the chemical industry and powering vehicles. /news/2024-08-chemical-industries-boost-catalyst-coating.html Materials Science Thu, 01 Aug 2024 11:58:13 EDT news641732290