/ 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. In a new Nature Â鶹ÒùÔºics paper, researchers report the first experimental observation of the transverse Thomson effect, a key thermoelectric phenomenon that has eluded scientists since it was predicted over a century ago. /news/2025-07-scientists-experimental-transverse-thomson-effect.html Condensed Matter Wed, 16 Jul 2025 10:50:09 EDT news671878634 Researchers at the Jülich Research Center and the Leibniz Institute for Innovative Microelectronics (IHP) have developed a material that has never existed before: a stable alloy of carbon, silicon, germanium, and tin. The new compound, abbreviated as CSiGeSn, opens up exciting possibilities for applications at the interface of electronics, photonics, and quantum technology. /news/2025-07-element-semiconductor-alloy-advances-chip.html Materials Science Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:03:12 EDT news671799788 Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have uncovered how to manipulate electrical flow through crystalline silicon, a material at the heart of modern technology. The discovery could lead to smaller, faster, and more efficient devices by harnessing quantum electron behavior. /news/2025-07-scientists-electricity-tiniest-scale.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 08 Jul 2025 10:50:03 EDT news671190182 Electricity can be easily converted into heat—every electric cooker does it. But is the opposite also possible? Can heat be converted into electricity—directly, without a steam turbine or similar detours? /news/2025-06-thermoelectrics-scientists-harness-traffic-electrons.html Condensed Matter Wed, 18 Jun 2025 15:46:03 EDT news669480361 A research team has discovered how to make a promising energy-harvesting material much more efficient—without relying on rare or expensive elements. The material, called β-Zn4Sb3, is a tellurium-free thermoelectric compound that can convert waste heat into electricity. /news/2025-05-smart-phonon-boosts-efficiency-eco.html Condensed Matter Mon, 26 May 2025 10:17:03 EDT news667473421 Imagine you are playing the guitar—each pluck of a string creates a sound wave that vibrates and interacts with other waves. Now shrink that idea down to a small single molecule, and instead of sound waves, picture vibrations that carry heat. /news/2025-05-tiny-thermal-sensor-molecules-mute.html Condensed Matter Wed, 07 May 2025 16:19:19 EDT news665853555 This year's Lunar Planetary Science Conference (2025 LPSC) saw some truly astounding presentations and proposals. These covered a wide range of science and exploration missions that address the priorities of NASA, other space agencies, and affiliated institutes. A major area of interest was future astrobiology missions that will search for evidence of biological processes (biosignatures) on extraterrestrial bodies. This included Mars, where most of our astrobiology efforts are focused, and locations in the outer solar system. /news/2025-04-concept-astrobiology-mission-enceladus.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 21 Apr 2025 09:28:05 EDT news664446482 A research team from the Institute of Statistical Mathematics and Panasonic Holdings Corporation has developed a machine learning algorithm, ShotgunCSP, that enables fast and accurate prediction of crystal structures from material compositions. The algorithm achieved world-leading performance in crystal structure prediction benchmarks. /news/2025-04-crystallography-ai-high-crystal.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Wed, 16 Apr 2025 15:37:59 EDT news664036673 Complex materials such as organic semiconductors or the microporous metal-organic frameworks known as MOFs are already being used for numerous applications such as OLED displays, solar cells, gas storage and water extraction. Nevertheless, they still harbor a few secrets. One of these has so far been a detailed understanding of how they transport thermal energy. /news/2025-03-machine-uncovers-hidden-mechanisms-semiconductors.html Condensed Matter Thu, 20 Mar 2025 13:06:03 EDT news661694761 Powering spacecraft with solar energy may not seem like a challenge, given how intense the sun's light can feel on Earth. Spacecraft near the Earth use large solar panels to harness the sun for the electricity needed to run their communications systems and science instruments. /news/2025-03-radioisotope-generators-nuclear-batteries-power.html Space Exploration Mon, 17 Mar 2025 13:20:01 EDT news661435337 Researchers at the University of Houston's Texas Center for Superconductivity have achieved another first in their quest toward ambient-pressure high-temperature superconductivity, bringing us one step closer to finding superconductors that work in everyday conditions—and potentially unlocking a new era of energy-efficient technologies. /news/2025-02-physicists-stabilize-superconducting-states-ambient.html Superconductivity Mon, 10 Feb 2025 15:04:03 EST news658422241 Phonons, the quantum mechanical vibrations of atoms in solids, are often sources of noise in solid-state quantum systems, including quantum technologies, which can lead to decoherence and thus adversely impact their performance. /news/2025-01-newly-fabricated-crystals-interactions-high.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 21 Jan 2025 07:00:04 EST news656591729 To describe how matter works at infinitesimal scales, researchers designate collective behaviors with single concepts, like calling a group of birds flying in sync a "flock" or "murmuration." Known as quasiparticles, the phenomena these concepts refer to could be the key to next-generation technologies. /news/2025-01-quasiparticle-insights-tellurene-paving-gen.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 14 Jan 2025 16:14:00 EST news656093634 A research team from NIMS and UTokyo has proposed and demonstrated that the transverse magneto-thermoelectric conversion in magnetic materials can be utilized with much higher performance than previously by developing artificial materials comprising alternately and obliquely stacked multilayers of a magnetic metal and semiconductor. /news/2024-12-tilted-magnetic-materials-fresh-path.html Condensed Matter Fri, 13 Dec 2024 12:47:41 EST news653316459 University of Central Florida (UCF) researcher Debashis Chanda, a professor at UCF's NanoScience Technology Center, has developed a new technique to detect long wave infrared (LWIR) photons of different wavelengths or "colors." /news/2024-12-nanopatterned-graphene-enables-infrared-imaging.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 12 Dec 2024 12:35:03 EST news653229301 Scientists have developed the first electrically pumped continuous-wave semiconductor laser composed exclusively of elements from the fourth group of the periodic table—the "silicon group." /news/2024-12-electrically-semiconductor-laser-advances-silicon.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 09 Dec 2024 16:55:07 EST news652985695 Thermoelectric materials, which convert heat into electricity, are valuable tools for capturing waste heat and turning it into usable electricity. These materials are especially useful in industries and vehicles where engines produce a lot of waste heat, improving energy efficiency by converting it into additional power. They also exhibit potential for portable power generation, in remote sensors and satellites where traditional power sources may be impractical. /news/2024-11-scientists-electricity-conversion-semimetal-wsi.html Condensed Matter Tue, 26 Nov 2024 12:33:39 EST news651846814 A new method enables researchers to analyze magnetic nanostructures with a high resolution. It was developed by researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Â鶹ÒùÔºics in Halle. /news/2024-11-physicists-method-visualize-magnetic-nanostructures.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 20 Nov 2024 11:24:03 EST news651324241 A thermoelectric material that can be used in wearable devices such as smart clothing and maintains stable thermal energy performance even in extreme environments has been developed by a team of Korean researchers. It has dramatically resolved the dilemma of striking the balance between achieving good performance and the mechanical flexibility of thermoelectric materials, which has been a long-standing challenge in the field of thermoelectric materials, and has also proven the possibility of commercialization. /news/2024-10-flexible-thermoelectric-fibers-wearables-stable.html Nanomaterials Tue, 22 Oct 2024 16:07:54 EDT news648832071 Thanks to nanoscale devices as small as human cells, researchers can create groundbreaking material properties, leading to smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient electronics. However, to fully unlock the potential of nanotechnology, addressing noise is crucial. /news/2024-09-noise-power-nanoscale.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 17 Sep 2024 12:34:04 EDT news645795241 Quantum materials—those with electronic properties that are governed by the principles of quantum mechanics, such as correlation and entanglement—can exhibit exotic behaviors under certain conditions, such as the ability to transmit electricity without resistance, known as superconductivity. However, in order to get the best performance out of these materials, they need to be properly tuned, in the same way that race cars require tuning as well. /news/2024-08-approach-fine-tuning-quantum-materials.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 13 Aug 2024 10:30:05 EDT news642763801 Organic thermoelectric materials hold great promise as flexible energy sources for the Internet of Things and wearable electronics. However, their relatively low dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) compared to traditional materials has been a major obstacle, limiting their use in thermoelectric power generation and solid-state cooling. /news/2024-07-multi-heterojunctioned-plastics-high-thermoelectric.html Nanomaterials Mon, 29 Jul 2024 11:25:57 EDT news641471153 EPFL engineers have created a device that can efficiently convert heat into electrical voltage at temperatures lower than that of outer space. The innovation could help overcome a significant obstacle to the advancement of quantum computing technologies, which require extremely low temperatures to function optimally. /news/2024-07-2d-device-quantum-cooling-voltage.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Fri, 05 Jul 2024 09:27:03 EDT news639390421 The study of open-shell molecules, particularly those with high-spin ground states, has unveiled significant potential in organic electronics and magnetism. These molecules, characterized by unpaired electrons, exhibit unique properties such as long spin lifetimes and weak spin-orbit coupling, making them promising candidates for advanced technologies. /news/2024-07-unleashing-potential-high-polymers-gen.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Wed, 03 Jul 2024 14:24:15 EDT news639235453 One-dimensional segmented heteronanostructures (1D-SHs) are promising candidates in fields such as photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) and thermoelectrics. Currently, the synthesis of 1D-SHs mainly focuses on sulfides and selenides, with relatively less research on telluride materials, yet tellurides have significant application prospects in energy storage and optoelectronics. However, a simple and controlled synthesis of telluride 1D-SHs materials has always been challenging. /news/2024-07-synthesis-method-1d-segmented-heteronanostructures.html Nanomaterials Wed, 03 Jul 2024 09:56:12 EDT news639219369 A material with a high electron mobility is like a highway without traffic. Any electrons that flow into the material experience a commuter's dream, breezing through without any obstacles or congestion to slow or scatter them off their path. /news/2024-07-scientists-electron-mobility-crystal.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Mon, 01 Jul 2024 11:33:04 EDT news639052381 A research group from University of Tsukuba has discovered that fluctuations of electron spins in magnetic materials trigger a large anomalous Hall effect during phase transition known as the devil's staircase magnetic transition. /news/2024-06-large-anomalous-hall-effect-triggered.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 18 Jun 2024 09:50:02 EDT news637923001 Hydrogen storage, heat conduction, gas storage, CO2 and water sequestration—metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have extraordinary properties due to their unique structure in the form of microporous crystals, which have a very large surface area despite their small size. This makes them extremely interesting for research and practical applications. However, MOFs are very complex systems that have so far required a great deal of time and computing power to simulate accurately. /news/2024-06-scientist-advance-simulation-metal-frameworks.html Condensed Matter Thu, 06 Jun 2024 08:30:04 EDT news636881402 In line with global efforts towards sustainability, the development of energy harvesting technologies has become a top research priority. Although renewable energy sources like wind and solar power have recently taken the spotlight, waste heat also stands as a largely untapped source of energy. Using thermoelectric materials, industrial waste heat can be harvested and converted into electrical energy, which can help increase the efficiency of industrial processes. /news/2024-05-carbon-nanotube-yarns-generate-electricity.html Nanomaterials Tue, 28 May 2024 16:12:03 EDT news636131519 With the growth of the Internet of Things, sustainable solutions for powering wireless sensors and devices are considered important. Thermoelectric generators, for example, which have the ability to convert waste heat into electricity, can offer a sustainable solution. Researchers around the world have been working on such solutions. /news/2024-05-powering-wearable-devices-high-carbon.html Nanomaterials Tue, 21 May 2024 11:28:03 EDT news635509681