… may help predict space weather. A West Virginia University postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Physics and Astronomy has made a breakthrough in the study of magnetic reconnection, which could prevent space storms from wreaking havoc on the Earth’s satellite and power grid systems. Peiyun Shi’s research is the first-of-its-kind in the laboratory setting and is part of the PHASMAproject, a complex experiment composed of advanced diagnostics, electromagnets and lab-created plasma to reveal new details about how the universe functions. For his experiment, Shi uses…
For the first time, physicists from University of Münster have simulated the propulsion of freely orientable nanoparticles by travelling ultrasound waves. They have found answers to central questions which had previously stood in the way of acoustic propulsion of nanoparticles. Microscopically tiny nanomachines which move like submarines with their own propulsion – for example in the human body, where they transport active agents and release them at a target: What sounds like science fiction has, over the past 20 years,…
Some of the most famous problems in mathematics remain unsolved for centuries. For Erdős’ conjecture, it took fifty years for a solution to be found. Professor Matthew Kwan from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and mathematicians from Harvard and MIT present a proof that shows the existence of so-called high-girth Steiner triple systems. When Matthew Kwan heard about the Erdős conjecture during his studies, he did not expect to be part of proving this infamous mathematical theorem….
Molecular sieve membrane-based separation technology, featured with low energy consumption and small carbon footprint, has attracted much attention in gas separation. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising in gas separation membranes due to their diversified structures, high porosity and tailored functionalities. However, defect-free MOF membrane fabrication still remains challenging. Recently, a research group led by Prof. YANG Weishen and Dr. PENG Yuan from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has fabricated flexible soft-solid MOF composite membrane on commercial polyvinylidene fluoride…
A metal foam could underpin a low-cost method for generating carbon-free fuels, researchers from KAUST have shown. The team seamlessly coated the foam with iron and cobalt nanomaterials to create a highly active electrode for a device that splits water molecules to release oxygen and hydrogen, a potential green fuel. Due to the intermittent nature of wind and solar energy electricity, there is a need to develop methods to convert renewable electricity into a carbon-free fuel that could be stored…
Astronomers have observed primordial material that may be giving birth to three planetary systems around a binary star in unprecedented detail. Bringing together three decades of study, an international group of scientists have observed a pair of stars orbiting each other, to reveal that these stars are surrounded by disks of gas and dust. The material within the newly discovered disks could be the beginnings of new planet systems which in the future orbit the binary stars. Using the Very…
The tectonic plates that form the Earth’s surface are like puzzle pieces that are in constant, very slow motion – on average, they move only up to around 10 centimeters a year. But these puzzle pieces don’t quite fit together: there are zones on one plate that end up plunging under another – the so-called subduction zones, central to the dynamics of the planet. This movement is slow, but it can lead to moments of great energy release and, over…
A new discovery by physicists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) could make certain components in computers and smartphones obsolete. The team has succeeded in directly converting frequencies to higher ranges in a common magnetic material without the need for additional components. Frequency multiplication is a fundamental process in modern electronics. The team reports on its research in the latest issue of “Science”. Digital technologies and devices are already responsible for about ten percent of global electricity consumption, and the…
Introducing dynamic stop pooling. Sustainable mobility is an important research field of the Chair of Network Dynamics (headed by Prof. Marc Timme) at the Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden (cfaed) at TU Dresden. Here, the chair’s researchers put a strong focus on “ride sharing”, i.e. the bundling of simultaneous trips of several people in one vehicle. A recently published study on this topic addresses the question how a dynamic combination of nearby stops enables more efficient ride sharing services. The…
… before spreading to other species. An international research team led by Queen Mary University of and Dr. Eckart Stolle from the Leibniz-Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB) has discovered that a new form of ant society spread across species. They found that after the new form of social organization evolved in one species of fire ants, a “social supergene” carrying the genetic information for the new social form, spread into other species. This spread occurred through hybridisation,…
Fraunhofer IPA has developed a new, flexible transportation robot that specifically addresses the needs of healthcare facilities such as hospitals and nursery homes. Transport and logistics tasks are part of everyday working life in healthcare facilities. However, they take up valuable staff time that is not available for care activities. Even though driverless transportation vehicles are already being used in many large hospitals, they can only operate in separate supply wings. In addition, some service robots have been introduced, which…
Study identifies extensive set of novel 2D materials. Two-dimensional (2D) materials possess extraordinary properties. They usually consist of atomic layers that are only a few nanometers thick and are particularly good at conducting heat and electricity, for instance. To the astonishment of many scientists, it recently became known that 2D materials can also exist on the basis of certain metal oxides. These oxides are of great interest in areas such as nanoelectronics applications. A German-American research team, led by the…
Gamma ray observatory H.E.S.S. reveals a cosmic particle acceleration process in unprecedented detail. With the help of special telescopes, researchers have observed a cosmic particle accelerator as never before. Observations made with the gamma ray observatory H.E.S.S. in Namibia show for the first time the course of an acceleration process in a stellar process called a nova, which comprises powerful eruptions on the surface of a white dwarf. A nova creates a shock wave that tears through the surrounding medium,…
Patent pending for combination of scintillation and upconversion luminescence. Researchers Dr Yansong Feng and Prof. Hong Zhang at the Van ‘t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) have designed and synthesized novel multi-layered, multi-functional nanoparticles that enable a combination of radiotherapy and photodynamic therapy for deep cancer tissue. An initial pre-clinical evaluation of the particles has demonstrated their therapeutic potential. A patent is pending, and the university is now seeking partners for further development or…
Building a complete quantum computer based on cutting-edge German technology is the goal of the QSolid collaborative project, which has just started and to which the Federal Ministry of Education and Research has allocated € 76.3 million in funding for the next five years. The project centres on quantum bits – or qubits for short – of very high quality, i.e. with a low error rate. The quantum computer will be integrated into Forschungszentrum Jülich’s supercomputing infrastructure at an early…
High pressure softens the Earth’s crust in subduction zones and can detach it from the plate. Earth’s thin crust softens considerably when it dives down into the Earth attached to a tectonic plate. That is demonstrated by X-ray studies carried out using DESY’s X-ray source PETRA III on a mineral which occurs in large quantities in basaltic crust. This softening can even cause the crust to peel away from the underlying plate, as an international team led by Hauke Marquardt…
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