… could be more common than previously thought. Researchers at SLAC found that oxygen boosts this exotic precipitation, revealing a new path to make nanodiamonds here on Earth. A new study has found that “diamond rain,” a long-hypothesized exotic type of precipitation on ice giant planets, could be more common than previously thought. In an earlier experiment, researchers mimicked the extreme temperatures and pressures found deep inside ice giants Neptune and Uranus and, for the first time, observed diamond rain as…

On Nature Photonics a new research, that shows the unprecedented performances of an extremely thin nonlinear material. A new bidimensional semiconductor shows the highest nonlinear optical efficiency over nanometer thicknesses. This is the result of a new study recently published in Nature Photonics by Xinyi Xu, PhD student of Columbia University, and Chiara Trovatello, postdoctoral research scientist at the Physics Department of Politecnico di Milano, together with Prof. Giulio Cerullo from the Physics Department of Politecnico di Milano, Dmitri N. Basov and…

Quantum materials: entanglement of many atoms discovered for the first time. Be it magnets or superconductors: materials are known for their various properties. However, these properties may change spontaneously under extreme conditions. Researchers at the Technische Universität Dresden (TUD) and the Technische Universität München (TUM) have discovered an entirely new type of such phase transitions. They display the phenomenon of quantum entanglement involving many atoms, which previously has only been observed in the realm of few atoms. The results were…

Linear analysis plays a central role in science and engineering. Even when dealing with nonlinear systems, understanding the linear response is often crucial for gaining insight into the underlying complex dynamics. In recent years, there has been a great interest in studying open systems that exchange energy with a surrounding reservoir. In particular, it has been demonstrated that open systems whose spectra exhibit non-Hermitian singularities called exceptional points can demonstrate a host of intriguing effects with potential applications in building…

EP-WXT Pathfinder, the experimental version of a module that will eventually be part of the wide-field X-ray telescope (WXT) aboard the astronomical satellite Einstein Probe (EP), released its first results Aug. 27 from an earlier test flight. These include an 800-second X-ray time-lapse photograph of a region of the Galactic center, a dense area at the core of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. These mark the first wide-field X-ray snapshots of our universe available to the public so far,…

Qubits are the building blocks of quantum computers, which have the potential to revolutionize many fields of research by solving problems that classical computers can’t. But creating qubits that have the perfect quality necessary for quantum computing can be challenging. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, HRL Laboratories LLC, and University of New South Wales (UNSW) collaborated on a project to better control silicon quantum dot qubits, allowing for higher-quality fabrication and use in wider applications. All three institutions are…

Researchers have discovered a new method for correcting errors in the calculations of quantum computers, potentially clearing a major obstacle to a powerful new realm of computing. In conventional computers, fixing errors is a well-developed field. Every cellphone requires checks and fixes to send and receive data over messy airwaves. Quantum computers offer enormous potential to solve certain complex problems that are impossible for conventional computers, but this power depends on harnessing extremely fleeting behaviors of subatomic particles. These computing…

Technische Universität Ilmenau (Germany) is using Artificial Intelligence to improve the detection and classification of unidentified phenomena in the night sky. The research team of the Group for data-intensive Systems and Visualization collaborated with the American Meteor Society which initiated the AllSky7, an international network of scientists and amateur astronomers that permanently observes the night sky with specially designed cameras and classifies and assigns all events. The work of the team of scientists is part of the TU Ilmenau‘s theme…

Application of Non-Bravais lattices to light control technology. A novel light-manipulating technology has been developed by an international team, including Kyoto University, that can be applied to lasers, sensors, and nonlinear optics. The technique tightly confines near-infrared light within a nanodisk periodic structure. By breaking the symmetry of the periodic square lattice of silicon nanodisks, the team has demonstrated experimentally and computationally their ability to systematically control bound states in the continuum, or BICs. These light distribution states result from…

Simulations show steam kills bacteria on a plate in 25 seconds without soap. Conventional dishwashers often do not kill all the harmful microorganisms left on plates, bowls, and cutlery. They also require long cycle times that use large quantities of electricity, and the soap pumped in and out is released into water sources, polluting the environment. Superheated steam dishwashers could provide a more effective, environmentally friendly solution. In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, researchers from the Technical University of…

Physicists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have managed to entangle more than a dozen photons efficiently and in a defined way. They are thus creating a basis for a new type of quantum computer. In order to effectively use a quantum computer, a larger number of specially prepared – in technical terms: entangled – basic building blocks are needed to carry out computational operations. A team of physicists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in…

Simple simulation accidentally leads to X-shaped galaxy for first time. When astronomers use radio telescopes to gaze into the night sky, they typically see elliptical-shaped galaxies, with twin jets blasting from either side of their central supermassive black hole. But every once in a while — less than 10% of the time — astronomers might spot something special and rare: An X-shaped radio galaxy, with four jets extending far into space. Although these mysterious X-shaped radio galaxies have confounded astrophysicists…

Device speeds up, simplifies image processing for autonomous vehicles and other applications. As any driver knows, accidents can happen in the blink of an eye — so when it comes to the camera system in autonomous vehicles, processing time is critical. The time that it takes for the system to snap an image and deliver the data to the microprocessor for image processing could mean the difference between avoiding an obstacle or getting into a major accident. In-sensor image processing,…

Physicists from TU Delft, ETH Zürich and the University of Tübingen have built a quantum scale heat pump made from particles of light. This device brings scientists closer to the quantum limit of measuring radio frequency signals, useful in for example the hunt for dark matter. Their work will be published as an open-access article in Science Advances on 26 August. If you bring two objects of different temperature, such as putting a warm bottle of white wine into a…

LunaH-Map is designed to find and map water ice at the Moon’s South Pole. The Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map) mission is one of the tiniest NASA planetary science missions but has big science goals. Previous missions and studies have identified the presence of water-ice at the Moon’s poles. However, there are still unanswered questions about how much water-ice is contained within permanently shadowed regions. It is also unknown how much water-ice might be retained at depth throughout illuminated regions…

Improved computer models are needed to build larger wind turbines and to manage wind farms more efficiently. A new research project led by wind physicist Laura Lukassen paves the way for faster innovation – with the help of Artificial Intelligence. Numerical simulation calculations are a crucial tool for planning and operating wind turbines, which are continually growing in size. A new collaborative project led by Prof. Dr. Laura Lukassen, a wind physicist at the University of Oldenburg, aims to improve…