Exoplanets come in shapes and sizes that are not found in our solar system. These include small gaseous planets called mini-Neptunes and rocky planets several times Earth’s mass called super-Earths. Now, astronomers have identified two different cases of “mini-Neptune” planets that are losing their puffy atmospheres and likely transforming into super-Earths. Radiation from the planets’ stars is stripping away their atmospheres, driving the hot gas to escape like steam from a pot of boiling water. The new findings help paint a…

Study by the University of Bonn and the TU Darmstadt suggests errors in the interpretation of older measurements. A few years ago, a novel measurement technique showed that protons are probably smaller than had been assumed since the 1990s. The discrepancy surprised the scientific community; some researchers even believed that the Standard Model of particle physics would have to be changed. Physicists at the University of Bonn and the Technical University of Darmstadt have now developed a method that allows…

Novel method simulates tens of thousands of bubbles in foamy flows. Bubbles aren’t just for bath time. Bubbles, specifically bubbles in foamy flows, are critical for many industrial processes, including the production of food and cosmetics and drug development and delivery. But the behavior of these foamy flows is notoriously difficult to compute because of the sheer number of bubbles involved. Previous attempts to simulate foamy flows have relied on the time-consuming and computationally expensive process of tracking the bubbles…

When non-uniform force is applied to a material, it exhibits spontaneous electrical polarization induced by a strain gradient. This phenomenon is called flexoelectricity. There is no need to apply an electric field when utilizing this property and therefore, it shows promising device applications in smartphones, generators, and actuators. Recently, a Korean research team has developed a method to control the flexoelectricity of nanometer-sized (one-billionth of a meter) materials by pressing with the AFM tip. A joint team of researchers led…

Astrophysicists including Axel Weiß/MPIfR, have developed a new method of measuring the cosmic microwave background temperature only 880 million years after the Big Bang. It is the first time that the temperature of the radiation has been measured at such an early epoch. The prevailing cosmological model assumes that the Universe has cooled off since the Big Bang. The model also describes how the cooling process should proceed, but so far it has been directly confirmed only for relatively recent…

Making human-machine interaction more efficient and safer with the help of innovative 3D technologies – that was the goal of the “3Dsensation” research alliance. After eight years, the joint project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) with 45 million euros, is now coming to an end. Together, the partners from research, industry and business can look back on groundbreaking developments within the alliance – such as health monitoring for newborns, forgery-proof personal identification or merchandise…

A research team from the University of Jena and the Helmholtz Institute Jena sheds light on the best way to generate high-energy proton radiation using laser-plasma interaction. Proton therapy is a precise and effective treatment for tumours in sensitive areas of the body, such as the brain or the eyes, with the advantage that it spares healthy tissue. In this procedure, protons (positively charged particles) are strongly accelerated and directed with precision into the tumour tissue, which is destroyed in…

Researchers from the University of Basel have succeeded in forming a control loop consisting of two quantum systems separated by a distance of one meter. Within this loop, one quantum system — a vibrating membrane — is cooled by the other — a cloud of atoms, and the two systems are coupled to one another by laser light. Interfaces such as this allow different kinds of quantum systems to interact with one another even over relatively large distances and will…

Scientists discover a ‘super’ current on the perimeter of an exotic material. The Science Scientists recently discovered novel quantum materials whose charge carriers exhibit ‘topological’ features. Charge carriers are particles that transport electrical charges through a material. Topology is the study of the rules behind how shapes behave when they change. For example, a doughnut shape will still have a hole if it changes continuously from round to square or if it is twisted or stretched. Unless we do something…

Scientists uncover a microscopic mechanism that involves atomic vibrations in a quantum material that trap electrons. The Science This research sheds light on the mechanism behind how a special quantum material transitions from an electrical insulator to an electricity-conducting metal. Below a critical temperature, the subject material—lanthanum strontium nickel oxide—acts as an insulator due to the separation of introduced holes from the magnetic regions, forming “stripes.” As the temperature increases, the stripes fluctuate then “melt,” or disappear at 240 Kelvin…

A decade of astronomical research… An International team of astronomers led by researcher Toni Santana-Ros, from the University of Alicante and the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB), has confirmed the existence of the second Earth Trojan asteroid known to date, the 2020 XL5, after a decade of search. The results of the study have been published in the journal Nature Communications. All celestial objects that roam around our solar system feel the gravitational influence of…

Roads are chronically congested and vehicles queue endlessly at junctions. Rush hour is especially bad for long traffic jams. At the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation IOSB, researchers in the institute branch for industrial automation INA in Lemgo are using artificial intelligence for smart traffic light control as part of the “KI4LSA” and “KI4PED” projects. In the future, self-learning algorithms combined with new sensors should ensure better traffic flow and shorter waiting times, while providing improved…

Supported by an NSF Early CAREER Award, John Harter’s research could have far-reaching consequences for quantum technology development. John Harter, an assistant professor of materials at UC Santa Barbara, has received an Early CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the highest honor given by the foundation to junior faculty. He will receive more than $715,000 over five years in support of his cutting-edge research in quantum materials science and educational activities. “Professor John Harter is pursuing leading-edge research…

Recently, the research team led by Prof. XU Guosheng from Institute of Plasma Physics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Sciences demonstrated a novel “two-step” magnet design strategy to design advanced stellarator with standardized permanent magnet blocks and simple coils. The related achievement was published on Cell Reports Physical Science. In the recent two years, permanent magnet was introduced to help simplify the complicated 3D coils of the stellarators and some designs have been proposed. However, the previous magnet…

New method from Clemson University researcher, enabled by Frontera supercomputer, helps explain role of phonons in copper-based superconductivity. Researchers have known about high-temperature superconducting copper-based materials, or cuprates, since the 1980s. Below a certain temperature (approximately -130 degree Celsius), electrical resistance vanishes from these materials and magnetic flux fields are expelled. However, the basis for that superconductivity continues to be debated and explored. “It has been widely accepted that traditional superconductors result from electrons interacting with phonons, where the phonons…

Burning plasma achieved in inertial fusion experiments for the first time. For more than 60 years, scientists have sought to understand and control the process of fusion, a quest to harness the vast amounts of energy released when nuclei in fuel come together. A paper published today in the journal Nature describes recent experiments that have achieved a burning plasma state in fusion, helping steer fusion research closer than it has ever been to its ultimate goal: a self-sustaining, controlled…