UVEX: NASA’s new UV space telescope with ISTA fingerprint to launch in 2030. The next NASA space telescope to survey the ultraviolet sky has the fingerprint of an astronomer from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). Assistant Professor Ylva Götberg is part of a large international collaboration that will study how galaxies and stars evolve, and create a community resource dataset of the entire sky. Götberg discusses the science behind the new telescope and the growing field of…

Physicists in Konstanz (Germany) have discovered a way to imprint a previously unseen geometrical form of chirality onto electrons. The electrons are shaped into chiral coils of mass and charge. Have you ever placed the palm of your left hand on the back of your right hand, in such a way that all fingers point in the same direction? If you have, then you probably know that your left thumb will not touch its right counterpart. Neither rotations nor translations…

Superconductivity is a fascinating phenomenon, which allows a material to sustain an electrical current without any loss. This collective quantum behavior of matter only appears in certain conductors at temperatures far below ambient. A number of modern studies have investigated this behavior in so-called non-equilibrium states, that is in situations in which the material is pushed away from thermal equilibrium. In these conditions, it appears that at least some of the features of superconductivity can be recreated even at ambient…

In a study published online in Nature, a research team led by Prof. PAN Jianwei, Prof. CHEN Yuao, and Prof. YAO Xingcan from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has, for the first time, observed the antiferromagnetic phase transition within a large-scale quantum simulator of the fermionic Hubbard model (FHM). This study highlights the advantages of quantum simulation. It marks an important first step towards obtaining the low-temperature phase diagram of…

A international team of astronomers led by Université de Montréal has made an exciting discovery about the temperate exoplanet LHS 1140 b: it could be a promising “super-Earth” covered in ice or water. When the exoplanet LHS 1140 b was first discovered, astronomers speculated that it might be a mini-Neptune: an essentially gaseous planet, but very small in size compared to Neptune. But after analyzing data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) collected in December 2023 – combined with…

Recently, the team led by Prof. WANG Rujing and WANG Liusan from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, established a Learnable Full-frequency Transformer Dual Generative Adversarial Network (LFT-DGAN) to address the issue of underwater image quality degradation caused by various interferences. The research results were published in Frontiers in Marine Science. Underwater image enhancement technology aims to optimize the quality of underwater images and meet the diverse needs of marine scientific research, underwater robots and…

According to research published in Energy Storage Materials recently, a team led by Prof. HU Linhua from Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed a general principle through evaluating the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level of molecules and employed it as a critical descriptor to select non-sacrificial anionic surfactant electrolyte additives for stabilizing Zn anodes, realizing sustainable regulation effect with inhibited Zn dendrite growth and side-reactions. “That means the anionic surfactant electrolyte additive sodium dodecyl benzene…

Scientists have made a significant breakthrough in creating a new method for transmitting quantum information using particles of light called qudits. These qudits promise a future quantum internet that is both secure and powerful. Traditionally, quantum information is encoded on qubits, which can exist in a state of 0, 1, or both at the same time (superposition). This quality makes them ideal for complex calculations but limits the amount of data they can carry in communication. Conversely, qudits can encode…

Physicists use magnetic fields to manipulate bacterial behaviour. Researchers at Finland’s Aalto University have found a way to use magnets to line up bacteria as they swim. The approach offers more than just a way to nudge bacteria into order – it also provides a useful tool for a wide range of research, such as work on complex materials, phase transitions and condensed matter physics. Bacterial cells generally aren’t magnetic, so the magnets don’t directly interact with the bacteria. Instead,…

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. To perform quantum computations, quantum bits (qubits) must be cooled down to temperatures in the millikelvin range (close to -273 Celsius), to slow down atomic motion and minimize noise. However, the electronics used to manage these quantum circuits generate heat, which is difficult…

One of the challenges of cramming smarter and more powerful electronics into ever-shrinking devices is developing the tools and techniques to analyze the materials that make them up with increasingly intimate precision. Physicists at Michigan State University have taken a long-awaited step on that front with an approach that combines high-resolution microscopy with ultrafast lasers. The technique, described in the journal Nature Photonics, enables researchers to spot misfit atoms in semiconductors with unparalleled precision. Semiconductor physics labels these atoms as…

One of the greatest mysteries of science could be one step closer to being solved. Approximately 80% of the matter in the universe is dark, meaning that it cannot be seen. In fact, dark matter is passing through us constantly – possibly at a rate of trillions of particles per second. We know it exists because we can see the effects of its gravity, but experiments to date have so far failed to detect it. Taking advantage of the most…

Researchers at the Paul-Drude-Institute for Solid State Electronics (PDI) have discovered a novel modulation regime in semiconductor-based lasers, characterized by “acceleration beats.” This regime allows coherent manipulation of quantum systems using modulation periods longer than the coherence time if the modulation amplitude is large enough. Unlike the adiabatic and non-adiabatic regimes, it shows the impact of extreme modulation amplitudes on coherence. The effect has potential applications in high-frequency spectral features and quantum control protocols, with implications for cosmic and high-energy…

A new NMR spectrometer has been in operation at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) since the end of May. What makes it special is that it is based on a new type of ceramic high-temperature superconductor. Peter Schmieder, head of the NMR technology platform at the FMP, explains the technology behind it and the capabilities of the new device. The first NMR spectrometer was to be installed in the basement, says Peter Schmieder. However, magnets of this magnitude have…

A team from the University of Würzburg is developing an AI-based attitude control system that will allow satellites to maneuver autonomously. The new technology will be tested in space. At the heart of the new attitude controller is an artificial intelligence that is being trained on the ground and will later be able to change the satellite’s attitude in orbit on its own. It is being developed by two computer science departments at the University of Würzburg (JMU) using a…

First quantum communication link in Lower Saxony established. Researchers from Leibniz Universität Hannover (LUH), Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig, and the University of Stuttgart have implemented a new method for secure communication using semiconductor quantum dots. This advancement could revolutionize how confidential information can be protected from cyber threats. Conventional encryption methods rely on complex mathematical algorithms and the limits of current computing power. However, with the rise of quantum computers, these methods are becoming increasingly vulnerable, necessitating quantum key…