Researchers at TU Berlin are developing an innovative production process that uses lunar regolith to create solar cells for a future lunar base. The construction of a lunar base as a starting point for further space exploration and future Mars missions is one of the core elements of current international space strategies. Key to this is providing a power supply that is as self-sufficient as possible. The German Space Agency at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is now funding the…

In an era where understanding and manipulating light at the nanoscale is increasingly crucial, a groundbreaking paper in Nature: Light Science & Applications reveals a significant leap forward. A team of scientists from the Institut Langevin, ESPCI Paris, PSL University, CNRS have developed a sophisticated method to measure the enhancement of light interaction at the nanoscale using single molecules as probes. Central to this research are dielectric gap nanoantennas—developed and fabricated at the Imperial College London. Such structures are made…

New theoretical analysis places the likelihood of massive neutron stars hiding cores of deconfined quark matter between 80 and 90 percent. The result was reached through massive supercomputer runs utilizing Bayesian statistical inference. Neutron-star cores contain matter at the highest densities reached in our present-day Universe, with as much as two solar masses of matter compressed inside a sphere of 25 km in diameter. These astrophysical objects can indeed be thought of as giant atomic nuclei, with gravity compressing their…

Researchers at the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Physics with colleagues from Stanford University and Oklahoma State University have introduced a quantum-inspired phase imaging method based on light intensity correlation measurements that is robust to phase noise. The results of the research have been published in the prestigious journal “Science Advances”. The new imaging method can operate even with extremely dim illumination and can prove useful in emerging applications such as in infrared and X-ray interferometric imaging and quantum and…

This whirling image features a bright spiral galaxy known as MCG-01-24-014, which is located about 275 million light-years from Earth. In addition to being a well-defined spiral galaxy, MCG-01-24-014 has an extremely energetic core known as an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and is categorized as a Type-2 Seyfert galaxy. Seyfert galaxies, along with quasars, host one of the most common subclasses of AGN. While the precise categorization of AGNs is nuanced, Seyfert galaxies tend to be relatively nearby and their central AGN does not outshine…

For the first time, an instrument to find planets light years away was used on an object in the Solar System, in a study on Jupiter’s winds. We find ourselves at a time when it has become almost commonplace to discover planets orbiting another star, with more than 5,000 already registered. The first distant worlds to incorporate this list were mainly giant planets, similar to but also very different in many ways from Jupiter and Saturn. Astrophysicists have already begun…

MAIUS-2 mission launched with FBH laser modules on board. The MAIUS-2 mission rocket was launched into space on December 2, 2023 from Kiruna, Sweden. On board the sounding rocket 75 experiments were scheduled in which compounds of so-called Bose-Einstein condensates, based on rubidium and potassium atoms, are investigated. The findings will be evaluated over the next few months. Laser modules developed and manufactured by the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut play an important role in controlling and manipulating the atoms under extreme conditions. Payload…

This photo of Saturn was taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on October 22, 2023, when the ringed planet was approximately 850 million miles from Earth. Hubble’s ultra-sharp vision reveals a phenomenon called ring spokes. Saturn’s spokes are transient features that rotate along with the rings. Their ghostly appearance only persists for two or three rotations around Saturn. During active periods, freshly-formed spokes continuously add to the pattern. In 1981, NASA’s Voyager 2 first photographed the ring spokes. NASA’s Cassini orbiter also saw the spokes during…

Magnetism occurs depending on how electrons behave. For example, the elementary particles can generate an electric current with their charge and thereby induce a magnetic field. However, magnetism can also arise through the collective alignment of the magnetic moments (spins) in a material. What has not been possible until now, however, is to continuously change the type of magnetism in a crystal. An international research team led by TU Wien professor Andrej Pustogow has now succeeded in doing just that:…

Revolutionizing transistor technology… Fabrication of a gallium nitride transistor using a diamond substrate that has twice the heat dissipation properties in comparison to silicon carbide. Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University are proving that diamonds are so much more than just a girl’s best friend. Their groundbreaking research focuses on gallium nitride (GaN) transistors, which are high-power, high-frequency semiconductor devices used in mobile data and satellite communication systems. With the increasing miniaturization of semiconductor devices, problems arise such as increases in…

How up-to-date are such permanently connected IoT devices? By 2023, billions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices found their way into almost every area of life, industry and critical infrastructures. As these permanently connected smart devices process very sensitive data, their up-to-dateness is essential – especially in times of hacker attacks, data misuse or industrial espionage. In this context, a new Fraunhofer ISI study analysed data of 52 billion devices, their geographical location – and whether their installed firmware is…

Kaiserslautern physicists in the team of Professor Dr. Herwig Ott have succeeded for the first time in directly observing pure trilobite Rydberg molecules. Particularly interesting is that these molecules have a very peculiar shape, which is reminiscent of trilobite fossils. At the same time, they have the largest electric dipole moments of any molecule known so far. The researchers used a dedicated apparatus, which is capable to prepare these fragile molecules at ultralow temperatures. The results are important to understand…

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently trained its sights on unusual and enigmatic Uranus, an ice giant that spins on its side. Webb captured this dynamic world with rings, moons, storms, and other atmospheric features – including a seasonal polar cap. The image expands upon a two-color version released earlier this year, adding additional wavelength coverage for a more detailed look. With its exquisite sensitivity, Webb captured Uranus’ dim inner and outer rings, including the elusive Zeta ring – the…

Fabrication method could facilitate materials discovery. Superconductors have intrigued physicists for decades. But these materials, which allow the perfect, lossless flow of electrons, usually only exhibit this quantum-mechanical peculiarity at temperatures so low – a few degrees above absolute zero – as to render them impractical. A research team led by Harvard Professor of Physics and Applied Physics Philip Kim has demonstrated a new strategy for making and manipulating a widely studied class of higher-temperature superconductors, called cuprates, clearing a…

…with implications for next-gen electronic devices. Research appearing in ACS Nano, a premier journal on nanoscience and nanotechnology, reveals the ballistic movement of electrons in graphene in real time. The observations, made at the University of Kansas’ Ultrafast Laser Lab, could lead to breakthroughs in governing electrons in semiconductors, fundamental components in most information and energy technology. “Generally, electron movement is interrupted by collisions with other particles in solids,” said lead author Ryan Scott, a doctoral student in KU’s Department of Physics & Astronomy….

Materials with enhanced thermal conductivity are critical for the development of advanced devices to support applications in communications, clean energy and aerospace. But in order to engineer materials with this property, scientists need to understand how phonons, or quantum units of the vibration of atoms, behave in a particular substance. “Phonons are quite important for studying new materials because they govern several material properties such as thermal conductivity and carrier properties,” said Fuyang Tay, a graduate student in applied physics working…