Physicists at Leipzig University have once again gained a deeper understanding of the mechanism behind superconductors. This brings the research group led by Professor Jürgen Haase one step closer to their goal of developing the foundations for a theory for superconductors that would allow current to flow without resistance and without energy loss. The researchers found that in superconducting copper-oxygen bonds, called cuprates, there must be a very specific charge distribution between the copper and the oxygen, even under pressure….
Probing galaxies at much greater distances from Earth may now be within reach. How do stars form in distant galaxies? Astronomers have long been trying to answer this question by detecting radio signals emitted by nearby galaxies. However, these signals become weaker the further away a galaxy is from Earth, making it difficult for current radio telescopes to pick up. Now researchers from Montreal and India have captured a radio signal from the most distant galaxy so far at a…
The QUIJOTE experiment is sited at the Teide Observatory (Izaña, Tenerife) and comprises two telescopes, each of 2.25m diameter, which observe the sky in the microwave range (10-40 GHz). Led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) this experiment started observing in 2012. Now, thanks to the data obtained with its multifrequency instrument MFI, which was working until 2018, a team of scientists has presented a set of six articles in the specialized journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical…
UMD-led team developed a miniaturized analyzer that may revolutionize how astrobiology discoveries are made on faraway moons and planets. As space missions delve deeper into the outer solar system, the need for more compact, resource-conserving and accurate analytical tools has become increasingly critical—especially as the hunt for extraterrestrial life and habitable planets or moons continues. A University of Maryland-led team developed a new instrument specifically tailored to the needs of NASA space missions. Their mini laser-sourced analyzer is significantly smaller…
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has imaged the inner workings of a dusty disk surrounding a nearby red dwarf star. These observations represent the first time the previously known disk has been imaged at these infrared wavelengths of light. They also provide clues to the composition of the disk. The star system in question, AU Microscopii or AU Mic, is located 32 light-years away in the southern constellation Microscopium. It’s approximately 23 million years old, meaning that planet formation has…
EPFL researchers have collaborated with those at Harvard and ETH Zurich on a new thin-film circuit that, when connected to a laser beam, produces finely tailorable terahertz-frequency waves. Researchers led by Cristina Benea-Chelmus in the Laboratory of Hybrid Photonics (HYLAB) in EPFL’s School of Engineering have taken a big step toward successfully exploiting the so-called terahertz gap, which lies between about 300-30,000 gigahertz (0.3 to 30 THz) on the electromagnetic spectrum. This range is currently something of a technological dead…
Understanding how dust grains form in interstellar gas could offer significant insights to astronomers and help materials scientists develop useful nanoparticles. Laboratory and rocket-borne studies have revealed new insights into how interstellar dust grains came into being before our solar system formed. The results, published by Hokkaido University researchers and colleagues in Japan and Germany in the journal Science Advances, might also help scientists make nanoparticles with useful applications in more efficient and eco-friendly ways. These ‘presolar’ grains can be…
A team of physicists devise a model that maps a star’s surprising orbit about a supermassive black hole – revealing new information about one of the cosmos’ most extreme environments. Hundreds of millions of light-years away in a distant galaxy, a star orbiting a supermassive black hole is being violently ripped apart under the black hole’s immense gravitational pull. As the star is shredded, its remnants are transformed into a stream of debris that rains back down onto the black…
Seemingly spontaneously coordinated swarm behaviour exhibited by large groups of animals is a fascinating and striking collective phenomenon. Experiments conducted by researchers at Leipzig University on laser-controlled synthetic microswimmers now show that supposed swarm intelligence can sometimes also be the result of simple and generic physical mechanisms. A team of physicists led by Professor Frank Cichos and Professor Klaus Kroy found that swarms of synthetically produced Brownian microswimmers appear to spontaneously decide to orbit their target point instead of heading…
Scientists unveil a unified theory for rocky planet formation. A new theory for how rocky planets form could explain the origin of so-called “super-Earths”—a class of exoplanets a few times more massive than the Earth that are the most abundant type of planet in the galaxy. Further, it could explain why super-Earths within a single planetary system often wind up looking strangely similar in size, as though each system were only capable of producing a single kind of planet. “As…
It’s complicated … Planetary nebulae form when red giant stars expel their outermost layers as they run out of helium fuel — becoming hot, dense white dwarf stars that are roughly the size of Earth. The material that was shed, enriched in carbon, forms dazzling patterns as it is blown gently into the interstellar medium. Most planetary nebulae are roughly circular, but a few have an hourglass or wing-like shape, like the aptly named “Butterfly Nebula.” These shapes are likely…
After several years of operation, the STEREO collaboration published the final results of their antineutrino studies. With their data, the researchers excluded hints for the existence of sterile neutrinos, an additional neutrino state expected in many theories. The result which will appear in the January 11 issue of Nature has important implications for many areas of fundamental physics. In modern particle physics all known elementary particles and their interactions are described in the so-called Standard Model of Particle Physics. The…
Astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) have unveiled a first-of-its-kind map that could help answer decades-old questions about the origins of stars and the influences of magnetic fields in the cosmos. The map reveals the likely magnetic field structure of the Local Bubble — a giant, 1,000-light-year-wide hollow in space surrounding our Sun. Like a hunk of Swiss cheese, our galaxy is full of these so-called superbubbles. The explosive supernova deaths of massive stars blow up these bubbles,…
Researchers confirmed an exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star, using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope for the first time. Formally classified as LHS 475 b, the planet is almost exactly the same size as our own, clocking in at 99% of Earth’s diameter. The research team is led by Kevin Stevenson and Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, both of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The team chose to observe this target with Webb after carefully reviewing targets…
Within the framework of the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat, excitons were generated in a topological insulator for the first time. A breakthrough in quantum research, based on material design from Würzburg. An international team of scientists collaborating within the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat has achieved a breakthrough in quantum research – the first detection of excitons (electrically neutral quasiparticles) in a topological insulator. This discovery paves the way for a new generation of light-driven computer chips and quantum…
The development of new laser systems and optics requires established testing methods for optics to be reviewed and adapted. In the cw-LIDT research project, the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) is working together with LASEROPTIK GmbH and RAYLASE GmbH to be able to reliably examine high-power laser optics. A limiting factor in developing new laser systems is the optical resilience of the components with which the laser radiation is generated and guided. These are necessary to achieve ever higher optical…
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