A team of scientists from Ames National Laboratory developed a new machine learning model for discovering critical-element-free permanent magnet materials. The model predicts the Curie temperature of new material combinations. It is an important first step in using artificial intelligence to predict new permanent magnet materials. This model adds to the team’s recently developed capability for discovering thermodynamically stable rare earth materials. High performance magnets are essential for technologies such as wind energy, data storage, electric vehicles, and magnetic refrigeration….

Using NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which launched in 2004, scientists have discovered a black hole in a distant galaxy repeatedly nibbling on a Sun-like star. The object heralds a new era of Swift science made possible by a novel method for analyzing data from the satellite’s X-ray Telescope (XRT). “Swift’s hardware, software, and the skills of its international team have enabled it to adapt to new areas of astrophysics over its lifetime,” said Phil Evans, an astrophysicist at the University…

In a new interdisciplinary project between BTU Cottbus and TU Dresden, researchers are investigating the use of novel enzymes to remove micropollutants from municipal wastewater. Medicines are good for our bodies. However, depending on the type of drug, up to 90 percent of the active ingredient is excreted unchanged and thus ends up in wastewater. Improper disposal of pharmaceutical products in toilets and washbasins also leads to residues that can only be partially intercepted in wastewater treatment plants. The remaining…

Miniature robots to carry out research below the ice. The DLR project line TRIPLE enters its second phase / Joint Project TRIPLE-nanoAUV 2 coordinated by MARUM. The project line TRIPLE, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, is entering its second funding phase. In the research project TRIPLE-nanoAUV 2, which is headquartered at MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, a miniature autonomous vehicle is being developed for sub-ice technology missions….

Microcombs can help us discover planets outside our solar system and track new diseases in our bodies. But current microcombs are inefficient and unable to reach their full potential. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have scored a world first with their solution to make microcombs ten times more efficient. Their breakthrough opens the way to new discoveries in space and healthcare and paves the way for high-performance lasers in a range of other technologies. Laser frequency…

Discovery of oil-forming yeast species boosts hope for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Not all yeasts are created equally. Unlike the yeast used by bakers and beer brewers for converting sugars to carbon dioxide and fermentation, oleaginous yeasts convert sugars from inedible biomass into fats and oils. A research group jointly led by Kyoto University and Ryukoku University has discovered two new species of oil-forming yeast in the soil of Shiga Prefecture. Their study also examines the relationship between the prefecture’s diverse climate…

Seven of the world’s largest mirrors will search the Universe for life beyond Earth. The Giant Magellan Telescope begins the four-year process to fabricate and polish its seventh and final primary mirror, the last required to complete the telescope’s 368 square meter light collecting surface, the world’s largest and most challenging optics ever produced. Together, the mirrors will collect more light than any other telescope in existence, allowing humanity to unlock the secrets of the Universe by providing detailed chemical…

Sensor Technology with Silicon Carbide for Use in Space. When it comes to particularly low-loss semiconductor components and highly efficient power electronics, there is no way around silicon carbide (SiC) today. The wide-bandgap semiconductor material SiC is superior to conventional silicon in many respects and is conquering more and more new areas of application, for example in optoelectronics, sensor technology or solid-state quantum electronics. Even in space, SiC demonstrates its outstanding physical properties: A SiC UV photodiode from the Berlin-based…

Instant evolution: First AI capable of intelligently designing new robots that work in the real world. Inventor of xenobots unveils new advance toward artificial life New AI algorithm compresses billions of years of evolution into seconds The evolved robot has three legs and rear fins, something a human engineer would never devise Researcher: ‘Now anyone can watch evolution in action as AI generates better and better robot bodies in real time.’ A team led by Northwestern University researchers has developed…

A team of researchers has made a breakthrough discovery in the world of Beyond 5G/6G (B5G/6G) signal transmission. Taku Nakajima and Kazuji Suzuki of Nagoya University in Japan, along with their collaborators, created a waveguide made of niobium that speeds up the transition of B5G/6G signals. The frequency of data waves has continued to increase as B5G/6G technologies have been introduced. Although the currently used metal transmission lines can handle B5G/6G, research has focused on superconducting metals, such as niobium,…

Measurement of the g factor of the electron in hydrogen-like tin confirms the standard model of particle physics under extremely high electric field strengths. Quantum electrodynamics is the best-tested theory in physics. It describes all electrical and magnetic interactions of light and matter. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik in Heidelberg (MPIK) have now used precision measurements on their Alphatrap experiment to investigate the magnetic properties of electrons bound to highly ionized tin atoms. Such tests provide insights into the…

… can self-configure to perform various functions. On-chip quadrilateral Mach–Zehnder interferometer network could potentially be used for optical neural network applications. Researchers have developed an easy-to-use optical chip that can configure itself to achieve various functions. The positive real-valued matrix computation they have achieved gives the chip the potential to be used in applications requiring optical neural networks. Optical neural networks can be used for a variety of data-heavy tasks such as image classification, gesture interpretation and speech recognition. Photonic…

Viruses are a threat to all organisms, including plants. A small group of plant stem cells, however, successfully defends itself from infection. Marco Incarbone, now at MPIMP Golm, Gabriele Bradamante and their co-authors at the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology (GMI) uncovered that salicylic acid and RNA interference mediate this antiviral immunity of plant stem cells. The findings were published in PNAS on October 12. Plant viruses threaten the health of their hosts, can spread swiftly and globally,…

In an extensive investigation, EMBL researchers have tested over 10,000 drug combinations against some of the leading pathogenic bacteria carrying antimicrobial resistance and causing mortality. Antimicrobial resistance – occurring when pathogens can survive antibiotic treatment – is one of the most rapidly emerging global public health threats today. According to a 2022 study, nearly five million deaths were associated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in 2019, with over a million deaths per year directly attributable to antimicrobial resistance. In a new study, researchers…

A newly discovered type of electronic behavior could help with packing more data into magnetic memory devices. Ordinary pencil lead holds extraordinary properties when shaved down to layers as thin as an atom. A single, atom-thin sheet of graphite, known as graphene, is just a tiny fraction of the width of a human hair. Under a microscope, the material resembles a chicken-wire of carbon atoms linked in a hexagonal lattice. Despite its waif-like proportions, scientists have found over the years…

An international team has spotted a remote blast of cosmic radio waves lasting less than a millisecond. This ‘fast radio burst’ (FRB) is the most distant ever detected. Its source was pinned down by the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in a galaxy so far away that its light took eight billion years to reach us. The FRB is also one of the most energetic ever observed; in a tiny fraction of a second it released the…

Aalto University researchers will probe the secrets of dark matter using a quantum detector of unprecedented sensitivity. In the pitch dark of the cosmos lurks an invisible kind of matter. Its presence is seen in the rippling ebb and flow of galaxies, but it’s never been directly observed. What secrets lie beneath the surface, brewing in the deep? Physicists have long theorized about the composition of dark matter, which is thought to be five times more abundant than regular matter….

The effect of the phenotypic plasticity of cancer cells and how to exploit it. Cancer cells are notorious for rapidly changing their phenotype, driving within-host spread and evading treatment. Scientists in Plön used a mathematical model to understand the role of a signal used by cancer cells to control their phenotype. By manipulating these signals, cancer cells can be tricked into a less harmful phenotype that is more responsive to treatments. Mathematical oncology is a growing interdisciplinary field of research…

Exquisite, never-before-seen details help unravel the supernova remnant’s puzzling history. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has gazed at the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. Since the recording of this energetic event in 1054 CE by 11th-century astronomers, the Crab Nebula has continued to draw attention and additional study as scientists seek to understand the conditions, behavior, and after-effects of supernovae through thorough study of the Crab, a relatively nearby example. Using Webb’s…

Finding the best material to make solar cells is a colossal task, but a research team at Osaka University has been using robotic systems and AI to make the search faster and more efficient. Solar energy is one of the most promising ways to power the world of the future. However, creating more efficient solar cells requires finding new and better materials. Now, in a study recently published in JACS Au, researchers at Osaka University have unveiled a solution: a…