physics

This illustration demonstrates how atomic configurations with an equiatomic concentration of niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta) and vanadium (V) can become disordered. The AI model helps researchers identify potential atomic configurations that can be used as shielding for housing fusion applications components in a nuclear reactor. Credit: Massimiliano Lupo Pasini / ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy … Read more

Transmission electron micrograph of a new material sporting wavy layers of atoms. Credit: Checkelsky Lab, MIT MIT physicists and colleagues have created a new material with unusual superconducting and metallic properties, thanks to wavy layers of atoms only billionths of a meter thick that repeat themselves over and over to create a macroscopic sample that … Read more

This picture taken by LOFAR shows Porphyrion, with the galaxy hosting the supermassive black hole in the centre. The largest blob-like structure near the centre is a separate smaller jet system. The relative size of our Milky Way galaxy is indicated in the lower-right corner. Credit: LOFAR Collaboration / Martijn Oei (Caltech) The largest known … Read more

Phosphate starvation induced catechin biosynthetic gene expression and production accumulation. Credit: Horticulture Research (2024). DOI: 10.1093/hr/uhae178 Catechins, the key active components in tea, are known for their protective effects against conditions like diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. However, their biosynthesis is highly sensitive to environmental factors, particularly phosphate (Pi) availability, which is often scarce in … Read more

Credit: CC0 Public Domain The beliefs we hold develop from a complex dance between our internal and external lives. Our personal-level cognition and our relationships with others work in concert to shape our views of the world and influence how likely we are to update those views when we encounter new information. In the past, … Read more

Microbial contribution to the tree of life and to global living biomass. Credit: Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.07.051 The tiniest and oldest creatures on—and in—Earth have a huge role in achieving a sustainable future for the planet, an international team of scientists, including faculty researchers from The Ohio State University, asserts in a new Cell article … Read more

Sofie Björklund has been studying PFAS substances in her doctoral project in collaboration with Umeå Energi. Credit: Mattias Pettersson PFAS, often called “forever chemicals,” present in municipal solid waste can survive the high temperatures of waste incineration and continue to spread into the environment via residues from waste-to-energy plants. A new doctoral thesis from Sofie … Read more

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The university sector in Aotearoa New Zealand is at a tipping point due to chronic underfunding, shifting enrollments and increasing costs from inflation. In response, the government has established two working groups to assess the health of the sector and provide recommendations for the future. Meanwhile, universities find themselves increasingly beholden … Read more

Illustration of the preferential binding of heavy hydrogen (blue) to light hydrogen (white) at the metal centre, activated by the binding of a water molecule (oxygen red, hydrogen white). Credit: Leipzig University The lightest of all elements, hydrogen, is in great demand due to its promising role as a sustainable resource in the energy transition. … Read more

Broadband light curve of WD1032+011 generated by integrating each individual spectroscopic observation. Credit: French et al., 2024. Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), astronomers have performed spectrophotometric observations of an eclipsing white dwarf–brown dwarf binary known as WD1032+011. Results of their observational campaign, published September 10 on the preprint server arXiv, yield important information regarding … Read more