Our survey of the sky is uncovering the secrets of how planets are born

Our survey of the sky is uncovering the secrets of how planets are born

Discs giving birth to new planets, seen by the Very Large Telescope. Credit: ESO/C. Ginski, A. Garufi, P.-G. Valegård et al. When we look out to the stars, it is typically not a yearning for the distant depths of outer space that drives us. When we are looking out there, we are truly looking back … Read more

Powerful tornadoes roar through US Midwest, killing 3

Powerful tornadoes roar through US Midwest, killing 3

Residents sift through the debris as they clean up after a tornado struck Indian Lake, Ohio on March 15, 2024. Devastating storms pounded three central US states Thursday night, spawning massive tornadoes and claiming at least three lives, officials said Friday. The powerful storms raked through the adjoining states of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. “We … Read more

What is the ‘great replacement theory’? A scholar of race relations explains

What is the ‘great replacement theory’? A scholar of race relations explains

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The “great replacement theory,” whose origins date back to the late 19th century, argues that Jews and some Western elites are conspiring to replace white Americans and Europeans with people of non-European descent, particularly Asians and Africans. The conspiracy evolved from a series of false ideas that, over time, stoked the … Read more

Why do tree frogs lay their eggs on the ground?

Why do tree frogs lay their eggs on the ground?

A tree frog: female (larger individual below) laying eggs, which are protected by the ‘foam nest’ and male (smaller individual above). Credit: Ichioka Yukio When it comes to laying eggs, tree frogs have some unusual habits. Instead of always laying their eggs on tree branches where they usually live, they often lay their eggs on … Read more

Global warming may intensify the modulation of tropical cyclone genesis by summer intraseasonal oscillation

Global warming may intensify the modulation of tropical cyclone genesis by summer intraseasonal oscillation

The modulating effect of the BSISO on tropical cyclone generation and how it has enhanced under global warming. Credit: Zhefan GAO Global warming, the long-term warming of Earth’s overall temperature, has greatly accelerated in the last 100 years due to human factors such as the burning of fossil fuels. Along with this trend, certain atmospheric … Read more

Unlocking the climate secrets of North China with ancient tree rings

Unlocking the climate secrets of North China with ancient tree rings

Overview of the study area. Credit: Journal of Geographical Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1007/s11442-023-2187-6 A study published in the Journal of Geographical Sciences reveals a novel method for reconstructing historical warm season temperatures in North China. Utilizing the blue intensity (BI) of tree rings of Picea meyeri, researchers have developed a 281-year chronology, offering unprecedented insights … Read more

Chiral transmission by an open evolution trajectory in a non-Hermitian system

Chiral transmission by an open evolution trajectory in a non-Hermitian system

Chiral transmission of asymptotic modes and the open evolution trajectory. Credit: Xiaoqian Shu, Qi Zhong, Kai Hong, Oubo You, Jian Wang, Guangwei Hu, Andrea Alù, Shuang Zhang, Demetrios N. Christodoulides & Lin Chen In non-Hermitian systems, two or more eigenvalues and eigenstates of a resonant system coalesce at Exceptional points (EPs). Dynamic encircling of EPs … Read more

Novel host-guest assembly provides enhanced reactivity

Novel host-guest assembly provides enhanced reactivity

In the cavity of a molecular framework of multiple negatively charged metal ions and shared oxygen atoms called a polyoxometalate, researchers successfully fabricated a novel multicomponent cluster comprising positively charged ions of iron and cerium and phosphate. The assembly demonstrates enhanced catalytic activity, according to the researchers. Credit: Polyoxometalates, Tsinghua University Press By design, synthetic … Read more

Revealing environmental exposure to liquid crystal monomers from digital displays

Revealing environmental exposure to liquid crystal monomers from digital displays

by KeAi Communications Co. Innovative detection of LCMs across diverse environments. Credit: Liu, Y., Li, W., Li, Z., Kannan, K. Liquid crystal monomers (LCMs) are synthetic organic chemicals used in manufacturing liquid crystal displays (LCDs) present in numerous digital electronic devices. As the use of digital electronics, such as computers and smartphones, becomes increasingly prevalent, … Read more

Direct laser writing on halide perovskites: From mechanisms to applications

Direct laser writing on halide perovskites: From mechanisms to applications

From mechanisms to applications. Credit: Yuhang Sheng, Xiaoming Wen, Baohua Jia, and Zhixing Gan Metal halide perovskites have become well-deserved “star” materials among a variety of semiconductors owing to their excellent optoelectronic properties, such as high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY), high absorption coefficient, tunable bandgaps, long carrier diffusion lengths, and high defect tolerance, attracting … Read more