Science news

Researchers synthesize high-energy-density cubic gauche nitrogen at atmospheric pressure. Credit: Wang Xianlong A research group led by Prof. Wang Xianlong from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has successfully synthesized high-energy-density materials cubic gauche nitrogen (cg-N) at atmospheric pressure by treating potassium azide (KN3) using the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor … Read more

About two million years after the formation of the Solar System, the first carbonaceous chondrites made of dust, chondrules, early condensates and iron-nickel grains agglomerated outside the orbit of the still young Jupiter. About two million years later, the CI chondrites were formed by photoevaporation. They incorporated a particularly large number of iron-nickel grains. Credit: … Read more

Intracellular H2 S accumulation regulates iron uptake activity via YgaV and is crucial for antibiotic resistance in E. coli. Credit: Tokyo Institute of Technology Antibiotic resistance and oxidative stress response are important biological mechanisms that help bacteria thrive, especially pathogenic bacteria like Escherichia coli. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a chemical messenger molecule, regulates several intracellular activities … Read more

Graphical summary of the coupling of environmental and digital policies. Credit: Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space (2024). DOI: 10.1177/25148486241258046 The European Green Deal is a package of political initiatives to ensure that the EU reaches climate neutrality by 2050. Faced with this challenge, the parallel goals of the green and digital transitions are … Read more

A strong light pulse in the terahertz range separates charged luminous trions into individual electrons and neutral excitons. Credit: Giuseppe Meneghini Extremely thin materials consisting of just a few atomic layers promise applications for electronics and quantum technologies. An international team led by TU Dresden has now made remarkable progress with an experiment conducted at … Read more

Electrically tunable nonlinear polaritonic metasurface for THG. Credit: Light: Science & Applications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41377-024-01517-y A recent study has unveiled a transformative nonlinear optical metasurface technology. This new technology, characterized by structures smaller than the wavelength of light, paves the way for significant advancements in next-generation communication technologies, including quantum light sources and medical diagnostic … Read more

Stepwise assembly of the 20S proteasome is mediated by multiple chaperone interactions. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52513-0 Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys have developed a clearer picture of how crucial machinery in the human cell’s recycling process for obsolete and misshapen proteins—known as proteasomes—are formed. “Proteasomes are absolutely essential for health,” said Jianhua Zhao, … Read more

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Earth will capture a miniature, “second moon” this week, according to NASA scientists. The new moon is actually a tiny asteroid dubbed 2024 PT5. It will start orbiting the planet in a horseshoe path and stick around for a little less than two months before escaping Earth’s gravitational pull and going … Read more

The Amazon River in Leticia, Colombia. The Amazon River has seen its levels in Colombia reduced by as much as 90 percent, a government agency said Thursday, as South America faces a severe and widespread drought. The river—the world’s biggest by volume and which also flows through parts of Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, … Read more

Flow chart outlining the determination of flood generating mechanisms for each flood event. Mechanisms include: Snowmelt (Melt), rain‐on‐snow (ROS), short‐duration, high‐intensity rain with different soil antecedent moisture conditions (AMC): dry (SR− ), normal (SR), wet (SR+), and long‐duration, lower‐intensity rain classified by AMC: dry (LR− ), normal (LR), and wet (LR+). Credit: Earth’s Future (2024). … Read more