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Blog – Page 15

Researchers have made a significant step in the study of a new class of high-temperature superconductors: creating superconductors that work at room pressure. That advance lays the groundwork for deeper exploration of these materials, bringing us closer to real-world applications such as lossless power grids and advanced quantum technologies.

Superconductivity, the ability of certain materials to conduct electricity with zero resistance, typically occurs at extremely low temperatures, or in some cases, under high pressures. For decades, researchers have focused on a class of materials called cuprates, known for their ability to achieve superconductivity at relatively high temperatures.

About five years ago, a team of researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University discovered superconductivity in nickelates, materials chemically similar to cuprates—and last summer, another group of researchers reported superconductivity in a new class of nickel oxides at temperatures comparable to cuprates.

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The study of ‘starquakes’ (like earthquakes, but in stars) promises to give us important new insights into the properties of neutron stars (the collapsed remnants of massive stars), according to new research led by the University of Bath in the UK.

Such explorations have the potential to challenge our current approaches to studying , with important impacts for the future of both nuclear physics and astronomy. Longer term, there may also be implications in the fields of health, security and energy.

The value of studying asteroseismology—as these vibrations and flares are known—has emerged from research carried out by an international team of physicists that includes Dr. David Tsang and Dr. Duncan Neill from the Department of Physics at Bath, along with colleagues from Texas A&M and the University of Ohio.

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In a milestone that brings quantum computing tangibly closer to large-scale practical use, scientists at Oxford University Physics have demonstrated the first instance of distributed quantum computing.

Using a photonic network interface, they successfully linked two separate quantum processors to form a single, fully connected quantum computer, paving the way to tackling computational challenges previously out of reach. The results were published on 5 Feb in Nature.

The breakthrough addresses quantum’s ‘scalability problem’: a quantum computer powerful enough to be industry-disrupting would have to be capable of processing millions of qubits. Packing all these processors in a single device, however, would require a machine of an immense size.

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Collaboration can be a beautiful thing, especially when people work together to create something new. Take, for example, a longstanding collaboration between Arka Majumdar, a University of Washington (UW) professor of electrical and computer engineering and physics, and Felix Heide, an assistant professor of computer science at Princeton University.

Together, they and their students have produced some eye-popping research, including shrinking a camera down to the size of a grain of salt while still capturing crisp, clear images.

Now, the pair is building on this work, publishing a paper in Science Advances that describes a new kind of compact camera engineered for computer vision—a type of artificial intelligence that allows computers to recognize objects in images and video.

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Superconducting materials are similar to the carpool lane in a congested interstate. Like commuters who ride together, electrons that pair up can bypass the regular traffic, moving through the material with zero friction.

But just as with carpools, how easily can flow depends on a number of conditions, including the density of pairs that are moving through the material. This “superfluid stiffness,” or the ease with which a current of electron pairs can flow, is a key measure of a material’s superconductivity.

Physicists at MIT and Harvard University have now directly measured superfluid stiffness for the first time in “magic-angle” graphene—materials that are made from two or more atomically thin sheets of graphene twisted with respect to each other at just the right angle to enable a host of exceptional properties, including unconventional superconductivity.

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New research shows that meteoroid impacts on Mars.

Mars is the second smallest planet in our solar system and the fourth planet from the sun. It is a dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere. Iron oxide is prevalent in Mars’ surface resulting in its reddish color and its nickname “The Red Planet.” Mars’ name comes from the Roman god of war.

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Researchers have discovered a method to induce chirality in non-chiral materials using terahertz.

Terahertz radiation refers to the electromagnetic waves that occupy the frequency range between microwaves and infrared light, typically from about 0.1 to 10 terahertz (THz). This region of the electromagnetic spectrum is notable for its potential applications across a wide variety of fields, including imaging, telecommunications, and spectroscopy. Terahertz waves can penetrate non-conducting materials such as clothing, paper, and wood, making them particularly useful for security screening and non-destructive testing. In spectroscopy, they can be used to study the molecular composition of substances, as many molecules exhibit unique absorption signatures in the terahertz range.

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Scientists are using tiny QR codes to track honey bee movements and gather groundbreaking insights into their foraging habits.

By monitoring thousands of bees, researchers have discovered that while most trips outside the hive are brief, some bees venture out for hours. This technology could revolutionize organic beekeeping by refining foraging range estimates and improving certification standards.

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Researchers introduce an innovative device that combines light emission and color control with clay compounds, offering a versatile solution for multifunctional displays.

The field of display technology is on the verge of a major breakthrough, driven by the growing interest in electrochemical stimuli-responsive materials. These materials can undergo rapid electrochemical reactions in response to external stimuli, such as low voltage.

A key advantage of these reactions is their ability to produce different colors almost instantly, paving the way for next-generation display solutions. An electrochemical system consists of electrodes and electrolytes, and researchers have found that integrating luminescent and coloration molecules directly onto the electrodes—rather than within the electrolyte—can significantly enhance efficiency and stability in display devices.

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For decades, fusion researchers struggled with neutron isotropy, a key indicator of scalable plasma.

Plasma is one of the four fundamental states of matter, along with solid, liquid, and gas. It is an ionized gas consisting of positive ions and free electrons. It was first described by chemist Irving Langmuir in the 1920s.

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