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Gamma radiation transforms brittle bioplastic into ‘superstructure’ hydrogel

Biomaterials engineers have created a “superstructure” hydrogel that could be an eco-friendly tool used in medical technologies and as a recovery aid for surgical procedures. The research is published in the journal Macromolecular Rapid Communications.

University of Queensland researcher Cole Walchle discovered the gel material while experimenting on an existing bioplastic and said it was a strong candidate for use in tissue engineering, wound recovery, drug delivery and as a specialty coating or lubricant.

“Crucially, the hydrogel is derived from a bio-derived and biodegradable polymer that—while promising itself—is too brittle to be commercially viable,” said Walchle, a Ph.D. student with UQ’s School of Chemical Engineering.

Simulations cast doubt on unusual asteroid’s ‘dark comet’ status

In 2031, Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft will arrive at the near-Earth asteroid 1998 KY26: a tiny body that is accelerating in a way that astronomers have struggled to explain. Some studies have suggested that the asteroid is pushed along by water escaping from it as gas, making it an as-yet theoretical “dark comet.”

But through new simulations, Korbin Hansen and Masatoshi Hirabayashi at the Georgia Institute of Technology show that the asteroid is far too warm to hold on to ice, pouring cold water on the idea that comet-like accelerations could occur without a visible cloud.

Their findings have been published in Icarus.

Harnessing laser nuisance achieves record resolution for atomic measurements

A shoebox-sized color detection device could enable precise measurements at record resolution, according to new research led by Adelaide University. An international team exploited an integrating sphere—a highly reflective hollow cavity that causes light to bounce around inside many times before exiting—to demonstrate a device that can measure the color (wavelength) composition of light with extreme precision at a resolution of just 6 femtometers.

“For perspective, this is like measuring the exact height of Mount Everest and knowing if someone laid a single strand of human hair on the very top of the peak,” said Gabriel Britto Monteiro, PhD candidate and lead author of the paper published in Nature Communications. “Optical spectrometers matter because they allow us to measure the color (wavelength) composition of light with extreme precision, and light carries information about the physical world.

A spectrometer shows us the ingredients that make up light and how much of each is present. They are used widely in environmental sensing of pollutants, cancer diagnosis and quantum technologies.

Water molecules turn out to be secret messengers for magnetism

Water is not usually thought of as a magnetic material. But a new study led by researchers at Tohoku University’s Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, in collaboration with National Taipei University of Technology (Taipei Tech), has found that tiny shifts in the orientation of water molecules can flip on magnetic partnerships between metal ions that are not even directly bonded to each other.

The discovery offers chemists a surprising new tool: instead of wiring magnetic ions together with strong chemical bonds, they may be able to use something as simple and common as hydrogen bonding to link them up. The work is published in the journal Inorganic Chemistry.

“We found that distant magnetic moments can interact via hydrogen bonding, and these interactions can be controlled by the orientation of water molecules,” said Kazuhiro Nawa, associate professor at Tohoku University’s Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials. “This gives us a chemical route to tune magnetism without directly connecting the magnetic ions through strong bonds.”

By carefully arranging molecules, scientists can control how a material responds to light, heat and physical force

University of Missouri researchers have created a single solid material that responds differently depending on what it’s exposed to. Shine light on it, and it changes from yellow to white, an indication of a chemical reaction. Heat it, and it undergoes a different chemical reaction. Scratch the surface, and it flashes blue.

The discovery, now published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, shows how researchers can build multiple behaviors into a single material by controlling how its molecules are arranged.

“When you look at a solid, you might assume there’s not much going on,” said Kristin Hutchins, an associate professor of chemistry in Mizzou’s College of Arts and Science and a researcher with the MU Materials Science and Engineering Institute. “But at the molecular level, we can build in possibilities that aren’t obvious from the outside.”

Gravitational waves hint at black holes born from failed supernovae

When the most massive stars in the universe die, they often detonate in fiery supernovae, dramatically blasting most of their matter into space. The remaining stellar cores collapse into neutron stars and, sometimes, black holes. However, theories suggest that some massive stars might die without a bang, instead directly collapsing inward to become neutron stars or black holes.

Now, a new Caltech-led study using data from the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA network of gravitational-wave observatories finds hints of a distinct population of black holes that may have formed from such failed supernovae. While the study did not find direct evidence for failed supernovae, it does show that previous gravitational-wave observations match what theorists had predicted for such a population.

LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, which consists of detectors in Louisiana and Washington, made history in 2015 with the first direct detection of gravitational waves, or ripples in space-time, from a pair of colliding black holes. Since then, the Virgo detector in Italy and the Kamioka Gravitational-wave Detector (KAGRA) in Japan have joined together in one network that has spotted more than 300 black hole collisions.

AI-generated molecular fingerprints help identify existing compounds with therapeutic potential

Health care researchers have long sought to harness the power of computing to design molecules that bind to specific receptors and can be used as targeted treatments for diseases. Even with the increasing sophistication of artificial intelligence, however, this technological promise has yet to be realized.

Junmei Wang, professor of pharmaceutical sciences in the School of Pharmacy, is tackling the problem from a different perspective.

In a paper published Oct. 28 in the journal Science Advances, Wang outlined Full-Spectrum Generative Lead Discovery (FSGLD), a novel, practical and reusable framework that takes advantage of generative AI to screen for existing compounds with potential for therapeutic development.

How a Single Missing Atom Can Leave a Secret Fingerprint in Laser Light

Researchers have uncovered subtle optical signatures that could help distinguish atomic defects in a promising quantum material.

An atomic defect too small to see could leave a recognizable signature in laser light, giving scientists a new way to identify structures that may be useful for quantum technology. Researchers at the University at Buffalo have predicted how different atomic imperfections alter the optical behavior of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), a material made of boron and nitrogen atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern.

Using computer simulations, the team examined 10 types of defects, including missing boron or nitrogen atoms and sites where carbon atoms had taken their place. Some defects were predicted to dramatically increase the light produced at twice or even three times the frequency of an incoming laser. The strength of these signals depended on the light’s polarization, which describes the orientation of its electric field.

An Ancient Virus May Hold the Secret to What Makes the Human Brain Different

Could a virus that infected chimpanzees millions of years ago help explain how the human brain became different?

Researchers at Lund University have discovered that ancient viral DNA embedded in the chimpanzee genome silences a gene involved in early human brain development. Their study, published in Science Advances, found that the gene, LINC00662, remains active in human brain organoids, where it helps support the development of nerve cells and the connections between them.

The finding offers a way to explore how humans and chimpanzees developed different biological traits despite sharing much of their genetic makeup. Evolution can change how existing genes are used, as well as which genes a species carries.