Over the past decades, computer scientists have developed increasingly advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems that perform well on various tasks, including the analysis or generation of images, videos, audio recordings and texts. These systems power various highly performing software, including automated transcription apps, large language model (LLM)-powered conversational agents like ChatGPT, and various other platforms.
One of the biggest problems facing modern microelectronics is that computer chips can no longer be made arbitrarily smaller and more efficient. Materials used to date, such as copper, are reaching their limits because their resistivity increases dramatically when they become too small. Chiral materials could provide a solution here. These materials behave like left and right hands: they look almost identical and are mirror images of each other, but cannot be made to match.
“It is assumed that the resistivity in some chiral materials remains constant or even decreases as the chiral material becomes smaller. That is why we are working on using electronic chirality to develop materials for a new generation of microchips that are faster, more energy-efficient and more robust than today’s technologies,” says Professor Niels Schröter from the Institute of Physics at MLU. Until now, however, it has been difficult to produce thin layers of these materials without the left-and right-handed areas canceling each other out in their effects.
This is precisely where the new study, in which the Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics in Halle was also involved, comes in. “For the first time, we have found materials that are not yet chiral themselves. However, they have the potential to be converted into electronically chiral materials with only a single-handedness through targeted distortion. These achiral materials can serve as so-called parent materials for engineering chiral conductors with reduced resistivity,” explains Schröter.
In this way, and almost by chance, researchers at TU Wien developed a novel microscopy technique that allows the refractive index of biological samples to be measured at a resolution far below what conventional light microscopy theory would seem to allow. Their paper is published in the journal ACS Nano.
The trick behind resolution beyond the wavelength of light
What happens if you try to image two molecules whose separation is smaller than the wavelength of light? You will not see two distinct points, but a single blurred spot of light—the images of the two molecules overlap, no matter how precise the microscope is.
Mid- and far-infrared birefringent crystals are key functional materials for polarization control, laser technologies, and infrared photonics. However, existing materials generally suffer from limited infrared transparency, an intrinsic trade-off between large birefringence and wide transmission windows, and challenges in optical characterization due to restricted crystal dimensions.
Nanoplastics already raise fears because people can ingest them directly. Now scientists say these tiny particles can create a different kind of danger when they end up in water: they can help bacteria become tougher and harder to remove.
A study in Water Research led by Virginia Tech’s Jingqiu Liao, working with international collaborators, found that nanoplastics can influence how environmental microbes behave in ways that may indirectly affect human health. The concern is not just what the particles might do in the body, but what they might encourage in the water systems people rely on every day.
“It is very important to better understand the adverse effects of the nanoplastics on human health, and not just in humans but also in the environment, which indirectly influences human health,” said Liao, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. “The nanoplastics can make the antimicrobial-resistant pathogens better survive, which could be harmful to the environment and would have public health implications.”
Earthquake sensors are giving scientists a new way to track space junk as it falls back to Earth.
The idea of a fully connected digital world is quickly becoming real through the Internet of Things (IoT). This expanding network includes physical devices such as small sensors, autonomous vehicles, and industrial machines that collect and exchange data online.
Protecting this data from tampering is essential, which has led engineers to explore blockchain as a security solution. Although blockchain is widely known for its role in cryptocurrencies, its core function is as a decentralized digital ledger. Instead of data being controlled by a single organization, information is shared and maintained across many computers.