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First-principles simulations reveal quantum entanglement in molecular polariton dynamics

This is what fun looks like for a particular set of theoretical chemists driven to solve extremely difficult problems: Deciding whether the electromagnetic fields in molecular polaritons should be treated classically or quantum mechanically.

Graduate student Millan Welman of the Hammes-Schiffer Group is first author on a new paper that presents a hierarchy of first principles simulations of the dynamics of molecular polaritons. The research is published in the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation.

Originally 67 pages long, the paper is dense with von Neumann equations and power spectra. It explores dynamics on both electronic and vibrational energy scales. It makes use of time-dependent density functional theory (DFT) in both its conventional and nuclear-electronic orbital (NEO) forms. It spans semiclassical, mean-field-quantum, and full-quantum approaches to simulate dynamics.

The sound of crying babies makes our faces hotter, according to new research

Hearing a baby cry can trigger a range of responses in adults, such as sympathy, anxiety and a strong urge to help. However, new research suggests that a deeper physical reaction is also occurring. A baby’s cry, particularly if it is in pain or distress, makes our faces physically warmer.

Since they can’t speak yet, babies cry to communicate their needs, whether they’re in pain or want some attention. When a baby is in distress, they forcefully contract their ribcage, which produces high-pressure air that causes their vocal cords to vibrate chaotically. This produces complex disharmonious sounds known as nonlinear phenomena (NLP).

To study how adults respond to crying babies, scientists played 23 different recordings to 41 men and women with little to no experience with young infants. At the same time, a thermal infrared imaging camera measured subtle changes to their facial temperatures. A rise in temperature in this part of the body is governed by the , a network of nerves that controls unconscious processes such as breathing and digestion. After each cry, the participants rated whether the baby was in discomfort or in pain.

Porous radical organic framework improves lithium-sulfur batteries

A team led by Prof. Yan Lu, HZB, and Prof. Arne Thomas, Technical University of Berlin, has developed a material that enhances the capacity and stability of lithium-sulfur batteries. The material is based on polymers that form a framework with open pores (known as radical-cationic covalent organic frameworks or COFs). Catalytically accelerated reactions take place in these pores, firmly trapping polysulfides, which would shorten the battery life.

Some of the experimental analyses were conducted at the BAMline at BESSY II. The research is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Crystalline framework structures made of organic polymers are a particularly interesting class of materials. They are characterized by their high porosity, comparable to a sponge, but with pores measuring only a few micrometers at most. These materials can exhibit special functionalities, which make them interesting for certain applications in electrochemical energy storage devices.

Atomic ‘CT scan’ reveals how gallium boosts fuel cell catalyst durability

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have long been hailed as the future of clean mobility: cars that emit nothing but water while delivering high efficiency and power density. Yet a stubborn obstacle remains. The heart of the fuel cell, the platinum-based catalyst, is both expensive and prone to degradation. Over time, the catalyst deteriorates during operation, forcing frequent replacements and keeping hydrogen vehicles costly.

Understanding why and how these catalysts degrade at the atomic level is a longstanding challenge in catalysis research. Without this knowledge, designing truly durable and affordable fuel cells for mass adoption remains out of reach.

Now, a team led by Professor Yongsoo Yang of the Department of Physics at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), in collaboration with Professor Eun-Ae Cho of KAIST’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, researchers at Stanford University and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has successfully tracked the three-dimensional change of individual atoms inside fuel cell catalysts during thousands of operating cycles. The results provide unprecedented insight into the atomic-scale degradation mechanisms of platinum-nickel (PtNi) catalysts, and demonstrate how gallium (Ga) doping dramatically improves both their performance and durability.

Ultrafast infrared light pulses trigger rapid ‘breathing’ in thin film

Cornell Engineering researchers have demonstrated that, by zapping a synthetic thin film with ultrafast pulses of low-frequency infrared light, they can cause its lattice to atomically expand and contract billions of times per second—strain-driven “breathing” that could potentially be harnessed to quickly switch a material’s electronic, magnetic or optical properties on and off.

The research was published in Physical Review Letters. The paper’s co-lead authors are former postdoctoral researcher Jakob Gollwitzer and doctoral student Jeffrey Kaaret.

Stretching and squishing a material to induce strain is a common method to manipulate its properties, but using light for that purpose has been less studied, according to Nicole Benedek, associate professor of materials science and engineering, who co-led the project with Andrej Singer, associate professor of materials science and engineering in Cornell Engineering.

New neutrino detector in China is coming online

Neutrinos are one of the most enigmatic particles in the standard model. The main reason is that they’re so hard to detect. Despite the fact that 400 trillion of them created in the sun are passing through a person’s body every second, they rarely interact with normal matter, making understanding anything about them difficult. To help solve their mysteries, a new neutrino detector in China recently started collecting data, and hopes to provide insight on between forty and sixty neutrinos a day for the next ten years.

The detector, known as the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory, or JUNO, is located in between two huge nuclear plants at Yangjian and Taishan. Both of those fission plants create their own artificial neutrinos in addition to the ones created by the sun, meaning the general area should be awash with barely interacting particles.

That’s despite the fact that, like most , it’s located underground. 700 meters underground, in fact. The physical bulk of Earth’s crust is meant to block most other particles, like muons, from getting to it, and at other installations, like IceCube, it does a pretty good job.

6 Browser-Based Attacks Security Teams Need to Prepare For Right Now

Attacks that target users in their web browsers have seen an unprecedented rise in recent years. In this article, we’ll explore what a “browser-based attack” is, and why they’re proving to be so effective.

What is a browser-based attack?

First, it’s important to establish what a browser-based attack is.

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