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Researchers developed a theoretical model that predicts a substantial increase in the brightness of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) by leveraging novel quantum states called polaritons. Integrating polaritons into OLEDs effectively requires the discovery of new materials, making practical implementation an exciting challenge.

OLED technology has become a common light source in a variety of high-end display devices, such as smartphones, laptops, TVs or smart watches.

While OLEDs are rapidly reshaping lighting applications with their flexibility and eco-friendliness, they can be quite slow at converting electric current into light, with only a 25% probability in emitting photons efficiently and rapidly. The latter is an important condition for boosting the brightness of OLEDs, which tend to be dimmer than other light technologies.

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Quantum light sources are fickle. They can flicker like stars in the night sky and can fade out like a dying flashlight. However, newly published research from the University of Oklahoma proves that adding a covering to one of these light sources, called a colloidal quantum dot, can cause them to shine without faltering, opening the door to new, affordable quantum possibilities. The findings are available in Nature Communications.

Quantum dots, or QDs, are so small that if you scaled up a single quantum dot to the size of a baseball, a baseball would be the size of the moon. QDs are used in a variety of products, from computer monitors and LEDs to and biomedical engineering devices. They are also used in and communication.

A research study led by OU Assistant Professor Yitong Dong demonstrates that adding a crystalized molecular layer to QDs made of perovskite neutralizes surface defects and stabilizes the surface lattices. Doing so prevents them from darkening or blinking.

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You may recognize graphite as the “lead” in a pencil, but besides helping you take notes or fill in countless bubbles on exam answer sheets, it is helping scientists grapple with the secrets of superconductivity.

Superconductivity happens when an electric current is transmitted through wires without the loss of any energy in the form of heat or resistance. Superconducting materials have the potential to revolutionize many aspects of our daily lives, from improving the electrical grid to making more powerful computers.

However, generally requires very low temperatures, so low they may become impractical, and the exact mechanisms of superconductivity are not well understood for many .

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Experiments coupling light and sound reveal the surprising effect that measuring nothing can cool the vibrations of an object.

We use measurements to understand the world around us. With our eyes and ears, we constantly infer the state of our surroundings through the sights and sounds that reach us, allowing us to navigate our daily lives. While these “measurements” often focus on observing the presence of something, the absence of something also provides valuable information.

Researchers spanning Imperial College London, the University of Oxford, the University of Waterloo, the University of Leeds, and the University of Copenhagen have used the absence of scattered light to cool the motion of a tiny glass bead below room temperature.

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General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) recently announced that it has successfully completed a series of key tests at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). These tests are a major step forward in developing Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) technology, which could enable faster and more efficient transportation for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Conducted in collaboration with NASA, the tests evaluated whether GA-EMS’s specially designed nuclear fuel can withstand the extreme conditions required for space travel.

Advancing Deep Space Travel

“The recent testing results represent a critical milestone in the successful demonstration of fuel design for NTP reactors,” said Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “Fuel must survive extremely high temperatures and the hot hydrogen gas environment that an NTP reactor operating in space would typically encounter. We’re very encouraged by the positive test results proving the fuel can survive these operational conditions, moving us closer to realizing the potential of safe, reliable nuclear thermal propulsion for cislunar and deep space missions.”

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NASA and SpaceX Adjust Launch Schedule

NASA and SpaceX are now targeting Friday, February 28, for the launch of the SPHEREx and PUNCH missions, with liftoff scheduled no earlier than 10:09 p.m. EST

EST is an abbreviation for Eastern Standard Time, the time zone for the eastern coast of the United States and Canada when observing standard time (autumn/winter). It is five hours behind Coordinated Universal Time. New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, and the Kennedy Space Center are in the Eastern Time Zone (ET).

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Swimming robots are essential for mapping pollution, studying aquatic ecosystems, and monitoring water quality in sensitive areas such as coral reefs and lake shores. However, many existing models rely on noisy propellers that can disturb or even harm wildlife. Additionally, navigating these environments is challenging due to natural obstacles like plants, animals, and debris.

To address these issues, researchers from the Soft Transducers Lab and the Unsteady Flow Diagnostics Laboratory at EPFL’s School of Engineering, in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, have developed a compact, highly maneuverable swimming robot. Smaller than a credit card and weighing just six grams, this agile robot can navigate tight spaces and carry payloads significantly heavier than itself. Its design makes it particularly suited for confined environments such as rice fields or for inspecting waterborne machinery. The study has been published in Science Robotics.

“In 2020, our team demonstrated autonomous insect-scale crawling robots, but making untethered ultra-thin robots for aquatic environments is a whole new challenge,” says EPFL Soft Transducers Lab head Herbert Shea. “We had to start from scratch, developing more powerful soft actuators, new undulating locomotion strategies, and compact high-voltage electronics”

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Researchers from HSE University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have identified 15 core motives that drive human behavior. By examining individuals’ perspectives, preferences, and actions through an evolutionary framework, they revealed how these motives interact to shape personal habits and social relationships. Their findings are published in Personality and Individual Differences.

Psychologists have long sought to understand what drives human behavior, employing various theories to analyze underlying motivations. One of the most well-known models is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, introduced in the mid-20th century. However, while many approaches emphasize the social aspects of motivation, they often overlook its evolutionary foundations.

A group of researchers at HSE University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine proposed analyzing human behavior motives from an evolutionary perspective. In the proposed framework, all motives are viewed as evolutionary adaptations that enhanced early humans’ ability to survive in their environment and continue to influence behavior today. The scientists proceed from the premise that if certain evolutionary mechanisms once triggered specific behaviors, the underlying motives can be identified using standard psychometric techniques.

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A new AI-driven tool allows scientists to analyze vast amounts of LIGO

LIGO, or the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. There are two LIGO observatories in the United States—one in Hanford, Washington, and the other in Livingston, Louisiana. These observatories use laser interferometry to measure the minute ripples in spacetime caused by passing gravitational waves from cosmic events, such as the collisions of black holes or neutron stars.

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