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Analysis of organic compounds—called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)—extracted from the Ryugu asteroid and Murchison meteorite has found that certain PAHs likely formed in the cold areas of space between stars rather than in hot regions near stars as was previously thought. The findings open new possibilities for studying life beyond Earth and the chemistry of objects in space. […]
A palm-sized propulsion option for future space missions: Each one of these seven emitter arrays etched onto this silicon wafer using micro- and nano-technology possesses more than 500 pinhole-sized emitters that spray out ions, accelerated via an electrostatic field to maximize thrust. […]
Neutron stars are the end products of massive stars and gather together a large part of the original stellar mass in a super-dense star with a diameter of only around ten kilometers. On 17 August 2017, researchers observed the manifold signatures of an explosive merger of two orbiting neutron stars for the first time: gravitational waves and enormous bursts of radiation, including a gamma-ray burst. […]
Computer-generated holography (CGH) represents a cutting-edge technology that employs computer algorithms to dynamically reconstruct virtual objects. This technology has found extensive applications across diverse fields such as three-dimensional display, optical information storage and processing, entertainment, and encryption. […]
As object identification and three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction techniques become essential in various reverse engineering, artificial intelligence, medical diagnosis, and industrial production fields, there is an increasing focus on seeking vastly efficient, faster speed, and more integrated methods that can simplify processing. […]
The search for and development of efficient terahertz (THz) sources is one of the major scientific goals of the 21st century. The THz region of the electromagnetic spectrum is composed of light frequencies in between the infrared and the microwave bands and accounts for one of the last scarcely explored regions of light—there are not many strong and efficient sources and detectors currently available for the THz frequency range. […]
Researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME), Argonne National Laboratory, and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia have developed a new computational tool to describe how the atoms within quantum materials behave when they absorb and emit light. […]
Conventional computer processors have pretty much maxed out their “clock speeds”—a measurement of how fast they can toggle on and off—due to the limitations of electronic switching. Scientists looking to improve computer processors have become intrigued by the potential of all-optical switching, which uses light instead of electricity to control how data is processed and stored on a chip. […]
Though Saturn’s unusual-looking “cup handle” features were first noted by Galileo in 1610, it would be another 45 years before they were described by Christiaan Huygens as a disk surrounding Saturn. Subsequently, ground-based telescopes could only distinguish four unique concentric rings, labeled A, B, C, and D. […]
A microscopic shock wave has been photographed passing through a single biological cell, thanks to a new photography technique. Nanosecond photography uses ultrafast electronic cameras to take images at the speed of a billionth of a second. However, image quality and exposure time are typically limited. […]
A pancake stack of radioactivity-sensitive films carried through the sky by a balloon was able to take the world’s most accurate picture of a neutron star’s gamma ray beam. To achieve this, Kobe University researchers combined the oldest method of capturing radioactive radiation with the newest data capturing techniques and a clever time-recording device. […]
In November 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope observed a massive cluster of galaxies named MACS J0138.0-2155. Through an effect called gravitational lensing, first predicted by Albert Einstein, a distant galaxy named MRG-M0138 appears warped by the powerful gravity of the intervening galaxy cluster. In addition to warping and magnifying the distant galaxy, the gravitational lensing effect caused by MACS J0138 produces five different images of MRG-M0138. […]
Researchers from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have designed Slater-Pauling (S-P) Heusler materials with a unique structure resembling a Rubik’s cube. These materials exhibit semiconductor-like properties and have potential in thermoelectric applications. […]
When you uncork a bottle of champagne, complex supersonic phenomena occur. Scientists at TU Wien have now been able to calculate exactly what happens for the first time. […]
The race to develop quantum computers has really heated up over the past few years. State-of-the-art systems can now run simple algorithms using dozens of qubits—or quantum bits—which are the building blocks of quantum computers. […]
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