Here's a novel pathway to a more sustainable planet: carbo-loading for the public good. In a new study published in Nature Synthesis, chemists at Yale and the University of California-Berkeley have developed a two-step process that removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and converts it into carbohydrates, aka sugars.
Imagine computer hardware that is blazing fast and stores more data in less space. That's the promise of antiferromagnets, magnetic materials that do not interfere with each other and can switch states at high speed, opening the door to advanced computing and quantum applications.
Light and matter can remain at separate temperatures even while interacting with each other for long periods, according to new research that could help scale up an emerging quantum computing approach in which photons and atoms play a central role.
A new CIIMAR study demonstrates that natural peptides produced by cyanobacteria are capable of replacing toxic biocides that dominate the market for anti-fouling paints used in the maritime industry. The use of these peptides as an active component brings direct benefits to the environment, the blue economy and marine biodiversity.
A six-year analysis of marine microbes in coastal California waters has overturned long-held assumptions about how the ocean's smallest organisms interact.
Nearly three decades ago, scientists found that a pair of molecules in rye pollen exhibited an unusual ability to slow tumor growth in animal models of cancer. But progress stalled for one seemingly simple reason: No one knew exactly what the molecules looked like.
In a recent paper, SFI Professor David Wolpert, SFI Fractal Faculty member Carlo Rovelli, and physicist Jordan Scharnhorst examine a longstanding, paradoxical thought experiment in statistical physics and cosmology known as the "Boltzmann brain" hypothesis—the possibility that our memories, perceptions, and observations could arise from random fluctuations in entropy rather than reflecting the universe's actual past. The work is published in the journal Entropy.
A new type of catalyst that uses five times less platinum than usual could help make hydrogen production more affordable in the future.
The interaction of silver materials with light is well-known as the basis of film photography. But, there are much more sophisticated interactions when we consider very, very small particles of silver that could have applications in a wide range of technologies.
Alicja Ostrowska's doctoral thesis "Life and AI at NASA" examines how artificial intelligence is transforming the way science is conducted within some of the world's most ambitious space projects. The study investigates how AI is used in NASA's missions exploring the conditions for present or past life on other planets and moons and what this means for how knowledge is produced. The research is based on fieldwork with scientists and engineers at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Astronomers have long sought evidence to explain why comets at the outskirts of our own solar system contain crystalline silicates, since crystals require intense heat to form and these "dirty snowballs" spend most of their time in the ultracold Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud. Now, looking outside our solar system, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has returned the first conclusive evidence that links how those conditions are possible.
Psychological safety—the belief that it is safe to speak up with concerns, questions or mistakes—is widely recognized as essential for organizational learning, innovation and workplace safety.
A remarkable prehistoric hammer made from elephant bone, dating back nearly half a million years ago, has been uncovered in southern England and analyzed by archaeologists from UCL and the Natural History Museum, London.
In the Kenyan savanna, lions and livestock essentially live in shifts: Cattle graze during the day and are enclosed at night when lions are active.
So-called forever chemicals or PFAS compounds are a growing environmental problem. An innovative approach to treating PFAS‐contaminated water and soil now comes from accelerator physics: high‐energy electrons can break down PFAS molecules into harmless components through a process called radiolysis.
A nanostructure made of silver and an atomically thin semiconductor layer can be turned into an ultrafast switching mirror device that may function as an optical transistor—with a switching speed around 10,000 times faster than an electronic transistor.
Ammonia is an essential chemical used across many industries worldwide. Beyond its traditional role as a fertilizer, it is also a promising liquid hydrogen carrier and low-carbon fuel that could help reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Organoids are three-dimensional miniature models of organs, grown in a dish. They have become a valuable tool for studying human development, organ regeneration, function, and disease progression. Organoids derived from patient tissues or created through cell and genetic engineering allow researchers to investigate how specific proteins or their variants affect these processes.
Starchy residue preserved in ancient stone tools may rewrite the story of crop domestication in the American Southwest, according to research led by the University of Utah.
Researchers have deciphered the diet of an important nomadic people in Eastern European history. By analyzing dental calculus, they have provided the first direct evidence that the diet of the Scythians included milk from various ruminants and horses.
We now have direct images of two supermassive black holes: M87* and Sag A*. The fact that we can capture such images is remarkable, but they might be the only black holes we can observe. That is, unless we take radio astronomy to a whole new level.
A team of researchers led by the University of Warwick has developed the first unified framework for detecting "spacetime fluctuations"—tiny, random distortions in the fabric of spacetime that appear in many attempts to unite quantum physics and gravity.
Can a small lump of metal be in a quantum state that extends over distant locations? A research team at the University of Vienna answers this question with a resounding yes. In the journal Nature, physicists from the University of Vienna and the University of Duisburg-Essen show that even massive nanoparticles consisting of thousands of sodium atoms follow the rules of quantum mechanics. The experiment is currently one of the best tests of quantum mechanics on a macroscopic scale.
It's one of astronomy's great mysteries: how did black holes get so big, so massive, so quickly. An answer to this cosmic conundrum has now been provided by researchers at Ireland's Maynooth University (MU) and reported today in Nature Astronomy.
Baby pictures are some of a family's most cherished artifacts. The same thing can be said of the Hubble Space Telescope and the infant stars it immortalizes in its scientific portraits. But while we know how babies are conceived and how they form in great detail, the same can't be said for star formation.
