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Physics - Materials Science - 01.12.2022

Detecting defects in semiconductors at the atomic level
Modern solar cells work with thin layers of semiconductors that convert sunlight into electrical energy. The key to increasing their efficiency even further lies in the composition and structure of the material. Due to the way the material is manufactured, it can have defects that have a disruptive effect.

Physics - Health - 01.12.2022

From Qubits to Potential Cancer Treatments: Laser Upgrade Opens New Research Possibilities
Things are looking brighter than ever at the Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA) Center run by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. A recently completed upgrade will expand the center's capabilities into new areas, including studies of particle acceleration, extremely hot plasmas, cancer treatment techniques, and materials for quantum science.

Physics - Environment - 01.12.2022

A sustainable path for energy-demanding photochemistry
Researchers in Mainz and Kyushu established a novel strategy for the generation of highly energetic UV light Many photochemical processes rely on UV light from inefficient or toxic light sources that the LED technology cannot replace for technical reasons. An international team of scientists led by Professor Christoph Kerzig of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany and Professor Nobuhiro Yanai of Kyushu University in Japan has now developed the first molecular system for the conversion of blue light into high-energy UV photons with wavelengths below 315 nanometers.

Physics - Chemistry - 01.12.2022

New method for "capturing" changes in chemical bonds due to electronic dynamics
An international collaboration involving the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) has succeeded in bringing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to the femtosecond time scale. This advance, published in Nature Communications , will not only make it possible to investigate the effects on chemical bonds due to the movements of atomic nuclei, but also those caused by electronic dynamics.

Physics - Computer Science - 01.12.2022

Quantum computing to observe entanglement
Researchers at the Center for Theoretical Physics lead work on testing quantum gravity on a quantum processor. For the first time, researchers at MIT, Caltech, Harvard University, and elsewhere sent quantum information across a quantum system in what could be understood as traversing a wormhole. Though this experiment didn't create a disruption of physical space and time in the way we might understand the term "wormhole" from science fiction, calculations from the experiment showed that qubits traveled from one system of entangled particles to another in a model of gravity.

Physics - 01.12.2022

What causes some icicles to form with ripples
Experimental physicists at the University of Toronto are closer to understanding why some icicles form with ripples up and down their outsides, while others form with smooth, slick, even surfaces. By growing icicles from water samples with different contaminants like sodium chloride (salt), dextrose (sugar) and fluorescent dye, the researchers discovered that water impurities become entrapped within icicles as they form and subsequently create chevron patterns that contribute to a ripple effect around their circumferences.

Physics - Innovation - 01.12.2022

Photonics chip allows light amplification
Scientists at EPFL have developed photonic integrated circuits that demonstrated a new principle of light amplification on a silicon chip. It can be employed for optical signals like those used in Lidar, trans-oceanic fiber amplifiers or in data center telecommunications. The ability to achieve quantum-limited amplification of optical signals contained in optical fibers is arguably among the most important technological advances that are underlying our modern information society.

Life Sciences - Physics - 30.11.2022

The junction is the key
Researchers decrypt transport dynamics of porous media What laws govern how chemicals pass through filters? How do droplets of oil move through layers of stone? How do blood cells travel through a living organism? A team of researchers led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) has discovered how pore space geometry impacts transport of substances through fluids.

Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 30.11.2022

Mysteriously bright flash is a black hole jet pointing straight toward Earth, astronomers say
Astronomers have determined the source of an incredibly bright X-ray, optical and radio signal appearing from halfway across the Universe. The signal, named AT 2022cmc, was discovered earlier this year by the Zwicky Transient Facility in California. Findings published today in Nature Astronomy, suggest that it is likely from a jet of matter, streaking out from a supermassive black hole at close to the speed of light.

Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 29.11.2022

Small asteroids are probably young
The impact experiment conducted on the asteroid Ryugu by the Japanese Hayabusa2 mission which took place two years ago resulted in an unexpectedly large crater. With the use of simulations, a team led by the University of Bern and the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS has recently succeeded in gaining new insights from the experiment regarding the formation and development of asteroids.

Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 28.11.2022

Deepest look yet into the heart of a quasar
International team observes innermost structure of quasar 3C 273 At the core of almost every galaxy is a supermassive black hole. But there are many different types. Quasars, for example, are one of the brightest and most active types of galaxy centres. An international group, including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, presents new observations of the first quasar ever identified.

Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 28.11.2022

Non-detection of key signal allows astronomers to determine what the first galaxies were - and weren’t - like
Researchers have been able to make some key determinations about the first galaxies to exist, in one of the first astrophysical studies of the period in the early Universe when the first stars and galaxies formed, known as the cosmic dawn.

Physics - Chemistry - 28.11.2022

How to fire projectiles through materials without breaking anything
When charged particles are being shot through ultra-thin layers of material, sometimes spectacular micro-explosions occur, sometimes the material remains almost intact. This has now been explained at the TU Wien. It sounds a bit like a magic trick: Some materials can be shot through with fast, electrically charged ions without exhibiting holes afterwards.

Physics - Innovation - 28.11.2022

New device can control light at unprecedented speeds
Researchers have developed a programmable optical device for high-speed beam steering. In a scene from "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope," R2D2 projects a three-dimensional hologram of Princess Leia making a desperate plea for help. That scene, filmed more than 45 years ago, involved a bit of movie magic - even today, we don't have the technology to create such realistic and dynamic holograms.

Physics - Computer Science - 24.11.2022

Quantum sound connects future quantum devices
Physicists from the Gröblacher lab at TU Delft have built a device that can link different quantum devices and qubits to each other. This device, a silicon chip with vibrations traveling through it, functions as a network between quantum devices. This marks the first time that scientists are able to store as many qubits as they'd like within a very compact area on this type of chip.

Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 24.11.2022

Catching the dynamic Coronal Web
Researchers discover an important clue as to what mechanism drives the solar wind Using observational data from the U.S. weather satellites GOES, a team of researchers led by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany has taken an important step toward unlocking one of the Sun-s most persevering secrets: How does our star launch the particles constituting the solar wind into space? The data provide a unique view of a key region in the solar corona to which researchers have had little access so far.

Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 24.11.2022

Shock waves trigger black holes’ powerful jets
Powerful jets of material released by black holes are accelerated far into space by shock waves within the jets, an international collaboration involving UCL researchers has found. The study, published in Nature , helps to solve a decades-old mystery about how these jets are produced. The research team was able to rule out alternative causes of the jets - such as magnetic reconnection - and, out of a number of theoretical models of how the particles in the jets are accelerated, showed that just one model was correct.

Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 23.11.2022

A sharp look into the nucleus of a quasar
International team observes the innermost structure of the jet of 3C 273 At the core of almost every galaxy is a supermassive black hole. But there are many different types. Quasars, for example, are one of the brightest and most active varieties of galactic centers. An international group, including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, presents new observations of the first quasar ever identified.

Physics - Innovation - 23.11.2022

They manage to acoustically control individual photons integrated into a chip for quantum technologies applications
An international research team in which the Institute of Materials Science of the University of Valencia (ICMUV) participates has managed to control individual photons integrated into a chip with great precision aiming at applications in quantum acoustic technologies or integrated photonic networks.

Physics - Materials Science - 23.11.2022

Electron pairing in quantum dots as new approach to qubit research
Publication in Nature demonstrates promising method towards building the foundation for a future quantum computer. Scientists from QuTech and Eindhoven University of Technology have taken a next step in qubit research. Qubits are one of the building blocks of a future quantum computer. The researchers - including Sasa Gazibegovic, Ghada Badawy and Erik Bakkers from TU/e - have published their results in Nature on 23 November 2022.