news

Study by the Universities of Bonn and St. Andrews proposes a solution to one of the great mysteries of cosmology The universe is expanding. How fast it does so is described by the so-called Hubble-Lemaitre constant. But there is a dispute about how big this constant actually is: Different measurement methods provide contradictory values.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology More stable clocks could measure quantum phenomena, including the presence of dark matter. The practice of keeping time hinges on stable oscillations. In a grandfather clock, the length of a second is marked by a single swing of the pendulum. In a digital watch, the vibrations of a quartz crystal mark much smaller fractions of time.

Formaldehyde can inhibit enzymes that produce hydrogen particularly efficiently. Researchers from Bochum have discovered how this can be prevented. Enzymes from microorganisms can produce hydrogen (H2) under certain conditions, which makes them potential biocatalysts for biobased H2 technologies. In order to make this hydrogen production efficient, researchers are trying to identify and eliminate possible limiting factors.

Theoretical predictions of quantum field theory confirmed experimentally for the first time Innsbruck scientists led by Peter Zoller have developed a new tool for determining entanglement in many-particle systems and demonstrated it in an experiment. The method enables investigations of previously inaccessible physical phenomena and can contribute to a better understanding of quantum materials.

Scientists led by Peter Zoller have developed a new tool for the measurement of entanglement in many-body systems and demonstrated it in experiments. The method enables the study of previously inaccessible physical phenomena and could contribute to a better understanding of quantum materials. The work has now been published in Nature .

Computing with a combination of light and chargeless excitons could beat heat losses and more, but excitons need new modes of transport Study: Enhanced Exciton-Drift Transport through Suppressed Diffusion in One-Dimensional Guides (DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c04870) A new kind of "wire- for moving excitons, developed at the University of Michigan, could help enable a new class of devices, perhaps including room temperature quantum computers.

Publication of the Chemistry Laboratory in the journal ACS Catalysis on November 9, 2023. Communication of CNRS Chemistry on November 27, 2023. Producing dihydrogen by electrolysis of water requires rare and therefore expensive catalysts. They could be replaced by another molybdenum-based catalyst, much more abundant but currently less efficient.

In the search for new particles and forces in nature, physicists are on the hunt for behaviors within atoms and molecules that are forbidden by the tried-and-true Standard Model of particle physics. Any deviations from this model could indicate what physicists affectionately refer to as "new physics." Caltech assistant professor of physics Nick Hutzler and his group are in pursuit of specific kinds of deviations that would help solve the mystery of why there is so much matter in our universe.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Core-shell structures made of hydrogel could enable more efficient uptake in the body. Many of the most promising new pharmaceuticals coming along in the drug development pathway are hydrophobic by nature - that is, they repel water, and are thus hard to dissolve in order to make them available to the body.

The work demonstrates control over key properties leading to better performance. MIT researchers and colleagues have demonstrated a way to precisely control the size, composition, and other properties of nanoparticles key to the reactions involved in a variety of clean energy and environmental technologies.

What happens when electric current flows through a "strange metal"- TU Wien (Vienna) and Rice University (Texas) show: The established picture of electrons and "quasi-electrons" collapses. At first glance, it all sounds so simple: there are electrons in a cable, and when we apply a voltage, the electrons dash from one side of the cable to the other, and an electric current flows.

A heat shock protein protects the cells against protein clumping. It degrades, however, over longer treatment periods. Plasmas are used, for example, in wound treatment against pathogens that are resistant to antibiotics. However, bacteria can defend themselves: They employ a heat shock protein that protects them.

Geophysicists at ETH Zurich have shown that every single wave of a magnitude 3.9 earthquake registers in the noise suppression system of fibre-optic networks.

Plasmas can provide the co-substrate needed for biocatalysis of valuable substances, but are also harmful to enzymes. By attaching enzymes to small beads the enzymes are protected and remain active up to 44 times longer. Some enzymes, such as the one derived from fungi and investigated in this study, are able to produce valuable substances such as the fragrance (R)-1-phenylethanol.

It is becoming increasingly possible to carry out calculations with quantum computers. However, calculations by TU Wien show that there are fundamental limits - namely the quality of the clock used . There are different ideas on how to build quantum computers. But they all have one thing in common: you use a quantum physical system - for example individual atoms - and change their state by exposing them to very specific forces for a very specific time.

It is becoming increasingly easier to carry out calculations with quantum computers. However, calculations show that there are fundamental limits - namely the quality of the clock used. There are different ideas about how quantum computers could be built. But they all have one thing in common: you use a quantum physical system - for example individual atoms - and change their state by exposing them to very specific forces for a specific time.

Quantum scientists, including Nigel Hussey of Radboud University, have discovered a rare phenomenon that could hold the key to creating a 'perfect switch' in quantum devices which flips between being an insulator and superconductor. The research, published in Science , found these two opposing electronic states exist within purple bronze, a unique one-dimensional metal composed of individual conducting chains of atoms.

For the first time, researchers at TU Wien have successfully observed the operating principle of so-called promoters in a catalytic reaction in real-time. These promoters play an important role in technology, but so far there is only limited understanding of how they work. Catalysts are essential for numerous chemical technologies, ranging from exhaust gas purification to the production of valuable chemicals and energy carriers.

A team of researchers from the University of Potsdam and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) has developed a measuring method to analyze soil samples with neutrons and X-rays and create 3D tomographies from them: This makes it possible for the first time to precisely localize microplastics in the soil.

The core-mantle boundary (CMB) is the interface between the earth's iron metal core and the thick rocky layer of mantle just above the core. It is a world of extremes-temperatures thousands of degrees Fahrenheit and pressures over a million times the pressure at the surface of the Earth. While it may seem far away from our environment on Earth's surface, plumes of material from the CMB can ascend upwards through the planet over tens of millions of years, influencing the chemistry, geologic structure, and plate tectonics of the surface world where we live.