How do neutrons interact with reactor materials?

Many applications rely on global theoretical models of how neutrons interact with nuclei over a wide range of incident neutron energies. These applications range from energy production to homeland security to medical treatments. Scientists develop these models by comparing calculations with experimental data. Excellent agreement between data and theory indicates that the interaction between the neutron and the material is well understood. This process helps scientists gain confidence in their understanding of the nuclear force, and it helps engineers develop safer and more efficient reactors and scanners.

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Enzymatic reactions: Researchers reveal a regulatory mechanism by which life controls and organizes itself

Inside cells, molecular droplets form defined compartments for chemical reactions. Not only sticky interactions between molecules, but also dynamic reactions can form such droplets, as was found by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) and the University of Oxford. They revealed a new regulatory mechanism by which life controls and organizes itself.

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'Kagome' metallic crystal adds new spin to electronics

A multinational team of researchers, co-led by a City University of Hong Kong (CityU) physicist, has found that a novel metallic crystal displays unusual electronic behavior on its surface, thanks to the crystal's unique atomic structure. Their findings open up the possibility of using this material to develop faster and smaller microelectronic devices.

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Scientists discover exotic quantum state at room temperature

For the first time, physicists have observed novel quantum effects in a topological insulator at room temperature. This breakthrough, published as the cover article of the October issue of Nature Materials, came when Princeton scientists explored a topological material based on the element bismuth.

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Spintronics: A new tool at BESSY II for chirality investigations

Information on complex magnetic structures is crucial to understand and develop spintronic materials. Now, a new instrument named ALICE II is available at BESSY II. It allows magnetic X-ray scattering in reciprocal space using a new large area detector. A team at HZB and Technical University Munich has demonstrated the performance of ALICE II by analyzing helical and conical magnetic states of an archetypal single crystal skyrmion host. ALICE II is now available for guest users at BESSY II.

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Controlled bouncing, evaporation and transport of droplets on a liquid-repellent surface

The research team from Hunan University has proposed a facile and industrially applicable method to fabricate an extreme wettability surface on an Al-based superhydrophobic surface by a composite process of electrochemical mask etching and micro-milling, and achieved the controlled evaporation, directional bouncing and transport of droplets on this surface over a wide temperature range for the first time.

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Robotic insect toys build undergraduate research skills in physics

Although the sudden switch to remote and hybrid learning was seen as an enormous challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic, academic and commercial interest in creative online lab class development has since skyrocketed.

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Physicists discover new isotope actinium-204

A research team at the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), together with their collaborators, have recently synthesized a new isotope, actinium-204, which is the lightest actinium isotope so far discovered and the fourth actinium isotope beyond the proton-drip line. The study has been published in Physics Letters B.

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Study reveals a broken symmetry in the roughness of elastic interfaces

A large class of problems in non-equilibrium statistical physics deal with driven dynamics of elastic interfaces in random media. Examples include stress-driven propagation of crack fronts in disordered solids, motion of domain walls driven by applied magnetic fields in disordered ferromagnets, and dynamics of fluid fronts invading a porous medium—for example, when coffee spilled on the table is absorbed by the tablecloth.

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Emerging technologies to improve thermometry reliability

In a recent paper co-authored by researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Research Council of Canada and Graham Machin, National Physical Laboratory Senior Fellow, the research team presented an overview of emerging thermometry technologies. Although some of these are in an early stage of development, they have the potential to provide reliable (and indeed traceable) temperatures in the measurement setting. The research was published in Measurement Science and Technology.

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Like an invisible pair of tweezers, sound waves can levitate tiny objects in the air

While DIY acoustic levitation kits can be found online, the technique has important applications for research and industry including manipulating sensitive material such as biological cells.

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New research suggests our brains use quantum computation

Scientists from Trinity College Dublin believe our brains could use quantum computation. Their discovery comes after they adapted an idea developed to prove the existence of quantum gravity to explore the human brain and its workings.

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Modifying water's structure as a low-energy method for removing pollutants

Fresh water is a finite resource vulnerable to contamination.

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Ultra-precise quantum thermometer to measure temperatures of space and time

An international team of scientists including experts from the University of Adelaide has designed a quantum thermometer to measure the ultra-cold temperatures of space and time predicted by Einstein and the laws of quantum mechanics.

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Machine learning takes hold in nuclear physics

Scientists have begun turning to new tools offered by machine learning to help save time and money. In the past several years, nuclear physics has seen a flurry of machine learning projects come online, with many papers published on the subject. Now, 18 authors from 11 institutions summarize this explosion of artificial intelligence-aided work in "Machine Learning in Nuclear Physics," a paper recently published in Reviews of Modern Physics.

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Physicists revisit and analyze the claims made by a 'sexist' senior scientist

The year was 2018 and physicist Fariba Karimi remembers feeling appalled and disgusted by the remarks made by a prominent male scientist during a presentation at CERN, the European nuclear research center in Geneva. "It was just unbelievable," recalls Karimi, who leads a team in computational social science at the Complexity Science Hub Vienna (CSH).

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Physicists probe 'astonishing' morphing properties of honeycomb-like material

A series of buzzing, bee-like "loop-currents" could explain a recently discovered, never-before-seen phenomenon in a type of quantum material. The findings from researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder may one day help engineers to develop new kinds of devices, such as quantum sensors or the quantum equivalent of computer memory storage devices.

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When making a detour is faster: Optimizing navigation for microswimmers

Whereas the shortest way between two points is a straight connection, it might not be the most efficient path to follow. Complex currents often affect the motion of microswimmers and make it difficult for them to reach their destination. At the same time, making use of these currents to navigate as fast as possible is a certain evolutionary advantage.

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The secret of swing, addressed in the lab

Jazz must swing—jazz musicians agree on that. However, even 100 years after the beginnings of jazz, it is still unclear what exactly constitutes the swing feel. With a sophisticated experiment and data analyses on more than 450 well-known jazz solos, physicists from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) together with psychologists from the University of Göttingen have unraveled a secret of swing.

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80-year-old mystery in static electricity finally solved

Historically, contact electrification (CE) was humanity's first and only source of electricity up until around the 18th century, yet its true nature is still elusive. Today it is considered a core component of technologies such as laser printers, LCD production processes, electrostatic painting, and separation of plastics for recycling as well as a major industrial hazard (damage to electronic systems, explosions in coal mines, fires in chemical plants, etc.) due to electrostatic discharges (ESD) accompanying CE. In a vacuum, ESDs of a simple adhesive tape are so powerful that they generate enough X-rays to take an X-ray image of a finger.

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Nobel physics winner wanted to topple quantum theory he vindicated

American physicist John Clauser won the 2022 Nobel Prize for a groundbreaking experiment vindicating quantum mechanics—a fundamental theory governing the subatomic world that is today the foundation for an emerging class of ultra-powerful computers.

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Quantum entanglement: the 'spooky' science behind physics Nobel

This year's physics Nobel prize was awarded Tuesday to three men for their work on a phenomenon called quantum entanglement, which is so bizarre and unlikely that Albert Einstein was skeptical, famously calling it "spooky".

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The Nobel winners who helped prove quantum 'spooky action'

Physicists Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger developed experimental tools that helped prove quantum entanglement—a phenomenon Albert Einstein famously dismissed as "spooky action at a distance"—is real, paving the way for its use in powerful computers.

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Nobel panel to announce winner of physics prize

The winner, or winners, of the Nobel Prize in physics will be announced Tuesday at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.

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How stiff is the proton?

The proton is a composite particle made up of fundamental building blocks of quarks and gluons. These components and their interactions determine the proton's structure, including its electrical charges and currents. This structure deforms when exposed to external electric and magnetic (EM) fields, a phenomenon known as polarizability. The EM polarizabilities are a measure of the stiffness against the deformation induced by EM fields. By measuring the EM polarizabilities, scientists learn about the internal structure of the proton.

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