How ultracold, superdense atoms become invisible
An atom's electrons are arranged in energy shells. Like concertgoers in an arena, each electron occupies a single chair and cannot drop to a lower tier if all its chairs are occupied. This fundamental property of atomic physics is known as the Pauli.....»»
Machine learning enables discovery of DNA-stabilized silver nanoclusters
DNA can do more than pass genetic code from one generation to the next. For nearly 20 years, scientists have known of the molecule's ability to stabilize nanometer-sized clusters of silver atoms. Some of these structures glow visibly in red and green.....»»
These nearly invisible organisms help clean Lake Tahoe"s water. Here"s how they do it
Plankton are not just a diabolical mastermind on a Nickelodeon show about a sponge who lives under the sea. Lake Tahoe is filled with them—the good kind......»»
Researchers put a new twist on graphite
For decades, scientists have been probing the potential of two-dimensional materials to transform our world. 2D materials are only a single layer of atoms thick. Within them, subatomic particles like electrons can only move in two dimensions. This si.....»»
Researchers use isotopic analysis to map territories of jaguars in Belize
How do you study a predator with both camouflage and stealth that make it virtually invisible in the forest?.....»»
Ultracold Gases Can Probe Neutron Star Guts
Earth-based analogs are opening new frontiers in studies of the superdense interiors of neutron stars.....»»
Exploring the ingenious science and science fiction of making things invisible
Greg Gbur chats about his book Invisibility: The History and Science of How Not to be Seen. Enlarge / H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man inspired a 1933 film. It's just one cultural example of the human fascination with invisibility......»»
New superconductors can be built atom by atom, researchers show
The future of electronics will be based on novel kinds of materials. Sometimes, however, the naturally occurring topology of atoms makes it difficult for new physical effects to be created. To tackle this problem, researchers at the University of Zur.....»»
Researchers invent trap for capturing and comparing individual bacterial cells
All hospitals battle an invisible threat: Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It is a type of bacteria that affects thousands of patients each year in intensive care units, where it can cause sepsis, pneumonia and other types of infections......»»
New material shows promise for next-generation memory technology
Phase change memory is a type of nonvolatile memory that harnesses a phase change material's (PCM) ability to shift from an amorphous state, i.e., where atoms are disorganized, to a crystalline state, i.e., where atoms are tightly packed close togeth.....»»
Probing the mysteries of neutron stars with a surprising earthly analog
Ultracold gases in the lab could help scientists better understand the universe. Enlarge / Spectral analysis indicates that silica is present in this supernova remnant, Cassiopeia A. (credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ O. Krause (Steward.....»»
Laser pulse creates exotic order in quantum material
Water flows, ice is rigid—this clear difference between the liquid and solid state of substances is part of our everyday experience. It follows from the very regular arrangement of atoms and molecules in crystalline solids, which is lost when they.....»»
The invisible plant technology of the prehistoric Philippines
Stone tools bear microscopic evidence of ancient plant technology, according to a study published June 30, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Hermine Xhauflair of the University of the Philippines Diliman and colleagues......»»
Heterostructure lets excitons carry more information for quantum applications
Excitons are electron-hole pairs in semiconductors that are electrostatically bound by strong Coulombic interactions. In ultrathin 2D semiconductors that are a few atoms thick (typically ~0.7 nm), the decreased z-dimension presents strong quantum con.....»»
Quantum interference can protect and enhance photoexcitation
When a photon interacts with a material, an interaction occurs that causes its atoms to change their quantum state (a description of the physical properties of nature at the atomic level). The resulting state is called, aptly, photoexcitation. These.....»»
How to Check the Air Quality Near You
Here’s what to know about wildfire smoke and invisible pollutants, and how you can use your phone to decide whether it’s safe to spend time outside......»»
The path to a quantum network: Erbium dopants stimulated to emit single photons
Researchers at MPQ in Garching, together with a team from TU Munich, have excited erbium atoms embedded in crystalline silicon such that they emit single photons. Their special properties can form the basis for the development of extended networks th.....»»
Study reports first realization of a Laughlin state in ultracold atoms
The discovery of the quantum Hall effects in the 1980s revealed the existence of novel states of matter called "Laughlin states," in honor of the American Nobel prize winner who successfully characterized them theoretically. These exotic states speci.....»»
Metallic bond between two beryllium atoms made for the first time
A quartet of chemists at the University of Oxford has, for the first time, found a way to get two beryllium atoms to bond with one another. In their paper published in the journal Science, Josef Boronski, Agamemnon Crumpton, Lewis Wales and Simon Ald.....»»
Researchers demonstrate direct comparison of spin-squeezed optical lattice clocks at record precision level
Although today's best optical atomic clocks can be used to make extremely precise measurements, they are still limited by the noise from the spin statistics of the many atoms they interrogate, known as quantum projection noise (QPN). But by leveragin.....»»
International team reports powerful tool for studying, tuning atomically thin materials
Physicists have been riveted by systems composed of materials only one or a few layers of atoms thick. When a few sheets of these two-dimensional materials are stacked together, a geometric pattern called a moiré pattern can be formed. In these so-c.....»»