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Categories: Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry, Geoscience: Geology
Published A protein mines, sorts rare earths better than humans, paving way for green tech



Rare earth elements, like neodymium and dysprosium, are a critical component to almost all modern technologies, from smartphones to hard drives, but they are notoriously hard to separate from the Earth's crust and from one another. Scientists have discovered a new mechanism by which bacteria can select between different rare earth elements, using the ability of a bacterial protein to bind to another unit of itself, or 'dimerize,' when it is bound to certain rare earths, but prefer to remain a single unit, or 'monomer,' when bound to others.
Published First X-ray of a single atom



Scientists have taken the world's first X-ray SIGNAL (or SIGNATURE) of just one atom. This groundbreaking achievement could revolutionize the way scientists detect the materials.
Published Under pressure: Foundations of stellar physics and nuclear fusion investigated



Research using the world's most energetic laser has shed light on the properties of highly compressed matter -- essential to understanding the structure of giant planets and stars, and to develop controlled nuclear fusion, a process that could harvest carbon-free energy.
Published Crossing the ring: New method enables C-H activation across saturated carbocycles



Chemists add another powerful tool to their 'molecular editing' toolkit for crafting pharmaceuticals and other valuable compounds.
Published Ground beneath Thwaites Glacier mapped



The ground beneath Antarctica's most vulnerable glacier has now been mapped, helping scientists to better understand how it is being affected by climate change. Analysis of the geology below the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica shows there is less sedimentary rock than expected -- a finding that could affect how the ice slides and melts in the coming decades.
Published Absolute vs. relative efficiency: How efficient are blue LEDs, actually?



The absolute internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of indium gallium nitride (InGaN) based blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) at low temperatures is often assumed to be 100%. However, a new study has found that the assumption of always perfect IQE is wrong: the IQE of an LED can be as low as 27.5%.
Published Emergence of solvated dielectrons observed for the first time



Scientists generate low-energy electrons using ultraviolet light.
Published 'A blessing in disguise!' Physics turning bad into good



Light is a very delicate and vulnerable property. Light can be absorbed or reflected at the surface of a material depending on the matter's properties or change its form and be converted into thermal energy. Upon reaching a metallic material's surface, light also tends to lose energy to the electrons inside the metal, a broad range of phenomena we call 'optical loss.' Production of ultra-small optical elements that utilize light in various ways is very difficult since the smaller the size of an optical component results in a greater optical loss. However, in recent years, the non-Hermitian theory, which uses optical loss in an entirely different way, has been applied to optics research.
Published Making the structure of 'fire ice' with nanoparticles



Cage structures made with nanoparticles could be a route toward making organized nanostructures with mixed materials, and researchers have shown how to achieve this through computer simulations.
Published River erosion can shape fish evolution



A new study of the freshwater greenfin darter fish suggests river erosion can be a driver of biodiversity in tectonically inactive regions.
Published Twisting under the stroboscope -- Controlling crystal lattices of hybrid solar cell materials with terahertz light



To overcome global energy challenges and fight the looming environmental crisis, researchers around the world investigate new materials for converting sunlight into electricity. Some of the most promising candidates for high-efficiency low-cost solar cell applications are based on lead halide perovskite (LHP) semiconductors. Despite record-breaking solar cell prototypes, the microscopic origin of the surprisingly excellent optoelectronic performance of this material class is still not completely understood. Now, an international team of physicists and chemists has demonstrated laser-driven control of fundamental motions of the LHP atomic lattice.
Published Snapshots of photoinjection



Ultrafast laser physicists from the attoworld team have gained new insights into the dynamics of electrons in solids immediately after photoinjection.
Published Iron-rich rocks unlock new insights into Earth's planetary history



A new study suggests iron-rich ancient sediments may have helped cause some of the largest volcanic events in the planet's history.
Published New method predicts extreme events more accurately



A new study has used global storm-resolving simulations and machine learning to create an algorithm that can deal separately with two different scales of cloud organization: those resolved by a climate model, and those that cannot be resolved as they are too small. This new approach addresses the missing piece of information in traditional climate model parameterizations and provides a way to predict precipitation intensity and variability more precisely.
Published Quantum matter breakthrough: Tuning density waves



Scientists have found a new way to create a crystalline structure called a 'density wave' in an atomic gas. The findings can help us better understand the behavior of quantum matter, one of the most complex problems in physics.
Published Extinct offshore volcano could store gigatons of carbon dioxide



A new study concludes that an extinct volcano off the shore of Portugal could store as much as 1.2-8.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of ~24-125 years of the country's industrial emissions. For context, in 2022 a total of 42.6 megatons (0.0426 gigatons) of carbon dioxide was removed from the atmosphere by international carbon capture and storage efforts, according to the Global CCS Institute. The new study suggests that carbon capture and storage in offshore underwater volcanoes could be a promising new direction for removal and storage of much larger volumes of the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.
Published Fluorine-based new drug synthesis at lightning speed



Researchers synthesize fluorine-based compound via rapid biphasic (gas and liquid) mixing.
Published Eruption of Tonga underwater volcano found to disrupt satellite signals halfway around the world



Researchers found that the Hunga-Tonga eruption was associated with the formation of an equatorial plasma bubble in the ionosphere, a phenomenon associated with disruption of satellite-based communications. Their findings also suggest that a long-held atmospheric model should be revised.
Published Physical chemists develop photochromic active colloids shedding light on the development of new smart active materials



In nature, the skin of cephalopods (animals with tentacles attached to the head) exhibits unparalleled camouflage ability. Their skin contains pigment groups that can sense changes in environmental light conditions and adjust their appearance through the action of pigment cells. Although intricate in nature, this colour-changing ability is fundamentally based on a mechanical mechanism in which pigment particles are folded or unfolded under the control of radial muscles. Inspired by this natural process, a research team forms dynamic photochromic nanoclusters by mixing cyan, magenta and yellow microbeads, achieving photochromism on a macro scale.
Published An electric vehicle battery for all seasons



Scientists have developed a fluorine-containing electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries whose charging performance remains high in frigid regions and seasons. They also determined why it is so effective.