Ecology: General Ecology: Research Ecology: Trees Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Research supports use of managed and prescribed fires to reduce fire severity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists found that fires in America's dry conifer forests are burning hotter and killing more trees today than in previous centuries. The main culprit? Paradoxically, a lack of fires.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

A new type of quantum bit in semiconductor nanostructures      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have created a quantum superposition state in a semiconductor nanostructure that might serve as a basis for quantum computing. The trick: two optical laser pulses that act as a single terahertz laser pulse.

Energy: Technology Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

'Quantum avalanche' explains how nonconductors turn into conductors      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The study takes a new approach to answer a long-standing mystery about insulator-to-metal transitions.

Biology: Microbiology Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Detection of bacteria and viruses with fluorescent nanotubes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The new carbon nanotube sensor design resembles a molecular toolbox that can be used to quickly assemble sensors for a variety of purposes -- for instance for detecting bacteria and viruses.

Ecology: General Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Picturing where wildlands and people meet at a global scale      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have created the first tool to map and visualize the areas where human settlements and nature meet on a global scale. The tool could improve responses to environmental conflicts like wildfires, the spread of zoonotic diseases and loss of ecosystem biodiversity.

Offbeat: Computers and Math Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Unveiling the quantum dance: Experiments reveal nexus of vibrational and electronic dynamics      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have demonstrated experimentally a long-theorized relationship between electron and nuclear motion in molecules, which could lead to the design of materials for solar cells, electronic displays and other applications that can make use of this powerful quantum phenomenon.

Ecology: General Ecology: Research Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Understanding the many different ways animals are evolving in response to fire could help conservation efforts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In our modern era of larger, more destructive, and longer-lasting fires -- called the Pyrocene -- plants and animals are evolving quickly to survive. By synthesizing the wide body of research about rapid animal evolution in response to fire, a multidisciplinary team of ecology experts hopes to leverage what we already know to help foster evolution-informed conservation plans. In this way, they suggest, we can try to harness the ways in which fire impacts animals to protect vulnerable species -- working with evolution instead of against it.

Ecology: Invasive Species Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Hidden cameras spot wildlife returning home after 2018 megafire      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers analyzed more than 500,000 motion-sensor camera trap images taken at a Northern California reserve in the years before and after the Mendocino Complex Fire to understand how the blaze impacted small- and medium-sized mammals. The study is one of the first to compare wildlife observations made before and after a megafire, and is also one of a limited number of studies to focus on the impacts of megafires on California's oak woodlands.

Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Landslides
Published

What causes mudslides and floods after wildfires? Hint: It's not what scientists thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists once assumed that flooding and mudslides after wildfires were linked to the waxy coating that builds up on charred soil, preventing water absorption. Researchers found that water flow came from absorbed water in both burnt and unburnt areas, suggesting that water was, in fact, being absorbed into burnt ground. The discovery provides valuable insights into where and when potential flooding and mudslides may occur and how landscapes recover after a wildfire.

Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Theory for superfluid helium confirmed      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have achieved a groundbreaking milestone in studying how vortices move in these quantum fluids. A new study of vortex ring motion in superfluid helium provides crucial evidence supporting a recently developed theoretical model of quantized vortices.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Researchers establish criterion for nonlocal quantum behavior in networks      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new theoretical study provides a framework for understanding nonlocality, a feature that quantum networks must possess to perform operations inaccessible to standard communications technology. By clarifying the concept, researchers determined the conditions necessary to create systems with strong, quantum correlations.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Offbeat: Computers and Math Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

New superconductors can be built atom by atom      (via sciencedaily.com) 

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 have now successfully designed superconductors one atom at a time, creating new states of matter.

Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics Space: Exploration Space: The Solar System
Published

Despite doubts from quantum physicists: Einstein's theory of relativity reaffirmed      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

One of the most basic assumptions of fundamental physics is that the different properties of mass -- weight, inertia and gravitation -- always remain the same in relation to each other. Although all measurements to date confirm the equivalence principle, quantum theory postulates that there should be a violation. This inconsistency between Einstein's gravitational theory and modern quantum theory is the reason why ever more precise tests of the equivalence principle are particularly important. A team has now succeeded in proving with 100 times greater accuracy that passive and active gravitational mass are always equivalent -- regardless of the particular composition of the respective masses.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Controlling signal routing in quantum information processing      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Routing signals and isolating them against noise and back-reflections are essential in many practical situations in classical communication as well as in quantum processing. In a theory-experimental collaboration, a team has achieved unidirectional transport of signals in pairs of 'one-way streets'. This research opens up new possibilities for more flexible signaling devices.

Biology: Microbiology Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate
Published

Fungi blaze a trail to fireproof cladding      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have shown it's possible to grow fungi in thin sheets that could be used for fire-retardant cladding or even a new kind of fungal fashion.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Physicists work to prevent information loss in quantum computing      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Nothing exists in a vacuum, but physicists often wish this weren't the case. If the systems that scientists study could be completely isolated from the outside world, things would be a lot easier. Take quantum computing. It's a field that's already drawing billions of dollars in support from tech investors and industry heavyweights including IBM, Google and Microsoft. But if the tiniest vibrations creep in from the outside world, they can cause a quantum system to lose information.

Environmental: Wildfires
Published

Addressing justice in wildfire risk management      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The unequal distribution of wildfire risk in our society is influenced by various factors, such as social vulnerabilities and intersecting forms of inequality, including gender, age, ethnicity, or disability. A new article calls for more integrated and inclusive wildfire risk management approaches and proposes a novel framework mapping different justice aspects.

Physics: Quantum Computing
Published

Researchers make a surprising discovery about the magnetic interactions in a Kagome layered topological magnet      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A team conducted an in-depth investigation of the magnetism of TbMn6Sn6, a Kagome layered topological magnet. They were surprised to find that the magnetic spin reorientation in TbMn6Sn6 occurs by generating increasing numbers of magnetically isotropic ions as the temperature increases.

Mathematics: Modeling Physics: Quantum Computing
Published

Machine learning takes materials modeling into new era      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The arrangement of electrons in matter, known as the electronic structure, plays a crucial role in fundamental but also applied research such as drug design and energy storage. However, the lack of a simulation technique that offers both high fidelity and scalability across different time and length scales has long been a roadblock for the progress of these technologies. Researchers have now pioneered a machine learning-based simulation method that supersedes traditional electronic structure simulation techniques. Their Materials Learning Algorithms (MALA) software stack enables access to previously unattainable length scales.

Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: Quantum Computing
Published

Researchers grow precise arrays of nanoLEDs      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new platform enables researchers to 'grow' halide perovskite nanocrystals with precise control over the location and size of each individual crystal, integrating them into nanoscale light-emitting diodes.