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Categories: Geoscience: Geochemistry, Physics: Optics
Published Researchers show that slow-moving earthquakes are controlled by rock permeability
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A research group explores how the makeup of rocks, specifically their permeability -- or how easily fluids can flow through them -- affects the frequency and intensity of slow slip events. Slow slips' role in the earthquake cycle may help lead to a better model to predict when earthquakes happen.
Published Tiny displacements, giant changes in optical properties
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers reveal a new pathway for designing optical materials using the degree of atomic disorder. The researchers anticipate developing crystals that enable advanced infrared imaging in low light conditions, or to enhance medical imaging devices.
Published From fossils to fuel: Mozambique's Maniamba Basin's energy potential
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In the ever-expanding search for energy resources, a new study has emerged from Mozambique's Maniamba Basin. Mozambique's Maniamba Basin could be a big source of natural gas.
Published Researchers 'unzip' 2D materials with lasers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers used commercially available tabletop lasers to create tiny, atomically sharp nanostructures in samples of a layered 2D material called hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN). The new nanopatterning technique is a simple way to modify materials with light--and it doesn't involve an expensive and resource-intensive clean room.
Published The Clues for Cleaner Water
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source By using experimental electrochemical analyses, mass spectrometry, and computational quantum chemistry modeling, the researchers created an 'atomic-scale storyline' to explain how ozone is generated on NATO electrocatalysts. They identified that some of the nickel in NATO is probably leaching out of the electrodes via corrosion, and these nickel atoms, now floating in the solution near the catalyst, can promote chemical reactions that eventually generate ozone.
Published New quantum sensing scheme could lead to enhanced high-precision nanoscopic techniques
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have unveiled a quantum sensing scheme that achieves the pinnacle of quantum sensitivity in measuring the transverse displacement between two interfering photons.
Published Quantifying U.S. health impacts from gas stoves
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study of air pollution in U.S. homes reveals how much gas and propane stoves increase people's exposure to nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant linked to childhood asthma. Even in bedrooms far from kitchens, concentrations frequently exceed health limits while stoves are on and for hours after burners and ovens are turned off.
Published Did a magnetic field collapse trigger the emergence of animals?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers uncovered compelling evidence that Earth's magnetic field was in a highly unusual state when the macroscopic animals of the Ediacaran Period -- 635 to 541 million years ago -- diversified and thrived. Their study raises the question of whether these fluctuations in Earth's ancient magnetic field led to shifts in oxygen levels that may have been crucial to the proliferation of life forms millions of years ago.
Published Tweaking isotopes sheds light on promising approach to engineer semiconductors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have demonstrated that small changes in the isotopic content of thin semiconductor materials can influence their optical and electronic properties, possibly opening the way to new and advanced designs with the semiconductors.
Published New Nevada experiments will improve monitoring of nuclear explosions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source On an October morning in 2023, a chemical explosion detonated in a tunnel under the Nevada desert was the launch of the next set of experiments by the National Nuclear Security Administration, with the goal to improve detection of low-yield nuclear explosions around the world.
Published New eco-friendly lubricant additives protect turbine equipment, waterways
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have developed lubricant additives that protect both water turbine equipment and the surrounding environment.
Published For microscopic organisms, ocean currents act as 'expressway' to deeper depths
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Some of the ocean's tiniest organisms get swept into underwater currents that act as a conduit that shuttles them from the sunny surface to deeper, darker depths where they play a huge role in affecting the ocean's chemistry and ecosystem, according to new research.
Published Physicists arrange atoms in extremely close proximity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Physicists developed a technique to arrange atoms in much closer proximity than previously possible, down to 50 nanometers. The group plans to use the method to manipulate atoms into configurations that could generate the first purely magnetic quantum gate -- a key building block for a new type of quantum computer.
Published Human activity is causing toxic thallium to enter the Baltic sea, according to new study
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Human activities account for 20% to more than 60% of toxic thallium entering the Baltic Sea over the past eight decades, according to new research. Currently, the amount of thallium, which is considered the most toxic metal for mammals, remains low in Baltic seawater. Much of the thallium in the Baltic, which is the largest human-induced hypoxic area on Earth, has been accumulated in the sediment thanks to sulfide minerals.
Published Path to easier recycling of solar modules
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The use of femtosecond lasers to form glass-to-glass welds for solar modules would make the panels easier to recycle, according to a proof-of-concept study.
Published Sugar-based catalyst upcycles carbon dioxide
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New catalyst is made from an inexpensive, abundant metal and table sugar. Catalyst converts carbon dioxide (CO2) into carbon monoxide, a building block for producing a variety of useful chemicals including syngas. With recent advances in carbon capture technologies, post-combustion carbon capture is becoming a plausible option to help tackle the global climate change crisis. But how to handle the captured carbon remains an open-ended question. The new catalyst potentially could provide one solution for disposing the potent greenhouse gas by converting it into a more valuable product.
Published New sensor detects errors in MRI scans
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new prototype sensor is capable of detecting errors in MRI scans using laser light and gas. The new sensor can thereby do what is impossible for current electrical sensors -- and hopefully pave the way for MRI scans that are better, cheaper and faster.
Published Unveiling a polarized world -- in a single shot
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a compact, single-shot polarization imaging system that can provide a complete picture of polarization. By using just two thin metasurfaces, the imaging system could unlock the vast potential of polarization imaging for a range of existing and new applications, including biomedical imaging, augmented and virtual reality systems and smart phones.
Published This highly reflective black paint makes objects more visible to autonomous cars
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Driving at night might be a scary challenge for a new driver, but with hours of practice it soon becomes second nature. For self-driving cars, however, practice may not be enough because the lidar sensors that often act as these vehicles' 'eyes' have difficulty detecting dark-colored objects. New research describes a highly reflective black paint that could help these cars see dark objects and make autonomous driving safer.
Published EPA underestimates methane emissions from landfills, urban areas
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is underestimating methane emissions from landfills, urban areas and U.S. states, according to a new study. The researchers combined 2019 satellite observations with an atmospheric transport model to generate a high-resolution map of methane emissions, which was then compared to EPA estimates from the same year. The researchers found: Methane emissions from landfills are 51% higher compared to EPA estimates Methane emissions from 95 urban areas are 39% higher than EPA estimates Methane emissions from the 10 states with the highest methane emissions are 27% higher than EPA estimates.