Earth

An international team of researchers have found evidence of a mysterious new state of matter, first predicted 40 years ago, in a real material. This state, known as a quantum spin liquid, causes electrons - thought to be indivisible building blocks of nature - to break into pieces.

04.04.2016: To understand Greenland's ice of today researchers have to go far back into Earth's history. The island's lithosphere has hot depths which originate in its distant geological past and cause Greenland's ice to rapidly flow and melt from below. An anomaly zone crosses Greenland from west to east where present-day flow of heat from the Earth's interior is elevated.

Even in its elemental form, the high bond versatility of carbon allows for many different well-known materials, including diamond and graphite. A single layer of graphite, termed graphene, can then be rolled or folded into carbon nanotubes or fullerenes, respectively. To date, Nobel prizes have been awarded for both graphene (2010) and fullerenes (1996).

The efficiency of many applications deriving from natural sciences depends dramatically on a finite-size property of nanoparticles, so-called surface-to-volume ratio. The larger the surface of nanoparticles for the same volume is achieved, the more efficiently nanoparticles can interact with the surrounding substance. However, thermodynamic equilibrium forces nanostructures to minimize open surface driven by energy minimization principle. This basic principle predicts that the only shape of nanoparticles can be spherical or close-to-spherical ones.

Scientists at the University of Liverpool and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich have developed a new method to assess the impact of volcanic ash on jet engines.

Little is known scientifically about the effects of volcanic ash on aircraft but the impact it can have on the aviation industry was evidenced when the Eyjafjalla volcano in Iceland erupted in 2010 resulting in prolonged disruption to air travel and significant economic losses exceeding £1 billion.

An artificial mimic of a key light-sensitive molecule has been made by scientists at the University of Bristol. The work, published in Science, could lead to new ways of building light-sensitive artificial cells.

Professor Jonathan Clayden and colleagues in Bristol's School of Chemistry, along with collaborators at the Universities of Manchester and Hull, created an artificial mimic of rhodopsin, a protein that resides in cell membranes in the retina. The absorption of light by rhodopsin is the first step in the biochemistry of vision.

Scientists at the University of Liverpool and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich have developed a new method to assess the impact of volcanic ash on jet engines.

Little is known scientifically about the effects of volcanic ash on aircraft but the impact it can have on the aviation industry was evidenced when the Eyjafjalla volcano in Iceland erupted in 2010 resulting in prolonged disruption to air travel and significant economic losses exceeding £1 billion.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Global carbon dioxide emissions are triggering permanent and alarming changes to ocean chemistry along the North American West Coast that require immediate, decisive action to combat, including development of a coordinated regional management strategy, a panel of scientific experts has unanimously concluded.

RICHLAND, Wash. - An improved titanium alloy -- stronger than any commercial titanium alloy currently on the market -- gets its strength from the novel way atoms are arranged to form a special nanostructure. For the first time, researchers have been able to see this alignment and then manipulate it to make the strongest titanium alloy ever developed, and with a lower cost process to boot.

Boston, MA-- Steroid medications inhibit the activity of brown fat, which is the "good," calorie-burning fat humans and animals have, Australian researchers have discovered. They will present their study findings Saturday at the Endocrine Society's 98th annual meeting in Boston.

Atmospheric scientists have found that California's highest temperatures are almost always associated with blocking ridges, regions of high atmospheric pressure than can disrupt wind patterns - including one known as the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge. The Triple R, as it's called, is also linked with California's drought.

Atmospheric patterns associated with droughts in California have occurred more frequently in recent decades, Stanford scientists say.

In new research published online this week in Science Advances, a team of researchers led by Stanford professor Noah Diffenbaugh analyzed the occurrence of large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns that have occurred during California's historical precipitation and temperature extremes.

Many materials - sugars, thermoplastics, glass, metals, ceramics and more -- are used to produce 3D-printed figures, typically with expensive or custom-built 3D printers.

Researchers at Tohoku University have discovered a new plasma wave phenomenon, leading to the development of a negative ion source for fusion plasma heating.

Led by Associate Prof K. Takahashi and Prof A. Ando, the team demonstrated adjoining generations of high and low electron temperature plasmas, based on the presently discovered plasma wave physics.

While drinking your favourite cold drink, you probably do not imagine what is going on inside each ice cube. At the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), the Theory of Quantum Matter Unit, led by Professor Nic Shannon has explained in detail the theory behind two experiments that show how protons inside ice behave. Their findings have been published in Physical Review B.