Earth

Scientists at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich and the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics (MPQ) have devised a new interferometer to probe the geometry of band structures.

The atomic nucleus is highly complex. This complexity partly stems from the nuclear interactions in atomic nuclei, which induce strong correlations between the elementary particles, or nucleons, that constitute the heart of the atom. The trouble is that understanding this complexity often requires a tremendous amount of computational power. In a new study published in EPJ A, Susanna Liebig from Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany, and colleagues propose a new approach to nuclear structure calculations.

In comparison to the lower 48 states, Alaskan forests, wetlands and permafrost contain larger stores of carbon, according to the first-of-its-kind assessment recently completed by the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Forest Service and the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.

Ants comprise one lineage of the triumvirate of eusocial insects and experienced their early diversification within the Cretaceous. The success of ants is generally attributed to their remarkable social behavior. Recent studies suggest that the early branching lineages of extant ants formed small colonies of either subterranean or epigeic, solitary specialist predators.

Physicists from the Lomonosov Moscow State University completed the work that will bring scientists closer to the development of new polymer gels for targeted drug delivery. The article was published in the Journal of Chemical Physics.

Crystals are solid materials composed of microscopic building blocks arranged in highly ordered patterns. They have countless applications, ranging from metallurgy to jewellery to electronics. Many of the properties that make crystals useful depend on the detailed pattern of arrangement of their constituents, which, in turn, is highly sensitive to the details of the interaction between the building blocks.

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 31, 2016 -- The scientific community uses spheres for all sorts of things -- artificial limbs, cars, molecular chemistry -- but there's always a little uncertainty when this geometric shape is introduced into an experiment. While spheres might look smooth and round to the naked eye, their surfaces are far from it. Even a ball bearing, when held up to intense scrutiny, is riddled with peaks and valleys.

Washington, D.C., May 31, 2016 -- If you've ever felt groggy the morning after traversing time zones, you can thank the temporary mismatch between your body's 24-hour circadian rhythm and your new local time. In mammals, this rhythm is governed on a neuronal and hormonal level by the suprachiasmatic nucleus, a tiny region of the brain's nestled directly above the two optic nerves. But it's not just a long flight that can throw us out of whack.

MANHATTAN, KANSAS -- Kansas State University researchers have found a three-year absence of fire is the tipping point for the tallgrass prairie ecosystem and advise an increase in burning.

CORVALLIS, Ore. - The hydrothermal vents and methane seeps on the ocean floor that were once thought to be geologic and biological oddities are now emerging as a major force in ocean ecosystems, marine life and global climate.

However, even as researchers learn more about their role in sustaining a healthy Earth, these habitats are being threatened by a wide range of human activities, including deep-sea mining, bottom trawling and energy harvesting, scientists say in a report published in Frontiers in Marine Science.

Physicists based at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich and the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics have observed a nanoscale light-matter phenomenon which lasts for only attoseconds.

MIAMI - A scientist at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science is leading an upcoming international research campaign to study a significant contributor to regional climate warming - smoke. The first-of-its-kind research experiment begins on June 1, 2016 from Ascension Island in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean. The experiment, called LASIC (Layered Atlantic Smoke Interactions with Clouds), is part of a broader international scientific collaboration led by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility deployment.

New fundamental research by UT Dallas physicists may accelerate the drive toward more advanced electronics and more powerful computers.

The scientists are investigating materials called topological insulators, whose surface electrical properties are essentially the opposite of the properties inside.

A team of scientists from the Federal State Budget Institution "Research Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology", Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the Emanuel Institute for Biochemical Physics, and the Talrose Institute for Energy Problems of Chemical Physics have developed an approach for a method of non-invasive testing for pregnant women with a serious and complex condition called preeclampsia. In simpler terms, the scientists have found potential biomarkers in the urine of pregnant women.

Physicist Fatima Ebrahimi at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Princeton University has for the first time performed computer simulations indicating the efficiency of a start-up technique for doughnut-shaped fusion machines known as tokamaks. The simulations show that the technique, known as coaxial helicity injection (CHI), could also benefit tokamaks that use superconducting magnets. The research was published in March 2016, in Nuclear Fusion, and was supported by the DOE's Office of Science.