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Why petting your cat leads to static electricity

Anyone who has ever pet a cat or shuffled their feet across the carpet knows that rubbing objects together generates static electricity. But an explanation for this phenomenon has eluded researchers for more than two millennia.

Metasurfaces: Tiny tech with big potential

Imagine manipulating light with ultra-thin, flat sheets instead of bulky lenses and mirrors. That's the promise of metasurfaces, a nanostructure technology that can twist and bend light in ways never before possible.

Illuminating the unavoidable imperfections of nanostructures

A new study by a collaborative team from the University of Twente and the e-Science Center in Amsterdam compares the transmission of light through a utopian model with a real 3D nanostructure. These nanostructures are integral ...

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Nanophysics
Advancing nanoscale imaging capabilities with dynamic nuclear polarization
Nanophysics
World's first micromachine twists 2D materials at will
Nanophysics
A world first: Qubit coherence decay traced to thermal dissipation
Nanophysics
Unveiling the power of hot carriers in plasmonic nanostructures
Nanophysics
Team develops method for control over single-molecule photoswitching
Nanophysics
Quantum pumping in molecular junctions: Theoretical model could lead to switches and amplifiers
Nanophysics
Photolithography research shows computer chips have the potential to become even smaller
Nanophysics
Carbon nanotubes study finds local solvation is decisive for fluorescence of biosensors
Nanophysics
Novel X-ray imaging technique resolves fusion-related nanofoams in 3D
Nanophysics
Precise stirring conditions key to optimizing nanostructure synthesis
Nanophysics
New X-ray world record: Looking inside a microchip with 4 nanometer precision
Nanophysics
Researchers reveal atomic-scale details of catalysts' active sites
Nanophysics
Understanding the forces that regulate crystallization by particle attachment
Nanophysics
First 3D visualization of an aluminum nanocomposite for the auto industry
Nanophysics
Investigation into the regime between the nano- and microscale could pave the way for nanoscale technologies
Nanophysics
Researchers identify unique phenomenon in Kagome metal
Nanophysics
New, more sustainable method for manufacturing microchips and other nanoscale devices
Nanophysics
Confined water gets electric: Study reveals dielectric response of water in nanopores
Nanophysics
Tunable metasurface can control optical light in space and time, offering path to wireless communication channels
Nanophysics
3D printing method reveals light emission from nanowires for the first time

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Analytical Chemistry
Advances in hydrogen research: More efficient isotope separation in sight
Evolution
Convergent evolution study sheds light on how new genes arise
Molecular & Computational biology
How plants keep viruses from passing to their progeny
Earth Sciences
Explaining dramatic planetwide changes after world's last 'Snowball Earth' event
Analytical Chemistry
Visible-light-antenna ligand enhances samarium-catalyzed reactions
Earth Sciences
Study reveals that future climate change may reduce the Amazon rainforest's ability to act as a carbon sink
Evolution
Love island: Bird's refusal to leave resort life leads to genetic change
Social Sciences
Aversion to inequality drives support for redistribution policies, study finds
Earth Sciences
How humans are affecting the Northern Hemisphere's wind patterns
Political science
Study suggests political ideology is associated with differences in brain structure, but less so than previously thought
Cell & Microbiology
First-of-its kind tool allows scientists to manipulate cells without touching them
Plants & Animals
Genetic tracing at the Huanan Seafood market further supports COVID animal origins
Space Exploration
Artemis I mission data show astronauts sent to the moon aboard Orion will be protected from radiation
Astronomy
Observations provide crucial insights into the nature of a white dwarf–brown dwarf binary
Earth Sciences
Tropical cyclone intensity exacerbated by increasing depth of ocean mixed layer, finds study
Social Sciences
The relationship between emotions and economic decision-making differs across countries, multi-national analysis finds
General Physics
Findings hint at a superfluid phase in ²⁹F and ²⁸O
Analytical Chemistry
New computational insights use Marcus theory to unlock the potential of photocatalysis
Plants & Animals
Moderate levels of exotic species invasions may help maintain biodiversity, study suggests
Astrobiology
Could interstellar quantum communications involve Earth or solve the Fermi paradox?