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Toward practical laser-driven light sails using photonic crystals

Most space missions rely on chemical rockets for propulsion. Rockets must carry fuel, which increases spacecraft mass and limits their speed and travel distance. For decades, researchers have explored light sails as an alternative. ...

Using individual atoms to achieve fossil-free chemistry

Every chemical reaction faces a barrier: For substances to react with one another, it is first necessary to supply energy. In many cases, this energy barrier is low—such as when striking a match. For many key reactions ...

Intermediate phases unlock faster nanoparticle crystallization

Crystalline nanomaterials are valuable because their highly ordered structures give them useful properties for technologies such as data storage and optical devices. But forming nanoparticles from those orderly crystals is ...

New 2D membrane reactor improves photocatalytic synthesis

Chinese researchers have developed a photocatalytic membrane reactor that dramatically improves the synthesis of imines—a class of compounds essential to the production of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and advanced synthetic ...

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Diamond surfaces are covered in thin, ice-like water layers
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Color-changing nanopigment sensor tracks pH one to ten with stable, repeatable readings
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When smaller means better: How device scaling enhances memory performance
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Scientists deliver new molecule for getting DNA into cells
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Stretchy plastics conduct electricity via tiny, whisker-like fibers
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Charged nanoparticles linked to higher fish embryo mortality
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Nanodevice produces continuous electricity from evaporation
Nanomaterials
Nature-inspired method forms ZnO quantum dots in solid crystals at room temperature
Nanomaterials
Transistor-like MXene membranes enhance ion separation
Bio & Medicine
Chemistry-powered 'breathing' membrane opens and closes tiny pores on its own
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When electronics become flexible: Atom-thin materials for future devices
Nanophysics
Mass production technology developed for ultra-high color purity perovskite emitters
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Nanoengineers realize an on-chip excitonic hyperlens
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World's smallest QR code, read via electron microscope, earns Guinness recognition
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Tuned nanocrystals speed light-driven reactions by matching molecular vibrations
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Plants & Animals
Gnaw-y by nature: Researchers discover neural circuit that rewards gnawing behavior in rodents
Plants & Animals
Electron microscopy maps protein landscapes that drive photosynthesis
Optics & Photonics
3D-printed photonic lanterns combine up to 37 multimode lasers into one fiber
Plants & Animals
Europe's buzzards are losing their color diversity, citizen science reveals
Astronomy
NASA finds extreme star collision in unlikely spot
Environment
Where wells run deep, biodiversity runs thin
Earth Sciences
Soil health index finds restored mangroves can near full function
Planetary Sciences
New exoplanet survey method finds high rates of closely orbiting planets
Planetary Sciences
A new model defines an upper limit to planetary radiation belt intensity
Condensed Matter
Scientists control 'free-flowing' electric currents with light
Plants & Animals
Japanese scientists discover how falling cats almost always make perfect landings
Cell & Microbiology
Telomere breaks provide new insights into chaotic chromosome mutations
Biotechnology
One gene makes the difference: Breeding winter-hardy faba beans
Biotechnology
AI-enabled quantum refinement cracks the code of difficult-to-map proteins
Cell & Microbiology
Bacteria have a secret engineering trick to keep themselves in shape
Mathematics
Student serves up fresh solutions to the pancake problem
Evolution
Why lethal mutations persist: Fruit fly study points to newly transferred jumping genes, not small DNA errors
Archaeology
First absolute dating of Paleolithic paintings in the Dordogne
Earth Sciences
Glacial lakes in Alaska are expanding rapidly and could quadruple in size
General Physics
Precisely measuring quantum signals in large spin ensembles

Sculpting complex 3D nanostructures with a focused ion beam

Scientists from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and colleagues have developed a new way to fabricate three-dimensional nanoscale devices from single-crystal materials using a focused ion beam instrument. The ...