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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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Social Sciences
The relationship between emotions and economic decision-making differ across countries, multi-national analysis finds
Bio & Medicine
Light-induced immunoassay can selectively detect coronavirus spike proteins in five minutes
Plants & Animals
Moderate levels of exotic species invasions may help maintain biodiversity, study suggests
Earth Sciences
Scientists can now predict catastrophic river shifts that threaten millions worldwide
Earth Sciences
Study reveals that future climate change may reduce the Amazon rainforest's ability to act as a carbon sink
Earth Sciences
Arctic warming may fuel ice formation in clouds, observations suggest
Bio & Medicine
New testing system uses Janus particles to rapidly and accurately detect COVID-19
Astrobiology
Detailed model suggests organic matter on Mars was formed from atmospheric formaldehyde
Social Sciences
Aversion to inequality drives support for redistribution policies, study finds
Analytical Chemistry
New computational insights use Marcus theory to unlock the potential of photocatalysis
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
Astrobiology
Could interstellar quantum communications involve Earth or solve the Fermi paradox?
General Physics
Findings hint at a superfluid phase in ²⁹F and ²⁸O
Earth Sciences
New research re-envisions Earth's mantle as a relatively uniform reservoir
Ecology
New technique zeros in on the genes that snakes use to produce venom
Molecular & Computational biology
Gene-based model predicts when Japan's cherry buds awake from dormancy
Astronomy
Astronomers discover biggest ever seen black hole jets, which blast hot plasma well beyond their own host galaxy
Biotechnology
New kit makes classroom CRISPR experiments affordable and accessible
Earth Sciences
Rugged Falklands landscape was once a lush rainforest, researchers say