The cosmic start of lightning

Even though lightning is a common phenomenon, the exact mechanism triggering a lightning discharge remains elusive. Scientists at the Dutch national research institute for mathematics CWI, the University of Groningen and ...

Study finds nickelate superconductors are intrinsically magnetic

Electrons find each other repulsive. Nothing personal—it's just that their negative charges repel each other. So getting them to pair up and travel together, like they do in superconducting materials, requires a little ...

Matter and antimatter seem to respond equally to gravity

As part of an experiment to measure—to an extremely precise degree—the charge-to-mass ratios of protons and antiprotons, the RIKEN-led BASE collaboration at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, has found that, within the uncertainty ...

New insights into the polymer mystique for conducting charges

For most of us, a modern lifestyle without polymers is unthinkable… if only we knew what they were. The ordinary hardware-store terms we use for them include "plastics, polyethylene, epoxy resins, paints, adhesives, rubber"—without ...

New technique opens up advanced solar cells

In a photovoltaic cell, light generates opposite charges in the active layer. The charges must then be separated as quickly as possible to keep them from recombining. Positive charges are driven by a built-in electric field ...

Getting a charge out of water droplets

Last year, MIT researchers discovered that when water droplets spontaneously jump away from superhydrophobic surfaces during condensation, they can gain electric charge in the process. Now, the same team has demonstrated ...

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