Phys.org news
Phys.org / Photoexcitation flips 2D moiré devices from metals to insulators in ultrafast test
Quantum materials, materials with properties that are governed by the laws of quantum mechanics describing many-body interactions, have proved promising for the development of various advanced technologies. Many of these ...
Phys.org / Teaching AI to design optical surfaces using real-world imperfections
Designing surfaces that precisely control how light behaves at the nanoscale is tricky. Optical Fourier surfaces, which are nanostructured gratings that redistribute light into specific directions and wavelengths, hold enormous ...
Phys.org / Bumble bees show spontaneous problem-solving, challenging big-brain assumptions
In a new study, bumble bees solve a completely novel object-manipulation task. What makes this behavior especially remarkable is that the bees had never been trained. The findings challenge the long-standing assumption that ...
Phys.org / AI-guided catalyst turns CO₂ and waste into fertilizer at industrially relevant rates
Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a computation-guided strategy to produce urea more efficiently from carbon dioxide and nitrate. By combining large language models, density functional ...
Phys.org / Smarter land use could unlock biodiversity, climate and economic gains across 146 countries
National governments and multilateral institutions face difficult challenges reconciling environmental goals, such as biodiversity conservation and addressing climate change, with economic development goals. In a first-of-its-kind ...
Phys.org / AI paired with tiny optical device corrects distorted light for sharper imaging
Blurry light from lens imperfections is a problem everywhere, from microscopes to telescopes to smartphone cameras. Using a tiny yet carefully engineered optical element and artificial intelligence, University of California ...
Phys.org / Global mangrove forests rebound, offering hopeful sign for climate and coastal resilience
Mangrove forests, once considered one of the world's most threatened coastal ecosystems, are showing signs of recovery worldwide, according to new research from Tulane University that finds decades of losses largely offset ...
Phys.org / Measuring gravitational waves in a humming universe with a coordinate-free approach
Gravitational waves are tiny ripples in spacetime. Their first direct detection in 2015 marked a revolutionary moment in astronomy. Today, we have a thorough understanding of signals that travel far from their sources through ...
Phys.org / Wildfires reverse decade of ozone cleanup in the United States, study reveals
Ozone pollution has worsened in much of the continental United States over the past decade, fueled by wildfires and the long-distance transport of unhealthy air, according to a new study titled "Fires reverse progress toward ...
Phys.org / Jupiter bow shock reveals electrons accelerating to relativistic speeds
Electrons around Jupiter have been caught in the process of being accelerated, revealing a potentially unified mechanism for particle acceleration. The findings, published in Nature, may help constrain how energetic particles ...
Phys.org / Ultrathin nanotubes reach 1 nanometer, opening path to smaller electronics
Researchers in Japan have created some of the world's smallest semiconducting nanotubes, structures 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. By growing molybdenum disulfide inside protective tubes of boron nitride, the researchers, ...
Phys.org / Most people cooperate—and underestimate others' willingness to cooperate, global study reveals
The study "Homo cooperans: Understanding the nature of human cooperation" arrives at a clear result: 69% of study participants chose to cooperate. At the same time, the study published in the journal Science shows that people ...
