Phys.org news
Phys.org / Helical liquid crystals can flip light's chirality under ultralow electric fields
The direction in which the electromagnetic field of circularly polarized light rotates can be easily reversed by applying a voltage, RIKEN researchers have demonstrated. This could enable a new generation of optical devices ...
Phys.org / Useful quantum computers could be built with as few as 10,000 qubits, team finds
Quantum computers of the future may be closer to reality thanks to new research from Caltech and Oratomic, a Caltech-linked start-up company. Theorists and experimentalists teamed up to develop a new approach for reducing ...
Phys.org / Hidden features in X-rays could radically change how we measure and understand them
Hidden features uncovered in X-ray signals are set to overturn a key scientific theory and fundamentally change how X-rays are interpreted across fields of physics, chemistry, biology and materials science, new research reveals. ...
Phys.org / Free software lets laptops simulate how aging evolves under selection
Why do some species live for only weeks while others survive for centuries? Researchers at the Leibniz Institute on Aging—Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena have developed AEGIS, a freely available software tool that enables ...
Phys.org / New microporous aerogel uses van der Waals forces for flexible, moldable shaping
Porous materials are widely used for gas storage, separation, catalysis, and environmental purification. Their functionality arises from nanoscale pores that allow molecules to be selectively captured or transported. However, ...
Phys.org / Chaos shapes how meandering rivers change over time, research shows
Rivers are rarely the calm, orderly streams we imagine on maps. Over time, their winding paths—called meanders—shift, bend, and occasionally snap off in sudden "cutoff" events that shorten loops and reshape the landscape. ...
Phys.org / Stretching metals can tune catalysis: A new method predicts energy shifts
Heterogeneous catalysis—in which catalysts and reactants are of different phases, e.g., solid and gas—is important to many industrial processes and often involves solid metal as the catalyst. Ammonia synthesis, catalytic ...
Phys.org / Accuracy test for protein language models shines light into AI 'black box'
AI language models, used to generate human-like text to power chatbots and create content, are also revolutionizing biology by treating complex biological data like a language. Language models are increasingly used, for example, ...
Phys.org / Saturn's magnetic bubble is lopsided compared to Earth's, suggests new study
Saturn's magnetic shield is asymmetrical compared to Earth's, suggests a new study involving University College London (UCL) researchers, and this is likely a result of its fast rotation coupled with the heavy material it ...
Phys.org / Reducing aircraft soot might not actually reduce the climate effects of contrails
Reducing aircraft soot emissions may not reduce contrail clouds, according to in-flight observations of emissions from a passenger jet with modern "lean-burn" engines, reported in Nature. Contrails from aircraft contribute ...
Phys.org / Can you trust a finding? A new project maps which studies replicate
Findings from the Systematizing Confidence in Open Research and Evidence (SCORE) program—a collaborative effort involving 865 researchers—have been published in Nature as a collection of three papers alongside a release of ...
Phys.org / A new way to detect breakthroughs in science: Large-scale analysis reveals 'disruptive' innovations in research history
The history of science and technology is marked by major breakthroughs—the theory of evolution, the splitting of the atom, the development of antibiotics—and a research team including faculty at Binghamton University, State ...
