Physics

Researchers have explored how artificial intelligence and machine learning are helping scientists identify catalysts for methane pyrolysis, a reaction that produces hydrogen without emitting carbon dioxide.

Inspired by a simple children's toy, a jumping popper toy, researchers have unlocked a key to designing more agile and predictable soft robots. Soft robots, made from flexible materials, hold immense promise for delicate tasks, but their complex movements have been difficult to predict and control, especially dynamic actions like jumping. Now, a team from Keio University and The University of Osaka has published a study in Advanced Robotics Research detailing the physics behind the jump of thin hemispherical shells, a fundamental building block for jumping soft robots.

In the 2D ferromagnet Fe5GeTe2, researchers reveal atomic-scale coherence linking charge density waves, Kondo physics, and ferromagnetism—the first direct observation of synchronized electric and magnetic quantum states.

Researchers find solution to ‘static friction paradox’ — apparent stick state with slow slip is purely mechanical

Cyborg jellyfish, 3D collagen, Light, light go away, AI electronic nose, FLASHing cancer, Hydrogen storage in nanoscales & Can I drink this? Read all in the latest Editor's Choice

Researchers developed a safe and simple sublimation method that produces sheets of atomically-thin semiconductor crystals. This could streamline the process for creating faster, more efficient computers.

The Quantum Information Research Center of YOKOHAMA National University serves as a hub that brings together top researchers to promote practical quantum information research and lead large-scale national and international projects through active collaboration.

Scientists demonstrated room-temperature plasmonic lasing by integrating quasi-two-dimensional perovskites with high-Q plasmonic nanostructures.

Researchers at Tohoku University found a method to break down specific contaminants in water in order to help replenish one of our most precious resources: fresh water.

A team of researchers used a machine learning model to predict unknown chemical pathways, and bring us one step closer to efficiently storing next-generation hydrogen fuels.

A team led by Professor Masakatsu Murakami has developed a novel concept called micronozzle acceleration (MNA). By designing a microtarget with tiny nozzle-like features and irradiating it with ultraintense, ultrashort laser pulses, the team successfully demonstrated—through advanced numerical simulations—the generation of high-quality, GeV-class proton beams: a world-first achievement.

Researchers proposed a novel strategy for using a magnetic field to boost the efficiency of single-atom catalysts – thus speeding up helpful reactions used for ammonia production and wastewater treatment.

Researchers from the Center for Condensed Matter Sciences, National Taiwan University, have developed a new electron microscopy technique to reveal hydrogen storage and defect healing processes in palladium.

Researchers at Tohoku University have achieved record-breaking energy efficiency for a high-speed memory storage device, called a SOT-MRAM cell.

Janus heterobilayers – dual-sided materials with unique properties – may be the key to efficiently creating clean hydrogen fuels.

The rules about magnetic order may need to be rewritten. An international team of researchers found that it was possible to turn a non-magnetic material into a magnetic material by slicing it into thin films.

In-situ phosphatized Ni–N3PC boosts CO2 to CO conversion in acidic electrolyte, suppresses HER, and achieves >90% FECO with high stability.

- Professor Hyuk-jun Kwon’s team at DGIST has developed a high-performance artificial olfactory platform that mimics the human nose to identify a wide range of scents - A simple laser-based process enables scent-sensitive sensors ... AI-powered scent analysis is expected to impact healthcare, cosmetics, and environmental monitoring

A research team at Tohoku University’s Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR) has developed a new technique to rapidly and accurately determine the charge state of electrons confined in semiconductor quantum dots—fundamental components of quantum computing systems. The method is based on Bayesian inference, a statistical framework that estimates the most likely state of a system using observed data.

Researchers at Tohoku University have developed a data-driven AI framework that gives scientists a head start by suggesting ideal candidate materials.

Researchers found a strategy to create catalysts that make the production of hydrogen for clean fuel more efficient and affordable.

These dynamically adjustable water-based lenses have many potential future uses, from classrooms and research labs to cameras and wearable gadgets.

Researchers at Tohoku University explored a colloidal crystal model to produce specific polymorphs, required for use in materials science and pharmaceuticals.

New light-powered DNA detection enables more accessible, affordable genetic analysis

Conventional thinking holds that the metal site in single atom catalysts (SACs) has been a limiting factor to the continued improvement of the design and, therefore, the continued improvement of the capability of these SACs. More specifically, the lack of outside-the-box thinking when it comes to the crucial hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), a half-reaction resulting in the splitting of water, has contributed to a lack of advancement in this field. New research emphasizes the importance of pushing the limits of the metal site design in SACs to optimize the HER and addressing the poisoning effects of HO* and O* that might affect the reaction. All of these improvements could lead to an improved performance of the reaction, which can make sustainable energy storage or hydrogen production more available.

Quasicrystals are intriguing materials with long-range atomic order that lack periodicity. It has been a longstanding question whether antiferromagnetism, while commonly found in regular crystals, is even possible in quasicrystals. In a new study, researchers have finally answered this question, providing the first definitive neutron diffraction evidence of antiferromagnetism in a real icosahedral quasicrystal. This discovery opens a new research area of quasiperiodic antiferromagnets, with potential applications in spintronics.

Back in 2021, MLB decided to crack down on pitchers’ use of resin to grip the ball better. As a result, the average spin of a pitch dropped, and batters hit more balls. A team of researchers has explored the phenomenon behind this.

From harmful to helpful; researchers at Tohoku University and Hokkaido University have developed a record-breaking method to efficiently convert carbon dioxide into a fuel source.

A researcher from The University of Osaka resolves a long-standing paradox regarding the theoretical description of glassy materials

Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, discover brand new one-dimensional diffraction patterns in two-dimensional nanomaterials, with exciting implications