Building an accurate model of how atoms interact is a complicated process. Researchers must choose new calculations, test successive models and track the mechanisms behind each interaction. But a newly developed AI agent called MLP Copilot has made this process much easier by bridging computational tools and scientific evidence with human supervision.
Researchers at the UVSOR Synchrotron Facility (Institute for Molecular Science, Japan) and partner institutions have observed the decay of a xenon 4d core hole, an inner-shell vacancy, directly in the time domain. They used pairs of phase-coherent extreme ultraviolet pulses from a synchrotron to make the photoelectron wave packets they released interfere. The contrast of the interference fringes decreased over a few femtoseconds as the delay between the pulses increased. A model using literature core-hole lifetimes of about 6 femtoseconds reproduced this rapid decay of the fringe contrast. The study is published in the journal Physical Review A.
A KAIST-led research team has characterized how light propagates through and is absorbed by barium titanate (BTO), a promising material for next-generation optical communication devices. By clarifying optical properties that had been difficult to determine because of the material's complex internal structure, the study provides a foundation for designing these devices.
Dehydrating milk to turn it into powder is, today, an energy-intensive process that subjects the product to high temperatures. Powdered milk is widely used by the food industry and allows the product to be stored and transported in a stable condition for long periods of time without the need for refrigeration. While industrial methods are effective, they have high energy costs and can alter heat-sensitive components, such as whey proteins, enzymes or vitamins.
Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels are projected to decrease by 0.4% in 2026—driven by expansion of solar and wind power and the Iran conflict—according to new research by the Global Carbon Project. The 2026 edition (the 21st annual report) is published in the journal Earth System Science Data.
You're walking through the farmers market with a screaming toddler tucked under your arm football style. You're tired, you're leaving without the produce you came for and you're embarrassed.
For more than six decades, local scientists have collected sugar maple leaves from Gatineau Park to measure their radiocarbon levels, creating the longest continuous record of its kind. Now, a study of those leaves led by the André E. Lalonde National Facility for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AEL-AMS) located at the University of Ottawa shows that the effects of Cold War–era nuclear weapons testing have only recently disappeared from the local biosphere. The study, titled "Stored carbohydrates buffer Bomb and Suess radiocarbon effects in maple leaves across a 65-year Ottawa region record," was published in Scientific Reports.
Mount Sinai researchers have identified a single amino acid difference between rodent- and human-derived Andes virus isolates that changes how a key viral protein behaves inside human cells. The findings help explain biological differences between closely related virus isolates.
Every autumn, from city centers to wetlands, starling murmurations attract crowds of spectators. Thousands of birds fill the sky, twisting and turning in extraordinary waves as the sun sets. An entire flock moves as one, creating shapes that shift and dissolve as quickly as they appear.
Ten years after 8,000 ancient frog bones were discovered in a single ditch, scientists at Bournemouth University and the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) have finally identified the culprits
