In the next few decades, many physicists are hopeful that nuclear fusion could become a realistic source of practically limitless energy. But before this can happen, it will be critical to ensure that reactors cannot be covertly misused to produce materials for nuclear weapons.
A team of researchers has leveraged a supercomputer at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory to reveal the internal structure of a pion in unprecedented detail. The findings are published in the Journal of High Energy Physics.
Hotter, drier conditions in the western United States have led to a rise in wildfire activity that has damaged or destroyed infrastructure, natural ecosystems and entire towns across the region. As fires grow larger and more destructive, the cost of managing them rises as well.
A new study challenges a long-standing assumption about how cyanobacteria survive environmental stress. The study, led by researchers at the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR)—the Kinneret Limnological Institute (KLI), shows that survival under prolonged heat stress is not determined solely by the ability to protect photosynthesis. Instead, survival may depend on a remarkable shift in cellular energy balance, with dark respiration compensating when photosynthetic electron transport becomes impaired.
Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have achieved two major breakthroughs in interfacial polymerization, a key technique for preparing advanced functional materials. By integrating quantum mechanics with machine learning, the team has elucidated the mechanism by which water molecules facilitate reactions at the molecular level. At the same time, it has transformed microcapsule design from a traditional trial-and-error approach into a predictive science.
A recent study published in Nature Communications demonstrates precise control over electron spatial arrangement in two directions simultaneously—without any applied voltage—through interface engineering between semimetal bismuth (Bi) thin films and two-dimensional semiconductor MoS₂.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is considered one of the most urgent global public health threats, with experts predicting that AMR could cause 39 million deaths between 2025 and 2050. AMR is not a single problem, but instead involves many different genes, pathogens, hosts and environmental factors.
Using NASA's Chandra X-ray spacecraft, astronomers have performed deep X-ray observations of a galactic globular cluster known as NGC 6540. The new observational campaign, described June 1 on the preprint server arXiv, focused on disentangling the nature of a peculiar X-ray flare emitted by the cluster about two decades ago.
Globally, humanity now produces a staggering 450 million tonnes of plastic every year. From food and drink containers to cosmetics packaging, sewage pipes, window frames and polyester clothing, we use plastics in almost every area of life. And nearly one-quarter of them end up in the environment, where they very slowly degrade into microscopic pieces.
It has long been understood that parents' income plays a major role in children's access to higher education. But a new study published in Canadian Studies in Population suggests that grandparents' income matters, too. By analyzing multigenerational tax data, researchers at Université de Montréal found a direct and significant correlation between grandparents' earnings and the likelihood that their grandchildren will pursue postsecondary education.
