News by Subject Chemistry & Physics

An international research team at the Swiss Light Source (SLS) has set a new tomography world record using a rotary sample table developed at the HZB. With 208 three-dimensional tomographic X-ray images per second, they were able to document the dynamic processes involved in the foaming of liquid aluminium. The method is presented in the journal Nature Communications.

A new rechargeable high voltage manganese dioxide zinc battery, exceeding the 2 V barrier in aqueous zinc chemistry, is the latest invention by City College of New York researchers. With a voltage of 2.45-2.8V, the alkaline MnO2|Zn battery, developed by Dr. Gautam G. Yadav and his group in the CCNY-based CUNY Energy Institute, could break the long dominance of flammable and expensive lithium (Li)-ion batteries in the market.

The rare isotope iron-60 is created in massive stellar explosions. Only a very small amount of this isotope reaches the earth from distant stars. Now, a research team with significant involvement from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has discovered iron-60 in Antarctic snow for the first time. The scientists suggest that the iron isotope comes from the interstellar neighborhood.

Lithium fluoride crystals have recently been used to register the tracks of nuclear particles. Physicists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow have just demonstrated that these crystals are also ideal for detecting tracks of high-energy ions of elements even as heavy as iron.

An experiment to test a popular theory of dark energy has found no evidence of new forces, placing strong constraints on related theories.

Physicists from HKUST and PKU have successfully created the world's first 3D simulation of topological matter consisting of ultracold atoms.

Over the past several years, microplastic particles have repeatedly been detected in sea-water, drinking water, and even in animals. But these minute particles are also transported by the atmosphere and subsequently washed out of the air, especially by snow -- and even in such remote regions as the Arctic and Alps. This was demonstrated in a study conducted by experts at the Alfred Wegener Institute and a Swiss colleague, recently published in the journal Science Advances.

In a new study, Yale postdoctoral associate Nir Mandelker and professor Frank C. van den Bosch report on the most detailed simulation ever of a large patch of the intergalactic medium (IGM). For the first time, they were able to see how cold, dense gas clouds in the IGM organize themselves and react within much larger 'sheets' or 'pancakes' of matter in the vastness of space.