Apr 14, 2022 (Nanowerk News) The MAGIC telescopes have observed the nova RS Ophiuchi shining brightly in gamma rays at extremely high energy. The Gamma rays emanate from protons that are accelerated to very high energies in the shock front following the explosion. This suggests that novae are also a...
Giant stars undergo dramatic weight loss program
Apr 14, 2022 (Nanowerk News) There are millions of ‘red giant’ stars found in our galaxy. These cool and luminous objects are what our Sun will become in four billion years. For some time, astronomers have predicted the existence of slimmer red giants. After finding a smattering of them, the...
Predicting the most stable boron nitride structure with quantum simulations
Apr 14, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Boron nitride (BN) is a versatile material with applications in a variety of engineering and scientific fields. This is largely due to an interesting property of BN called “polymorphism,” characterized by the ability to crystallize into more than one type of structure. This generally occurs...
Electrostatic influences the movement of drops on surfaces
Apr 14, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Something as simple as the motion of water drops on surfaces should actually be understood - one would think. In fact there are still numerous unanswered questions about the forces acting on a sliding droplet. A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for...
First hybrid quantum bit based on topological insulators
Apr 14, 2022 (Nanowerk News) With their superior properties, topological qubits could help achieve a breakthrough in the development of a quantum computer designed for universal applications. So far, no one has yet succeeded in unambiguously demonstrating a quantum bit, or qubit for short, of this kind in a lab....
Optimizing silicon structure to reduce reflection
Apr 14, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Perhaps the most significant source of untapped renewable energy is, unsurprisingly, the Sun. It is little wonder that much of the focus of renewable energy research focuses on solar power. A new paper published in EPJ D ("Optimization of porous silicon structure as antireflective material")...
Golden wedding for molecules
Apr 14, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Chemical syntheses in liquids and gases take place in three-dimensional space. Random collisions between molecules have to result in something new in an extremely short time. But there is another way: on a gold surface under ultrahigh vacuum conditions, molecules lying still next to each...
Nanoparticles could enable a more sensitive and durable rapid COVID-19 test
Apr 13, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Rapid antigen tests can quickly and conveniently tell a person that they are positive for COVID-19. However, because antibody-based tests aren’t very sensitive, they can fail to detect early infections with low viral loads. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Sensors ("Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Nanoparticles Enable...
Edible, fluorescent silk tags can suss out fake medications
Apr 13, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Recent developments such as the explosion of online pharmacies and supply chain issues have made it easier for counterfeiters to profit from fake or adulterated medications. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science ("Edible Matrix Code with Photogenic Silk Proteins") have created edible tags with...
Real-time ultrafast humidity sensing optical sensor
Apr 13, 2022 (Nanowerk News) The Hercules beetle native to South America has a fascinating trait of changing its shell colors depending on the external humidity conditions. This is because the inside of the beetle’s shell consists of porous lattice structure with square holes. When light of particular wavelengths hits...