Science

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First principles approach to creating new materials: Solid-state chemistry and theoretical physics combined to help discover new materials with useful properties

A Perovskite heterostructure: The laws governing the physics of materials are in fact relatively simple, it is just that the behavior of the constituents as a whole are complex. Indeed, materials are made up of atoms whose type, number, and arrangement--the crystalline motif--creates distinct properties that emerge through the collective behavior of the seemingly simpler, well-understood parts. The discovery of emergent phenomena in condensed matter systems is therefore intimately linked with that of discovering the crystalline materials that display these phenomena. Such discoveries by their very nature often occur serendipitously. One challenge is that there are an enormous number of possible bulk compounds that have yet to be identified. As the propensity for new properties tends to increase as the structural and chemical complexity of the crystalline motif increases, the traditional exploratory route to discover these materials is quite demanding.

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The artificial hetero-structuring of complex materials at the atomic scale

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Images From NASA Mars Rover Include Bright Spots

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This image from the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover includes a bright spot near the upper left corner.

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Global Recovery Offers Opportunity for Growth and Policy Reforms in the Middle East and North Africa

The World Bank Group’s latest regional economic update projects growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to accelerate from an average of 2.6% in 2013 to 4.6% in 2015. With the global economy set for a rebound, 2014 seems hopeful and 2015 could be a turning point for countries in the MENA region as they will start to benefit from stronger external demand in the high-income economies.

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Rebar technique strengthens case for graphene: Rice University lab makes hybrid nanotube-graphene material that promises to simplify manufacturing

Carbon nanotubes are reinforcing bars that make two-dimensional graphene much easier to handle in a new hybrid material grown by researchers at Rice University.

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Carbon nanotubes that serve as reinforcing bars in graphene partially unzip in the process created at Rice University. The unzipped part of the tube bonds covalently with the graphene sheet, providing an uninterrupted electrical connection.

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Trees go high-tech: process turns cellulose into energy storage devices

Based on a fundamental chemical discovery by scientists at Oregon State University, it appears that trees may soon play a major role in making high-tech energy storage devices.

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To bridge LEDs' green gap, scientists think small... really small: Nanostructures half a DNA strand-wide show promise for efficient LEDs

Nanostructures half the breadth of a DNA strand could improve the efficiency of light emitting diodes (LEDs), especially in the "green gap," a portion of the spectrum where LED efficiency plunges, simulations at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) have shown.

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This simulation of a one-nanometer wide Indium Nitride wire shows the distribution of an electron around a positively charged 'hole.' Strong quantum confinement in these small nanostructures enables efficient light emission at visible wavelengths.

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Quantum Photon Properties Revealed in Another Particle—the Plasmon

For years, researchers have been interested in developing quantum computers—the theoretical next generation of technology that will outperform conventional computers. Instead of holding data in bits, the digital units used by computers today, quantum computers store information in units called "qubits." One approach for computing with qubits relies on the creation of two single photons that interfere with one another in a device called a waveguide. Results from a recent applied science study at Caltech support the idea that waveguides coupled with another quantum particle—the surface plasmon—could also become an important piece of the quantum computing puzzle.

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An artist's representation of a plasmonic waveguide.

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Europe lofts first Copernicus environmental satellite

The ability of European citizens, policymakers and service providers to access key environmental data on a routine basis will take a major step forward following the launch of ESA’s Sentinel-1A satellite.

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The sky is the limit? Europe’s aviation market takes off

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Flight movements across Europe.

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NASA's OCO-2 Brings Sharp Focus on Global Carbon

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This animation shows the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, the first NASA spacecraft dedicated to studying carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere.