Science

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Star factory in the early Universe challenges galaxy evolution theory

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Starburst galaxy

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Fluorescence Technique Measures Photoacid Distribution in Photoresists with Nanoscale Resolution

A team of researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, the University of Maryland, and Korea University (Seoul, Korea) has measured the nanoscale distribution of photoacid molecules in photoresists using a fluorescence technique originally developed to provide images of biological structures smaller than the wavelength of light.* Photoresists are light-sensitive chemicals used for manufacturing the semiconductor integrated circuits found in computers and other electronics. By measuring the chemical reactions in photoresists at a smaller length scale, this method potentially opens a path to manufacturing smaller electronic devices.

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Schematic showing fluorescence from UV-activated fluorophores excited by 532 nm light that reveals nanoscale photoacid distribution (left). Activated fluorophore concentration corresponds to the inverse of the original photoacid distribution (right).

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A new twist for quantum systems

To maneuver a car into a parking spot parallel to the road can be quite a challenge. It would be an easy task, of course, if only the vehicle could move sideways. As this is not possible, the sideways motion must be pieced together - sometimes elegantly, sometimes less so - in a series of forward and backward movements and turns on the steering wheel. Such a finely tuned sequence of movements also enables cats to almost always land on their feet after a free fall. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now used a similar principle for steering a quantum system into a desired state. This new type of control should be useful in situations in which quantum systems must be precisely controlled, not least in the context of quantum computers.

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Macroscopic quantum objects: A microwave resonator measuring 32 mm x 15 mm x 5 mm (left) contains superconducting circuits (center and right) that display similar quantum behavior as atoms.

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NASA’s Wind Mission Encounters ‘SLAMS’ Waves

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Earth is surrounded by a giant magnetic bubble called the magnetosphere. As it travels through space, a complex system of charged particles from the sun and magnetic structures piles up in front of it. Scientists wish to better understand this area in front of the bow shock, known as the foreshock, as it can help explain how energy from the rest of space makes its way past this boundary into the magnetosphere.

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How to Target an Asteroid

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This spectacular image of comet Tempel 1 was taken 67 seconds after it obliterated Deep Impact's impactor spacecraft.

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Small in size, big on power: New microbatteries a boost for electronics

Though they be but little, they are fierce. The most powerful batteries on the planet are only a few millimeters in size, yet they pack such a punch that a driver could use a cellphone powered by these batteries to jump-start a dead car battery - and then recharge the phone in the blink of an eye.

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The graphic illustrates a high power battery technology from the University of Illinois. Ions flow between three-dimensional micro-electrodes in a lithium ion battery.

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New high-speed cameras for Westerbork Telescope

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From solar activity to stunning aurora

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This beautiful aurora illuminates the sky over the snow-clad landscape near Tromsø, Norway.

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Layered '2-D nanocrystals' promising new semiconductor

The two-dimensional layered semiconducting di-chalcogenides are emerging as promising candidates for post-Si-CMOS applications owing to their excellent electrostatic integrity and the presence of a finite energy bandgap, unlike graphene. However, in order to unravel the ultimate potential of these materials, one needs to investigate different aspects of carrier transport. In this Letter, we present the first comprehensive experimental study on the dependence of carrier mobility on the layer thickness of back-gated multilayer MoS2 field-effect transistors. We observe a non-monotonic trend in the extracted effective field-effect mobility with layer thickness, which is of relevance for the design of high-performance devices. We also discuss a detailed theoretical model based on Thomas-Fermi charge screening and interlayer coupling in order to explain our experimental observations. Our model is generic and, therefore, is believed to be applicable to any two-dimensional layered system.

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Researchers are developing a new type of semiconductor technology, pictured here, for future computers and electronics based on "two-dimensional nanocrystals." The material is layered in sheets less than a nanometer thick that could replace today's silicon transistors.

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Chloroform cleanup: just the beginning for palladium-gold catalysts: Federally funded research pays off with new process for environmental remediation

Researchers from Rice University, DuPont Central Research and Development and Stanford University have announced a full-scale field test of an innovative process that gently but quickly destroys some of the world's most pervasive and problematic pollutants. The technology, called PGClear, originated from basic scientific research at Rice during a 10-year, federally funded initiative to use nanotechnology to clean the environment.

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When chloroform-contaminated water is flowed through a column containing PGClear pellets, the palladium and gold in the pellets spurs a chemical reaction that breaks down chloroform into nontoxic methane and chloride salt.