Science

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Milky Way Nuclear Star Cluster

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Computer simulation discloses new effect of cavitation: Steam bubbles in fast flowing fluids obviously also result from chemical surface properties; use for reducing wear in pumps and plain bearings

Researchers have discovered a so far unknown formation mechanism of cavitation bubbles by means of a model calculation. They describe how oil-repellent and oil-attracting surfaces influence a passing oil flow. Depending on the viscosity of the oil, a steam bubble forms in the transition area. This so-called cavitation may damage material of e.g. ship propellers or pumps. However, it may also have a positive effect, as it may keep components at a certain distance and, thus, prevent damage.

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A cavitation bubble is formed in the lubricant between the oil-attracting (yellow) and the oil-repellent surface (black). When used as a buffer, it might reduce wear.

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Engineering black gold, as light as the bones of birds

A team of Korean research team, led by Professor Ju-Young Kim (School of Materials Science and Engineering) of Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), South Korea has recently announced that they have successfully developed a way to fabricate an ultralight, high-dense nanoporous gold (np-Au).

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These are SME images that show the formation of nanoporosity in free corrosion dealloying for gold samples.

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Scientists Part the Clouds on How Droplets Form

Berkeley Lab researchers find new mechanism to explain the birth of cloud droplets, could influence climate models

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Cloud droplets form when the amount of water vapor reaches a threshold value. Larger cloud droplets form when organic molecules (in red) are present on the surface instead of dissolving in the interior, or bulk, of the droplet.

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New open source software for high resolution microscopy: Bielefeld physicists report their new development in Nature Communications

With their special microscopes, experimental physicists can already observe single molecules. However, unlike conventional light microscopes, the raw image data from some ultra-high resolution instruments first have to be processed for an image to appear. For the ultra-high resolution fluorescence microscopy that is also employed in biophysical research at Bielefeld University, members of the Biomolecular Photonics Group have developed a new open source software solution that can process such raw data quickly and efficiently. The Bielefeld physicist Dr. Marcel Müller reports on this new open source software in the latest issue of Nature Communications published on 21 March.

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The images show a liver cell before and after processing the data with the software developed at Bielefeld University.

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Newly discovered organic nanowires leave manmade technologies in their dust

A microbial protein fiber discovered by a Michigan State University scientist transports charges at rates high enough to be applied in manmade nanotechnologies.

The discovery, featured in the current issue of Scientific Reports, describes the high-speed protein fiber produced by uranium-reducing Geobacter bacteria. The fibers are hair-like protein filaments called "pili" that have the unique property of transporting charges at speeds of 1 billion electrons per second.

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Entanglement becomes easier to measure: New protocol to detect entanglement of many-particle quantum states

In quantum theory, interactions among particles create fascinating correlations known as entanglement that cannot be explained by any means known to the classical world. Entanglement is a consequence of the probabilistic rules of quantum mechanics and seems to permit a peculiar instantaneous connection between particles over long distances that defies the laws of our macroscopic world - a phenomenon that Einstein referred to as "spooky action at a distance."

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Quantum systems consisting of many particles can enter highly intricate states with strong so-called multiparticle entanglement. A new-found theoretical relation now allows extracting it with standard tools available in scattering experiments.

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Solar fuels: A refined protective layer for the 'artificial leaf'

The team was able for the first time to produce a hybrid structure that converts 12 per cent of the incident solar energy into the form of hydrogen.

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The illustration shows the structure of the sample: n-doped silicon layer (black), a thin silicon oxide layer (gray), an intermediate layer (yellow) and finally the protective layer

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First Discovery of a Binary Companion for a Type Ia Supernova

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Pumping up energy storage with metal oxides

Material scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have found certain metal oxides increase capacity and improve cycling performance in lithium-ion batteries.

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This schematic illustration shows metal oxides tented inside graphene. Many metal oxide/graphene composites offer unexpected capacity synergy that helps to increase storage capacity.