Unraveling the Conduction Mechanisms in a Novel Perovskite Oxide

Image Credit: Singkham

Scientists at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), in collaboration with Tohoku University and others, have investigated a unique and promising material for next-generation electrochemical devices: hexagonal perovskite-related oxide Ba7Nb3.8Mo1.2O20.1. They unveiled the material's unique ion-transport mechanisms, something that will pave the way for better dual-ion conductors and a greener future.

Clean energy technologies are the cornerstone of sustainable societies, and solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and proton ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) are among the most promising types of electrochemical devices for green power generation. These devices, however, still face challenges that hinder their development and adoption.

Ideally, SOFCs should operate at low temperatures to prevent unwanted chemical reactions from degrading their constituent materials. Unfortunately, most known oxide-ion conductors, a key component of SOFCs, only exhibit decent ionic conductivity at elevated temperatures. As for PCFCs, not only are they chemically unstable under carbon dioxide atmospheres, but they also require energy-intensive, high-temperature processing steps during manufacturing.

Dual-ion conductors, however, offer a solution to these problems. By facilitating the diffusion of both protons and oxide ions, these conductors can achieve high total conductivity at lower temperatures, thereby improving the performance of electrochemical devices. Still, the underlying conducting mechanisms behind this material remain poorly understood.

VR users need an emotional connection to virtual worlds, not better graphics

Realistic graphics are only important when the virtual world triggers a sense of threat
Image Credit: Sara Kurig

Being wowed by powerful graphics is not enough for a person to feel fully immersed in a virtual-reality (VR) world – a strong emotional response to the simulated environment is essential too, according to a new study from the University of Bath.

Indeed, field of view and visual realism – achieved through cutting-edge graphics and usually powered by high-end headsets – can be relatively unimportant in creating a believable VR experience. Far more important is the way a user is made to feel (e.g. happy or scared) within the virtual environment, the study found.

Dr Crescent Jicol, principal investigator of the study, said: “A lot of money goes into making headsets and screens better and into rendering virtual worlds more realistic, but more effort needs to be centered on improving the user’s emotional experience.”

Though the findings of this Bath study may ultimately reduce the pressure on gamers to overspend on high-end VR equipment, the implications of this work extend beyond entertainment: in the years ahead, VR is expected to play an ever-growing role in many areas of life, from workplace training to medical rehabilitation programs.

Searching for axions with the ATLAS detector

Professor Dr. Matthias Schott
Photo Credit: Sabrina Hopp

The research group of Professor Matthias Schott of the PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) today published the results of an extensive series of measurements at the ATLAS detector of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The data were recorded during the second runtime of the LHC between 2015 and 2018. The aim of the experimentally challenging measurement program is to search for axion-like particles that could be produced in certain decays of the Higgs particle - and as novel particles could explain the deviation of the experimentally determined anomalous magnetic moment of the muon from its theoretical prediction. The work is funded by an ERC Consolidator Grant from Matthias Schott. They represent the experimental test of an axion model developed by Prof. Dr. Matthias Neubert, theoretical physicist and spokesperson of PRISMA+, and are thus an ideal example of the valuable interplay between theory and experiment at the Mainz site.

Axions are hypothetical elementary particles that were initially postulated to solve a theoretical shortcoming of the strong interaction, the so-called strong CP problem. For many years, axions or axion-like particles (ALPs) have also been considered promising candidates for dark matter. "Against this background, physicists have developed numerous experiments to search for very light ALPs in particular," explains Prof. Dr. Matthias Schott.

Chance twists ordered carbon nanotubes into ‘tornado films’

Jacques Doumani is a graduate student in applied physics at Rice and the lead author of a study published in Nature Communications.
Photo Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

Chiral materials interact with light in very precise ways that are useful for building better displays, sensors and more powerful devices. However, engineering properties such as chirality reliably at scale is still a significant challenge in nanotechnology.

Rice University scientists in the lab of Junichiro Kono have developed two ways of making wafer-scale synthetic chiral carbon nanotube (CNT) assemblies starting from achiral mixtures. According to a study in Nature Communications, the resulting “tornado” and “twisted-and-stacked” thin films can control ellipticity ⎯ a property of polarized light ⎯ to a level and in a range of the spectrum that was previously largely beyond reach.

“These approaches have granted us the ability to deliberately and consistently introduce chirality to materials that, until now, did not exhibit this property on a macroscopic scale,” said Jacques Doumani, a graduate student in applied physics at Rice and the lead author of the study. “Our methods yield thin, flexible films with tunable chiral properties.”

A good night’s sleep may help to generate false memories, a new study reveals

Sleep may play a key role in distorting memories
Photo Credit: Vlada Karpovich
Edited: Scientific Frontline 

From misremembering that movie quote to forgetting that vital ingredient from the shops for the evening dinner, the human memory is not always reliable. Now, researchers have discovered that sleep may play a key role in distorting memories, but perhaps in a good way.

In psychological experiments, false memories often arise when people are given a list of related words to memorize, and falsely remember a word being there that would have fit the category but in fact was missing.

Lure words

As part of this study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, researchers from the University of York’s Department of Psychology tested 488 participants on their ability to recall a list of words 12 hours after seeing them, with some of the participants being allowed to sleep in the 12-hour interim.

They found that those who had slept remembered more of the words on the list than those who had not, but they were also more likely to give words that weren't on the list, but were related. 

The related incorrect words are known as "lure words". If a list contained words like nurse, hospital and sick, the false memories may include lure words like doctor.

Shedding Light on the Synthesis of Sugars Before the Origin of Life

A recent study reveals that aldonates found in the Murchison meteorite can lead to the generation of pentoses via a non enzymatic process. A new study provides clues about primitive biochemistry and bring us closer to understanding the Origins of Life.
Illustration Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab.

Pentoses are essential carbohydrates in the metabolism of modern lifeforms, but their availability during early Earth is unclear since these molecules are unstable. A new study led by the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, reveals a chemical pathway compatible with early Earth conditions and by which C6 aldonates could have acted as a source of pentoses without the need for enzymes. Their findings provide clues about primitive biochemistry and bring us closer to understanding the Origins of Life.

The emergence of life on Earth from simple chemicals is one of the most exciting yet challenging topics in biochemistry and perhaps all of science. Modern lifeforms can transform nutrients into all sorts of compounds through complex chemical networks; what's more, they can catalyze very specific transformations using enzymes, achieving a very fine control over what molecules are produced. However, enzymes did not exist before life emerged and became more sophisticated. Thus, it is likely that various nonenzymatic chemical networks existed at an earlier point in Earth's history, which could convert environmental nutrients into compounds that supported primitive cell-like functions.

Ryugu Samples Illuminate Terrestrial Weathering Effects on Primitive Meteorites

Optical images of the Ryugu sample (left) and the CI chondrite (Orgueil ; right).
Image Credit: ©Kana Amano et al.

A groundbreaking study conducted by a team of international scientists has unveiled unprecedented insights into the nature of the asteroid Ryugu and shed light on the composition of water- and carbon-rich small bodies in the solar system.

Asteroids like Ryugu are remnants of planetary embryos that never reached larger sizes, making them invaluable windows into materials that formed in the early solar system. The study centered on laboratory measurements of the samples brought back to the Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft in 2020. Led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Hayabusa2 aimed to uncover the true nature of Ryugu and explore how astrologists can use knowledge from meteorites to interpret telescopic observations of other hydrous asteroids.

Unlike meteorites derived from similar hydrous asteroids, the Ryugu samples avoided terrestrial alteration - the interaction with oxygen and water in the Earth's atmosphere.

Advanced MRI technology detects changes in the brain after COVID-19

Ida Blystad and her colleagues examine the brain using MRI. 
Photo Credit: Emma Busk Winquist

Researchers at LiU have examined the brains of 16 patients previously hospitalized for COVID-19 with persisting symptoms. They have found differences in brain tissue structure between patients with persisting symptoms after COVID-19 and healthy people. Their findings can bring insights into the underlying mechanisms of persisting neurological problems after COVID-19.

Several previous studies of persisting problems after COVID have involved MRI brain scanning. Although researchers have found differences compared with healthy brains, these differences are not specific to COVID-19.

“It can be frustrating for me as a doctor when I understand that the patients have problems, but I can’t find an explanation because there’s nothing in the MRI scan to explain it. To me, this underlines the importance of trying other examination technologies to understand what’s happening in the brain in patients with persisting symptoms after COVID-19,” says Ida Blystad, neuroradiologist in the Department of Radiology at Linköping University Hospital and researcher affiliated with the Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences at Linköping University and the Centre for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV).

Belgium And Lockheed Martin Celebrate Rollout of First F-35A For Belgium

Belgium F-35A
Photo Credit: Lockheed Martin Corporation

Lockheed Martin presented Belgium's first F-35A Lightning II to the Belgian government during a rollout ceremony at Lockheed Martin's F-35 production facility. This event marks a significant milestone in the Belgian Air Force's history and strengthens the alliance between the United States and Belgium, a key NATO ally.  

"The introduction of the F-35 within the Belgian Air Force will enable us to continue to fulfil all our missions in the coming decades, in cooperation with our allies and partners in NATO, the EU and beyond," said Chief of Defense for the Belgian Armed Forces, Admiral Michel Hofman.

Building on the strong legacy of the F-16, the F-35 will provide the next generation of air power to ensure the Belgian Air Force can fulfill its NATO missions and protect the alliance's key interests. By serving as the most advanced 21st Century Security solution, the F-35 will connect assets across domains to increase situational awareness for Belgium and its key European partners. 

"We congratulate Belgium on this significant achievement," said Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, program executive officer, F-35 Joint Program Office. "The growth of the F-35 in Europe strengthens international partnerships, interoperability, and warfighting capability; and emphasizes the importance the aircraft provides as a deterrent against potential adversaries." 

Researchers stunned by Webb’s new high-definition look at exploded star

A roughly circular cloud of gas and dust with complex structure. The inner shell is made of bright pink and orange filaments studded with clumps and knots that look like tiny pieces of shattered glass. Around the exterior of the inner shell, there are curtains of wispy gas that look like campfire smoke. Around and within the nebula, various stars are seen as points of blue and white light. Outside the nebula, there are also clumps of dust, colored yellow in the image
Hi-Res Zoomable Image
Source/Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, D. Milisavljevic (Purdue University), T. Temim (Princeton University), I. De Looze (University of Gent)

Like a shiny, round ornament ready to be placed in the perfect spot on the holiday tree, supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) gleams in a new image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. However, this scene is no proverbial silent night — all is not calm.

Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) view of Cas A displays a very violent explosion at a resolution previously unreachable at these wavelengths. This high-resolution look unveils intricate details of the expanding shell of material slamming into the gas shed by the star before it exploded.

Cas A is one of the best-studied supernova remnants in all the cosmos. Over the years, ground-based and space-based observatories, including the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, have collectively assembled a multiwavelength picture of the object’s tattered remains.

However, astronomers have now entered a new era in the study of Cas A. In April 2023, Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) started this story, revealing new and unexpected features within the inner shell of the supernova remnant. But many of those features are invisible in the new NIRCam image, and astronomers are investigating why that is.