Science Daily February 20, 2024 Myotis bats are exceptionally species rich and have evolved viral tolerance. They also exhibit swarming, a cryptic behavior where large, multi-species assemblages gather for mating, which has been hypothesized to promote interspecific hybridization. An international team of researchers (USA – Texas A&M, Switzerland, France, Ireland) analysed 60 Old World Myotis genomes to resolve the coevolution of genome architecture and their unusual antiviral tolerance. They demonstrated an extensive history of introgressive hybridization that has replaced the species phylogeny across 17%−93% of the genome except for pericentromeric regions of macrochromosomes. They enriched introgression tracts on microchromosome regions […]
Clouds disappear quickly during a solar eclipse, shows study
Phys.org February 12, 2024 Clouds affected by solar eclipses could influence the reflection of sunlight back into space and might change local precipitation patterns. Satellite cloud retrievals have so far not taken into account the lunar shadow, hindering a reliable spaceborne assessment of the eclipse-induced cloud evolution. Researchers in the Netherlands used satellite cloud measurements during three solar eclipses between 2005 and 2016 that have been corrected for the partial lunar shadow together with large-eddy simulations to analyze the eclipse-induced cloud evolution. The corrected data revealed that, over cooling land surfaces, shallow cumulus clouds start to disappear at very small […]
Electrons become fractions of themselves in graphene
Science Daily February 21, 2024 The fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect (FQAHE), the analogue of the fractional quantum Hall effect at zero magnetic field, is predicted to exist in topological flat bands under spontaneous time-reversal-symmetry breaking. The demonstration of FQAHE could lead to non-Abelian anyons that form the basis of topological quantum computation. So far, FQAHE has been observed only in twisted MoTe2 at a moiré filling factor v > 1/2. Graphene-based moiré superlattices are believed to host FQAHE with the potential advantage of superior material quality and higher electron mobility. At zero magnetic field, an international team of researchers (USA – […]
Energy-saving electrochemical hydrogen production via co-generative strategies in hybrid water electrolysis
Phys.org February 26. 2024 Coupling the kinetically favorable anodic electrooxidation reactions of easily oxidizable substances with the hydrogen evolution reaction in a hybrid water electrolysis (HWE) configuration solves the pollutant emission and biomass recycling problems and maximizes the return on energy profiteering. An international team of researchers (China, Egypt, Singapore) has provided an overview of HWE system, design, and engineering of high reactive/selective/stable electrodes/electrocatalysts for anodic oxidation of organic/biomass substrates. They provided possible reaction mechanisms from both experimental and theoretical perspectives to promote the efficiency of synergistic electrocatalysis. They reviewed, the recent research breakthroughs in the field of HWE technology […]
Improving lithium-sulfur batteries with metal-organic framework-based materials
Phys.org February 27, 2024 Practical applications of Li-S batteries (LSBs) are inhibited by their poor electrical conductivity of electrode materials, greatly volumetric variation, as well as the polysulfide formation upon the cycling. To address these problems (MOFs)-based cathode materials, and easy morphology design have been extensively studied. An international team of researchers (Japan, China) has provided a comprehensive overview of MOFs-based sulfur host materials, their electrochemical reaction mechanisms, related evaluation parameters, and their performances used in LSBs in the past few years. The recent advances using in-situ characterization technologies for investigating the electrochemical reaction mechanism in LSBs are highlighted. They […]
Measuring the properties of light: Scientists realize new method for determining quantum states
Nanowerk February 25, 2024 Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have been widely used to study the discrete nature of quantum states of light in the form of photon-counting experiments. Researchers in Germany showed that SNSPDs can also be used to study continuous variables of optical quantum states by performing homodyne detection at a bandwidth of 400 kHz. By measuring the interference of a continuous-wave field of a local oscillator with the field of the vacuum state using two SNSPDs, they showed that the variance of the difference in count rates was linearly proportional to the photon flux of the local […]
New water batteries stay cool under pressure
Science Daily February 21, 2024 The sluggish ions-transfer and inhomogeneous ions-nucleation induce the formation of randomly oriented dendrites on Zn anode, while the chemical instability at anode–electrolyte interface triggers detrimental side reactions. A team of international researchers (Australia, China) designed a multifunctional hybrid interphase of Bi/Bi2O3 a novel synergistic regulation mechanism involving chemically inert interface protection mechanism suppressing side reactions, and thermodynamically favorable Zn atomic clusters dissociation mechanism impeding dendrites formation. Assisted by collaborative modulation behavior, the Zn@Bi/Bi2O3 symmetry cell delivered an ultrahigh cumulative plating capacity and ultralong lifetimes of 300 h even at high current density and depth of […]
Novel nanocrystal harnesses full solar spectrum for hydrogen production
Nanowerk February 27, 2024 Near infrared energy remains untapped toward the maneuvering of entire solar spectrum harvesting for fulfilling the nuts and bolts of solar hydrogen production. An international team of researchers (Taiwan, Japan)used Au@Cu7S4 yolk@shell nanocrystals as dual-plasmonic photocatalysts to achieve remarkable hydrogen production under visible and near infrared illumination. Data revealed the prevalence of long-lived charge separation states for Au@Cu7S4 under both visible and near infrared excitation. Combined with the advantageous features of yolk@shell nanostructures, Au@Cu7S4 achieved a peak quantum yield of 9.4%. The design of a sustainable visible- and near infrared-responsive photocatalytic system is expected to inspire […]
Physicists detect elusive ‘Bragg glass’ phase with machine learning tool
Phys.org February 9, 2024 Detecting the Bragg glass phase has been challenging despite its sharp theoretical definition in terms of diverging correlation lengths. A team of researchers in the US (Cornell University, Stanford University, National Accelerator Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory provided bulk probe evidence supporting a Bragg glass phase in the systematically disordered charge-density-wave material of PdxErTe3. They established a diverging correlation length in samples with moderate intercalation over a wide temperature range. According to the researchers their work advances our understanding of the complex interplay between disorder and fluctuation and the use of their analysis technique to target fluctuations […]
A promising leap towards computers with light-speed capabilities
Phys.org February 28, 2024 Due to the current technological limitations understanding and controlling engineered quantum systems is not always possible. An international team of researchers (Australia, Switzerland, UK, Germany, France, USA – Perdue University) has developed a programmable waveguide array in which the Hamiltonian terms can be individually electro-optically tuned to implement various Hamiltonian continuous-time evolutions on a single device. They used a single array with 11 waveguides in lithium niobate, controlled via 22 electrodes, to perform a range of experiments that realized the Su-Schriffer-Heeger model, the Aubrey-Andre model, and Anderson localization, which is equivalent to over 2500 static devices. […]