News by Subject Chemistry & Physics

Fifty years ago, scientists hit upon what they thought could be the next rocket fuel. Carboranes -- molecules composed of boron, carbon and hydrogen atoms clustered together in three-dimensional shapes -- were seen as the possible basis for next-generation propellants due to their ability to release massive amounts of energy when burned.

An international team of Russian, Australian and Korean researchers have experimentally trapped an electromagnetic wave in a gallium arsenide nanoresonator for a record-breaking time, over 200 periods of one wave oscillation. The trap has also been tested as a basis for a light frequency nanoconverter. The results were published in Science. Researchers anticipate drastically new opportunities for subwavelength optics and nanophotonics, including the development of compact sensors, night vision devices, and optical data transmission technologies.

Rice University engineers build full lithium-ion batteries with silicon anodes and an alumina layer to protect cathodes from degrading. By limiting their energy density, the batteries promise excellent stability for transportation and grid storage use.

Host cells infected with giant viruses behave in a unique manner. To gain deeper insight into the infection mechanism of giant viruses, scientists at Tokyo University of Science developed a specialized algorithm that can track the movement of host cells. This method could also be used to study any other type of cells, such as cancer cells, neurons, and immune cells, serving as an efficient tool in the field of cell biology.

Researchers at Osaka University synthesized novel OLEDs based on efficient ring-shaped molecular macrocycles. This work may help lead to sensitive, yet inexpensive, chemical detectors.

Engineered defects in ferroelectric materials provides key to improved polarisation stability, a significant step forward for domain-wall nanoelectronics in data storage. Researchers achieved stability greater than one year (a 2000% improvement).