News by Subject Chemistry & Physics

A research team from Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), RIKEN, and the University of Tokyo developed a novel data analysis method for prior evaluation of single crystal structure analysis. Their proposed method is based on precise estimation of a parameter inherent in preliminary-collected small data set. They demonstrated application of it to guest distinction in host-guest crystals before single crystal structure analysis and measurement design for precise crystallographic observation.

For decades, physicists have been attempting to reconcile quantum mechanics, the physics of the very small, with gravity, the physics of the very large. While many academics are working on quantum gravity, they often use models that don't consider certain aspects of our own universe, like its accelerated expansion. A team at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) reports a new approach to quantum gravity using a model that more closely matches our reality.

An international team of scientists has announced a breakthrough in its quest to measure the mass of the neutrino, one of the most abundant, yet elusive, elementary particles in our universe. At the 2019 Topics in Astroparticle and Underground Physics conference in Toyama, Japan, leaders from the KATRIN experiment reported Sept. 13 that the estimated range for the rest mass of the neutrino is no larger than 1 electron volt, or eV.

Researchers experimentally determined a property of cadmium called the magic wavelength which is considered essential for the development of the most accurate clocks ever envisaged. The researchers hope this may permit simple and robust atomic clocks so accurate they could be used to improve our understanding of current theories and even test for new physics.

Many natural and synthetic chemical systems react and change their properties in the presence of certain kinds of light. These reactions can occur too quickly for ordinary instruments to see. For the first time, researchers adopted a novel technique to observe the high-speed reactions. A special kind of reaction observed with this method could lead to new optical nanotechnology.