EurekAlert! News by Subject: Chemistry & Physics - News by Subject: Chemistry & Physics

Chemistry & Physics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Aug-2025 03:11 ET (29-Aug-2025 07:11 GMT/UTC)

New fuel cell could enable electric aviation

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

MIT engineers developed a fuel cell that offers more than three times as much energy per pound compared to lithium-ion batteries. Powered by a reaction between sodium metal and air, the device could be lightweight enough to enable the electrification of airplanes, trucks, or ships.

Journal: Joule
Funder: ARPA-E, U.S. National Science Foundation, Breakthrough Energy Ventures

Auburn physicist honored with international “Star Dust Award” for pioneering work in dusty plasmas

Auburn University Department of Physics
Grant and Award Announcement

Honored at the 10th International Conference on the Physics of Dusty Plasmas, Dr. Edward Thomas Jr. of Auburn University’s Department of Physics has received the prestigious Star Dust Award for 30 years of pioneering discoveries and inspired leadership in the field of dusty plasma research. A global leader in plasma physics, Dr. Thomas heads Auburn’s Magnetized Plasma Research Laboratory, where he has advanced experimental techniques and mentored over 50 students.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, DOE/US Department of Energy

The generalization of statistical mechanics makes it possible to regularize the theory of critical phenomena

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The study, coordinated by researcher Mariano de Souza from São Paulo State University, was conducted with the participation of Constantino Tsallis, the creator of non-extensive statistical mechanics. The results were published in the journal Physical Review B.

Journal: Physical Review B
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Cell｜AI-driven in vivo 'decaging' chemistry, revolutionizing protein activation technology

Peking University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Peking University, June 1, 2025: To address the challenge of controlling protein activation in living animals for gain-of-function studies, researchers from Peking University led by Professors Chen Peng and Wang Chu recently developed CAGE-Proxvivo, a computer-aided proximal decaging strategy for on-demand protein activation and modulation of protein–protein interactions in living mice. This work establishes a universal platform for time-resolved biological studies and on-demand therapeutic interventions in vivo. These findings were published in Cell on May 27, 2025, under the title "Machine-Learning-Assisted Universal Protein Activation in Living Mice."

Journal: Cell

“Raindrops in the Sun’s corona”: New adaptive optics shows stunning details of our star’s atmosphere

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists from the U.S. National Science Foundation National Solar Observatory and New Jersey Institute of Technology produced the finest images of the Sun’s corona to date. To make these high-resolution images and movies, the team developed a new ‘coronal adaptive optics’ system that removes blur from images caused by the Earth’s atmosphere. Their ground-breaking results were recently published in Nature Astronomy and pave the way for deeper insight into coronal heating, solar eruptions, and space weather, and open an opportunity for new discoveries in the Sun’s atmosphere.

Journal: Nature Astronomy
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

Free-space terabit/s coherent optical links via platicon frequency microcombs

Light Publishing Center, Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics And Physics, CAS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Optical frequency combs technology has become a core technology in information systems over last decade. Recently, UCLA reported groundbreaking research in eLight demonstrating chip-level platicon frequency microcombs achieving free-space terabit coherent optical communication. In a 160-meter link, data transmission reached 8.21 Tbit/s and remained stable under turbulence, offering innovative solutions to meet the high-bandwidth demands of 6G networks and communications.

Journal: eLight
Funder: Office of Naval Research, National Science Foundation

The magic of light: Dozens of images hidden in a single screen

Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

POSTECH Team unveils new technology that uses light’s color and spin to display multiple images.

Journal: Advanced Science