SAN ANTONIO — November 18, 2024 —Southwest Research Institute is working to expand software normally used to model electrolytes and predict corrosion and turn it into a tool that can help determine whether ice-covered worlds have the right conditions for microbial life. The project is supported by NASA’s Habitable Worlds program, which seeks to use knowledge of the history of the Earth and the life upon it as a guide for determining the processes and conditions that create and maintain habitable environments.

Black holes expel powerful jets of charged particles that lead to luminous bursts of gamma rays, all made possible by each black hole’s intense surrounding magnetic field. Where this magnetic field comes from has remained a mystery, however — until now. Using calculations of black hole formation, scientists at the Flatiron Institute and their collaborators have found that the black hole’s magnetic field is inherited from their parents — highly magnetized remnants of the collapsing cores of exploded stars.

Research from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, shows that resistant bacteria can regain susceptibility to antibiotics when the treatment is combined with a material equipped with antibacterial peptides. The study, performed in a laboratory environment, shows that antibiotics can achieve a 64-fold increase in bactericidal effect when used together with the material, whose antibacterial properties are also greatly enhanced by this combination.

Hydrogels created using carbon dioxide (CO₂) offer a safer alternative to those formed with acidic agents. While most research has focused on pre-gelation conditions affecting hydrogel properties, this study by researchers from Tokyo University of Science explores the impact of CO₂ release after gelation. The team prepared alginate-based hydrogels and found that faster CO₂ release decreases crosslinking, while slower release results in stiffer hydrogels. These findings could lead to improved hydrogels for medical applications.

Researchers have developed a highly sensitive detector for identifying molecules via their infrared vibrational “fingerprint”. Published in Nature Communications, this innovative detector converts incident infrared light into ultra-confined "nanolight" in the form of phonon polaritons within the detector´s active area. This mechanism serves two crucial purposes: it boosts the overall detector´s sensitivity and enhances the vibrational fingerprint of nanometer-thin molecular layer placed on top of the detector, allowing this molecular fingerprint to be more easily detected and analyzed. The compact design and room-temperature operation of the device hold promise for developing ultra-compact platforms for molecular and gas sensing applications.