No more rancid hazelnuts: a research team at the URV has developed a method that can identify nuts that have gone bad due to oxidation. The technique uses infrared light to determine the chemical composition of hazelnuts without even removing them from their shells. The new system overcomes the limitations of traditional methods and makes it possible to identify the condition of all the hazelnuts in a packet in a single analysis, without the need to prepare or destroy the sample. The authors argue that the application of this technology would help to improve packaging techniques and distribution systems and significantly reduce losses in the nut trade, while offering new quality standards to the sector.

A research team from the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has developed a machine learning (ML) model enhanced with expert knowledge to classify eight types of faults in superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities at the China Accelerator Facility for superheavy Elements (CAFE2) facility. This model helps operators quickly identify fault patterns after incidents, speeding recovery and supporting long-term stable SRF accelerator operation.

SAN ANTONIO — April 28, 2025 —The NASA New Horizons spacecraft’s extensive observations of Lyman-alpha emissions have resulted in the first-ever map from the galaxy at this important ultraviolet wavelength, providing a new look at the galactic region surrounding our solar system. The findings are described in a new study authored by the SwRI-led New Horizons team.

The popularization and diffusion of compound-eye array camera technology faces formidable challenges. On the one hand, the high-resolution realization of compound-eye array camera systems usually relies on a large-scale number of cameras and high-pixel-density image sensors, with high system complexity and limited imaging real-time. Zoom imaging technology is expected to reduce the number of cameras and the need for sensor pixel density and improve imaging adaptability while taking into account the large field of view and high-resolution imaging capability of the compound eye. However, the traditional mechanical zoom method is slow and lacks dynamic responsiveness, and the introduction of compound-eye array cameras will cause a drastic increase in the size, weight, and power consumption, which makes it difficult to apply to compound-eye array cameras. On the other hand, the compound-eye array camera is susceptible to the interference of the imaging environment during the actual imaging, resulting in the degradation of the imaging quality and difficulty in giving full play to its resolution advantage, and due to the variability of the environmental interference factors and the inherent manufacturing tolerances caused by the variability between the sub-camera units, the traditional image processing algorithms are often difficult to complete the image information demodulation and enhancement of the compound-eye array camera. Therefore, the realization of fast optical zoom and high-fidelity resolution enhancement in compound-eye array cameras remains a key challenge to be solved.

A squishy, layered material that dramatically transforms under pressure could someday help computers store more data with less energy. That’s according to a new study by researchers at Washington State University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte that shows a hybrid zinc telluride-based material can undergo surprising structural changes when squeezed together like a molecular sandwich.

The interaction between growth and the active migration of cells plays a crucial role in the spatial mixing of growing cell colonies. This connection was discovered by scientists from the Department of Living Matter Physics at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS). Their results provide new approaches to understanding the dynamics of bacterial colonies and tumors.