The electronics of the future can be made even smaller and more efficient by getting more memory cells to fit in less space. One way to achieve this is by adding the noble gas xenon when manufacturing digital memories. This has been demonstrated by researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, in a study published in Nature Communications. This technology enables a more even material coating even in small cavities. 

NIST scientists have developed a new method for measuring temperature extremely accurately by using giant “Rydberg” atoms. This atomic thermometer provides accurate measurements “out of the box,” without needing initial factory adjustments, because it relies on the basic principles of quantum physics. By using Rydberg atoms’ sensitivity to environmental changes, this technique could simplify temperature sensing in extreme environments, from space to high-precision industries.

How can the latest technology, such as solar cells, be improved? An international research team led by the University of Göttingen is helping to find answers to questions like this with a new technique. For the first time, the formation of tiny, difficult-to-detect particles – known as dark excitons – can be tracked precisely in time and space. These invisible carriers of energy will play a key role in future solar cells, LEDs and detectors. The results were published in Nature Photonics.

With the OSIRIS-REx space probe, the NASA space agency succeeded in collecting some material from the surface of asteroid Bennu, which arrived on Earth in a small capsule in 2023. The analysis of the material by more than 40 scientific teams worldwide – including the team led by Prof. Frank Brenker from Goethe University – revealed a number of organic substances that form the basis for biomolecules. In addition, the minerals in the sample also indicate that the protoplanet from which Bennu originated once had liquid, salty water. Thus, this protoplanet possessed both ingredients for life and potential habitats.

Studies of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft have revealed molecules that, on our planet, are key to life, as well as a history of saltwater that could have served as the “broth” for these compounds to interact and combine.