ScienceDaily: Matter & Energy News

Researchers have found out that ultrafast switches in material properties can be prompted by laser pulses -- and why. This knowledge may enable new transistor concepts.

A new study reports that the social cost of methane - a greenhouse gas that is 30 times as potent as carbon dioxide in its ability to trap heat - varies by as much as an order of magnitude between industrialized and developing regions of the world.

Researchers have developed bi-stable inflatable structures inspired by origami.

Scientists have designed an enzyme-activated compostable plastic that could diminish microplastics pollution. Household tap water or soil composts break the hybrid plastic material down to reusable small molecules, called monomers, in just a few days or weeks.

The number of solar panels within shortest distance from a house is the most important factor in determining the likelihood of that house having a solar panel, when compared with a host of socio-economic and demographic variables. This is shown in a new study by scientists using satellite and census data of the city of Fresno in the US, and employing machine learning.

After pouring beer into a glass, streams of little bubbles appear and start to rise, forming a foamy head. As the bubbles burst, the released carbon dioxide gas imparts the beverage's desirable tang. But just how many bubbles are in that drink? By examining various factors, researchers estimate between 200,000 and nearly 2 million of these tiny spheres can form in a gently poured lager.

Careful criminals usually clean a scene, wiping away visible blood and fingerprints. However, prints made with trace amounts of blood, invisible to the naked eye, could remain. Dyes can detect these hidden prints, but the dyes don't work well on certain surfaces. Now, researchers have developed a fluorescent polymer that binds to blood in a fingerprint -- without damaging any DNA also on the surface -- to create high-contrast images.

Scientists identify the wettability of graphene layers and improve the understanding of graphene interface properties at molecular levels.

Volcanic eruptions deep in our oceans are capable of extremely powerful releases of energy, at a rate high enough to power the whole of the United States, according to new research.

Researchers have developed a stable high-conductivity polymer ink. The advance paves the way for innovative printed electronics with high energy efficiency.

In a new paper, physicists describe a theoretical path to make artificial composite thin films in which sound waves can be stopped, reversed and even stored for later use.