ScienceDaily: Matter & Energy News

Theorists have observed a rare phenomenon called the quantum anomalous Hall effect in a very simple material. Previous experiments have detected it only in complex or delicate materials.

Researchers have developed a method to validate test drives through highly realistic driving simulation studies and to substantially simplify the approval process for automated driving systems.

Scientists have taken a close look at how lignocellulose -- or plant biomass -- can be used for optical applications, potentially replacing commonly used materials like sand and plastics.

Lightspeed is the fastest velocity in the universe. Except when it isn't. Anyone who's seen a prism split white light into a rainbow has witnessed how material properties can influence the behavior of quantum objects: in this case, the speed at which light propagates.

An enormous jet of particles emitted by the giant galaxy M87 can be observed astronomically in various wavelengths. Scientists have developed a theoretical model of the morphology of this jet using complex supercomputer calculations. The images from these calculations provide an unprecedented match with astronomical observations and confirm Einstein's theory of general relativity.

Researchers have created a new type of carbon fiber reinforced material that is as strong and light as traditionally used materials, but can be repeatedly healed with heat, reversing any fatigue damage. This also provides a way to break it down and recycle it when it reaches the end of its life.

In dynamical systems research, a 'basin of attraction' is the set of all the starting points -- usually close to one another -- that arrive at the same final state as the system evolves through time. The researchers describe a simple argument showing why basins in systems with multiple attractors should look like high-dimensional octopi.

Mechanical engineers have devised a technique of 'crystal capillary origami' where salt crystals spontaneously encapsulate liquid droplets. The process offers a new method of nanostructure encapsulation for applications in food industries, drug delivery and even medical devices.

Scientists have built a plant that can produce carbon-neutral liquid fuels from sunlight and air. The next goal will be to take this technology to industrial scale and achieve competitiveness. Researchers now describe how this novel solar reactor functions and outline a policy framework that would provide incentives to expand the production of 'solar kerosene'.

The damage caused by COVID-19 to the lungs' smallest blood vessels has been intricately captured using high-energy X-rays emitted by a special type of particle accelerator.

Scientists have just begun the third phase of a years-long experiment to understand how salt and very salty water behave near hot nuclear waste containers in a salt-bed repository.

Researchers have developed a laboratory to simulate comets in space-like conditions. The goal of the Comet Physics Laboratory is to understand the internal structure of comets, as well as how their constituent materials form and react. Many of the lab's future experiments will involve creating sample comet materials with differing compositions. By testing those materials in the space-like chamber, the researchers can compare each sample to what has been observed on actual comets.

Microscopic aspects of ferroelectricity are canonically related to polar atomic displacements that break inversion symmetry of the crystal, leading to a non-zero net electric dipole moment. However, there is a special class of magnetic materials called multiferroics where inversion symmetry breaking occurs by a magnetic order stabilized in an otherwise crystallographically centrosymmetric lattice. The magnetically induced electric polarization can display complex forms of magnetoelectric coupling to the underlying magnetic texture, and its practical realization is one of the key directions towards achieving the cross-control of ferroelectric properties and magnetism in new generation electronic devices. Thus, understanding the microscopic origin of multiferroicity is a foremost goal of both fundamental and practical importance.