ScienceDaily: Matter & Energy News

High-precision measurements have provided important clues about processes that impair the efficiency of superconductors. Future work building on this research could offer improvements in a range of superconductor devices, such quantum computers and sensitive particle detectors.

By mixing a small peptide with equal amounts of its mirror image, scientists have created an unusual protein structure known as a 'rippled beta sheet' and obtained images of it using x-ray crystallography. The rippled sheet is a distinctive variation on the pleated beta sheet, which is a well-known structural motif found in thousands of proteins, including important disease-related proteins. Linus Pauling and Robert Corey described the rippled beta sheet in 1953, two years after introducing the concept of the pleated beta sheet.

An analysis of pledges made by many of the largest U.S. electric utilities to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions suggests that pledged reductions could reduce power sector emissions by a third as compared to 2018 levels. The study also found that about one-seventh of the cuts utilities have promised are reductions they would have to make anyway due to existing state requirements.

After studying the impacts of mining cobalt -- a common ingredient in lithium-ion batteries -- on communities in Africa's Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), an interdisciplinary team of researchers is calling for more data into how emerging technologies affect human health and livelihoods.

Superconducting materials show zero electrical resistance at low temperatures, which allows them to conduct 'supercurrents' without dissipation. Recently, a group of scientists developed an inexpensive, scalable way to produce high-temperature superconductors using 'grain boundary engineering' techniques. The new method could help develop stronger, inexpensive, and high operating temperature superconductors with impactful technological applications.

To the left and right, the landscape drifts idly by, the track in front of you. Suddenly, a fire. The tension builds. The ride reaches its highest point. Only one thing lies ahead: the abyss. Plummeting down into the depths of the earth. These are scenes of a rollercoaster ride as experienced by participants in a recent study. However, not in real life, but virtually, with the help of virtual reality (VR) glasses. The aim of the research was to find out what happens in participants' brains while they experience emotionally engaging situations.

A new study has shown how the brain gives credit to events, along with how transcranial ultrasound (TUS) can disrupt this process. While currently developed in an animal model, this line of research and the use of TUS could one day be applied to clinical research to tackle conditions such as addiction.

Perovskites are the great hope for further increasing the efficiency of solar modules in the future. Until now, their short service life has been considered the biggest hurdle to their practical use, but this could soon change. Researchers now present a variant that stands out for its stability.