Matter and energy from Science Daily Feed

Researchers have demonstrated that multicolored stickers applied to stop or speed limit signs on the roadside can 'confuse' self-driving vehicles, causing unpredictable and possibly hazardous operations.

Researchers have created a system to help beekeepers monitor and analyze the health of their beehives and take corrective actions to prevent colony collapse -- when a majority of the worker bees abandon the colony and its queen. Beehives use thermoregulation to ensure the hive temperature stays between 33 and 36 degrees Celsius, about 91 to 97 degrees Fahrenheit. For example, bees might cluster to create insulation when it's cold or fan their wings when it's hot. But when beehives experience external stressors, such as pesticides or unexpected weather events, they lose the ability to regulate the hive temperature.

A research team has recently developed a groundbreaking neuromorphic exposure control (NEC) system that revolutionizes machine vision under extreme lighting variations. This biologically inspired system mimics human peripheral vision to achieve unprecedented speed and robustness in dynamic perception environments.

Engineers have developed a new computational approach to accurately model and predict the properties of a class of magnetic molecules called chiral helimagnets. Their work could accelerate the discovery of new materials for spintronics technologies.

Researchers are opening up new horizons in chemistry: They present the world's first triple bond between the atoms boron and carbon.

Hydrogen energy is widely recognized as a sustainable source for the future, but its large-scale production still relies on expensive and scarce platinum-based catalysts. In order to address this challenge, researchers have developed Bis(diimino)palladium coordination nanosheets (PdDI), a novel two-dimensional electrocatalyst that effectively facilitates the hydrogen evolution reactions while minimizing the use of precious metals like platinum, paving the way for affordable hydrogen production.

For decades, scientists have relied on electrodes and dyes to track the electrical activity of living cells. Now, engineers have discovered that quantum materials just a single atom thick can do the job with high speed and resolution -- using only light.

Researchers have developed an innovative tool that enhances surgeons' ability to detect and remove cancer cells during cryosurgery, a procedure that uses extreme cold to destroy tumors. This breakthrough technology involves a specialized nanoscale material that illuminates cancer cells under freezing conditions, making them easier to distinguish from healthy tissue and improving surgical precision.

A new study sheds light on ventilator-induced lung injury, a complication that gained increased attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a surge in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. The study suggests that repeated collapse and reopening of tiny alveoli -- air sacs in the lungs essential for breathing -- during mechanical ventilation may cause microscopic tissue damage, playing a key role in ventilator-related injuries that contribute to thousands of deaths annually.

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) is a microscopy technique widely used to investigate cells and tissues. Even though first biomedical applications based on QPI have been developed, both acquisition speed and image quality need to improve to guarantee a widespread reception. Scientists suggest leveraging an optical phenomenon called chromatic aberration -- that usually degrades image quality -- to produce suitable images with standard microscopes.

A research team has developed a three-dimensional neural electrode that deforms smoothly using soft actuation technology. It is expected to be used in various next-generation soft bioelectronic devices, including electroceuticals for peripheral nerve treatment.

A team of scientists has developed a method to illuminate the dynamic behavior of nanoparticles, which are foundational components in the creation of pharmaceuticals, electronics, and industrial and energy-conversion materials.

A decade of studies from labs around the world provide a growing evidence base that increasing the power of the brain's gamma rhythms could help fight Alzheimer's, and perhaps other, neurological diseases.

Scientists discover how defects in the surface of two-dimensional sheets alter ripple effects, even freezing the sheet's motion altogether.

As highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza continues to spread in the U.S., posing serious threats to dairy and poultry farms, both farmers and public health experts need better ways to monitor for infections, in real time, to mitigate and respond to outbreaks. Newly devised virus trackers can monitor for airborne particles of H5N1.

When a droplet of water falls on a hot pan, it dances across the surface, skimming on a thin layer of steam like a tiny hovercraft; this is known as the Leidenfrost effect. But now, researchers know what happens when a hot droplet falls on a cool surface. These new findings demonstrate that hot and burning droplets can bounce off cool surfaces, propelled by a thin layer of air that forms beneath them. This phenomenon could inspire new strategies for slowing the spread of fires and improving engine efficiency.

Researchers have published a new study showing an advanced new methane flare burner, created with additive manufacturing and machine learning, eliminates 98% of methane vented during oil production.

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is the most common fungal pneumonia in children. But current diagnostic methods can take days an require an invasive bronchoscopy procedure. Now, a new CRISPR-based test has been developed to diagnose PJP more quickly and less invasively.

In the race to meet the growing global demand for lithium -- a critical component in batteries for electric vehicles -- a team of researchers has developed a breakthrough lithium extraction method that could reshape the industry. In their study, the researchers demonstrated near-perfect lithium selectivity by repurposing solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) as membrane materials for aqueous lithium extraction. While originally designed for the rapid conduction of lithium ions in solid-state batteries -- where there are no other ions or liquid solvents -- the highly ordered and confined structure of SSEs was found to enable unprecedented separation of both ions and water in aqueous mixtures.

A multi-institutional research team has engineered a way to preserve the electrical properties of materials as they are shrunk to the nanoscale. The use of the soft substrate hexagonal boron nitride reduces damage to the atomic structure caused by strain, allowing materials to keep their conductive properties as films as thin as 12 nm.