Jan 21, 2026 Astronomers using the Gemini South telescope achieve unprecedented detection of vaporized metals within a dusty, gaseous cloud during rare stellar occultation. (Nanowerk News) Sweeping winds of vaporized metals have been found in a massive cloud that dimmed the light of a star for nearly nine months. This...
When scientists build nanoscale architecture to solve textile and pharmaceutical industry challenges
Jan 21, 2026 The study highlights a novel engineered crystalline membrane, whose one-nanometre gateways act as a high-precision sieve, enabling the recycling of polluted textile wastewater and improving the purity and cost-efficiency of generic medicines. (Nanowerk News) Scientists from the CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), Indian Institute...
Defects in 2D materials enable terahertz spin qubits
Jan 21, 2026 Atomic-scale defects in 2D materials show terahertz spin splitting, pointing to robust spin qubits and single-photon emitters at higher temperatures. (Nanowerk News) Scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have discovered that atomic-scale substitutional dopants in two-dimensional (2D) materials can act as stable quantum systems operating...
Double-cycle circular cavity Raman system enables stable, high-sensitivity gas detection
Jan 21, 2026 A misalignment-tolerant multi-pass optical cavity boosts weak Raman signals, doubling path length and enabling stable, sensitive trace gas detection in air. (Nanowerk News) A research team led by Prof. FANG Yonghua from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, developed a Raman...
Tungsten oxide nanorods with removable dopants enable low-cost sodium-based smart windows
Jan 21, 2026 Researchers unlock sodium-based electrochromic capacity in nanorods by introducing thermally removable dopants, offering a practical solution for thermal regulation. (Nanowerk News) Thermal management is essential for reducing future heating and cooling energy consumption. Notably, the near-infrared (NIR) component of sunlight is closely associated with heat absorption. Hexagonal...
Stacked memristor arrays compute Euclidean distance in memory to accelerate self-organizing maps
Jan 21, 2026 A novel stacked memristor architecture performs Euclidean distance calculations directly within memory, enabling energy-efficient self-organizing maps without external arithmetic circuits. (Nanowerk Spotlight) Neuromorphic computing seeks to replicate one of the brain's most remarkable features: its ability to store information and process it within the same physical structure....
Sculpting complex, 3D nanostructures with a focused ion beam
Jan 21, 2026 Scientists have developed a new way to fabricate three-dimensional nanoscale devices from single-crystal materials using a focused ion beam instrument. The group used this new method to carve helical-shaped devices from a topological magnet composed of cobalt, tin, and sulfur. (Nanowerk News) Scientists from the RIKEN Center...
Magnetic avalanches power solar flares
Jan 21, 2026 Solar Orbiter reveals that major solar flares arise from cascading weak magnetic disturbances, producing avalanche-like reconnection and rain of plasma blobs. (Nanowerk News) Just as avalanches on snowy mountains start with the movement of a small quantity of snow, the ESA-led Solar Orbiter spacecraft has discovered that...
A self-assembling shortcut to better organic solar cells
Jan 20, 2026 New molecular architecture enables the natural formation of built-in p/n junctions essential for efficient light-to-electricity conversion. (Nanowerk News) Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have created a molecule that naturally forms p/n junctions, structures that are vital for converting sunlight into electricity. Their findings offer a promising shortcut to...
Defect engineered MoS2 films boost solar CO2 conversion
Jan 20, 2026 Ultrathin vanadium alloyed MoS2 grown by capped VLS forms vacancy active sites that raise solar driven CO2 to CO photocatalysis efficiency. (Nanowerk News) CO2 reduction to storable fuels or valuable chemical products provides a carbon-neutral cycle that can mitigate the rapid consumption of fossil fuels and increasing...