Dec 12, 2025 A team of researchers is challenging our understanding of the Solar System planets interior. The composition of Uranus and Neptune, the two outer most planets, might be more rocky and less icy than previously thought. (Nanowerk News) The planets in the Solar System are typically divided into...
Programmable semiconductor switches its electronic properties under UV light
Dec 12, 2025 A programmable semiconductor changes its electronic properties under UV light and reverts under a different wavelength, enabling optical writing and reading for potential computing applications. (Nanowerk Spotlight) Computing hardware faces an impasse. Two fundamental constraints loom: as transistors approach atomic dimensions, quantum effects like electron tunneling cause...
Astronomers create first map of the Sun’s outer boundary
Dec 11, 2025 Using the Parker Solar Probe and other near-Earth spacecraft, scientists have made and validated the first 2D maps of the Sun's outer surface, leading to unprecedented insight into how and where the Sun 'loses its grip' on its outer atmosphere. (Nanowerk News) Astronomers have produced the first...
Scientists reveal how microplastics release invisible chemical clouds into waterways
Dec 12, 2025 New study uncovers the step-by-step molecular changes that occur as plastics leak dissolved organic matter under sunlight, with implications for ecosystems, water quality, and global carbon cycling. (Nanowerk News) Researchers have discovered that microplastics floating in rivers, lakes, and oceans continuously leak a complex mixture of dissolved...
Microscale CMOS chip reshapes optical control for scalable quantum computers
Dec 11, 2025 CMOS-built optical phase modulators shrink laser control hardware and power use for trapped atom quantum computers, enabling larger stable qubit arrays at work. (Nanowerk News) Researchers have made a major advance in quantum computing with a new device that is nearly 100 times smaller than the diameter...
This MOF can hold electrons for days and make hydrogen in the dark
Dec 11, 2025 A titanium-based metal-organic framework achieves record electron storage density among MOFs and releases these accumulated charges to produce hydrogen gas without any additional light. (Nanowerk Spotlight) A white powder sits in a sealed vial under ultraviolet light. Within minutes, it turns black. Remove the light, keep oxygen...
Astronomers find first direct evidence of ‘Monster Stars’ from the cosmic dawn
Dec 09, 2025 Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of international researchers have discovered chemical fingerprints of gigantic primordial stars that were among the first to form after the Big Bang. (Nanowerk News) For two decades, astronomers have puzzled over how supermassive black holes – some of the...
Researchers explore chemical boundaries to create new magnetic material
Dec 10, 2025 Researchers have created a new crystalline material with unusual magnetic patterns that could be used for breakthroughs in data storage and quantum technologies. (Nanowerk News) In a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society ("Skyrmion-like Spin Textures Emerging in the Material Derived from Structural...
Edible hydrogel electrodes could enable swallowable glucose sensors for diabetes management
Dec 11, 2025 A soft, edible electrode made from alginate and polydopamine detects glucose under intestinal conditions, opening a path toward swallowable sensors for diabetes monitoring. (Nanowerk Spotlight) Glucose monitors worn on the skin have transformed diabetes management, but they measure sugar levels only after glucose has entered the bloodstream....
Exposing just one active site on a nanocluster boosts catalytic activity
Dec 11, 2025 Sometimes the simplest solution is the best one. This research shows how exposing a single active site has huge implications for producing green energy. (Nanowerk News) There is a dire need for selective catalysts that allow us to consistently achieve a desired outcome in a chemical reaction....