Jan 10, 2026 Astronomers describe the discovery of the largest-known stream of super-heated gas in the universe ejecting from a nearby galaxy called VV 340a. (Nanowerk News) The super-heated gas, detected by the researchers in data provided by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, is erupting from either side of the...
Manganese gets its moment as a potential fuel cell catalyst
Jan 10, 2026 Researchers found manganese-based catalysts can efficiently convert CO2 into formate, a hydrogen source for fuel cells, offering a cheaper, sustainable alternative to precious metals. (Nanowerk News) According to a new study by researchers at Yale and the University of Missouri, chemical catalysts containing manganese — an abundant,...
How to block nanoplastics release from landfill leachate
Jan 10, 2026 Researchers have created a new two-layer membrane filtration system that can significantly reduce the amount of micro and nanoplastics that leak from landfills into local water basins. (Nanowerk News) Dr. Sumi Siddiqua, Professor at UBCO’s School of Engineering, and doctoral student Mahmoud Babalar, have published a study...
The electrifying science behind Martian dust
Jan 09, 2026 Research shows Mars dust storms create electric discharges that drive chemical reactions, reshaping the planet's surface and atmosphere through electrochemistry. (Nanowerk News) Mars, often depicted as a barren red planet, is far from lifeless. With its thin atmosphere and dusty surface, it is an energetic and electrically...
Tesla turbine design harvests electricity from compressed air using static charges
Jan 09, 2026 A bladeless turbine design converts the static electricity naturally generated by dust particles in compressed air into usable power while neutralizing the hazardous charges. (Nanowerk Spotlight) Most factories, auto shops, and assembly plants run on compressed air. This invisible utility powers pneumatic tools, actuates robotic arms, and...
Team discovers unexpected oscillation states in magnetic vortices
Jan 09, 2026 Magnon frequency combs could enable coupling across different physical systems. (Nanowerk News) Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have uncovered previously unobserved oscillation states – so-called Floquet states – in tiny magnetic vortices. Unlike earlier experiments, which required energy-intensive laser pulses to create such states, the team...
Dynamically reconfigurable topological routing in nonlinear photonic systems
Jan 09, 2026 Scientists developed a reconfigurable topological photonic system that steers light in real time using optical pumping, enabling ultrafast adaptive control. (Nanowerk News) Topological photonics has emerged as a powerful paradigm for achieving robust light transport that is immune to imperfections, disorder, and structural defects. By harnessing principles...
Nature-inspired computers are shockingly good at math
Jan 08, 2026 Neuromorphic computers, inspired by the architecture of the human brain, are proving surprisingly adept at solving complex mathematical problems that underpin scientific and engineering challenges. (Nanowerk News) In a paper published in Nature Machine Intelligence ("Solving sparse finite element problems on neuromorphic hardware"), Sandia National Laboratories computational...
Scientists discover geometric rules that control self-assembling nanomaterials
Jan 08, 2026 Researchers uncover geometric principles governing how particles self-assemble, solving a long-standing challenge in materials science with applications in protein design. (Nanowerk News) Inspired by biological systems, materials scientists have long sought to harness self-assembly to build nanomaterials. The challenge: the process seemed random and notoriously difficult to...
Physicists engineer a nanoscale mirror that can be switched on and off at will
Jan 08, 2026 Using quantum effects in a 2D material, researchers created a tunable metasurface that toggles between reflecting and absorbing red light at room temperature. (Nanowerk News) Controlling light is an important technological challenge – not just at the large scale of optics in microscopes and telescopes, but also...