Frontier science, explained
Space, physics and materials news from NASA, NIST, ESA/Hubble, ESA/Webb, ESO, NOIRLab and ALMA.
A New Way of Designing Auxetic Materials
Auxetics defy common sense, widening when they’re stretched and narrowing when they’re compressed.
materials
The Big Quantum Chill: NIST Scientists Modify Common Lab Refrigerator to Cool Faster With Less Energy
By modifying a refrigerator commonly used in both research and industry, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST have drastically reduced the time and energy required to cool materials to within a few degrees above absolute zero.
materials
Hubble goes hunting for small main-belt asteroids
Astronomers recently used a trove of archived images taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to visually snag a largely unseen population of smaller asteroids in their tracks.
astrophysicsthe solar system
NIST Researchers Use Cellphone Compass to Measure Tiny Concentrations of Compounds Important for Human Health
Nearly every modern cellphone has a built-in compass, or magnetometer, that detects the direction of Earth’s magnetic field, providing critical information f
nanotechnology
Hubble finds that ageing brown dwarfs grow lonely
It takes two to tango, but in the case of brown dwarfs that were once paired as binary systems, that relationship doesn’t last for very long, according to a recent survey using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
astrophysicsScientists Observe Long-Predicted Superconductor Property Using a Quantum Simulator
New insights can help scientists make superconducting materials more robust and useful.
materials
Heart-on-a-Chip: A Microfluidic Marvel Shaping the Future of Cardiovascular Research
Researchers at NIST have developed bioelectronic devices capable of real-time measurements of cell behavior.
nanotechnology
Hubble finds water vapour in small exoplanet’s atmosphere
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observed the smallest exoplanet where water vapour has been detected in its atmosphere.
astrophysicsexoplanets
Cells’ Electric Fields Keep Nanoparticles at Bay, Scientists Confirm
The surprisingly strong effect could have implications for drug design and delivery.
nanotechnology
Hubble finds weird home of farthest fast radio burst
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have found a rare oddball event in an oddball place.
astrophysics
Hubble observes a changing exoplanet atmosphere
An international team of astronomers has assembled and reprocessed observations of the exoplanet WASP-121 b that were collected with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in the years 2016, 2018 and 2019.
astrophysicsexoplanets
NIST Team Develops Highest-Resolution Single-Photon Superconducting Camera
Researchers at NIST and their colleagues have built a superconducting camera containing 400,000 pixels — 400 times more than any other device of its type.
nanotechnology
Twisted Science: NIST Researchers Find a New Quantum Ruler to Explore Exotic Matter
A single-atom-thick sheet of carbon known as graphene has remarkable properties on its own, but things can get even more interesting when you stack up multiple sheets.
materials
NIST Demonstrates a New ‘Primary Standard’ for Measuring Ultralow Pressures
Chip manufacturing, gravitational wave detectors and quantum computers could all benefit from better ways to measure a vacuum.
metrology
New Laser-Based Method Could Help Scientists Discover New Puncture-Resistant Materials
Using tiny laser-launched projectiles and troves of data, scientists can more quickly bridge the gap between a material’s microscopic properties and its real-world behavior.
nanotechnology