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Physics - Life Sciences - 05.07.2021
Nanomaterials shape and form influences their ability to cross the blood brain barrier - study
Nanomaterials shape and form influences their ability to cross the blood brain barrier - study
Nanomaterials found in consumer and health-care products can pass from the bloodstream to the brain side of a blood-brain barrier model with varying ease depending on their shape - creating potential neurological impacts that could be both positive and negative, a new study reveals. Scientists found that metal-based nanomaterials such as silver and zinc oxide can cross an in vitro model of the 'blood brain barrier' (BBB) as both particles and dissolved ions - adversely affecting the health of astrocyte cells, which control neurological responses.

Astronomy / Space - Physics - 29.06.2021
First detection of gravitational waves from black holes swallowing neutron stars
For the first time, scientists have picked up the ripples in space-time caused by the death spiral of a neutron star and a black hole. University of Glasgow researchers played a key role in the international collaboration that made the detection possible. They contributed to the design of the detectors - the most sensitive scientific instruments ever built - and the advanced data analysis needed to provide an astrophysical interpretation of the signals.

Astronomy / Space - Physics - 29.06.2021
Black hole and neutron star merger detected for first time
Black hole and neutron star merger detected for first time
Scientists have, for the first time, picked up the ripples in space-time caused by the collision of a neutron star and a black hole. Two instances of this violent cosmic event have been detected using the Advanced LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors, details of which have been published today in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Earth Sciences - Physics - 24.06.2021
Rock crystals from the deep give microscopic clues to earthquake ground movements
Rock crystals from the deep give microscopic clues to earthquake ground movements
Microscopic imperfections in rock crystals deep beneath Earth's surface play a deciding factor in how the ground slowly moves and resets in the aftermath of major earthquakes, says new research involving the University of Cambridge. The stresses resulting from these defects - which are small enough to disrupt the atomic building blocks of a crystal - can transform how hot rocks beneath Earth's crust move and in turn transfer stress back to Earth's surface, starting the countdown to the next earthquake.

Chemistry - Physics - 24.06.2021
Lowering the carbon footprint of fabric and plastic manufacturing
Manufacturing of plastics and fabrics could become greener and have a lower carbon footprint, thanks to a new catalyst architecture developed by a team of experts including UCL academics. Propylene, produced from propane, is critical to the manufacture of plastics, fabrics and other chemicals, and is in short supply.

Materials Science - Physics - 23.06.2021
Low-cost imaging technique shows how smartphone batteries could charge in minutes
Low-cost imaging technique shows how smartphone batteries could charge in minutes
Researchers have developed a simple lab-based technique that allows them to look inside lithium-ion batteries and follow lithium ions moving in real time as the batteries charge and discharge, something which has not been possible until now. This technique could be an important piece of the puzzle in the development of next-generation batteries Christoph Schnedermann Using the low-cost technique, the researchers identified the speed-limiting processes which, if addressed, could enable the batteries in most smartphones and laptops to charge in as little as five minutes.

Physics - Chemistry - 16.06.2021
A sharper focus on protein behaviour
A sharper focus on protein behaviour
Scientists have developed a new computational technique that allows them to see in finer detail the way protein molecules behave. Currently, they have relied on laboratory techniques such as X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy, but those laboratory procedures can disrupt the normal functioning of the molecule.

Astronomy / Space - Physics - 16.06.2021
Scrambled magnetic fields and Gamma-Ray Bursts: Space scientists solve a decades-long puzzle
Scrambled magnetic fields and Gamma-Ray Bursts: Space scientists solve a decades-long puzzle
Bath astrophysicists find the magnetic field in Gamma-Ray Bursts is scrambled after the ejected material crashes into, and shocks, the surrounding medium. Last updated on Friday 18 June 2021 An international team of scientists, led by astrophysicists from the University of Bath, has measured the magnetic field in a far-off Gamma-Ray Burst, confirming for the first time a decades-long theoretical prediction - that the magnetic field in these blast waves becomes scrambled after the ejected material crashes into, and shocks, the surrounding medium.

Astronomy / Space - Physics - 14.06.2021
Dark matter is slowing the spin of the Milky Way's galactic bar
Dark matter is slowing the spin of the Milky Way’s galactic bar
The spin of the Milky Way's galactic bar, which is made up of billions of clustered stars, has slowed by about a quarter since its formation, according to a new study by UCL and University of Oxford researchers. For 30 years, astrophysicists have predicted such a slowdown, but this is the first time it has been measured.

Astronomy / Space - Physics - 10.06.2021
Astronomers join Twinkle space mission
Astronomers join Twinkle space mission
Astronomers from the School of Physics and Astronomy have joined the Science Team of the Twinkle space mission, a pioneering space telescope designed to study the atmospheres of exoplanets - planets orbiting stars beyond our solar system. Twinkle will be launched in 2024 and will operate for seven years, making sensitive visible and infrared spectroscopic measurements to detect molecules in the atmospheres of planets as they pass in front of their host stars.

Physics - Materials Science - 09.06.2021
Mixing solutions in the world’s smallest test tubes
Researchers based at The University of Manchester have demonstrated a new method for imaging live chemical reactions with atomic resolution using nanoscale test tubes created using two-dimensional (2D) materials. The ability to observe solution-based chemical reactions with sub-nanometre resolution in real time has been highly sought after since the invention of the electron microscope 90 years ago.

Physics - 08.06.2021
Online 'library of properties' helps to create safer nanomaterials
Online ’library of properties’ helps to create safer nanomaterials
Researchers have developed a 'library of properties' to help identify the environmental impact of nanomaterials faster and more cost effectively. Whilst nanomaterials have benefited a wide range of industries and revolutionised everyday life, there are concerns over potential adverse effects - including toxic effects following accumulation in different organs and indirect effects from transport of co-pollutants.

Physics - 08.06.2021
Subatomic particle seen changing to antiparticle and back for the first time
Subatomic particle seen changing to antiparticle and back for the first time
Physicists have proved that a subatomic particle can switch into its antiparticle alter-ego and back again, in a new discovery revealed today. An extraordinarily precise measurement made by Oxford researchers using the LHCb experiment at CERN has provided the first evidence that charm mesons can change into their antiparticle and back again.

Physics - 07.06.2021
Atom swapping could lead to ultra-bright, flexible next generation LEDs
Atom swapping could lead to ultra-bright, flexible next generation LEDs
An international group of researchers has developed a new technique that could be used to make more efficient low-cost light-emitting materials that are flexible and can be printed using ink-jet techniques. The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge and the Technical University of Munich, found that by swapping one out of every one thousand atoms of one material for another, they were able to triple the luminescence of a new material class of light emitters known as halide perovskites.

Life Sciences - Physics - 01.06.2021
Mass of human chromosomes measured for the first time
The mass of human chromosomes, which contain the instructions for life in nearly every cell of our bodies, has been measured with X-rays for the first time in a new study led by UCL researchers. For the study, published in Chromosome Research , researchers used a powerful X-ray beam at the UK's national synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source, to determine the number of electrons in a spread of 46 chromosomes which they used to calculate mass.

Physics - Materials Science - 01.06.2021
Why deep freezing iron-based materials makes them both magnetic and superconducting
Why deep freezing iron-based materials makes them both magnetic and superconducting
Physicists at Bath have uncovered a new mechanism for enabling magnetism and superconductivity to co-exist in the same material. Last updated on Thursday 3 June 2021 Physicists at the University of Bath, in collaboration with researchers from the USA, have uncovered a new mechanism for enabling magnetism and superconductivity to co-exist in the same material.

Physics - Materials Science - 28.05.2021
Breakthrough in 3D magnetic nanostructures could transform modern-day computing
Breakthrough in 3D magnetic nanostructures could transform modern-day computing
Scientists have taken a step towards the creation of powerful devices that harness magnetic charge by creating the first ever three-dimensional replica of a material known as a 'spin-ice'. Spin ice materials are extremely unusual as they possess so-called defects which behave as the single pole of a magnet.

Chemistry - Physics - 24.05.2021
Complex molecules could hold the secret to identifying alien life
A new system capable of identifying complex molecular signatures could aid in the search for alien life in the universe and could even lead to the creation of new forms of life in the laboratory, scientists say. University of Glasgow researchers have developed a new method called Assembly Theory which can be used to quantify how assembled or complex a molecule is in the laboratory using techniques like mass spectrometry.

Physics - Astronomy / Space - 14.05.2021
Scientists hunt for evidence of 'lensed' gravitational waves
Scientists hunt for evidence of ’lensed’ gravitational waves
Scientists searching for evidence of lensed gravitational waves have published new research outlining the most recent findings on their quest for the first detection of these elusive signals. Gravitational lensing has been predicted by Einstein himself, and observed by scientists for decades: light emitted by distant objects in the Universe is bent by the gravitational pull of very massive galaxies, as they cross the line-of-sight of the light source.

Earth Sciences - Physics - 14.05.2021
Fibre-optics help create most detailed picture of Greenland Ice Sheet
Fibre-optics help create most detailed picture of Greenland Ice Sheet
Scientists have used a fibre-optic sensor passed deep into a borehole to obtain the most detailed measurements of ice properties ever taken on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Their findings will be used to make more accurate models of the future movement of the world’s second-largest ice sheet, as the effects of climate change continue to accelerate.