In the rapidly evolving field of energy storage, the quest for safer and more sustainable solutions is ongoing. A recent breakthrough in the development of
Category: energy
Pinning down protons in water—a basic science success story
The movement of protons through electrically charged water is one of the most fundamental processes in chemistry. It is evident in everything from eyesight to energy storage to rocket fuel—and scientists have known about it for more than 200 years.
But no one has ever seen it happen. Or precisely measured it on a microscopic scale.
Now, the Mark Johnson lab at Yale has—for the first time—set benchmarks for how long it takes protons to move through six charged water molecules. The discovery, made possible with a highly customized mass spectrometer that has taken years to refine, could have far-reaching applications for researchers in years to come.
Mathematical ‘sum of zeros’ trick exposes topological magnetization in quantum materials
A new study addresses a foundational problem in the theory of driven quantum matter by extending the Středa formula to non-equilibrium regimes. It demonstrates that a superficially trivial “sum of zeros” encodes a universal, quantized magnetic response—one that is intrinsically topological and uniquely emergent under non-equilibrium driving conditions.
Imagine a strange material being rhythmically pushed—tapped again and again by invisible hands. These are periodically driven quantum systems, or Floquet systems, where energy is no longer conserved in the usual sense. Instead, physicists speak of quasienergy—a looping spectrum with no clear start or end.
When scientists measure how such a system responds to a magnetic field, every single contribution seems to vanish—like adding an infinite list of zeros. And yet, the total stubbornly comes out finite, quantized, and very real.
Why tiny droplets stick or bounce: The physics of speed and size
When a droplet of liquid the size of a grain of icing sugar hits a water-repelling surface, like plastics or certain plant leaves, it can meet one of two fates: stick or bounce. Until now, scientists thought bouncing depended only on how repellent the surface was and how the droplet lost its impact energy. Speed, they assumed, didn’t matter.
Now, new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that speed is actually the deciding factor—and that droplets only bounce within a “Goldilocks zone,” or just the right speed range.
“Bouncing only happens in a very narrow speed window,” said Jamie McLauchlan, first author of the study and Ph.D. student at the University of Bath.
Tesla’s EPIC Megapack Keynote (full replay) — “Megablock” Is HERE
Questions to inspire discussion.
Technical Specifications.
📏 Q: What are the physical characteristics of the Megapack 3? A: Megapack 3 features a 28-foot long enclosure that can be shipped globally, with 78% fewer connections in the thermal bay, and incorporates a larger battery module and larger cell leveraging the latest cell technology.
⚡ Q: What is the total usable energy capacity of Megapack 3? A: Tesla’s Megapack 3 is designed for 20 megawatt hours of usable AC energy, providing significant storage capacity for large-scale energy projects.
Installation and Efficiency.
🔧 Q: How does Megapack 3 improve installation efficiency? A: Megapack 3 eliminates above-ground cabling and features 78% fewer connections in the thermal bay, significantly streamlining the installation process and reducing potential points of failure.
White dwarf stars could create surprisingly common long-lived habitable zones
A new study by Manuel Barrientos and colleagues from the University of Oklahoma reveals that between 0.6% and 2.5% of white dwarfs in our solar neighborhood undergo dramatic cooling delays that could extend habitable zones for billions of additional years. The secret lies in an element known as neon-22, which, after carbon and oxygen, is the most abundant element inside white dwarfs.
When white dwarfs contain at least 2.5% neon-22 by mass, they undergo a process called “distillation” as their cores crystallize. The research team discovered this occurs because the solid crystals become depleted in neon-22 compared to the surrounding liquid, making them lighter and causes them to float upward where they melt. This astronomical equivalent of a lava lamp releases enormous amounts of gravitational energy, effectively putting the white dwarf’s cooling on pause for up to 10 billion years.
The neon-22 forms during the star’s lifetime through a well understood process. During the helium burning stage, nitrogen-14 (produced by the CNO cycle) transforms into neon-22. This means stars with higher initial abundances of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen (collectively called “metallicity”) produce more neon-22 in their white dwarf descendants.
The Hofstadter butterfly: Twisted bilayer graphene reveals two distinct strongly interacting topological phases
Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) is a material created by stacking two sheets of graphene onto each other, with a small twist angle of about 1.1°. At this “magic angle,” electrons move very slowly, which can lead to the emergence of highly correlated electron states.
Due to its unique properties and characteristics, MATBG has become the focus of numerous studies rooted in physics and materials science. Some physicists discovered that when an external magnetic field is applied to MATBG, the flat energy bands in the material transform into a fractal-like energy pattern known as a Hofstadter spectrum.
Researchers at University of Washington, Florida State University and other institutes recently carried out a study aimed at further investigating the emergence of these energy patterns in ultraclean MATBG.
Researchers discover massive geo-hydrogen source to the west of the Mussau Trench
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the solar system. As a source of clean energy, hydrogen is well-suited for sustainable development, and Earth is a natural hydrogen factory. However, most hydrogen vents reported to date are small, and the geological processes responsible for hydrogen formation—as well as the quantities that can be preserved in geological settings—remain unclear.
Gold quantum needles could sharpen imaging resolution and boost energy conversion
Researchers Shinjiro Takano, Yuya Hamasaki, and Tatsuya Tsukuda of the University of Tokyo have successfully visualized the geometric structure of growing gold nanoclusters in their earliest stages. During this process, they also successfully grew a novel structure of elongated nanoclusters, which they named gold quantum needles.