Lifeboat Foundation

NRL scientists have discovered new semiconductor nanocrystals with bright ground-state excitons, potentially revolutionizing light-emitting devices and resolving the dark-exciton problem.

Scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have confirmed the identification of a new class of semiconductor nanocrystals with bright ground-state excitons. This significant advancement in optoelectronics was recently published in the American Chemical Society (ACS) journal, ACS Nano.

The groundbreaking theoretical research could revolutionize the development of highly efficient light-emitting devices and other technologies.

NASA and Boeing are meticulously analyzing recent testing data of the Starliner spacecraft’s propulsion system to ensure its readiness for undocking and safe return from the International Space Station.

The teams are working on finalizing undocking procedures, ensuring system reliability, and conducting simulations. Additionally, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are assisting with various tasks aboard the station, maintaining continuous communication with mission control.

Testing and analysis of starliner’s propulsion system.

A UCSF study reveals that higher inflammation levels in young adults are associated with poorer cognitive performance in midlife, underscoring the importance of lifestyle choices in reducing inflammation and preventing cognitive decline.

Higher levels of inflammation in young adults, associated with factors like obesity, physical inactivity, chronic illness, stress, and smoking, are linked to decreased cognitive function in midlife, according to a new study from UC San Francisco.

Researchers previously linked higher inflammation in older adults to dementia, but this is one of the first studies to connect inflammation in early adulthood with lower cognitive abilities in midlife.

Researchers have discovered a new pathway used by cancer cells to infiltrate the brain and developed a promising therapy that targets this pathway with CAR T cells.

Their study showed significant preclinical success in increasing survival and eradicating tumors in animal models of glioblastoma and other brain cancers.

A team of Canadian and American research groups led by the Singh Lab at McMaster University have discovered a new pathway that is used by cancer cells to infiltrate the brain. The research also reveals a new therapy that shows promise in blocking and killing these tumors.

Evidence for potential dark matter objects has been detected using pulsars, which are neutron stars emitting regular beams of radio waves.

These beams were analyzed by Professor John LoSecco, revealing variations and delays that indicate the presence of unseen mass, likely dark matter. LoSecco utilized data from the PPTA2 survey, involving precise measurements from several radio telescopes. The study found around a dozen instances where dark matter likely influenced pulsar signals. This research not only helps in understanding dark matter but also improves pulsar timing data for other astronomical studies.

Detecting Dark Matter With Pulsars

A study focused on cesium vanadium antimonide, a Kagome metal, has shown its potential in enhancing nano-optics by generating unique plasmon polaritons. These findings could advance optical communication and sensing technologies.

In traditional Japanese basket-weaving, the ancient “Kagome” design, notable for its symmetrical arrangement of interlaced triangles with shared corners, graces many handcrafted items. Similarly, in quantum physics, scientists use the term “Kagome” to refer to a category of materials whose atomic structures mimic this unique lattice pattern.

Since 2019, when the latest family of Kagome metals was discovered, physicists have been working to better understand their properties and potential applications. A new study led by Florida State University (FSU) Assistant Professor of Physics Guangxin Ni focuses on how a particular Kagome metal interacts with light to generate what are known as plasmon polaritons — nanoscale-level linked waves of electrons and electromagnetic fields in a material, typically caused by light or other electromagnetic waves. The work was published recently in the journal Nature Communications.

When two people interact, their brain activity becomes synchronized, but it was unclear until now to what extent this “brain-to-brain coupling” is due to linguistic information or other factors, such as body language or tone of voice.

Researchers report August 2 in the journal Neuron that brain-to-brain coupling during conversation can be modeled by considering the words used during that conversation, and the context in which they are used.

“We can see linguistic content emerge word-by-word in the speaker’s brain before they actually articulate what they’re trying to say, and the same linguistic content rapidly reemerges in the listener’s brain after they hear it,” says first author and neuroscientist Zaid Zada of Princeton University.

Why does the universe contain matter and (virtually) no antimatter? The BASE international research collaboration at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, headed by Professor Dr. Stefan Ulmer from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), has achieved an experimental breakthrough in this context.

MIT physicists and colleagues report new insights into exotic particles key to a form of magnetism that has attracted growing interest because it originates from ultrathin materials only a few atomic layers thick. The work, which could impact future electronics and more, also establishes a new way to study these particles through a powerful instrument at the National Synchrotron Light Source II at Brookhaven National Laboratory.