Researchers from the Department of Molecular Physics at the Fritz Haber Institute have demonstrated the first magneto-optical trap of a stable ‘closed-shell’ molecule: aluminum monofluoride (AlF). They were able to cool AlF with lasers and selectively trap it in three different rotational quantum levels - breaking new ground in ultracold physics. Their experiments open the door to advanced precision spectroscopy and quantum simulation with AlF. 

A recent study published in National Science Review has estimated the global biological nitrogen fixation from natural terrestrial ecosystems as 78.2–89.8 Tg N yr^-1, revealing an underestimation of this flux up to ~18% in existing Earth System Models (ESMs). The findings suggest many ESMs may overstate the nitrogen limitation or vegetation internal nitrogen recycling efficiency.

Researchers have confirmed the true ferrielectric state in a single-phase material, (MV)[SbBr₅]. This new polar order exhibits a unique combination of a switchable net polarization, asynchronous dipole switching, and polar-to-polar structural transitions, while enabling unprecedented electric-field control of spin-orbit coupling and circular photogalvanic effects, opening new avenues for next-generation electronics.

Researchers from Shandong University have engineered CYP152 peroxygenases for a green, efficient, and enantioselective one-step synthesis of (R)-mandelic acid derivatives, offering a sustainable solution for producing chiral molecules in pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals.

The first generations of stars formed under conditions very different from anywhere we can see in the nearby universe today. Astronomers are studying these differences using powerful telescopes that can detect galaxies so far away their light has taken billions of years to reach us.  

Now, an international team of astronomers led by Tom Bakx at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden has measured the temperature of one of the most distant known star factories. The galaxy, known as Y1, is so far away that its light has taken over 13 billion years to reach us.