A new class of 2D materials known as MXenes holds the key to next-generation applications, such as consumer electronics and medical devices. Now, collaborative research led by Zahra Fakhraai and Aleksandra Vojvodic of the University of Pennsylvania offers fundamental insights into the chemical and geometric mechanisms underlying the synthesis of these materials, a finding that could lead to cleaner, quicker energy conversion and storage for these devices.

Researchers at Caltech and Gran Sasso Science Institute in Italy teamed up with Google DeepMind to develop a new AI method–called Deep Loop Shaping–that can better hush unwanted noise in LIGO's detectors.

Researchers have developed novel chiral magnetic nanohelices that can control electron spin at room temperature by utilizing their inherent rotation, eliminating the need for external magnetic fields or cryogenic cooling. This breakthrough demonstrates spin-selective transport capabilities through geometrically designed magnetic nanostructures.

A research team led by Prof. WANG Feng from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with Prof. Paolo Fornasiero from the University of Trieste in Italy, has developed a photochemical strategy for heterolytic hydrogen (H₂) dissociation at ambient temperature, a long-standing challenge in H₂ activation chemistry.

Harvard researchers have uncovered key fundamental chemistry of how proteins like keratin de-nature in the presence of certain salt compounds. 

Recent research at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, in collaboration with the University of Bath, has shown that whether a droplet of liquid sticks or bounces depends on its speed and size, rather than solely on how water-repellent the surface is. Understanding the physics that govern microdroplet behaviour can help improve processes that affect our daily lives, from diseases to crop spray and from inkjet printing to pollution.