EurekAlert! News by Subject: Chemistry & Physics - News by Subject: Chemistry & Physics

Chemistry & Physics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 7-Nov-2025 19:11 ET (8-Nov-2025 00:11 GMT/UTC)

Chemistry at the beginning: how molecular reactions influenced the formation of the first stars

Max-Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik
Peer-Reviewed Publication

- The HeH⁺ ion was the first molecule to form in the early universe, before the first stars were born.

- Researchers have investigated reactions of HeH⁺ with hydrogen atoms under conditions similar to those in the early universe for the first time, revealing significant discrepancies with previous theories.

- The results significantly impact our understanding of the early chemistry of the universe and the processes that contributed to the formation of the first stars.

Journal: Astronomy and Astrophysics

Offering self-collection kits in routine GP appointments could prevent 1,000 women a year from developing cervical cancer

Queen Mary University of London
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Women who are overdue for cervical cancer screening are most likely to participate in screening when a self-sampling kit is offered by a healthcare professional as part of routine GP appointments, according to a new study led by Queen Mary University of London with King’s College London. Over half of the people offered an at-home test during an unrelated GP appointment returned the sample. If this approach were adopted across the NHS, it is estimated that as many as 1,000 women would be prevented from developing cervical cancer every year.

Journal: EClinicalMedicine
Funder: Cancer Research UK

TFLN-based RGB multiplexer for energy-efficient laser beam scanning

SPIE--International Society for Optics and Photonics
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Laser multiplexers, which combine red, green, and blue (RGB) laser beams, are often limited by slow speeds and high-power consumption. To address this, researchers from TDK Corporation (Japan) developed a compact, energy-efficient RGB multiplexer using thin-film lithium niobate fabricated via sputter deposition. The device merges with RGB beams to produce full-color output with lower energy demands. This scalable approach offers a promising step toward faster, more efficient laser beam scanning systems.

Journal: Advanced Photonics Nexus

AI system helps researchers unlock hidden potential in newly discovered materials

University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Each year, researchers around the world create thousands of new materials — but many of them never reach their full potential. A new AI tool from the University of Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering could change that by predicting how a new material could best be used, right from the moment it’s made.

In a study published in Nature Communications, a team led by Professor Seyed Mohamad Moosavi introduces a multimodal AI tool that can predict how well a new material might perform in the real world.

The system focuses on a class of porous materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Moosavi says that last year alone, materials scientists created more than 5,000 different types of MOFs, which have tunable properties that lead to a wide range of potential applications.

Journal: Nature Communications

Engineer's work aims to improve tropical storm predictions

University of Texas at Dallas
Grant and Award Announcement

Tiny droplets of sea spray generated at the ocean surface can affect the intensity and evolution of hurricanes and other tropical storms.

Their impact, however, is not well understood because of the difficulty of measuring spray concentration and the size and velocity of individual droplets under high wind conditions.

At The University of Texas at Dallas, researchers are studying sea spray, particularly spume, or foam, droplets, in the lab to develop a model based on machine learning to improve hurricane forecasting. The model incorporates the effects of the spray generation function, which quantifies the rate at which droplets form.

Funder: Office of Naval Research

Hybrid crystal-glass materials from meteorites transform heat control

Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In research published on July 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Simoncelli and his collaborators Nicola Marzari from the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne and Francesco Mauri from Sapienza University of Rome predicted the existence of a material with hybrid crystal-glass thermal properties, and a team of experimentalists led by Etienne Balan, Daniele Fournier, and Massimiliano Marangolo from the Sorbonne University in Paris confirmed it with measurements.

Funder: Swiss National Science Foundation, SNSF project

New research suggests life could survive beneath the surface of mars and other planets using high energy particles from space

New York University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study from NYU Abu Dhabi has found that high-energy particles from space, known as cosmic rays, could create the energy needed to support life underground on planets and moons in our solar system.

Journal: International Journal of Astrobiology