

Detectors and electronics. Learn about every sort of detector, radar system and more from leading research institutes around the world.
Updated: 1 hour 33 min ago
Einstein was wrong: MIT just settled a 100-year quantum debate
Physicists at MIT recreated the double-slit experiment using individual photons and atoms held in laser light, uncovering the true limits of light’s wave–particle duality. Their results proved Einstein’s proposal wrong and confirmed a core prediction of quantum mechanics.
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What happens when light smashes into itself? Scientists just found out
Physicists have discovered that when beams of light interact at the quantum level, they can generate ghost-like particles that briefly emerge from nothing and affect real matter. This rare phenomenon, known as light-on-light scattering, challenges the classical idea that light waves pass through each other untouched.
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Scientists finally solve the mystery of what triggers lightning
A Penn State-led research team has unraveled the long-standing mystery of how lightning begins inside thunderclouds. Their findings offer the first quantitative, physics-based explanation for lightning initiation—and a glimpse into the stormy heart of Earth’s atmosphere.
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Rutgers physicists just discovered a strange new state of matter
At the edge of two exotic materials, scientists have discovered a new state of matter called a "quantum liquid crystal" that behaves unlike anything we've seen before. When a conductive Weyl semimetal and a magnetic spin ice meet under a powerful magnetic field, strange and exciting quantum behavior emerges—electrons flow in odd directions and break traditional symmetry. These findings could open doors to creating ultra-sensitive quantum sensors and exploring exotic states of matter in extreme environments.
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After 50 years, scientists finally catch elusive neutrinos near a reactor
A tiny 3 kg detector has made a huge leap in neutrino science by detecting rare CEvNS interactions at a Swiss reactor. This elusive effect, long predicted and hard to measure, was captured with unprecedented clarity. The achievement could kick off a new era of compact, mobile neutrino detectors with powerful applications.
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Building electronics that don’t die: Columbia's breakthrough at CERN
Deep beneath the Swiss-French border, the Large Hadron Collider unleashes staggering amounts of energy and radiation—enough to fry most electronics. Enter a team of Columbia engineers, who built ultra-rugged, radiation-resistant chips that now play a pivotal role in capturing data from subatomic particle collisions. These custom-designed ADCs not only survive the hostile environment inside CERN but also help filter and digitize the most critical collision events, enabling physicists to study elusive phenomena like the Higgs boson.
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Digital twins are reinventing clean energy — but there’s a catch
Researchers are exploring AI-powered digital twins as a game-changing tool to accelerate the clean energy transition. These digital models simulate and optimize real-world energy systems like wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, and biomass. But while they hold immense promise for improving efficiency and sustainability, the technology is still riddled with challenges—from environmental variability and degraded equipment modeling to data scarcity and complex biological processes.
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Atomic-scale secrets: What really happens inside your battery
Scientists have cracked open a mysterious layer inside batteries, using cutting-edge 3D atomic force microscopy to capture the dynamic molecular structures at their solid-liquid interfaces. These once-invisible electrical double layers (EDLs) twist, break, and reform in response to surface irregularities phenomena never seen before in real-world battery systems. The findings don t just refine our understanding of how batteries work at the microscopic level they could fundamentally change how we build and design next-generation energy storage.
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Quantum tunneling mystery solved after 100 years—and it involves a surprise collision
For the first time ever, scientists have watched electrons perform a bizarre quantum feat: tunneling through atomic barriers by not just slipping through, but doubling back and slamming into the nucleus mid-tunnel. This surprising finding, led by POSTECH and Max Planck physicists, redefines our understanding of quantum tunneling—a process that powers everything from the sun to your smartphone.
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Ghost particles may secretly decide the fate of collapsing stars
Neutrinos, ghostly particles barely interacting with matter, may secretly be reshaping the fates of massive stars. New research suggests that as stars collapse, they form natural "neutrino colliders," allowing scientists to probe these elusive particles in ways never possible on Earth. If neutrinos do interact through yet-undiscovered forces, they could cause stars to collapse into black holes instead of neutron stars, reshaping how we understand cosmic evolution.
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Decades of chemistry rewritten: A textbook reaction just flipped
Penn State researchers have uncovered a surprising twist in a foundational chemical reaction known as oxidative addition. Typically believed to involve transition metals donating electrons to organic compounds, the team discovered an alternate path—one in which electrons instead move from the organic molecule to the metal. This reversal, demonstrated using platinum and palladium exposed to hydrogen gas, could mean chemists have misunderstood a fundamental step for decades. The discovery opens the door to fresh opportunities in industrial chemistry and pollution control, especially through new reaction designs using electron-deficient metals.
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An ‘impossible’ 20-electron molecule challenges 100 years of chemistry
Scientists at OIST have defied a foundational rule in chemistry by creating a stable 20-electron version of ferrocene—an organometallic molecule once thought to be limited to 18 valence electrons. This discovery not only challenges conventional wisdom but unlocks new chemical behaviors and redox states, potentially transforming how catalysts and materials are designed.
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The real-life Kryptonite found in Serbia—and why it could power the future
Deep in Serbia's Jadar Valley, scientists discovered a mineral with an uncanny resemblance to Superman's Kryptonite both in composition and name. Dubbed jadarite, this dull white crystal lacks the glowing green menace of its comic book counterpart but packs a punch in the real world. Rich in lithium and boron, jadarite could help supercharge the global transition to green energy.
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Scientists discover salt that makes batteries last 10x longer
A team at KAUST has revealed that the short lifespan of aqueous batteries is primarily due to "free water" molecules triggering harmful chemical reactions at the anode. By adding affordable sulfate salts like zinc sulfate, they significantly reduced this issue—boosting battery life over tenfold. The sulfate acts as a “water glue,” stabilizing the water structure and halting the energy-wasting reactions. Not only is this solution simple and cost-effective, but early results suggest it may be a universal fix for various types of metal-anode aqueous batteries.
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You’ve never seen atoms like this before: A hidden motion revealed
A pioneering team at the University of Maryland has captured the first-ever images of atomic thermal vibrations, unlocking an unseen world of motion within two-dimensional materials. Their innovative electron ptychography technique revealed elusive “moiré phasons,” a long-theorized phenomenon that governs heat, electronic behavior, and structural order at the atomic level. This discovery not only confirms decades-old theories but also provides a new lens for building the future of quantum computing, ultra-efficient electronics, and advanced nanosensors.
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One small qubit, one giant leap for quantum computing
Aalto University physicists in Finland have set a new benchmark in quantum computing by achieving a record-breaking millisecond coherence in a transmon qubit — nearly doubling prior limits. This development not only opens the door to far more powerful and stable quantum computations but also reduces the burden of error correction.
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Concrete that lasts centuries and captures carbon? AI just made it possible
Imagine concrete that not only survives wildfires and extreme weather, but heals itself and absorbs carbon from the air. Scientists at USC have created an AI model called Allegro-FM that simulates billions of atoms at once, helping design futuristic materials like carbon-neutral concrete. This tech could transform cities by reducing emissions, extending building lifespans, and mimicking the ancient durability of Roman concrete—all thanks to a massive leap in AI-driven atomic modeling.
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Aluminium-20 shatters nuclear norms with explosive triple-proton breakup
Scientists have observed a brand-new and exotic atomic nucleus: aluminium-20. Unlike anything seen before, it decays through a stunning three-proton emission sequence, shedding light on nuclear behavior far beyond the limits of stability. This breakthrough, involving researchers from China and Germany, not only adds a new isotope to the nuclear chart but also hints at broken symmetry and unexpected quantum properties deep within matter.
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Goodbye plastic? Scientists create new supermaterial that outperforms metals and glass
Scientists at Rice University and the University of Houston have created a powerful new material by guiding bacteria to grow cellulose in aligned patterns, resulting in sheets with the strength of metals and the flexibility of plastic—without the pollution. Using a spinning bioreactor, they’ve turned Earth’s purest biopolymer into a high-performance alternative to plastic, capable of carrying heat, integrating advanced nanomaterials, and transforming packaging, electronics, and even energy storage.
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Scientists twist DNA into self-building nanostructures that could transform technology
Scientists have used DNA's self-assembling properties to engineer intricate moiré superlattices at the nanometer scale—structures that twist and layer like never before. With clever molecular “blueprints,” they’ve created customizable lattices featuring patterns such as honeycombs and squares, all with remarkable precision. These new architectures are more than just scientific art—they open doors to revolutionizing how we control light, sound, electrons, and even spin in next-gen materials.
Categories: Global Energy News (news-and-events/news)