HOUSTON, Texas, Feb. 11 -- Rice University posted the following news release: * * * 'Smaller and better': Rice research uncovers performance sweet spot for relaxor nanomaterial A new study led by Rice University materials scientist Lane Martin sheds light on how the extreme miniaturization of thin films affects the behavior of relaxor ferroelectrics -- materials with noteworthy energy-conversion properties used in sensors, actuators and nanoelectronics. The findings reveal that as the film sh  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 -- The American Association for the Advancement of Science issued the following news: * * * AAAS Announces 2025 Award Winners by Andrea Korte The American Association for the Advancement of Science has announced the 2025 winners of eight awards that recognize scientists, engineers, innovators and public servants for their contributions to science and society. This recipients' achievements include spurring undergraduate students to pursue further study in the sciences, com  more

LA JOLLA, California, Feb. 12 -- The University of California San Diego campus issued the following news: * * * Annual Kyoto Prize Symposium Slated for March 12-13 at UC San Diego The University of California San Diego, together with Point Loma Nazarene University, will co-host the 24th annual Kyoto Prize Symposium on March 12-13, 2025. The event is free and open to the public. The Kyoto Prize is Japan's highest private award for global visionaries who have made scientific and cultural advan  more

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, Feb. 12 -- Ansys, a computer-aided engineering software developer, issued the following news release: * * * Ansys and Concepts NREC Introduce Automated Workflow for Turbomachinery Design and Analysis Ansys expands partnership with Concepts NREC by integrating CFD analysis software into blade design software for an end-to-end workflow that speeds time-to-market Key Highlights * Joint customers can now run Ansys CFX computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software for t  more

MELVILLE, New York, Feb. 11 -- APL Materials, a peer-reviewed journal from the American Institute of Physics that says it embraces all research across materials science, published research articles on the following topics in its Feb. 1, 2025, edition (Vol. 13, Issue 2). Here are excerpts of the topics: * * * REVIEWS * AI-empowered digital design of zeolites: Progress, challenges, and perspectives ARTICLES * Energy efficiency analysis of spin-orbit torque MRAM using composition dependent re  more

VICKSBURG, Mississippi, Feb. 12 -- The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center issued the following news story: * * * Army Engineer R&D Development Center helps breathe new life into Boeing B-52 Aircraft By Claiborne Cooksey, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center VICKSBURG, Miss. - In an effort to enhance acquisition programs for all branches of the U.S. military, a team of engineers and technical experts from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ER  more

POTSDAM, Germany, Feb. 11 -- Astronomische Nachrichten, a peer-reviewed journal that says it features observational and theoretical astrophysics and related topics in solar-system and solar physics, published research articles on the following topics in its January 2025 special issue (Vol. 346, Issue 1) entitled The X-ray Mysteries of Neutron Stars and White Dwarfs. Here are excerpts of the topics: * * * * Editor's Note: The X-Ray Mysteries of Neutron Stars and White Dwarfs * Beyond Accreti  more

BASEL, Switzerland, Feb. 12 -- Erkenntnis, a peer-reviewed journal from that says it features science in general and of natural and human sciences such as physics, biology, psychology, economics and social sciences, published research articles on the following topics in its January 2025 edition (Vol. 90, Issue 1): * A New Minimality Condition for Boolean Accounts of Causal Regularities * A Problem for Extensional Articulations of Physicalism * Antiluminosity, Excuses and the Sufficiency of Kn  more

PASADENA, California, Feb. 11 -- The California Institute of Technology posted the following news: * * * First Programming Language for Active Material In 2019, Caltech researchers demonstrated a new method to use light to control active matter--a kind of material made up of individual energy-consuming pieces that act as a whole to create mechanical motion. The process works similarly to how many individual birds form a swarm that seems to move as a whole. In the research, the team focused on  more

ARGONNE, Illinois, Feb. 12 -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory issued the following news release: * * * From photons to protons: Argonne team makes breakthrough in high-energy particle detection Beam tests demonstrate high-energy particle detection with superconducting nanowires Argonne physicists have adapted superconducting nanowire photon detectors to be sensitive and precise high-energy particle detectors. Particle detectors play a crucial role in our understa  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 -- The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, a peer-reviewed journal from the American Chemical Society that says it advances in physical chemistry, chemical physics and materials science, published research articles on the following topics in its Feb. 6, 2025, edition (Vol. 16, Issue 5). Here are excerpts of the topics: * * * Mini-Reviews * The Quantum Information Science Challenge for Chemistry Physical Insights into Quantum Phenomena and Function * Weak Antilocaliz  more

BRISTOL, England, Feb. 12 -- Journal of Statistical Mechanics-Theory and Experiment, a peer-reviewed journal from the International School for Advanced Studies that says it covers all aspects of statistical physics, published research articles on the following topics in its January 2025 edition (Vol. 2025, No. 1). Here are excerpts of the topics: * * * Papers - Quantum statistical physics, condensed matter, integrable systems * On the Bisognano-Wichmann entanglement Hamiltonian of nonrelati  more

SANTA MONICA, California, Feb. 12 (TNSres) -- Rand issued the following commentary on Feb. 10, 2025: * * * Don't Be Fooled, Advanced Chips Are Important for National Security By Jimmy Goodrich Some critics of U.S. export control policy argue that the national security imperative for export controls on advanced chips is unjustified, as in their view, the U.S. military doesn't use them. They point to the older legacy semiconductors in main battle tanks or even the Aegis missile defense system,  more

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Feb. 11 -- INSTITUTE OF ATMOSPHER IC PHYSICS, CAS, Beijing, China has been assigned a patent (No. US 12222465 B1, initially filed June 14, 2024) developed by eleven inventors Rubin Jiang, Beijing, China; Xiushu Qie, Beijing, China; Hongbo Zhang, Beijing, China; Ruiling Chen, Beijing, China; Yufan Ren, Beijing, China; Kun Liu, Beijing, China; Mingyuan Liu, Beijing, China; Dongxia Liu, Beijing, China; Dongfang Wang, Beijing, China; Yuejian Xuan, Beijing, China; and Xiang'ao   more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, Feb. 11 -- The University of Michigan posted the following news: * * * When art imitates life's mathematics: Fractals and how we perceive trees hese computer-generated images show how changing the branch diameter scaling exponent--denoted with the Greek letter alpha--of a "tree" changes its appearance. Researchers at University of Michigan and University of New Mexico showed that real trees and objects recognizable as trees in art have an alpha between 1.5 and 3.credit: J  more