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SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University used a shape-memory alloy ring to biaxially compress a solid electrolyte at 170°C, deflecting lithium dendrite growth from vertical—toward the electrodes—to horizontal. Even with unprecedented dendrite density, the cells reportedly avoided short circuits through thousands of charge-discharge cycles, according to a paper in Nature.
An explainer on the optics behind Roman Space Telescope's Hubble-class mirror and wide, repeated sky surveys, its approach to planet-hunting and dark-energy measurement, and what its technology means—and its limits—for future direct-imaging missions.
Samsung Electronics has published a paper in JVST A on the challenges of extending atomic layer etching (ALE) — a technology with production experience since 2017 — into low-k material processing. This piece examines the technique's 90-degree vertical profile advantage, the new hurdle of chemical damage, and how it differs from Japanese company SAMCO's approach.
US company Interlune says it implanted helium into simulated ilmenite soil and reproduced heat-release characteristics matching Apollo lunar samples. The advance moves hardware development forward, but peer review and verification with actual helium-3 remain outstanding challenges.
Cambridge researchers used an ultracold potassium gas to simulate a relativistic quantum field and directly image the spatial fluctuations present in its ground state. By suppressing thermal noise below 6 nanokelvin, the team isolated fluctuations intrinsic to quantum mechanics itself, though important caveats about the method remain.
By reading out geometric invariants from laser light scrambled by atmospheric turbulence, researchers successfully recovered topological information without any wavefront correction in a 270-meter outdoor experiment. Here's a look at the physics behind this proof-of-concept and the challenges that remain for practical communications.
HZB's perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell, announced on August 26, 2026, reached 30.3% efficiency—below LONGi's industry record of 35.5% and even HZB's own 32.5%. The significance lies in its solvent-free deposition process, a step toward mass production.
A UCLA research team has achieved the first direct observation of phonon focusing—heat flowing in beam-like patterns—in boron arsenide crystals at room temperature (300 K). This article explains the physics behind this breakthrough in wave-like heat transport, previously confined to extreme cold, and the challenges that remain.
KAIST researchers built a 3D digital twin of a commercial graphite anode to analyze degradation during fast charging. The study shows that uneven binder distribution—invisible in electrode-wide averages—drives lithium plating and stress concentration, pointing to spatial design as key for durable fast-charging batteries.
A Durham University study estimates depleted North Sea oil and gas fields could store 3,659 TWh of hydrogen—over seven years of the UK's projected 2040 electricity demand. But Centriga's Rough project, the only concrete plan so far, would add just 10 TWh, underscoring the gap between theory and implementation.
