Researchers at the University of Michigan have created a device that enables them to control the flow of electrons through a semiconductor using only laser light—no electrical power source required. 

To overcome a major challenge of understanding how magnetism and electrical current interact in nanoscale devices, an international team of researchers developed a single-spin quantum microscope to observe magnetic states inside atomically thin devices as they actively process electrical information. The findings introduce a conceptual shift in how magnetic transistors can be engineered, the team reports in Physical Review Letters. The team demonstrated an architecture using the magnetic semiconductor chromium sulfur bromide (CrSBr) that allows signals to be switched either by magnetism or voltage.

With their ability to use tools, remember faces and even learn how to communicate with humans through sign language, non-human primates are considered to be among the smartest creatures on earth. However, some concepts — geometry, for instance — have traditionally been thought of as beyond the abilities of humanity’s closest cousins. But a new study to be published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences calls that prevailing notion into question.

Because acetylation exists in all life, including humans, these findings will likely translate into our understanding of how cells in other organisms respond to stressful conditions.  

Human activities are fundamentally altering the chemical makeup of local coral reefs, according to a new study. The research team discovered that 25 contaminants from agricultural, industrial, and pharmaceutical sources accumulated in the soft tissues of coral around Maui, Hawai‘i. Additionally, in areas impacted by human activities, the energy and nutrient availability within the coral’s tissue decreases, making them significantly less resilient to environmental stressors such as warmer or acidic waters.

When some species of bacteria find themselves in an environmentally stressful situation they can hunker down and form spores—hardened protein-coated spheres protecting a DNA-filled core, stable for years or even centuries. Tufts researchers have found new ways to expand the potential for using bacterial spores as catalysts for chemical reactions, biofuel production, or breaking down pollutants

New research, published in Science, marks the first time radium molecules have been successfully prepared and studied precisely with lasers in tabletop experiments. 

Imagine using a wearable device that is so thin and discreet that you’d hardly be aware that you were wearing it. Tufts engineers have now made thread-based integrated circuits that can bend, coil, stretch, and conform to the body’s contours and movements, the devices are designed to exist in free form, sewn into clothing or wrapped around curved and moveable surfaces.

University of Arizona researchers demonstrate a potential new use for graphene nanoribbons that could improve semiconductor technologies for fusion energy and space systems.