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

Chemistry & Physics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 19-Jun-2025 11:10 ET (19-Jun-2025 15:10 GMT/UTC)

Researchers demonstrate precise optical clock signal transmission via multicore fiber

Optica
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research demonstrates that emerging high-capacity fiber optic networks could be used to connect optical clocks at various locations, enabling new scientific applications.

Journal: Optica

When Earth iced over, early life may have sheltered in meltwater ponds

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Millions of years ago, during periods known as “Snowball Earth,” when much of the planet was covered in ice, some of our ancient cellular ancestors could have waited out the deep freeze in pools of melted ice that dotted the planet’s icy surface, according to a new study.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: NASA Exobiology Program, Simons Collaboration on the Origins of Life

Some of your AI prompts could cause 50 times more CO2 emissions than others

Frontiers
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Every query typed into a large language model (LLM), such as ChatGPT, requires energy and produces CO₂ emissions. Emissions, however, depend on the model, the subject matter, and the user. Researchers have now compared 14 models and found that complex answers cause more emissions than simple answers, and that models that provide more accurate answers produce more emissions. Users can, however, to an extent, control the amount of CO₂ emissions caused by AI by adjusting their personal use of the technology, the researchers said.

Journal: Frontiers in Communication

Scientists use AI to make green ammonia even greener

University of New South Wales
Peer-Reviewed Publication

To find the best catalyst for green ammonia, researchers were staring down 8000 lab experiments. With AI, they only needed 28.

Journal: Small
Funder: Australian Research Council, ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award

Researchers with UTHealth Houston School of Public Health awarded $5 million to study cancer risk among firefighters in Texas

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Grant and Award Announcement

The state of Texas awarded UTHealth Houston School of Public Health $5 million over two years for early detection and research, led by principal investigator Jooyeon Hwang, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, on cancer risk among firefighters in Texas.

SFU Physics researchers unravel mystery of collagen’s instability

Simon Fraser University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Simon Fraser University (SFU) research is yielding new insights into one of the most perplexing properties of collagen. A recent paper by physics professor Nancy Forde and postdoctoral researcher Alaa Al-Shaer describes key molecular features that helps enable this notoriously unstable protein to maintain its structure.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Aston University researchers develop new class of ultralow loss tuneable optical microresonators

Aston University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Aston University researchers have developed a new class of optical microresonators, the miniature optical devices that strongly confine and enhance light in microscopic dimensions. They are essential components in a wide range of systems, including ultra-precise optical sensors and information processors. The University researchers discovered that unique optical microresonators can be introduced at the intersection of two optical fibres. These devices have potential applications within communication, computing, sensing and more.

Journal: Optica
Funder: Leverhulme Trust

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