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

Chemistry & Physics

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 25-Aug-2025 12:11 ET (25-Aug-2025 16:11 GMT/UTC)

USC researchers develop first-ever quantum filter to isolate entangled states with high precision

University of Southern California
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a groundbreaking advance that could accelerate the development of quantum technologies, researchers at the USC Viterbi Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and School of Advanced Computing have demonstrated the first optical filter capable of isolating and preserving quantum entanglement—a mysterious but powerful phenomenon at the heart of quantum computing, communication, and sensing. This work, published in Science, opens the door to compact, high-performance entanglement systems that can be integrated into quantum photonic circuits, enabling more reliable quantum computing architectures and communication networks.

Journal: Science
Funder: Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Edible biofilm based on pomegranate peel extract extends the shelf life of strawberries

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Fruit coated with the material developed by researchers at the University of São Paulo showed 11% less weight loss during storage and took longer to start becoming contaminated by fungi.

Journal: Food Chemistry
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Oxygen tweaking may be the key to optimizing particle accelerators

DOE/US Department of Energy

Many particle accelerators rely on superconducting radiofrequency components made of niobium. Nuclear physicists found that dissolving oxygen atoms a few micrometers into niobium greatly improves the performance of components made of the metal. Now, the researchers are perfecting a model using different processes for adding oxygen. The model helps to predict and optimize component performance.

Journal: Journal of Applied Physics

Doubling down on metasurfaces

Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have created a bilayer metasurface made of two stacked layers of titanium dioxide nanostructures, opening new possibilities for structuring light.

Journal: Nature Communications

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

Peking University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Peking University, March 31, 2025: A simulation on the origin and evolution of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) has been conducted by a PKU research team led by Nie Ji, Associate Professor of School of Physics, and Hu Yongyun, Dean of Institute of Ocean Research, along with a research team from National Natural Science Foundation of China. Their study, recently published in Nature Communications, reveals the coherent relationship between NAO and the evolution of continents, mountains and oceans.

Journal: Nature Communications

SETI Institute’s 2025 Drake Award recognizes origins of life research

SETI Institute
Grant and Award Announcement

The SETI Institute announced today two recipients for the 2025 Drake Award: Dr. David Deamer (University of California, Santa Cruz) and Dr. John Baross (University of Washington, Seattle). Deamer and Baross are known for their pioneering work in astrobiology, focused on understanding the origins of life. However, each approaches the question from a different perspective. Deamer, a biomolecular engineer who focuses on membranes and RNA formation in shallow water environments, is recognized for advancing new theories on the origins and processes of life in the Universe. Baross, a microbiologist, focuses on hydrothermal vents and deep-sea chemistry as the cradle of life and has pioneered research on extremophiles to decipher life’s origins on Earth and beyond.

Deep-dive dinners are the norm for tuna and swordfish, MIT oceanographers find

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

MIT oceanographers discovered big fish like tuna and swordfish get a large fraction of their food from the ocean’s twilight zone — a cold, dark layer about half a mile below the surface.

Journal: ICES Journal of Marine Science