Category Physics

Ultrathin display technology shows dozens of images hidden in a single screen

Ultra-thin display technology shows dozens of images hidden in a single screen
Schematic of a spin- and wavelength-multiplexed metahologram. This hologram encodes multiple holographic images using a single-cell metasurface, where distinct images appear on the same image plane based on the incident spin states and operating wavelengths. Credit: Advanced Science (2025). DOI: 10.1002/advs.202504634

From smartphones and TVs to credit cards, technologies that manipulate light are deeply embedded in our daily lives, many of which are based on holography. However, conventional holographic technologies have faced limitations, particularly in displaying multiple images on a single screen and in maintaining high-resolution image quality.

Recently, a research team led by Professor Junsuk Rho at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) has developed a groun...

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Robots learning without us? New study cuts humans from early testing

Humans no longer have exclusive control over training social robots to interact effectively, thanks to a new study from the University of Surrey and the University of Hamburg.

The study, which will be presented at this year’s IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), introduces a new simulation method that lets researchers test their social robots without needing human participants, making research faster and scalable.

Using a humanoid robot, the research team developed a dynamic scanpath prediction model to help the robot predict where a person would look in a social setting.

The model was tested using two publicly available datasets, and the researchers demonstrated that humanoid robots were capable of mimicking human-like eye movements.

Dr Di Fu, ...

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Record-setting lithium-ion conductors: Researchers develop new material for solid-state batteries

World record for lithium-ion conductors
Prof. Thomas F. Fässler in his laboratory at the Chair of Inorganic Chemistry with a Focus on Novel Materials. Credit: Wenzel Schuermann / TUM

Researchers at TUM and TUMint.Energy Research have taken a significant step towards improving solid-state batteries. They developed a new material made of lithium, antimony and scandium that conducts lithium ions more than 30% faster than any previously known material. The work is published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials.

The team led by Prof. Thomas F. Fässler from the Chair of Inorganic Chemistry with a Focus on Novel Materials partially replaced lithium in a lithium antimonide compound with the metal scandium. This creates specific gaps, so-called vacancies, in the crystal lattice of the conductor material...

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ALICE detects the conversion of lead into gold at the Large Hadron Collider

ALICE detects the conversion of lead into gold at the LHC
ALICE detector. Credit: CERN

In a paper published in Physical Review C, the ALICE collaboration reports measurements that quantify the transmutation of lead into gold in CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Transforming the base metal lead into the precious metal gold was a dream of medieval alchemists. This long-standing quest, known as chrysopoeia, may have been motivated by the observation that dull gray, relatively abundant lead is of a similar density to gold, which has long been coveted for its beautiful color and rarity. It was only much later that it became clear that lead and gold are distinct chemical elements and that chemical methods are powerless to transmute one into the other.

With the dawn of nuclear physics in the 20th century, it was discovered that heavy element...

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