Billions of Quantum Entangled Electrons found in ‘Strange Metal’

Former Rice University graduate student Xinwei Li in 2016 with the terahertz spectrometer he later used to measure entanglement in the conduction electrons flowing through a “strange metal” compound of ytterbium, rhodium and silicon. (Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

In a new study, U.S. and Austrian physicists have observed quantum entanglement among “billions of billions” of flowing electrons in a quantum critical material.

The research, which appears this week in Science, examined the electronic and magnetic behavior of a “strange metal” compound of ytterbium, rhodium and silicon as it both neared and passed through a critical transition at the boundary between two well-studied quantum phases.

The study at Rice University and Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien...

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When the Milky Way Collided with Dwarf Galaxy Gaia-Enceladus

A snapshot from TESS of part of the southern sky showing the location of ν Indi (blue circle), the plane of the Milky Way (bottom left) and the southern ecliptic pole (top). These snapshots come from data collected in TESS observing sectors 1, 12 and 13.
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© J. T. Mackereth

The dwarf galaxy Gaia-Enceladus collided with the Milky Way probably approximately 11.5 billion years ago. A team of researchers including scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany for the first time used a single star affected by the collision as a clue for dating...

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Study shows Lactate may Prompt Cancer Formation

cancer cell

A byproduct of glucose called lactate, used by every cell in the body, may also prompt a mutated cell to become cancerous, according to new research from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

The study was published Tuesday in the journal Frontiers in Oncology.
“We discovered that lactate is a catalyst that triggers a mechanism in mutated cells necessary to continue the cancer forming process,” said Iñigo San Millán, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. “This opens a new door to better understand cancer at the metabolic level. It also means we might be able to target lactate with new therapies.”

Lactate is not a waste product but a major source of energy for t...

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Toward Safer Disposal of PCBs

Researchers have developed a new, safer method to dispose of printed circuit boards.
Credit: junpiiiiiiiiiii/Shutterstock.com

Printed circuit boards are vital components of modern electronics. However, once they have served their purpose, they are often burned or buried in landfills, polluting the air, soil and water. Most concerning are the brominated flame retardants added to printed circuit boards to keep them from catching fire. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering have developed a ball-milling method to break down these potentially harmful compounds, enabling safer disposal.

Composed of 30% metallic and 70% nonmetallic particles, printed circuit boards support and connect all of the electrical components of a device...

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