Artist’s impression of the exoplanet HAT-P-11b with its extended helium atmosphere blown away by the star, an orange dwarf star smaller, but more active, than the Sun.
Credit: © Denis Bajram

Although helium is a rare element on Earth, it is ubiquitous in the Universe. It is, after hydrogen, the main component of stars and gaseous giant planets. Despite its abundance, helium was only detected recently in the atmosphere of a gaseous giant by an international team including astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland. The team, this time led by Genevan researchers, has observed in detail and for the first time how this gas escapes from the overheated atmosphere of an exoplanet, literally inflated with helium. The results are published in Science.

Helium is the second...

“Fluoride batteries can have a higher energy density, which means that they may last longer – up to eight times longer than batteries in use today,” says study co-author Robert Grubbs, Caltech’s Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry and a winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. “But fluoride can be challenging to work with, in particular because it’s so corrosive and reactive.”

Fluoride-based batteries have the potential to last up to 8X longer than those in use today. Imagine not having to charge your phone or laptop for weeks...

A tumor cell that has acquired high metastatic potential during chemotherapy lights up with high FRET biosensor readout, whereas the cells that are sensitive to chemotherapy (and hence, low potential) stays dark.

Researchers engineered sensors to detect and measure the metastatic potential of single cancer cells. Metastasis is attributed as the leading cause of death in people with cancer.
Cancer would not be so devastating if it did not metastasize,” said Pradipta Ghosh, MD, professor in the UC San Diego School of Medicine departments of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, director of the Center for Network Medicine and senior study author.

“Although there are many ways to detect metastasis once it has occurred, there has been nothing available to ‘see’ or ‘measure’ the potentia...

A new organic plastic allows electronics to function in extreme temperatures without sacrificing performance.
CREDIT
Purdue University/John Underwood

A new organic polymer blend allows plastic electronics to function in high temperatures without sacrificing performance. This new plastic material could reliably conduct electricity in up to 220 degrees Celsius (428 F), according to a paper published Thursday in the journal Science.

“Commercial electronics operate between minus 40 and 85 degrees Celsius. Beyond this range, they’re going to malfunction,” said Jianguo Mei, a professor of organic chemistry at Purdue University. “We created a material that can operate at high temperatures by blending two polymers together.”

One of these is a semiconductor, which can conduct electricity, and...