This is an artist impression of the collision of two stars, like the ones that formed CK Vul. The inset illustrates the inner structure of one red giant before the merger. A thin layer of 26-aluminum (brown) surrounds a helium core. An extended convective envelope (not to scale), which forms the outermost layer of the star, can mix material from inside the star to the surface, but it never reaches deep enough to dredge 26-aluminum up to the surface. Only a collision with another star can disperse 26-aluminum.
Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF; S. Dagnello

Astronomers have made the first definitive detection of a radioactive molecule in interstellar space: a form, or isotopologue of aluminum monofluoride (26AlF)...

This is the memristor array situated on a circuit board.
Credit: Mohammed Zidan, Nanoelectronics group, University of Michigan.

A new way of arranging advanced computer components called memristors on a chip could enable them to be used for general computing, which could cut energy consumption by a factor of 100. This would improve performance in low power environments such as smartphones or make for more efficient supercomputers, says a University of Michigan researcher. “Historically, the semiconductor industry has improved performance by making devices faster...

Woman’s eye. Credit: © PixieMe / Fotolia

It’s often been said that the eyes are the window to the soul, revealing what we think and how we feel. Now, new research reveals that your eyes may also be an indicator of your personality type, simply by the way they move. Developed by the University of South Australia in partnership with the University of Stuttgart, Flinders University and the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Germany, the research uses state-of-the-art machine-learning algorithms to demonstrate a link between personality and eye movements.

Findings show that people’s eye movements reveal whether they are sociable, conscientious or curious, with the algorithm software reliably recognising four of the Big Five personality traits: neuroticism, extroversion, agreeableness, an...

Table 1: θSH: spin Hall angle, δ: conductivity, δSH: spin Hall conductivity. The figures in the bottom row are those achieved in the present study. Remarkably, the spin Hall conductivity, shown in the right-hand column, is two orders of magnitude greater than the previous record. (Image: Pham Nam Hai)

BiSb expands the potential of topological insulators for ultra-low-power electronic devices. Scientists have developed the world’s best-performing pure spin current source made of bismuth-antimony (BiSb) alloys, which they report as the best candidate for the first industrial application of topological insulators...