Image of the di-Omega, by Keiko Murano

Based on complex simulations of quantum chromodynamics performed using the K computer, one of the most powerful computers in the world, the HAL QCD Collaboration, made up of scientists from the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-based Science and the RIKEN Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS) program, together with colleagues from a number of universities, have predicted a new type of “dibaryon” – a particle that contains 6 quarks instead of the usual three. Studying how these elements form could help scientists understand the interactions among elementary particles in extreme environments eg the interiors of neutron stars or the early universe moments after the Big Bang.

Particles known as “baryons” – principally protons...

A research team at the Technical University of Munich has developed molecular nanoswitches that can be toggled between two structurally different states using an applied voltage. They can serve as the basis for a pioneering class of devices that could replace silicon-based components with organic molecules. Credit: Yuxiang Gong / TUM / Journal of the American Chemical Society

An international research team led by physicists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed molecules that can be switched between two structurally different states using an applied voltage. Such nanoswitches can serve as the basis for a pioneering class of devices that could replace silicon-based components with organic molecules.

The development of new electronic technologies drives the incessant redu...

In a series of experiments conducted by researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, clothing treated with an insecticide known as permethrin had strong toxic effects on three primary species of ticks known to spread disease-causing pathogens in the United States (shown here, left to right): the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum), and American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis). Exposure to permethrin interfered with the ticks’ ability to move properly, making them sluggish and likely interfering with their ability to bite.

Lab tests show germ-carrying ticks can’t move properly after contact with treated garments. The case for permethrin-treated clothing to prevent tick bites keeps getting stronger...

MIT engineers have designed an ingestible sensor equipped with bacteria programmed to sense environmental conditions and relay the information to an electronic circuit. Credit: Lillie Paquette/MIT

Ultra-low-power sensors carrying genetically engineered bacteria can detect gastric bleeding or other gastrointestinal problems. This “bacteria-on-a-chip” approach combines sensors made from living cells with ultra-low-power electronics that convert the bacterial response into a wireless signal that can be read by a smartphone...