Researchers have developed an ultra-thin optical film that improves the quality of the light used in LCD resin-based 3D printers. The advance helps ensure that tiny details are reproduced with precision, which could make it possible to 3D-print medical-grade or industrial-grade products at a lower cost.

Resin-based 3D printing, or vat photopoly...

From birth to death, stars generally slow by 100 to 1,000 times their initial rotation rates; in other words, they “spin down.” The sun’s total angular momentum has declined as material is gradually blown off at the surface as solar wind. By observing this, astronomers have theorized the interaction between magneticfields and plasma flow to be the most efficient way to spin down stars.

Why and how this happens has long int...

Renewable energy technologies, such as solar cells and wind turbines, are becoming increasingly widespread in many countries worldwide. Reliably storing the electricity produced by these devices, so that it can be used later at times when sunlight or wind are scarce, would further improve their effectiveness as sustainable energy solutions.

A promising solution to store solar and wind energy entails the use of aqueous zinc (Zn) metal batteries. These are low-cost, safe and environmentally friendly batteries that store and release energy, leveraging water-based solutions and Zn anodes.

Despite their potential, Zn batteries have not yet achieved the de...

Astronomers, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), have confirmed the existence of a close quasar pair housed in a pair of merging galaxies seen when the universe was less than a billion years old, at a redshift of 5.7. The system, designated J2037–4537, is one of only two confirmed quasar pairs at redshift greater than 5 ever found. A paper outlining this work was submitted to the preprint server arXiv on April 7.

Quasars are among the most luminous objects in the universe. They belong to the family of active galactic nuclei (AGN)—galaxies that are powered by supermassive black holes at their centers...