A rendering of protons, neutrons and electrons in an atom.

The particle could be used in battery creation and for other industrial purposes. A team in the lab of Puru Jena, Ph.D., a distinguished professor in the Department of Physics in the College of Humanities and Sciences, has created the most stable tri-anion particle currently known to science. A tri-anion particle is a combination of atoms that contains three or more electrons than protons. This discovery is novel because previously known tri-anion particles were unstable due to their numerical imbalance. These unstable particles dispel additional electrons, interrupting chemical reactions.

Jena et al used quantum mechanical calculations to create computer models to prove the stability of the BeB11(CN)12 tri-anion...

Computer renderings illustrating the design of micro-structured patchy particles. These tiny objects (1/4th of the size a red blood cell) are first created inside a computer using simulations and then fabricated in the laboratory. Image courtesy of Theodore Hueckel.

Playdough and Legos are among the most popular childhood building blocks. But what could you use if you wanted to create something really small – a structure less than the width of a human hair? It turns out, a team of chemists has found, this can be achieved by creating particles that have both playdough and Lego traits. These “patchy particles,” described in the latest issue of the journal Nature, are 1/200th the width of a human hair and can form endless architectures from a handful of basic pieces...

The dotted white arrow points to curved strata recording point bar growth and river migration. The boundaries of ancient valley walls are defined by textural and albedo changes and are also associated with lateral river migration. Stacked above the point bars and completely confined within the dotted white and black lines are topographically inverted river deposits outcropping as ridges (e.g., black arrow). In places (e.g., south of the dotted white arrow), the ridges run against the dotted boundaries, suggesting flow was once redirected along a valley wall. Credit: B.T. Cardenas et al., Geological Society of America Bulletin

River deposits exist across the surface of Mars and record a surface environment from over 3.5 billion years ago that was able to support liquid water at the surface...

Sampling of a dust devil during field campaign ‘Morocco 2016’. The samples are still under analysis. Credit: Jan Raack/Dennis Reiss

Swirling columns of sand and dust, known as dust devils, are a feature of desert areas on Mars and on Earth. Now, a study of terrestrial dust devils has shown that around 2/3 of the fine particles lifted by these vortices can remain suspended in the atmosphere and be transported around the globe. The findings have implications for the climate and weather of both planets and, potentially, human health here on Earth.

The study by Raack and an international team of collaborators gives important insights into the contribution of dust devils to mineral aerosols in planetary atmospheres...