1. Lithium titanate Crystal structure with bulk continuum
2. A zoomed-up image of the atomic arrangement on the LiTi2O4 film surface
The three-fold symmetry indicated here reveals the spinel crystal structure.

Researchers have applied advanced scanning methods to visualize the previously unexplored surface of a superconductor: lithium titanate. Researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tohoku University and the University of Tokyo have applied advanced scanning methods to visualize the previously unexplored surface of a superconductor: lithium titanate (LiTi2O4).

LiTi2O4 is the only known example of a spinel oxide superconductor...

Plumes water ice and vapor spray from many locations near the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, as documented by the Cassini-Huygens mission. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Engineers explore ways to sample and identify living microbes in the outer solar system. Digital holographic microscopy, which uses lasers to record 3D images, may be our best bet for spotting extraterrestrial microbes. No probe since NASA’s Viking program in the late 1970s has explicitly searched for extraterrestrial life – that is, for actual living organisms. Rather, the focus has been on finding water. Enceladus has a lot of water – an ocean’s worth, hidden beneath an icy shell that coats the entire surface...

Shanon L. Casperson, Clint Hall, James N. Roemmich. Postprandial energy metabolism and substrate oxidation in response to the inclusion of a sugar- or non-nutritive sweetened beverage with meals differing in protein content. BMC Nutrition, 2017; 3 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s40795-017-0170-2

Having a sugar-sweetened drink with a high-protein meal may negatively affect energy balance, alter food preferences and cause the body to store more fat, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Nutrition...