These images show light patterns generated by a rhenium-based crystal using a laser method called optical second-harmonic rotational anisotropy. At left, the pattern comes from the atomic lattice of the crystal. At right, the crystal has become a 3-D quantum liquid crystal, showing a drastic departure from the pattern due to the atomic lattice alone. Credit: Hsieh Lab/Caltech

Physicists at the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter at Caltech have discovered the first 3D quantum liquid crystal – a new state of matter that may have applications in ultrafast quantum computers of the future...

Thermal measurement of nanopolyethylene (nanoPE) and various textile samples. (A) experimental setup of textile thermal measurement. The heating element that generates constant heating power is used to simulate human skin, and the “skin temperature” is measured with the thermocouple. Lower skin temperature means a better cooling effect. (B) Thermal measurement of bare skin, nanoPE, cotton, and Tyvek. NanoPE has a much better cooling effect than that of cotton and Tyvek because of its infrared (IR)-transparency. (C) Thermal imaging of bare skin and the three samples. Only nanoPE can reveal the H-shape metallic pattern because of its IR-transparency. Photo by Stanford University.

Stanford University researchers, with the aid of the Comet supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer at UCSD, ...

The Milky Way (stock image). Credit: © khlongwangchao / Fotolia

Analysis of Green Bank Telescope observations made public, including 11 events ranked highest for significance. Breakthrough Listen – the initiative to find signs of intelligent life in the universe – has released its 11 events ranked highest for significance as well as summary data analysis results. It is considered unlikely that any of these signals originate from artificial extraterrestrial sources, but the search continues. Listen has submitted the analysis of 692 stars, comprising all spectral types, observed during its first year of observations with the Green Bank Telescope.

Breakthrough Listen has so far acquired several petabytes of data using the Green Bank Radio Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia, Lick Observatory’s ...

1.A diverse landscape. A false color image highlights the complex geology of the Northeast Syrtis Major region on Mars. NASA/JPL/University of Arizona Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
2. A detailed map shows the the various geologic units exposed at Northeast Syrtis.
Credit: Mike Bramble/Mustard Lab

Mineral deposits in a region on Mars called Northeast Syrtis Major suggest a plethora of once-habitable environments. By mapping those deposits in the region’s larger geological context, the research could help set the stage for a possible rover mission in 2020. Using the highest resolution images available from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the study maps the extent of those key mineral deposits across the surface and places them within the region’s larger geological context.

“When w...