With scanning ultrafast electron microscopy, researchers unveil promising hot photocarrier transport properties of cubic boron arsenide. In a study that confirms its promise as the next-generation semiconductor material, UC Santa Barbara researchers have directly visualized the photocarrier transport properties of cubic boron arsenide single crystals.

“We were able to visualize how the charge moves in our sample,” said Bolin Liao, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineeri...

New study finds the chances of uncovering life on Mars are better than previously expected. Scientists found that ancient bacteria could survive close to the surface on Mars much longer than previously assumed. So, if life did, in fact, evolve when the last waters flowed on Mars, it would likely still be there today — billions of years later.

When Mars’ first samples return to Earth, scientists should be on the lookout for ancient sleeping bacteria, a new study has found.

In a first-of-its-kind study, a research team, including Northwestern University’s Brian Hoffman and Ajay Sharma, found that ancient bacteria could survive close to the surface on Mars much longer than pr...

The mystery of the origin of hydrocarbons found in extraterrestrial environment may finally be resolved, thanks to a technique based on a 13C-13C abundance analysis. By measuring the abundance of clumped 13C-13C isotope in the hydrocarbons, it can be inferred if a hydrocarbon was produced via biological processes. This could open doors to distinguishing such hydrocarbons from abiotic ones, aiding our search for extraterrestrial life.

An important signature of life is the existence of organic molecules that have originated from biological processes. The most common organic molecule found in all life forms are hydrocarbons. However, they need not be of biotic origin, i.e., produced from thermal decomposition of sedimentary organic matter or microbes...

What role do the stages of sleep play in forming memories? “We’ve known for a long time that useful learning happens during sleep,” says University of Pennsylvania neuroscientist Anna Schapiro. “You encode new experiences while you’re awake, you go to sleep, and when you wake up your memory has somehow been transformed.”

Yet precisely how new experiences get processed during sleep has remained mostly a mystery. Using a neural network computational model they built, Schapiro, Penn Ph.D. student Dhairyya Singh, and Princeton University’s Kenneth Norman now have new insight into the process.

In research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they show that as the brain cycles through slow-wave and rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep, which happens about five t...