Electricity News

January 31, 2026

Top Headlines

A Breakthrough That Could Make Ships Nearly Unsinkable

Jan. 30, 2026 Researchers have found a way to make ordinary aluminum tubes float indefinitely, even when submerged for long periods or punched full of holes. By engineering the metal’s surface to repel water, the tubes trap air inside and refuse to sink, even ...

A Hidden Magnetic Order Could Unlock Superconductivity

Jan. 26, 2026 Physicists have discovered that hidden magnetic order plays a key role in the pseudogap, a puzzling state of matter that appears just before certain materials become superconductors. Using an ultra-cold quantum simulator, the team found that even ...

Scientists Twist Tiny Crystals to Control Electricity

Jan. 25, 2026 Researchers have developed a technique that allows them to carve complex three dimensional nanodevices directly from single crystals. To demonstrate its power, they sculpted microscopic helices from a magnetic material and found that the structures ...

This Tiny Power Module Could Change How the World Uses Energy

Jan. 19, 2026 As global energy demand surges—driven by AI-hungry data centers, advanced manufacturing, and electrified transportation—researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have unveiled a breakthrough that could help squeeze far more power ...

How Everyday Foam Reveals the Secret Logic of Artificial Intelligence

Jan. 15, 2026 Foams were once thought to behave like glass, with bubbles frozen in place at the microscopic level. But new simulations reveal that foam bubbles are always shifting, even while the foam keeps its overall shape. Remarkably, this restless motion ...

A Missing Flash of Light Revealed a Molecular Secret

Jan. 5, 2026 Scientists have found a way to see ultrafast molecular interactions inside liquids using an extreme laser technique once thought impossible for fluids. When they mixed nearly identical chemicals, one combination behaved strangely—producing less ...

This Hidden Flaw Has Been Breaking EV Batteries

Dec. 29, 2025 A major breakthrough in battery science reveals why promising single-crystal lithium-ion batteries haven’t lived up to expectations. Researchers found that these batteries crack due to uneven internal reactions, not the grain-boundary damage seen ...

A New Superconductor Breaks Rules Physicists Thought Were Fixed

Dec. 26, 2025 A shiny gray crystal called platinum-bismuth-two hides an electronic world unlike anything scientists have seen before. Researchers discovered that only the crystal’s outer surfaces become superconducting—allowing electrons to flow with zero ...

Paper Mill Waste Could Unlock Cheaper Clean Energy

Dec. 11, 2025 Scientists developed a high-performance hydrogen-production catalyst using lignin, a common waste product from paper and biorefinery processes. The nickel–iron oxide nanoparticles embedded in carbon fibers deliver fast kinetics, long-term ...

The “Impossible” LED Breakthrough That Changes Everything

Dec. 5, 2025 Scientists have discovered how to electrically power insulating nanoparticles using organic molecules that act like tiny antennas. These hybrids generate extremely pure near-infrared light, ideal for medical diagnostics and advanced communications. ...

New Low Temperature Fuel Cell Could Transform Hydrogen Power

Dec. 5, 2025 Kyushu University scientists have achieved a major leap in fuel cell technology by enabling efficient proton transport at just 300°C. Their scandium-doped oxide materials create a wide, soft pathway that lets protons move rapidly without clogging ...

A 1950s Material Just Set a Modern Record for Lightning-fast Chips

Dec. 5, 2025 Researchers engineered a strained germanium layer on silicon that allows charge to move faster than in any silicon-compatible material to date. This record mobility could lead to chips that run cooler, faster, and with dramatically lower energy ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:54am EST

The Magnetic Secret Inside Steel Finally Explained

Jan. 26, 2026 For years, scientists noticed that magnetic fields could improve steel, but no one knew exactly why. New simulations reveal that magnetism changes how iron atoms behave, making it harder for carbon ...

A Strange in-Between State of Matter Is Finally Observed

Jan. 26, 2026 When materials become just one atom thick, melting no longer follows the familiar rules. Instead of jumping straight from solid to liquid, an unusual in-between state emerges, where atomic positions ...

A Tiny Spin Change Just Flipped a Famous Quantum Effect

Jan. 21, 2026 When quantum spins interact, they can produce collective behaviors that defy long-standing expectations. Researchers have now shown that the Kondo effect behaves very differently depending on spin ...

Electrons Stop Acting Like Particles—and Physics Still Works

Jan. 15, 2026 Physicists have long relied on the idea that electrons behave like tiny particles zipping through materials, even though quantum physics says their exact position is fundamentally uncertain. Now, ...

Physicists Thought This Mystery Particle Could Explain Everything. See What Happened

Jan. 12, 2026 Scientists at Fermilab’s MicroBooNE experiment have ruled out the existence of the elusive sterile neutrino, a particle proposed for decades to ...

Physicists Built a Perfect Conductor from Ultracold Atoms

Jan. 7, 2026 Researchers at TU Wien have discovered a quantum system where energy and mass move with perfect efficiency. In an ultracold gas of atoms confined to a single line, countless collisions occur—but ...

Physicists Found a Way to Make Thermodynamics Work in the Quantum World

Dec. 23, 2025 More than 200 years ago, Count Rumford showed that heat isn’t a mysterious substance but something you can generate endlessly through motion. That insight laid the foundation for thermodynamics, ...

Light-Printed Electrodes Turn Skin and Clothing Into Sensors

Dec. 15, 2025 Researchers in Sweden have unveiled a way to create high-performance electronic electrodes using nothing more than visible light and specially designed water-soluble monomers. This gentle, ...

Researchers Catch Atoms Standing Still Inside Molten Metal

Dec. 11, 2025 Scientists have uncovered that some atoms in liquids don't move at all—even at extreme temperatures—and these anchored atoms dramatically alter the way materials freeze. Using advanced electron ...

New State of Quantum Matter Could Power Future Space Tech

Dec. 2, 2025 A UC Irvine team uncovered a never-before-seen quantum phase formed when electrons and holes pair up and spin in unison, creating a glowing, liquid-like state of matter. By blasting a custom-made ...

X-Ray Movies Reveal How Intense Lasers Tear a Buckyball Apart

Nov. 28, 2025 Using intense X-rays, researchers captured a buckyball as it expanded, split and shed electrons under strong laser fields. Detailed scattering measurements showed how the molecule behaves at low, ...

This Glowing Particle in a Laser Trap May Reveal How Lightning Begins

Nov. 24, 2025 Using a precisely aligned pair of laser beams, scientists can now hold a single aerosol particle in place and monitor how it charges up. The particle’s glow signals each step in its changing ...

A Compact Fusion Machine Just Hit Gigapascal Pressures

Nov. 20, 2025 Operating a new device named the Fusion Z-pinch Experiment 3, or FuZE-3, Zap Energy has now achieved plasmas with electron pressures as high as 830 megapascals (MPa), or 1.6 gigapascals (GPa) total, ...

Nearly 47 Million Americans Live Near Hidden Fossil Fuel Sites

Nov. 20, 2025 A nationwide analysis has uncovered how sprawling fossil fuel infrastructure sits surprisingly close to millions of American homes. The research shows that 46.6 million people live within about a ...

Physicists Reveal a New Quantum State Where Electrons Run Wild

Nov. 16, 2025 Electrons can freeze into strange geometric crystals and then melt back into liquid-like motion under the right quantum conditions. Researchers identified how to tune these transitions and even ...

Breakthrough Shows Light Can Move Atoms in 2D Semiconductors

Nov. 14, 2025 Laser light can physically distort Janus TMD materials, revealing how their asymmetrical structure amplifies light-driven forces. These effects could power breakthroughs in photonic chips, sensors, ...

Turning CO2 Into Clean Fuel Faster and Cheaper

Nov. 5, 2025 A new copper-magnesium-iron catalyst transforms CO2 into CO at low temperatures with record-breaking efficiency and stability. The discovery paves the way for affordable, scalable production of ...

CERN Creates Cosmic “fireballs” That Could Reveal the Universe’s Hidden Magnetism

Nov. 7, 2025 Using CERN’s Super Proton Synchrotron, researchers generated plasma fireballs to simulate blazar jets. The beams stayed stable, suggesting plasma instabilities aren’t responsible for missing ...

Floating Device Turns Raindrops Into Electricity

Nov. 15, 2025 A new floating droplet electricity generator is redefining how rain can be harvested as a clean power source by using water itself as both structural support and an electrode. This nature-integrated ...

This Smart Catalyst Cracks a Challenge That Stumped Chemists for Decades

Nov. 26, 2025 Using a smart computational search, scientists discovered a catalyst ingredient that finally makes tough alkyl ketones behave the way chemists want. The reaction now runs cleanly and reliably, ...

MIT Physicists Just Found a Way to See Inside Atoms

Oct. 26, 2025 MIT researchers have devised a new molecular technique that lets electrons probe inside atomic nuclei, replacing massive particle accelerators with a tabletop setup. By studying radium monofluoride, ...

How Algae Learned to Harness the Sun Without Getting Burned

Oct. 22, 2025 Under the sea, green algae have evolved a clever way to handle too much sunlight. Scientists found that a special pigment called siphonein acts like a natural sun shield, protecting the algae’s ...

Physicists Uncover Hidden “doorways” That Let Electrons Escape

Nov. 4, 2025 Scientists at TU Wien found that electrons need specific “doorway states” to escape solids, not just energy. The insight explains long-standing anomalies in experiments and unlocks new ways to ...

Quantum Crystals Could Spark the Next Tech Revolution

Oct. 16, 2025 Auburn scientists have designed new materials that manipulate free electrons to unlock groundbreaking applications. These “Surface Immobilized Electrides” could power future quantum computers or ...

Scientists Forge “superalloy” That Refuses to Melt

Oct. 23, 2025 Scientists have developed a chromium-molybdenum-silicon alloy that withstands extreme heat while remaining ductile and oxidation-resistant. It could replace nickel-based superalloys, which are ...

When Sunshine Became Cheaper Than Coal

Oct. 7, 2025 Solar energy is now the cheapest source of power worldwide, driving a massive shift toward renewables. Falling battery prices and innovations in solar materials are making clean energy more reliable ...

Lighting the Way for Electric Vehicles by Using Streetlamps as Chargers

Oct. 5, 2025 A Penn State research team found that streetlights could double as affordable EV charging stations. After installing 23 units in Kansas City, they discovered these chargers were faster, cheaper, and ...

Century-Old Catalysis Puzzle Cracked by Measuring a Fraction of an Electron

Nov. 21, 2025 Scientists have directly measured the minuscule electron sharing that makes precious-metal catalysts so effective. Their new technique, IET, reveals how molecules bind and react on metal surfaces ...

Scientists Unlock a 100-Year-Old Quantum Secret to Supercharge Solar Power

Oct. 15, 2025 Scientists at the University of Cambridge have uncovered a surprising quantum effect inside an organic material, something once thought impossible outside metals. The team found that a special ...

A Century-Old Piano Mystery Has Just Been Solved

Oct. 2, 2025 Scientists confirmed that pianists can alter timbre through touch, using advanced sensors to capture micro-movements that shape sound perception. The discovery bridges art and science, promising ...