Reference Terms
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Energy
In general, the word energy refers to a concept that can be paraphrased as "the potential for causing changes", and therefore one can say that energy is the cause of any change. The most common definition of energy is the work that a certain force (gravitational, electromagnetic, etc) can do. Due to a variety of forces, energy has many different forms (gravitational, electric, heat, etc.) that can be grouped into two major categories: kinetic energy and potential energy. According to this definition, energy has the same units as work; a force applied through a distance. The SI unit of energy, the joule, equals one newton applied through one meter, for example. Energy has no direction in space, and is therefore considered a scalar quantity.
Energy is a conserved quantity, meaning that it cannot be created or destroyed, but only converted from one form into another. Thus, the total energy of the universe always remains constant. One form of energy can be readily transformed into another; for instance, a battery converts chemical energy into electrical energy.
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Matter & Energy News
November 21, 2025
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 with unprecedented clarity. The insights promise ...
Nov. 21, 2025 Researchers have discovered a way to store information using a rare class of materials called ferroaxials, which rely on swirling electric dipoles instead of magnetism or charge. These vortex-like states are naturally stable and resistant to outside ...
Nov. 20, 2025 New research shows that light’s magnetic field is far more influential than scientists once believed. The team found that this magnetic component significantly affects how light rotates as it passes through certain materials. Their work challenges ...
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, comparable to the pressures found deep below ...
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 mile of wells, refineries, pipelines, storage sites, ...
Nov. 20, 2025 MIT engineers have created an ultrasonic device that rapidly frees water from materials designed to absorb moisture from the air. Instead of waiting hours for heat to evaporate the trapped water, the system uses high-frequency vibrations to release ...
Nov. 19, 2025 Researchers created scalable quantum circuits capable of simulating fundamental nuclear physics on more than 100 qubits. These circuits efficiently prepare complex initial states that classical computers cannot handle. The achievement demonstrates a ...
Nov. 19, 2025 Researchers have found a way to make “dark excitons”—normally invisible quantum states of light—shine dramatically brighter by trapping them inside a tiny gold-nanotube optical cavity. This breakthrough boosts their emission 300,000-fold and ...
Nov. 17, 2025 Scientists built a tiny clock from single-electron jumps to probe the true energy cost of quantum timekeeping. They discovered that reading the clock’s output requires vastly more energy than the clock uses to function. This measurement process ...
Nov. 17, 2025 A new dual-light microscope lets researchers observe micro- and nanoscale activity inside living cells without using dyes. The system captures both detailed structures and tiny moving particles at ...
Nov. 16, 2025 Dark matter may be invisible, but scientists are getting closer to understanding whether it follows the same rules as everything we can see. By comparing how galaxies move through cosmic gravity wells to the depth of those wells, researchers found ...
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 design dramatically reduces weight and cost ...
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Nov. 17, 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 ...
Nov. 16, 2025 Researchers at KRISS observed water’s rapid freeze–melt cycles under ultrahigh pressure and discovered Ice XXI, the first new ice phase found in decades. Using advanced high-pressure tech and ...
Nov. 14, 2025 Hypersonic flight could one day make long-haul travel as quick as a short movie. Researchers are testing how turbulence behaves at extreme speeds, a ...
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, ...
Nov. 14, 2025 Scientists have decoded the atomic-level secrets behind catalysts that turn propane into propylene. Their algorithms reveal unexpected oxide behavior ...
Nov. 13, 2025 Researchers engineered “gyromorphs,” a new type of metamaterial that combines liquid-like randomness with large-scale structural patterns to block light from every direction. This innovation ...
Nov. 13, 2025 Scientists have developed a new way to build rare-earth crystals that boosts quantum coherence to tens of milliseconds. This leap could extend quantum communication distances from city blocks to ...
Nov. 12, 2025 Boron arsenide has dethroned diamond as the best heat conductor, thanks to refined crystal purity and improved synthesis methods. This discovery could transform next-generation electronics by ...
Nov. 12, 2025 Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have uncovered a trove of complex organic molecules frozen in ice around a young star in a neighboring galaxy — including the first-ever detection ...
Nov. 11, 2025 UC Santa Barbara physicists have engineered entangled spin systems in diamond that surpass classical sensing limits through quantum squeezing. Their breakthrough enables next-generation quantum ...