Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: chemistry

How do I make clear ice at home? A food scientist shares easy tips

When you splurge on a cocktail in a bar, the drink often comes with a slab of aesthetically pleasing, perfectly clear ice. The stuff looks much fancier than the slightly cloudy ice you get from your home freezer. How do they do this?

Clear ice is actually made from regular water—what’s different is the freezing process.

With a little help from science, you can make clear ice at home, and it’s not even that tricky. However, there are quite a few hacks on the internet that won’t work. Let’s dive into the physics and chemistry involved.

Dual-cation strategy boosts upconversion efficiency in stable oxide perovskites

Researchers at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a new way to significantly enhance upconversion luminescence in oxide perovskites, a class of materials known for their thermal and chemical stability but limited optical efficiency.

Led by Professor Jiang Changlong, the team introduced a dual-cation substitution strategy in titanate perovskites by precisely adjusting the sodium-to-lithium ratio at the crystal’s A-site. This controlled substitution triggers a structural transition that improves energy transfer between rare-earth ions, resulting in a marked increase in luminescence intensity and quantum yield.

The findings are published in Journal of Alloys and Compounds.

Magnetic control of lithium enables a safe, explosion-free ‘dream battery’

A new battery technology has been developed that delivers significantly higher energy storage—enough to alleviate EV range concerns—while lowering the risk of thermal runaway and explosion.

A research team at POSTECH has developed a next-generation hybrid anode that uses an external magnetic field to regulate lithium-ion transport, effectively suppressing dendrite growth in high-energy-density electrodes.

A POSTECH research team—led by Professor Won Bae Kim of the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Graduate School of Battery Engineering, together with Dr. Song Kyu Kang and integrated Ph.D. student Minho Kim—has introduced a “magneto-conversion” strategy that applies an external magnetic field to ferromagnetic manganese ferrite conversion-type anodes.

The Causal Accessibility Horizon: A Structural Limit on Finite-Time Reachability

Across physics, chemistry, biology, and engineered systems, the operationally significant questionis often not whether a system will eventually reach a particular state, but whether it can be broughtthere within the time available. This paper establishes a single structural necessity: when causalresponse propagates at finite speed, there exist states that are theoretically admissible but practicallyunreachable within any finite time horizon. We formalize this as the causal accessibility horizon—ageometric boundary determined solely by propagation speed and actuation geometry, beyond whichno control action can have effect by a given time T. This constraint is categorical: it arises fromthe hyperbolic structure of finite-speed dynamics and is logically independent of dissipation, whichgoverns amplitude decay within the accessible region but does not determine its boundary. Theresult reframes questions of control, safety, and stabilization as finite-time reachability problemssubject to irreducible geometric limits.

Deterministic Formation of Single Organic Color Centers in Single-Walled Carbon NanotubesClick to copy article linkArticle link copied!

Quantum light sources using single-walled carbon nanotubes show promise for quantum technologies but face challenges in achieving precise control over color center formation. Here, we present a novel technique for deterministic creation of single organic color centers in carbon nanotubes using in situ photochemical reaction. By monitoring discrete intensity changes in photoluminescence spectra, we achieve precise control over the formation of individual color centers. Furthermore, our method allows for position-controlled formation of color centers as validated through photoluminescence imaging. We also demonstrate photon antibunching from a color center, confirming the quantum nature of the defects formed. This technique represents a significant step forward in the precise engineering of atomically defined quantum emitters in carbon nanotubes, facilitating their integration into advanced quantum photonic devices and systems.

Ultracold atoms observed climbing a quantum staircase

For the first time, scientists have observed the iconic Shapiro steps, a staircase-like quantum effect, in ultracold atoms.

In a recent experiment, an alternating current was applied to a Josephson junction formed by atoms cooled to near absolute zero and separated by an extremely thin barrier of laser light. Remarkably, the atoms were able to cross this barrier collectively and without energy loss, behaving as if the barrier were transparent, thanks to quantum tunneling.

As the oscillating current flowed through the junction, the difference in chemical potential between the two sides did not change smoothly, but instead increased in discrete, evenly spaced steps, like climbing a quantum staircase. The height of each step is directly determined by the frequency of the applied current, and these step-like chemical potential differences are the atomic analog of Shapiro steps in conventional Josephson junctions.

How sustainability is driving innovation in functionalized graphene materials

Graphene is often described as a wonder material. It is strong, electrically conductive, thermally efficient, and remarkably versatile. Yet despite more than a decade of excitement, many graphene-based technologies still struggle to move beyond the laboratory.

One of the key challenges is that graphene does not readily dissolve in common solvents, forcing researchers to rely on harsh, multi-step functionalization/modification processes to make it usable.

As a researcher working at the intersection of green chemistry and nanomaterials, I have often found myself asking a simple question: Can we design advanced materials without relying on environmentally costly processes?

Redesigned carbon molecules boost battery safety, durability and power

Research published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society demonstrates a new way to make carbon-based battery materials much safer, longer lasting, and more powerful by fundamentally redesigning how fullerene molecules are connected.

Today’s lithium-ion batteries rely mainly on graphite, which limits fast-charging speed and poses safety risks due to lithium plating. These research findings mean progress toward safer electric vehicles, longer-lasting consumer electronics, and more reliable renewable-energy storage.

An AI-based blueprint for designing catalysts across materials

Hydrogen peroxide is widely used in everyday life, from disinfectants and medical sterilization to environmental cleanup and manufacturing. Despite its importance, most hydrogen peroxide is still produced using large-scale industrial processes that require significant energy. Researchers are thus seeking cleaner alternatives.

A team of researchers has made a breakthrough in this regard, developing a new computational framework that helps identify effective catalysts for producing hydrogen peroxide directly from water and electricity.

The work focuses on the two-electron water oxidation reaction, an electrochemical process that can generate hydrogen peroxide in a more localized and potentially sustainable way.

‘Listening in’ on the brain’s hidden language: Engineered protein detects the faintest incoming signals

Scientists have engineered a protein able to record the incoming chemical signals of brain cells (as opposed to just their outgoing signals). These whisper-quiet incoming messages are the release of the neurotransmitter glutamate, which plays a critical role in how brain cells communicate with one another but until now has been extremely difficult to capture.

The findings are published in Nature Methods and could transform how neuroscience research is done as it pertains to measuring and analyzing neural activity.

The special protein that researchers at the Allen Institute and HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus have engineered is a molecular “glutamate indicator” called iGluSnFR4 (pronounced ‘glue sniffer’). It’s sensitive enough to detect the faintest incoming signals between neurons in the brain, offering a new way to decipher and interpret their complex cascade of electrical activity that underpins learning, memory, and emotion. iGluSnFR4 could help decode the hidden language of the brain and deepen our understanding of how its complex circuitry works. This discovery allows researchers to watch neurons in the brain communicate in real time.

/* */