Lisa Lock

1 day ago | phys.org | Ingrid Fadelli |Lisa Lock |Robert Egan

Multiferroics are materials that exhibit more than one ferroic property, typically ferroelectricity (i.e., a spontaneous electric polarization that can be reversed by electric fields) and ferromagnetism (i.e., the spontaneous magnetic ordering of electron spins). These materials have proved promising for the development of various new technologies, including spintronics, devices that exploit the spin of electrons to process and store information.

3 days ago | phys.org | Evan Gough |Lisa Lock |Robert Egan

The challenge in the search for habitable worlds is clear. We need to be able to identify habitable worlds and distinguish between biotic and abiotic processes. Ideally, scientists would do this on entire populations of exoplanets rather than on a case-by-case basis. Exoplanets' natural thermostats might provide a way of doing this.

3 days ago | phys.org | Matt Williams |Lisa Lock |Robert Egan

Mars has received considerable attention in the past few decades, thanks to the many robotic missions exploring it to learn more about its past. NASA and China plan to send astronauts/taikonauts there in the coming decades, and commercial space companies like SpaceX hope to send passengers there sooner. This presents several significant challenges, one of the greatest being the lengthy transit times involved.

3 days ago | techxplore.com | Jennifer Chu |Lisa Lock |Robert Egan

Hydrogen has the potential to be a climate-friendly fuel since it doesn't release carbon dioxide when used as an energy source. Currently, however, most methods for producing hydrogen involve fossil fuels, making hydrogen less of a "green" fuel over its entire life cycle. A new process developed by MIT engineers could significantly shrink the carbon footprint associated with making hydrogen.

3 days ago | phys.org | Paul Sutter |Lisa Lock |Andrew Zinin

Mars is by far the most Earth-like planet in the solar system… but that's not saying much. We know that Mars once hosted oceans, rivers, lakes, streams. It had a thick, carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere. Billions of years ago, Mars and Earth looked like siblings.