Scientific Discoveries

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Bio-based smart coating combines fire protection, early warning and upcyclability

Researchers have developed a multifunctional fire-protective coating that not only shields materials from extreme heat but also provides an early warning of fire and can be recycled into new flame-retardant materials at the end of its life. The work, published in Polymer Degradation and Stability, demonstrates a strategy for combining fire safety, sustainability and circularity within a single material system.

📅 2026-11-04 21:20:24 • Phys.org

Science News

New research uncovers chiral topological phases in metals without structural order

Fermions are among the most important particles in physics and include both everyday electrons and more exotic variants. Chiral fermions, like gloves, come in left- and right-handed versions and were proposed over a century ago. While high-energy neutrinos—the leading candidates for massless chiral fermions—proved to have mass, nearly (semi-) metallic solid-state crystals were discovered 15 years ago to host electronic versions of massless chiral fermions.

📅 2026-11-04 21:20:21 • Phys.org

Science News

Why a company donating $20,000 a month counts for more than $240,000 once a year in the eyes of customers

People tend to think more highly of companies that give to charity on a monthly or weekly basis rather than donating an annual lump sum worth the same amount.

📅 2026-11-04 21:00:13 • Phys.org

Science News

A cosmic 'leaf blower': Light-propelled winds help explain early universe's bright galaxies

When astronomers looked at photos of the early universe taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, they found something odd: an overabundance of bright galaxies. Based on what they knew about the early universe, such galaxies should have been far less common in the few hundred million years following the Big Bang.

📅 2026-11-04 21:00:11 • Phys.org