Graduate student Ben Bartlett and Shanhui Fan, professor of electrical engineering, have proposed a relatively simple quantum computer design that uses a single atom to manipulate photons and could be constructed with currently available components.
Aiming to emulate the quantum characteristics of materials more realistically, researchers have figured out a way to create a lattice of light and atoms that can vibrate – bringing sound to an otherwise silent experiment.
Stanford researchers use one of the most sophisticated structural biology techniques available to investigate how molecular assembly lines maintain their precise control while shepherding growing molecules through a complex, multi-step construction process.
Research on whale feeding highlights how the precipitous decline of large marine mammals has negatively impacted the health and productivity of ocean ecosystems.
A mathematical model of the body’s interacting physiological and biochemical processes shows that it may be more effective to replace red blood cell transfusion with transfusion of other fluids that are far less in demand.
A sweeping analysis of marine fossils from most of the past half-billion years shows the usual rules of body size evolution change during mass extinctions and their recoveries. The discovery is an early step toward predicting how evolution will play out on the other side of the current extinction crisis.
A new Stanford University study shows rising oxygen levels may explain why global extinction rates slowed down over the past 541 million years. Below 40 percent of present atmospheric oxygen, ocean dead zones rapidly expand, and extinctions ramp up.
The most devastating tornadoes are often preceded by a cloudy plume of ice and water vapor billowing above a severe thunderstorm. New research reveals the mechanism for these plumes could be tied to “hydraulic jumps” – a phenomenon Leonardo Da Vinci observed more than 500 years ago.
Stanford researchers develop machine learning methods that accurately predict the 3D shapes of drug targets and other important biological molecules, even when only limited data is available.
A new type of rechargeable alkali metal-chlorine battery developed at Stanford holds six times more electricity than the commercially available rechargeable lithium-ion batteries commonly used today.
Fulfilling a prediction of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, researchers report the first-ever recordings of X-ray emissions from the far side of a black hole.
A new tool that enables thousands of tiny experiments to run simultaneously on a single polymer chip will let scientists study enzymes faster and more comprehensively than ever before.
Researchers at Stanford and the University of Naples studying how bubbles form and eventually burst use high-speed cameras and analytical modeling to reveal a new popping process.
Stanford-led expeditions to a remote area of Yukon, Canada, have uncovered a 120-million-year-long geological record of a time when land plants and complex animals first evolved and ocean oxygen levels began to approach those in the modern world.
Researchers have detected groundwater beneath a glacier in Greenland for the first time using airborne radar data. If applicable to other glaciers and ice sheets, the technique could allow for more accurate predictions of future sea-level rise.
Researchers examined 14,000 genetic differences between modern humans and our most recent ancestors at a new level of detail. They found that differences in gene activation – not just genetic code – could underlie evolution of the brain and vocal tract.
Researchers have deciphered a trove of data that shows one season of extreme melt can reduce the Greenland Ice Sheet’s capacity to store future meltwater – and increase the likelihood of future melt raising sea levels.
North Pacific loggerhead turtles’ years-long oceanic journeys remain poorly understood. Using data from satellite tracking and other techniques, scientists reveal a unique phenomenon that may explain the endangered migrants’ pathway.
Stanford biologists have built a model examining the relationship between physical traits and genetic ancestry in populations formed from the mixture of multiple founding groups. They found that the relationship dissipates over generations.
Researchers tracked 20,000 cells to find out what made each unique and to learn how the cells coordinate to build a leaf. Collaboration with a visual artist added dimension to the work.
In separate studies, researchers compared gene regulation related to brain and face development in humans and chimpanzees using a new technique. In both cases, they discovered new genetic differences between these species.
