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A single and isolated electron has a clear electrical charge, magnetic moment and mass, and its free movement can be precisely predicted. Spanish scientists fabricated a nanoscale artificial material manipulating atoms one after the other and discovered that electros around are very heavier. Heavy electrons are promising particles which endow of new functionalities to novel materials. This study is the result of an international collaboration leaded by the Instituto de Nanociencia de Aragón and the Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragón (ICMA), in which scientists at CIC nanoGUNE participated, together with members of the Centro de Física de Materiales (CFM) in San Sebastian, and the Charles University and Czech Academy of Sciences, in the Check Republic.

In a recent article published in Nanoscale, researchers from the Nanomagnetism group at nanoGUNE demonstrate the use of hybrid magnetic-plasmonic elements to facilitate contactless and selective temperature control in magnetic functional metamaterials. Compared to so-far used global heating schemes, which are slow and energy-costly, light-controlled heating, using optical degrees of freedom such as light wavelength, polarisation, and power, allows to implement local, efficient, and fast heating schemes for the use in nanomagnetic computation or to quantify collective emergent phenomena in artificial spin systems.

Researchers in the Nanobiomechanics group at CIC nanoGUNE and engineers at SEAS Fabrikker, leader in the premium-range audio loudspeaker sector, have conducted joint research in which they have succeeded in improving the loudspeaker cones, thanks to graphene. These premium-range loudspeakers with graphene-based technology resulting from this collaboration have recently been launched onto the market by the Norwegian company.

The research centres Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), the Centre for Materials Physics (CFM CSIC-UPV/EHU), CIC nanoGUNE and CIC biomaGUNE have joined forces to present a joint programme to mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science, being held worldwide on Monday, 11 February. In Donostia-San Sebastian the programme will go on until Friday 15 February with public talks, workshops, visits and seminars in which 50 volunteers from the organising research centres will be participating. The aim of the initiative is to transmit a clear message: Science is girls’ stuff.