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Oil refinery
An oil refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into useful petroleum products. Raw oil or unprocessed ("crude") oil is not very useful in the form it comes in out of the ground. Oil needs to be separated into parts and refined before use in fuels and lubricants, and before some of the byproducts could be used in petrochemical processes to form materials such as plastics, and foams. Petroleum fossil fuels are used in ship, automobile and aircraft engines. These different hydrocarbons have different boiling points, which means they can be separated by distillation. Since the lighter liquid elements are in great demand for use in internal combustion engines, a modern refinery will convert heavy hydrocarbons and lighter gaseous elements into these higher value products using complex and energy intensive processes.
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Matter & Energy News
October 29, 2026
Oct. 28, 2026 Scientists have developed a new technology that could make electric vehicle batteries smaller, lighter, and longer-lasting, potentially allowing cars to travel farther on a single charge. By borrowing precision manufacturing techniques from computer ...
Oct. 27, 2026 Scientists at UC San Diego have developed a surprising new way to store digital information using light instead of magnets, potentially paving the way for smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient memory devices. By precisely shaping and shrinking ...
Oct. 26, 2026 Researchers have developed a groundbreaking 3D invisibility cloak that can hide complex objects from infrared cameras while protecting them from extreme heat and cold. Instead of blocking heat, the ...
Oct. 26, 2026 Scientists have filmed tiny magnetic vortices called skyrmions melting out of an organized lattice for the first time, revealing new ways to manipulate these unusual structures. The breakthrough could help make brain-like computers a reality, ...
Oct. 24, 2026 A superconducting material studied for 40 years has turned out to be far more complex than scientists believed. Advanced 3D imaging revealed a hidden patchwork of crystal structures, with unusually ...
Oct. 23, 2026 Researchers have solved a long-standing challenge in understanding how tiny defects in materials like diamond and silicon carbide behave when exposed to light. Their new computational method revealed a surprisingly important energy-loss mechanism in ...
Oct. 22, 2026 Researchers have developed a revolutionary microscope that uses an incredibly powerful laser to make previously invisible cellular structures easier to see. The technology dramatically improves image clarity, allowing scientists to examine small ...
Oct. 19, 2026 Scientists have achieved a quantum breakthrough by creating an ultra-clean surface where individual molecules can maintain their delicate quantum properties at the fundamental limit. The discovery could unlock unprecedented control over molecules ...
Oct. 16, 2026 Scientists discovered that atomic steps just one atom high can guide quantum vortices through superconductors, making them move more than 1,000 times more easily in one direction than another. This remarkable control over quantum motion could lead ...
Oct. 13, 2026 Scientists used artificial intelligence to uncover nearly 10,000 chemical reactions involved in transforming carbon dioxide into fuels and chemicals, revealing crucial pathways that traditional models had missed. The discovery dramatically improved ...
Oct. 13, 2026 Oxford physicists have recreated a bizarre quantum effect in which a particle responds to a magnetic field without ever traveling through it. Using a hybrid quantum computer, they demonstrated how introducing a simulated magnetic flux could ...
Oct. 13, 2026 Scientists have uncovered a surprising hidden ability of light that allows it to develop spinning, twisting behavior as it travels through empty space, without special lenses, mirrors, or materials. ...
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Oct. 29, 2026 Mathematicians have uncovered what they argue is a fundamental flaw in the standard model of the universe, potentially challenging the need for dark energy. Their calculations suggest that the ...
Oct. 28, 2026 Scientists have defied a long-standing rule of laser physics by generating X-rays with much higher energies than conventional theory predicts. The surprising discovery reveals how two electrons ...
Oct. 22, 2026 A massive analysis of 2,884 exploding stars has uncovered new evidence that dark energy, the mysterious force accelerating the universe’s expansion, may change over time. The findings challenge a ...
Oct. 18, 2026 Physicists have discovered a strange new state of quantum matter in which ultracold atoms defy familiar organizational rules, forming a highly excited yet surprisingly orderly configuration called a ...
Oct. 18, 2026 Physicists have uncovered a hidden third form of magnetism that challenges more than 100 years of established physics. Called altermagnetism, the discovery could transform future computing and ...
Oct. 16, 2026 Scientists investigating Nazi Germany's secret nuclear program have uncovered evidence that its final experimental reactor was nowhere near as close to working as previously claimed. Analysis of ...
Oct. 13, 2026 NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed an ancient galaxy cluster with an unexpectedly dense concentration of dark matter, challenging ...
Oct. 12, 2026 Researchers discovered a hidden factor that can determine whether chemical reactions succeed or fail, and then used it to boost the proportion of the ...
Oct. 10, 2026 Scientists in Vienna have achieved a major breakthrough in timekeeping by creating the world’s first self-stabilizing nuclear clock, a technology that could eventually surpass even the most precise ...
Oct. 10, 2026 Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory may have found a dramatically more efficient route to fusion energy by reversing the traditional approach: heating plasma first, then increasing its density. Their ...