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Categories: Chemistry: Thermodynamics, Physics: Optics
Published With programmable pixels, novel sensor improves imaging of neural activity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New camera chip design allows for optimizing each pixel's timing to maximize signal to noise ratio when tracking real-time visual indicator of neural voltage.
Published Newly developed material logs and stores stress information of infrastructure
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new material may be the key to quickly flag damaged infrastructure. This material offers a way to reduce the manpower required to regularly monitor structures that undergo daily use such as bridges. Compared to previous methods, this environmentally friendly material boasts the ability to operate without a power supply, and store information about previous incidents of mechanical stress. The application of this mechanoluminescent material is expected to make it easier and less costly to assess the safety of structures we may use in our everyday lives.
Published Crystal engineering modifies 2D metal halide perovskites into 1D nanowires
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers have created a patent-pending method that creates layered perovskite nanowires with exceptionally well-defined and flexible cavities that exhibit a wide range of unusual optical properties beyond conventional perovskites.
Published Pushing an information engine to its limits
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The molecules that make up the matter around us are in constant motion. What if we could harness that energy and put it to use? Over 150 years ago Maxwell theorized that if molecules' motion could be measured accurately, this information could be used to power an engine. Until recently this was a thought experiment, but technological breakthroughs have made it possible to build working information engines in the lab. Researchers have now teamed up to build an information engine and test its limits.
Published Observing ultrafast photoinduced dynamics in a halogen-bonded supramolecular system
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers uncover how the halogen bond can be exploited to direct sequential dynamics in the multi-functional crystals, offering crucial insights for developing ultrafast-response times for multilevel optical storage.
Published Shining a light on molecules: L-shaped metamaterials can control light direction
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Polarized light waves spin clockwise or counterclockwise as they travel, with one direction behaving differently than the other as it interacts with molecules. This directionality, called chirality or handedness, could provide a way to identify and sort specific molecules for use in biomedicine applications, but researchers have had limited control over the direction of the waves -- until now.
Published Traffic speeds decrease when bike lane is present
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers conducting a study at a high-traffic intersection in a Jersey Shore town have found that the installation of a bike lane along the road approaching the convergence reduced driving speeds.
Published Development of revolutionary color-tunable photonic devices
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Team develops a flexible and stretchable device capable of omnidirectional color wavelength control.
Published Overcoming barriers to heat pump adoption in cold climates and avoiding the 'energy poverty trap'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Converting home heating systems from natural gas furnaces to electric heat pumps is seen as a way to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Published Scientists develop most sensitive way to observe single molecules
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A technical achievement marks a significant advance in the burgeoning field of observing individual molecules without the aid of fluorescent labels. While these labels are useful in many applications, they alter molecules in ways that can obscure how they naturally interact with one another. The new label-free method makes the molecules so easy to detect, it is almost as if they had labels.
Published Innovative bird-eye-inspired camera developed for enhanced object detection
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The eyes of raptors such as eagles can accurately perceive prey from kilometers away. Is it possible to model the camera technology after the bird's eyes? Researchers developed a new type of camera, which was inspired by the structures and functions of bird's eyes.
Published The thinnest lens on Earth, enabled by excitons
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Lenses are used to bend and focus light. Normal lenses rely on their curved shape to achieve this effect, but physicists have made a flat lens of only three atoms thick which relies on quantum effects. This type of lens could be used in future augmented reality glasses.
Published New anti-counterfeit technique packs two light-reactive images into one material
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Growing concern about data theft and counterfeiting has inspired increasingly sophisticated security technologies, like hologram seals, that can help verify the authenticity of currency, passports and other important documents. However, as security technologies evolve, so do the techniques criminals use to get past them. To stay one step ahead of these bad actors, researchers report that they have developed a new photopatterning technique that creates two light-reactive images on one material.
Published Electrochromic films -- like sunglasses for your windows?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Advances in electrochromic coatings may bring us closer to environmentally friendly ways to keep inside spaces cool. Like eyeglasses that darken to provide sun protection, the optical properties of these transparent films can be tuned with electricity to block out solar heat and light. Now, researchers report demonstrating a new electrochromic film design based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that quickly and reliably switch from transparent to glare-diminishing green to thermal-insulating red.
Published Researchers create materials with unique combo of stiffness, thermal insulation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have demonstrated the ability to engineer materials that are both stiff and capable of insulating against heat. This combination of properties is extremely unusual and holds promise for a range of applications, such as the development of new thermal insulation coatings for electronic devices.
Published New technique offers more precise maps of the Moon's surface
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study may help redefine how scientists map the surface of the Moon, making the process more streamlined and precise than ever before.
Published Study is step towards energy-efficient quantum computing in magnets
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have managed to generate propagating spin waves at the nanoscale and discovered a novel pathway to modulate and amplify them. Their discovery could pave the way for the development of dissipation free quantum information technologies. As the spin waves do not involve electric currents these chips will be free from associated losses of energy. The rapidly growing popularity of artificial intelligence comes with an increasing desire for fast and energy efficient computing devices and calls for novel ways to store and process information. The electric currents in conventional devices suffer from losses of energy and subsequent heating of the environment.
Published Performance of eco-friendly cooling applications enhanced
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a sustainable and controllable strategy to manipulate interfacial heat transfer, paving the way for improving the performance of eco-friendly cooling in various applications such as electronics, buildings and solar panels.
Published Observing mammalian cells with superfast soft X-rays
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a new technique to view living mammalian cells. The team used a powerful laser, called a soft X-ray free electron laser, to emit ultrafast pulses of illumination at the speed of femtoseconds, or quadrillionths of a second. With this they could capture images of carbon-based structures in living cells for the first time, before the soft X-ray radiation damaged them.
Published More than spins: Exploring uncharted territory in quantum devices
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Many of today's quantum devices rely on collections of qubits, also called spins. These quantum bits have only two energy levels, the '0' and the '1'. However, spins in real devices also interact with light and vibrations known as bosons, greatly complicating calculations. Researchers now demonstrate a way to describe spin-boson systems and use this to efficiently configure quantum devices in a desired state.