Showing 20 articles starting at article 801

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Energy: Technology, Physics: Optics

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers have developed ultraflexible implantable nanoelectrodes that can administer long-term, fine-grained brain stimulation.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team has developed a new catalyst composed of elements abundant in the Earth. It could make possible the low-cost and energy-efficient production of hydrogen for use in transportation and industrial applications.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An optical fiber about the thickness of a human hair can now carry the equivalent of more than 10 million fast home internet connections running at full capacity.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have demonstrated a novel concept for exciting and probing coherent phonons in crystals of a transiently broken symmetry. The key of this concept lies in reducing the symmetry of a crystal by appropriate optical excitation, as has been shown with the prototypical crystalline semimetal bismuth (Bi).

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The next generation of sustainable energy technology might be built from some low-tech materials: rocks and the sun. Using a new approach known as concentrated solar power, heat from the sun is stored then used to dry foods or create electricity. A team has found that certain soapstone and granite samples from Tanzania are well suited for storing this solar heat, featuring high energy densities and stability even at high temperatures.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Exhaust fumes probably come to mind when considering vehicle emissions, but they aren't the only source of pollutants released by a daily commute. Researchers report that alcohols in windshield washer fluid account for a larger fraction of real-world vehicle emissions than previous estimates have suggested. Notably, the levels of these non-fuel-derived gases will likely remain unchanged, even as more drivers transition from gas-powered to electric vehicles.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Acoustic source-shifters make observers mis-perceive the location of sound by reproducing a sound emanating from a location different from the actual location of a sound source. Researchers have now developed a design approach to produce high-performance source-shifters using a common polymer for location camouflage. Utilizing inverse design based on topology optimization, this development could pave the way for advanced augmented reality and holography technology.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study has found that genetic improvement is underlying the increasing speed of Britain's thoroughbreds. This contrasts with earlier studies that suggested racehorses were showing no genetic improvement in response to selection by breeders.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have managed to image delicate biological structures without damaging them. Their new technique generates high resolution X-ray images of dried biological material that has not been frozen, coated, or otherwise altered beforehand -- all with little to no damage to the sample. This method, which is also used for airport baggage scanning, can generate images of the material at nanometer resolution.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The absolute internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of indium gallium nitride (InGaN) based blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) at low temperatures is often assumed to be 100%. However, a new study has found that the assumption of always perfect IQE is wrong: the IQE of an LED can be as low as 27.5%.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists generate low-energy electrons using ultraviolet light.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Light is a very delicate and vulnerable property. Light can be absorbed or reflected at the surface of a material depending on the matter's properties or change its form and be converted into thermal energy. Upon reaching a metallic material's surface, light also tends to lose energy to the electrons inside the metal, a broad range of phenomena we call 'optical loss.' Production of ultra-small optical elements that utilize light in various ways is very difficult since the smaller the size of an optical component results in a greater optical loss. However, in recent years, the non-Hermitian theory, which uses optical loss in an entirely different way, has been applied to optics research.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The quest to develop hydrogen as a clean energy source that could curb our dependence on fossil fuels may lead to an unexpected place -- coal. Scientists have found that coal may represent a potential way to store hydrogen gas, much like batteries store energy for future use, addressing a major hurdle in developing a clean energy supply chain.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have succeeded in creating a 'superlattice' of semiconductor quantum dots that can behave like a metal, potentially imparting exciting new properties to this popular class of materials.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

To overcome global energy challenges and fight the looming environmental crisis, researchers around the world investigate new materials for converting sunlight into electricity. Some of the most promising candidates for high-efficiency low-cost solar cell applications are based on lead halide perovskite (LHP) semiconductors. Despite record-breaking solar cell prototypes, the microscopic origin of the surprisingly excellent optoelectronic performance of this material class is still not completely understood. Now, an international team of physicists and chemists has demonstrated laser-driven control of fundamental motions of the LHP atomic lattice.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Ultrafast laser physicists from the attoworld team have gained new insights into the dynamics of electrons in solids immediately after photoinjection.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Nuclear clocks could allow scientists to probe the fundamental forces of the universe in the future. Researchers have made a crucial advance in this area as part of an international collaboration.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team of engineers has recently shown that nearly any material can be turned into a device that continuously harvests electricity from humidity in the air. Researchers describe the 'generic Air-gen effect'-- nearly any material can be engineered with nanopores to harvest, cost effective, scalable, interruption-free electricity. The secret lies in being able to pepper the material with nanopores less than 100 nanometers in diameter.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have found a new way to create a crystalline structure called a 'density wave' in an atomic gas. The findings can help us better understand the behavior of quantum matter, one of the most complex problems in physics.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have made a breakthrough toward reducing the energy consumption of the photonic chips used in data centers and supercomputers.