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Categories: Environmental: Ecosystems, Physics: Optics
Published How parasites shape complex food webs
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study sheds light on how parasites, often overlooked, can dramatically affect the balance between predator and prey populations. Researchers developed a groundbreaking mathematical framework that predicts when predators, prey, and parasites can coexist, considering factors like random fluctuations and parasite effects on both populations. This research provides a valuable tool for conservation by helping predict how parasites influence ecosystem resilience and informing strategies to protect vulnerable species.
Published Biophysics: Testing how well biomarkers work
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a method to determine how reliably target proteins can be labeled using super-resolution fluorescence microscopy.
Published High-resolution lidar sees birth zone of cloud droplets
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists demonstrated the first-ever remote observations of the fine-scale structure at the base of clouds. The results show that the air-cloud interface is a transition zone where aerosol particles suspended in Earth's atmosphere give rise to the droplets that ultimately form clouds. The research will enable scientists to gain insight into how changes in atmospheric aerosol levels could affect clouds and climate.
Published A novel universal light-based technique to control valley polarization in bulk materials
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists report a new method that achieves for the first time valley polarization in centrosymmetric bulk materials in a non-material-specific way. This 'universal technique' may have major applications linked to the control and analysis of different properties for 2D and 3D materials, which can in turn enable the advancement of cutting-edge fields such us information processing and quantum computing.
Published Lead-vacancy centers in diamond as building blocks for large-scale quantum networks
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A lead-vacancy (PbV) center in diamond has been developed as a quantum emitter for large-scale quantum networks by researchers. This innovative color center exhibits a sharp zero-phonon-line and emits photons with specific frequencies. The PbV color center stands out among other diamond color centers due to its ability to maintain optical properties at relatively high temperatures of 16 K. This makes it well-suited for transferring quantum information in large-scale quantum networks.
Published Warming climate is putting more metals into Colorado's mountain streams
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Warming temperatures are causing a steady rise in copper, zinc and sulfate in the waters of Colorado mountain streams affected by acid rock drainage. Concentrations of these metals have roughly doubled in these alpine streams over the past 30 years, presenting a concern for ecosystems, downstream water quality and mining remediation, according to a new study. Natural chemical weathering of bedrock is the source of the rising acidity and metals, but the ultimate driver of the trend is climate change, the report found, and the results point to lower stream volumes and exposure of rock once sealed away by ice as the likely causes.
Published Laser-treated cork absorbs oil for carbon-neutral ocean cleanup
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers use laser treatments to transform ordinary cork into a powerful tool for treating oil spills. They tested variations of a fast-pulsing laser treatment, closely examining the nanoscopic structural changes and measuring the ratio of oxygen and carbon in the material, changes in the angles with which water and oil contact the surface, and the material's light wave absorption, reflection, and emission across the spectrum to determine its durability after multiple cycles of warming and cooling. The laser treatments not only help to better absorb oil, but also work to keep water out.
Published Tropical fish are invading Australian ocean water
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study of shallow-water fish communities on rocky reefs in south-eastern Australia has found climate change is helping tropical fish species invade temperate Australian waters.
Published Gentle defibrillation for the heart
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using light pulses as a model for electrical defibrillation, scientists developed a method to assess and modulate the heart function. The research team has thus paved the way for an efficient and direct treatment for cardiac arrhythmias. This may be an alternative for the strong and painful electrical shocks currently used.
Published Unlocking spin current secrets: A new milestone in spintronics
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Using neutron scattering and voltage measurements, a group of researchers have discovered that a material's magnetic properties can predict spin current changes with temperature. The finding is a major breakthrough in the field of spintronics.
Published Perfecting the view on a crystal's imperfection
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has gained widespread attention and application across various quantum fields and technologies because it contains single-photon emmiters (SPEs), along with a layered structure that is easy to manipulation. The precise mechanisms governing the development and function of SPEs within hBN have remained elusive. Now, a new study reveals significant insights into the properties of hBN, offering a solution to discrepancies in previous research on the proposed origins of SPEs within the material.
Published World's oases threatened by desertification, even as humans expand them
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Oases are important habitats and water sources for dryland regions, sustaining 10% of the world's population despite taking up about 1.5% of land area. But in many places, climate change and anthropogenic activities threaten oases' fragile existence. New research shows how the world's oases have grown and shrunk over the past 25 years as water availability patterns changed and desertification encroaches on these wet refuges.
Published Switching off the light to see better
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers used structured light and switchable fluorescent molecules to reduce the background light from the out-of-plane regions of microscope samples. This method allowed for the acquisition of images that surpassed the conventional resolution limit, and it may be useful for further study of cell clusters and other biological systems.
Published 2D materials rotate light polarization
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Physicists have shown that ultra-thin two-dimensional materials such as tungsten diselenide can rotate the polarization of visible light by several degrees at certain wavelengths under small magnetic fields suitable for use on chips.
Published Superradiant atoms could push the boundaries of how precisely time can be measured
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Superradiant atoms can help us measure time more precisely than ever. In a new study, researchers present a new method for measuring the time interval, the second, mitigating some of the limitations that today's most advanced atomic clocks encounter. The result could have broad implications in areas such as space travel, volcanic eruptions and GPS systems.
Published Invasive species sound off about impending ecosystem changes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Anticipating changes to ecosystems is often at best an educated guess, but what if there was a way to better tune into possible changes occurring? Researchers have discovered that the silent growth of non-native invasive plants can affect the soundscape of an ecosystem. These altered soundscapes, the acoustic patterns of a landscape through space and time, may provide a key to better observing the hard-to-see physical and biological changes occurring in an ecosystem as they are beginning.
Published Compact quantum light processing
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international collaboration of researchers has achieved a significant breakthrough in quantum technology, with the successful demonstration of quantum interference among several single photons using a novel resource-efficient platform. The work represents a notable advancement in optical quantum computing that paves the way for more scalable quantum technologies.
Published Lemur's lament: When one vulnerable species stalks another
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source What can be done when one threatened animal kills another? Scientists studying critically endangered lemurs in Madagascar confronted this difficult reality when they witnessed attacks on lemurs by another vulnerable species, a carnivore called a fosa.
Published Surf clams off the coast of Virginia reappear -- and rebound
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The Atlantic surfclam, an economically valuable species that is the main ingredient in clam chowder and fried clam strips, has returned to Virginia waters in a big way, reversing a die-off that started more than two decades ago. In a comprehensive study of surfclams collected from an area about 45 miles due east from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, scientists found the population to be thriving and growing.
Published Energy scientists unravel the mystery of gold's glow
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source EPFL researchers have developed the first comprehensive model of the quantum-mechanical effects behind photoluminescence in thin gold films; a discovery that could drive the development of solar fuels and batteries.