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Categories: Offbeat: Space, Physics: Optics
Published Want to know how light works? Try asking a mechanic
(via sciencedaily.com) Physicists use a 350-year-old theorem that explains the workings of pendulums and planets to reveal new properties of light waves.
Published Research team developing a nano-sized force sensor and improving high-precision microscopy technology
(via sciencedaily.com) Recent research in cell biology highlights groundbreaking results. An international team of researchers have recently established a tool they developed to study the mechanics of the cell. The tool can be used to study the inner forces of the cell, for example, the stretching of the nuclear membrane. The microscopic force sensor, only about 0.00002 mm long, is constructed of exotic ingredients such as spider web protein parts, fluorescent proteins from jellyfish, and antibodies from alpaca. In addition, the multidisciplinary team of researchers has developed further the sensitivity of super-resolution microscopy technique.
Published A new way to identify chiral molecules with light could vastly improve detection efficiency
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have proposed a highly efficient method for detecting molecular chirality using tailored laser fields.
Published Energy and heat transfer: A new 'spin' on ergodicity breaking
(via sciencedaily.com) Scientists have observed novel ergodicity-breaking in C60, a highly symmetric molecule composed of 60 carbon atoms arranged on the vertices of a 'soccer ball' pattern (with 20 hexagon faces and 12 pentagon faces). Their results revealed ergodicity breaking in the rotations of C60. Remarkably, they found that this ergodicity breaking occurs without symmetry breaking and can even turn on and off as the molecule spins faster and faster. Understanding ergodicity breaking can help scientists design better-optimized materials for energy and heat transfer.
Published New type of star gives clues to mysterious origin of magnetars
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Magnetars are the strongest magnets in the Universe. These super-dense dead stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields can be found all over our galaxy but astronomers don't know exactly how they form. Now, using multiple telescopes around the world, researchers have uncovered a living star that is likely to become a magnetar. This finding marks the discovery of a new type of astronomical object -- massive magnetic helium stars -- and sheds light on the origin of magnetars.
Published Scientists trap light inside a magnet
(via sciencedaily.com) A new study shows that trapping light inside magnetic materials may dramatically enhance their intrinsic properties. Strong optical responses of magnets are important for the development of magnetic lasers and magneto-optical memory devices, as well as for emerging quantum transduction applications.
Published Clever coating turns lampshades into indoor air purifiers
(via sciencedaily.com) Indoor air pollution may have met its match. Scientists have designed catalyst-coated lampshades that transform indoor air pollutants into harmless compounds. The lampshades work with halogen and incandescent light bulbs, and the team is extending the technology so it will also be compatible with LEDs.
Published Magnonic computing: Faster spin waves could make novel computing systems possible
(via sciencedaily.com) Research is underway around the world to find alternatives to our current electronic computing technology, as great, electron-based systems have limitations. A new way of transmitting information is emerging from the field of magnonics: instead of electron exchange, the waves generated in magnetic media could be used for transmission, but magnonics-based computing has been (too) slow to date. Scientists have now discovered a significant new method: When the intensity is increased, the spin waves become shorter and faster -- another step towards magnon computing.
Published Switching 'spin' on and off (and up and down) in quantum materials at room temperature
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have found a way to control the interaction of light and quantum 'spin' in organic semiconductors, that works even at room temperature.
Published Using supernovae to study neutrinos' strange properties
(via sciencedaily.com) In a new study, researchers have taken an important step toward understanding how exploding stars can help reveal how neutrinos, mysterious subatomic particles, secretly interact with themselves.
Published New algorithm captures complex 3D light scattering information from live specimens
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have developed a new algorithm for recovering the 3D refractive index distribution of biological samples that exhibit multiple types of light scattering.
Published Riding a wave to better medical diagnosis
(via sciencedaily.com) Medical imaging via X-rays, CT scans, MRIs and ultrasounds provide health-care professionals with unique perspectives and a better understanding of what's happening inside a patient's body. Using various forms of waves, these machines can visualize many unseen ailments and diseases. This imaging is beneficial for health-care professionals to make correct diagnoses, but the added insight of spectroscopy provides even more detail. Spectroscopy offers a means to identify biomolecules within specimens through their characteristic signatures for absorption in the electromagnetic spectrum.
Published Chromium replaces rare and expensive noble metals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Expensive noble metals often play a vital role in illuminating screens or converting solar energy into fuels. Now, chemists have succeeded in replacing these rare elements with a significantly cheaper metal. In terms of their properties, the new materials are very similar to those used in the past.
Published Hundred-year storms? That's how long they last on Saturn
(via sciencedaily.com) Megastorms regularly appear on Saturn, marring the relatively bland surface before disappearing. But radio observations show that the storms have long-lasting effects deeper in the atmosphere, in particular in the distribution of ammonia. Using NRAO's Very Large Array, astronomers see such impacts from storms that happened hundreds of years ago. The findings will help explain the differences between storms on the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter.
Published Scientists invent smallest known way to guide light
(via sciencedaily.com) Through a series of innovative experiments, scientists found that a sheet of glass crystal just a few atoms thick could trap and carry light. Not only that, but it was surprisingly efficient and could travel relatively long distances -- up to a centimeter, which is very far in the world of light-based computing.
Published Arrays of quantum rods could enhance TVs or virtual reality devices
(via sciencedaily.com) Using scaffolds of folded DNA, engineers assembled arrays of quantum rods with desirable photonic properties that could enable them to be used as highly efficient micro-LEDs for televisions or virtual reality devices.
Published Researchers 'film' novel catalyst at work
(via sciencedaily.com) A novel catalysis scheme enables chemical reactions that were previously virtually impossible. The method is also environmentally friendly and does not require rare and precious metals. The researchers recorded the exact course of the catalysis in a kind of high-speed film. They did this using special lasers that can make processes visible that last only fractions of a billionth of a second. The results allow them to further optimize the catalyst.
Published Making molecules dance to our tune reveals what drives their first movements
(via sciencedaily.com) Bringing ultrafast physics to structural biology has revealed the dance of molecular 'coherence' in unprecedented clarity.
Published Possible seasonal climate patterns on early Mars
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New observations of mud cracks made by the Curiosity Rover show that high-frequency, wet-dry cycling occurred in early Martian surface environments, indicating that the red planet may have once seen seasonal weather patterns or even flash floods.
Published Physicists demonstrate how sound can be transmitted through vacuum
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A classic movie was once promoted with the punchline: 'In space, no one can hear you scream'. Physicists have now demonstrated, to the contrary, that in certain situations sound can be transmitted strongly across a vacuum region!