Showing 20 articles starting at article 1001
< Previous 20 articles Next 20 articles >
Categories: Offbeat: Plants and Animals, Physics: Optics
Published Plants can distinguish when touch starts and stops, study suggests
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Even without nerves, plants can sense when something touches them and when it lets go, a study has found. In a set of experiments, individual plant cells responded to the touch of a very fine glass rod by sending slow waves of calcium signals to other plant cells, and when that pressure was released, they sent much more rapid waves. While scientists have known that plants can respond to touch, this study shows that plant cells send different signals when touch is initiated and ended.
Published Fastest industry standard optical fiber
(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.
Published Symmetry breaking by ultrashort light pulses opens new quantum pathways for coherent phonons
(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).
Published Source-shifting metastructures composed of only one resin for location camouflaging
(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.
Published Evolution driving improvements in racehorse speed
(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.
Published 107-million-year-old pterosaur bones: Oldest in Australia
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team of researchers have confirmed that 107-million-year-old pterosaur bones discovered more than 30 years ago are the oldest of their kind ever found in Australia, providing a rare glimpse into the life of these powerful, flying reptiles that lived among the dinosaurs.
Published Biological specimens imaged with X-rays without damage
(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.
Published Absolute vs. relative efficiency: How efficient are blue LEDs, actually?
(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%.
Published Emergence of solvated dielectrons observed for the first time
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists generate low-energy electrons using ultraviolet light.
Published Protein-based nano-'computer' evolves in ability to influence cell behavior
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The first protein-based nano-computing agent that functions as a circuit has been created. The milestone puts them one step closer to developing next-generation cell-based therapies to treat diseases like diabetes and cancer.
Published 'A blessing in disguise!' Physics turning bad into good
(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.
Published Twisting under the stroboscope -- Controlling crystal lattices of hybrid solar cell materials with terahertz light
(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.
Published Snapshots of photoinjection
(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.
Published Keeping time with an atomic nucleus
(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.
Published Weevils, long-nosed beetles, are unsung heroes of pollination
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Some of nature's most diverse pollinators often go unnoticed, even by scientists: long-snouted beetles called weevils. A new study provides a deep dive into the more than 600 species of weevils, including ones whose entire life cycles are interwoven with a specific plant that they help pollinate.
Published Iron-rich rocks unlock new insights into Earth's planetary history
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study suggests iron-rich ancient sediments may have helped cause some of the largest volcanic events in the planet's history.
Published Quantum matter breakthrough: Tuning density waves
(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.
Published Move over, armadillos: There's a new bone-plated mammal in town
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Armadillos have long been considered to be the only living mammals that produce protective bony plates. But a new study unexpectedly shows that African spiny mice produce the same structures beneath the skin of their tails, which until now had gone largely undetected.
Published Breakthrough in computer chip energy efficiency could cut data center electricity use
(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.
Published Engineers create bacteria that can synthesize an unnatural amino acid
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have engineered bacteria to synthesize an amino acid that contains a rare functional group that others have shown to have implications in the regulation of our immune system. The researchers also taught a single bacterial strain to create the amino acid and place it at specific sites within target proteins. These findings provide a foundation for developing unique vaccines and immunotherapies in the future.