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Categories: Offbeat: Plants and Animals, Physics: Optics
Published Barnacles may help reveal location of lost Malaysia Airlines flight MH370
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Geoscientists have created a new method that can reconstruct the drift path and origin of debris from flight MH370, an aircraft that went missing over the Indian Ocean in 2014 with 239 passengers and crew.
Published Newly discovered 'primitive cousins of T rex' shed light on the end of the age of dinosaurs in Africa
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered the fossils of two new abelisaurs in Morocco, showing the diversity of dinosaurs in this region at the end of the Cretaceous period.
Published This fish doesn't just see with its eyes -- it also sees with its skin
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Without a mirror, it can be hard to tell if you're blushing, or have spinach in your teeth. But one color-changing fish has evolved a clever way to keep watch on the parts of itself that lie outside its field of view -- by sensing light with its skin.
Published Heat sensor protects the Venus flytrap from fire
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The sensory hairs of the Venus flytrap contain a heat sensor that warns the plant of bush fires. It reacts to rapid temperature jumps, as researchers have discovered.
Published Researchers extract ancient DNA from a 2,900-year-old clay brick, revealing a time capsule of plant life
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source For the first time, a group of researchers have successfully extracted ancient DNA from a 2,900-year-old clay brick. The analysis provides a fascinating insight into the diversity of plant species cultivated at that time and place, and could open the way to similar studies on clay material from other sites and time periods.
Published Improvements in silicon-perovskite tandem cells that helped achieve a whopping 32.5 percent efficiency
(via sciencedaily.com) In the ongoing quest for more efficient solar cells, the most current published record for tandem perovskite solar cells is 32.5 percent. In a new paper, researchers report on the improvements in silicon-perovskite tandem cells that have made this possible.
Published Coffee offers performance boost for concrete
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers in Australia have found a way of making stronger concrete with roasted used-coffee grounds, to give the drink-additive a 'double shot' at life and reduce waste going to landfills. The team developed a technique to make concrete 30% stronger by turning waste coffee grounds into biochar, using a low-energy process without oxygen at 350 degrees Celsius.
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 Did sabertooth tigers purr or roar?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source When a sabertooth tiger called out, what noise did it make -- a mighty roar or a throaty purr? A new study examined the data behind the arguments for each vocalization and found that the answer was more nuanced than they thought -- and that it could depend on the shape of a few small bones.
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 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 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 Transforming flies into degradable plastics
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Imagine using insects as a source of chemicals to make plastics that can biodegrade later -- with the help of that very same type of bug. That concept is closer to reality than you might expect. Researchers will describe their progress to date, including the isolation and purification of the insect-derived chemicals and their conversion into their bioplastics.
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.