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Categories: Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology, Physics: Optics
Published Scientists unlock secrets of how archaea, the third domain of life, makes energy
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international scientific team has redefined our understanding of archaea, a microbial ancestor to humans from two billion years ago, by showing how they use hydrogen gas. The findings explain how these tiny lifeforms make energy by consuming and producing hydrogen. This simple but dependable strategy has allowed them to thrive in some of Earth's most hostile environments for billions of years.
Published New technique could help build quantum computers of the future
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have demonstrated a new method that could enable the large-scale manufacturing of optical qubits. The advance could bring us closer to a scalable quantum computer.
Published Switching nanomagnets using infrared lasers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Physicists have calculated how suitable molecules can be stimulated by infrared light pulses to form tiny magnetic fields. If this is also successful in experiments, the principle could be used in quantum computer circuits.
Published New computer vision method helps speed up screening of electronic materials
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new computer vision technique developed by engineers significantly speeds up the characterization of newly synthesized electronic materials. Such materials might be used in novel solar cells, transistors, LEDs, and batteries.
Published Researchers engineer new approach for controlling thermal emission
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source If a material absorbs light, it will heat up. That heat must go somewhere, and the ability to control where and how much heat is emitted can protect or even hide such devices as satellites. An international team of researchers has published a novel method for controlling this thermal emission in Science.
Published Researchers demonstrate the first chip-based 3D printer
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have demonstrated the first chip-based 3D printer, a tiny device that emits reconfigurable beams of visible light into a well of resin that rapidly cures into a solid shape. The advance could enable a 3D printer small enough to fit in the palm of a person's hand.
Published The solar system may have passed through dense interstellar clouds 2 million years ago, altering Earth's climate
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Astrophysicists calculate the likelihood that Earth was exposed to cold, harsh interstellar clouds, a phenomenon not previously considered in geologic climate models.
Published Miniaturizing a laser on a photonic chip
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have successfully miniaturized a powerful erbium-based biber laser on a silicon-nitride photonic chip. Since typical erbium-based fiber lasers are large and difficult to scale down, the breakthrough promises major advances in optical communications and sensing technologies.
Published Novel Genetic Clock discovers oldest known marine plant
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international research team has discovered the oldest known marine plant using a novel genetic clock. This 1400-year-old seagrass clone from the Baltic Sea dates back to the Migration Period. The research project is a significant step towards better understanding and protecting marine ecosystems.
Published 'Quantum optical antennas' provide more powerful measurements on the atomic level
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A multi-institutional team has created atomic optical antennas in solids. The team used germanium vacancy centers in diamonds to create an optical energy enhancement of six orders of magnitude, a regime challenging to reach with conventional atomic antenna structures.
Published Tiny new species of great ape lived in Germany 11 million years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Ancient apes in Germany co-existed by partitioning resources in their environment, according to a new study.
Published Perturbations simplify the study of 'super photons'
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Thousands of particles of light can merge into a type of 'super photon' under suitable conditions. Physicists call such a state a photon Bose-Einstein condensate. Researchers have now shown that this exotic quantum state obeys a fundamental theorem of physics. This finding now allows one to measure properties of photon Bose-Einstein condensates which are usually difficult to access.
Published With programmable pixels, novel sensor improves imaging of neural activity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New camera chip design allows for optimizing each pixel's timing to maximize signal to noise ratio when tracking real-time visual indicator of neural voltage.
Published Crystal engineering modifies 2D metal halide perovskites into 1D nanowires
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Engineers have created a patent-pending method that creates layered perovskite nanowires with exceptionally well-defined and flexible cavities that exhibit a wide range of unusual optical properties beyond conventional perovskites.
Published Researchers solve 2,000-year-old mystery of the shipworm
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source They bedeviled ancient Greek navies, helped shipwreck Christopher Columbus, aided in the sinking of the Spanish Armada and caused the wharves in San Francisco Bay to collapse into the sea, but until now, scientists have been unable to pinpoint exactly how shipworms -- a family of mollusks -- are able to cause such damage. A team of researchers has discovered that a population of symbiotic microbes, living in an overlooked sub-organ of the gut called the 'typhlosole,' have the ability to secrete the enzymes needed to digest lignin -- the toughest part of wood.
Published Fishy mystery of marine reptile solved
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The identity of a prehistoric marine reptile has finally been revealed after experts discovered that some of its remains actually belonged to fish.
Published Blood sausages and yak milk: Bronze Age cuisine of Mongolian nomads unveiled
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Bronze cauldrons were used by the inhabitants of the Mongolian steppe around 2,700 years ago to process animal blood and milk. This is shown by a protein analysis of archaeological finds from this period.
Published 'Missing' early sea sponges discovered
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Geobiologists reported a 550 million-year-old sea sponge that had been missing from the fossil record. The discovery sheds new light on a conundrum that has stumped zoologists and paleontologists for years.
Published Gigantic Jurassic pterosaur fossil unearthed in Oxfordshire, UK
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team of palaeontologists has discovered a fossil of a gigantic flying reptile from the Jurassic period with an estimated wingspan of more than three metres -- making it one of the largest pterosaurs ever found from that era.
Published Observing ultrafast photoinduced dynamics in a halogen-bonded supramolecular system
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers uncover how the halogen bond can be exploited to direct sequential dynamics in the multi-functional crystals, offering crucial insights for developing ultrafast-response times for multilevel optical storage.