Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Physics: Optics
Published

Novel organic light-emitting diode with ultralow turn-on voltage for blue emission      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An upconversion organic light-emitting diode (OLED) based on a typical blue-fluorescence emitter achieves emission at an ultralow turn-on voltage of 1.47 V. The technology circumvents the traditional high voltage requirement for blue OLEDs, leading to potential advancements in commercial smartphone and large screen displays.

Chemistry: Thermodynamics Energy: Technology Physics: General Physics: Optics
Published

Electrons take flight at the nanoscale      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A study showing how electrons flow around sharp bends, such as those found in integrated circuits, has the potential to improve how these circuits, commonly used in electronic and optoelectronic devices, are designed.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Space Space: Cosmology Space: General
Published

New recipes for origin of life may point way to distant, inhabited planets      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Life on a faraway planet -- if it's out there -- might not look anything like life on Earth. But there are only so many chemical ingredients in the universe's pantry, and only so many ways to mix them. Scientists have now exploited those limitations to write a cookbook of hundreds of chemical recipes with the potential to give rise to life. Their ingredient list could focus the search for life elsewhere in the universe by pointing out the most likely conditions -- planetary versions of mixing techniques, oven temperatures and baking times -- for the recipes to come together.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Physics: Optics
Published

Novel ligands for transition-metal catalysis of photoreactions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Transition metals exchange electrons with supporting ligands to form complexes that facilitate reaction catalysis in several industries, like pharmaceutical production. Both the metal center and the ligand moiety have pivotal roles in enabling catalysis. While numerous transition metal-catalyzed photoreactions have been developed, only a few new ligands have been reported. Researchers from Chiba University have now developed novel ligands to create transition metal complexes, defining new reaction capabilities.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Physics: Optics
Published

Laser-based ice-core sampling for studying climate change      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a new laser-based sampling system for studying the composition of ice cores taken from glaciers. The new system has a 3-mm depth-resolution and is expected to help reconstruct continuous annual temperature changes that occurred thousands to hundreds of thousands of years ago, which will help scientists understand climate change in the past and present.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

RNA for the first time recovered from an extinct species      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study shows the isolation and sequencing of more than a century-old RNA molecules from a Tasmanian tiger specimen preserved at room temperature in a museum collection. This resulted in the reconstruction of skin and skeletal muscle transcriptomes from an extinct species for the first time. The researchers note that their findings have relevant implications for international efforts to resurrect extinct species, including both the Tasmanian tiger and the woolly mammoth, as well as for studying pandemic RNA viruses.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Environmental: General Environmental: Water Physics: General Physics: Optics
Published

Step change in upconversion the key to clean water, green energy and futuristic medicine      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Achieving photochemical upconversion in a solid state is a step closer to reality, thanks to a new technique that could unlock vital innovations in renewable energy, water purification and advanced healthcare.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Physics: Optics
Published

New camera offers ultrafast imaging at a fraction of the normal cost      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In a new paper, researchers report a camera that could offer a much less expensive way to achieve ultrafast imaging for a wide range of applications such as real-time monitoring of drug delivery or high-speed lidar systems for autonomous driving. Researchers show that their new diffraction-gated real-time ultrahigh-speed mapping (DRUM) camera can capture a dynamic event in a single exposure at 4.8 million frames per second.

Physics: General Physics: Optics
Published

A new way to create germ-killing light      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A research team has created an aluminum-nitride device that can convert visible light into deep-ultraviolet light through the process of second harmonic generation. This work can lead to the development of practical devices that can sterilize surfaces with ultraviolet radiation while using less energy.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Physics: General Physics: Optics Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Researchers make a significant step towards reliably processing quantum information      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Using laser light, researchers have developed the most robust method currently known to control individual qubits made of the chemical element barium. The ability to reliably control a qubit is an important achievement for realizing future functional quantum computers.

Physics: General Physics: Optics Physics: Quantum Computing
Published

Valleytronics: Innovative way to store and process information up to room temperature      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have found a way to maintain valley polarization at room temperature using novel materials and techniques.

Anthropology: General Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology
Published

'Monstrous births' and the making of race in the nineteenth-century United States      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

From the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, 'monstrous births' -- malformed or anomalous fetuses -- were, to Western medicine, an object of superstition. In 19th-century America, they became instead an object of the 'modern scientific study of monstrosity,' a field formalized by French scientist Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. This clinical turn was positioned against the backdrop of social, political, and economic activity that codified laws governing slavery, citizenship, immigration, family, wealth, and access to resources.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Physics: Optics
Published

How pulsating pumping can lead to energy savings      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Pumping liquids may seem like a solved problem but optimizing the process is still an area of active research. Any pumping application -- from industrial scales to heating systems at home -- would benefit from a reduction in energy demands. Researchers now showed how pulsed pumping can reduce both friction from and energy consumption of pumping. For this, they took inspiration from a pumping system intimately familiar to everyone: the human heart.

Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: General
Published

Fossil spines reveal deep sea's past      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Right at the bottom of the deep sea, the first very simple forms of life on earth probably emerged a long time ago. Today, the deep sea is known for its bizarre fauna. Intensive research is being conducted into how the number of species living on the sea floor have changed in the meantime. Some theories say that the ecosystems of the deep sea have emerged again and again after multiple mass extinctions and oceanic upheavals. Today's life in the deep sea would thus be comparatively young in the history of the Earth. But there is increasing evidence that parts of this world are much older than previously thought.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Biology: Evolutionary Ecology: Animals Ecology: Trees Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Human shoulders and elbows first evolved as brakes for climbing apes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers report that the flexible shoulders and elbows that allow us to throw a football or reach a high shelf may have evolved as a natural braking system that let our primate ancestors get out of trees without dying. The researchers used sports-analysis software to compare the climbing movements of chimpanzees and small monkeys called mangabeys. While the animals climb up trees similarly, the researchers found that the shallow, rounded shoulder joints and shortened elbow bones that chimps have -- similar to humans -- allow them to fully extend their arms above their heads when climbing down, holding onto branches like a person going down a ladder to support their greater weight. When early humans left forests for the grassy savanna, these versatile appendages would have been essential for gathering food and using tools for hunting and defense. The findings are among the first to identify the significance of 'downclimbing' in the evolution of apes and early humans.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General Physics: Optics
Published

Atomic-scale spin-optical laser: New horizon of optoelectronic devices      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have pushed the limits of the possible in the field of atomic-scale spin-optics, creating a spin-optical laser from monolayer-integrated spin-valley microcavities without requiring magnetic fields or cryogenic temperatures.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Computer Science: Encryption Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers Energy: Technology Mathematics: Puzzles Physics: General Physics: Optics Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Better cybersecurity with new material      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Digital information exchange can be safer, cheaper and more environmentally friendly with the help of a new type of random number generator for encryption. The researchers behind the study believe that the new technology paves the way for a new type of quantum communication.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: Optics
Published

Peering into nanofluidic mysteries one photon at a time      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have revealed an innovative approach to track individual molecule dynamics within nanofluidic structures, illuminating their response to molecules in ways never before possible.