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Categories: Biology: Botany, Physics: Optics
Published Scientists unlock key to breeding 'carbon gobbling' plants with a major appetite
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The discovery of how a critical enzyme 'hidden in nature's blueprint' works sheds new light on how cells control key processes in carbon fixation, a process fundamental for life on Earth. The discovery could help engineer climate resilient crops capable of sucking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere more efficiently, helping to produce more food in the process.
Published New light shed on carboxysomes in key discovery that could boost photosynthesis
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A research team has discovered how carboxysomes, carbon-fixing structures found in some bacteria and algae, work. The breakthrough could help scientists redesign and repurpose the structures to enable plants to convert sunlight into more energy, paving the way for improved photosynthesis efficiency, potentially increasing the global food supply and mitigating global warming.
Published Good vibrations: New tech may lead to smaller, more powerful wireless devices
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source What if your earbuds could do everything your smartphone can, but better? A new class of synthetic materials could allow for smaller devices that use less power.
Published Researchers harness blurred light to 3D print high quality optical components
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a new 3D printing method called blurred tomography that can rapidly produce microlenses with commercial-level optical quality. The new method may make it easier and faster to design and fabricate a variety of optical devices.
Published Saturated soils could impact survival of young trees planted to address climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has looked into the potential effects of increased rainfall in regions being earmarked for expansion of temperate rainforests. Amid global calls for more trees to be planted as part of efforts to combat climate change, this study highlights the importance of factoring in soil conditions when looking at where and how to create the temperate rainforests of the future.
Published Discover optimal conditions for mass production of ultraviolet holograms
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists delve into the composition of nanocomposites for ultraviolet metasurface fabrication.
Published A new, low-cost, high-efficiency photonic integrated circuit
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed scalable photonic integrated circuits, based on lithium tantalate, marking a significant advancement in optical technologies with potential to widespread commercial applications.
Published New record holder for smallest dispersers of ingested seeds: Woodlice
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Even bugs as small as woodlice can disperse seeds they eat, setting a new record for smallest animal recorded to do so. The discovery underscores the crucial yet often overlooked role that small invertebrates play in ecosystems.
Published An adjuvant made in yeast could lower vaccine cost and boost availability
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Adjuvants make vaccines more effective, though one of the best is an expensive extract from the soap bark tree. To lower the cost and avoid the laborious extraction process from bark, synthetic biologists introduced 38 separate genes into yeast to recreate the synthesis of the active molecule, a complex chemical, QS-21, that has a terpene core and numerous sugars. This may be the longest biosynthetic pathway ever inserted into yeast.
Published Tiny displacements, giant changes in optical properties
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers reveal a new pathway for designing optical materials using the degree of atomic disorder. The researchers anticipate developing crystals that enable advanced infrared imaging in low light conditions, or to enhance medical imaging devices.
Published Free-forming organelles help plants adapt to climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Plants' ability to sense light and temperature, and their ability to adapt to climate change, hinges on free-forming structures in their cells whose function was, until now, a mystery. Researchers have now determined how these structures work on a molecular level, as well as where and how they form.
Published Researchers 'unzip' 2D materials with lasers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers used commercially available tabletop lasers to create tiny, atomically sharp nanostructures in samples of a layered 2D material called hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN). The new nanopatterning technique is a simple way to modify materials with light--and it doesn't involve an expensive and resource-intensive clean room.
Published New quantum sensing scheme could lead to enhanced high-precision nanoscopic techniques
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have unveiled a quantum sensing scheme that achieves the pinnacle of quantum sensitivity in measuring the transverse displacement between two interfering photons.
Published Genomes of 'star algae' shed light on origin of plants
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Land plants cover the surface of our planet and often tower over us. They form complex bodies with multiple organs that consist of a broad range of cell types. Developing this morphological complexity is underpinned by intricate networks of genes, whose coordinated action shapes plant bodies through various molecular mechanisms. All of these magnificent forms burst forth from a one-off evolutionary event: when plants conquered Earth's surface, known as plant terrestrialization.
Published Tweaking isotopes sheds light on promising approach to engineer semiconductors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have demonstrated that small changes in the isotopic content of thin semiconductor materials can influence their optical and electronic properties, possibly opening the way to new and advanced designs with the semiconductors.
Published Plants utilize drought stress hormone to block snacking spider mites
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Recent findings that plants employ a drought-survival mechanism to also defend against nutrient-sucking pests could inform future crop breeding programs aimed at achieving better broadscale pest control.
Published For microscopic organisms, ocean currents act as 'expressway' to deeper depths
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Some of the ocean's tiniest organisms get swept into underwater currents that act as a conduit that shuttles them from the sunny surface to deeper, darker depths where they play a huge role in affecting the ocean's chemistry and ecosystem, according to new research.
Published Physicists arrange atoms in extremely close proximity
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Physicists developed a technique to arrange atoms in much closer proximity than previously possible, down to 50 nanometers. The group plans to use the method to manipulate atoms into configurations that could generate the first purely magnetic quantum gate -- a key building block for a new type of quantum computer.
Published Path to easier recycling of solar modules
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The use of femtosecond lasers to form glass-to-glass welds for solar modules would make the panels easier to recycle, according to a proof-of-concept study.
Published New sensor detects errors in MRI scans
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new prototype sensor is capable of detecting errors in MRI scans using laser light and gas. The new sensor can thereby do what is impossible for current electrical sensors -- and hopefully pave the way for MRI scans that are better, cheaper and faster.