Focusing a tailored laser beam through transparent glass can create a tiny spot inside the material. Researchers at Tohoku University have reported on a way to use this small spot to improve laser material processing, boosting processing resolution. Their findings were published in the journal Optics Letters on March 1,2024. Laser machining, like drilling and cutting, is vital in industries such as automotive, semiconductors, and medicine. Ultra-short pulse laser sources, with pulse widths from picoseconds to femtoseconds, enable precise processing…
EIC project passes Critical Decision 3A (CD-3A), official OK to procure key components for building state-of-the-art collider. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Under Secretary for Science and Innovation has approved Critical Decision 3A (CD-3A) for the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), a state-of-the-art particle collider for nuclear physics research that will be located at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and built in partnership with DOE’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab). This milestone gives the project the formal go-ahead to purchase “long-lead procurements”…
Outer space has never before seemed so close, with spaceflight hovering within reach. To enhance the competitiveness of European space transportation systems, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT are developing innovative manufacturing technologies for rocket components in the ENLIGHTEN project. The researchers will be presenting their results at the Hannover Messe (Hall 2, Booth B24) from April 22 to 26, 2024. Min-Uh Ko and his team at Fraunhofer ILT have set their sights on nothing less than…
Researchers developed a 60-milliwatt solid-state DUV laser at 193 nm using LBO crystals, setting new benchmarks in efficiency values. In the realm of science and technology, harnessing coherent light sources in the deep ultraviolet (DUV) region holds immense significance across various applications such as lithography, defect inspection, metrology, and spectroscopy. Traditionally, high-power 193-nanometer (nm) lasers have been pivotal in lithography, forming an integral part of systems used for precise patterning. However, the coherence limitations associated with conventional ArF excimer lasers…
Low temperature, regenerative process saves energy and efficiently produces common chemical. Among the many chemicals we use every day, ammonia is one of the worst for the atmosphere. The nitrogen-based chemical used in fertilizer, dyes, explosives and many other products ranks second only to cement in terms of carbon emissions, due to the high temperatures and energy needed to manufacture it. But by improving on a well-known electrochemical reaction and orchestrating a “symphony” of lithium, nitrogen and hydrogen atoms, University of…
Researchers from Leipzig and Ulm break new ground for faster diagnosis of the dangerous virus. Researchers at Leipzig University and Ulm University have developed a new method to isolate HIV from samples more easily, potentially making it easier to detect infection with the virus. They focus on peptide nanofibrils (PNFs) on magnetic microparticles, a promising tool and hybrid material for targeted binding and separation of viral particles. They have published their new findings in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. “The…
Specialized nerve cells in the brain inhibit food intake during nausea. Satiety, nausea or anxiety can all lead to a loss of appetite. Delaying eating can be a healthy move by the body to prevent further damage and to gain time for regenerating. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence now identified the circuit in the brain that prevents mice from eating when they feel nauseous. The decisive role is played by special nerve cells in the amygdala…
Researchers at AMOLF, in collaboration with partners from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, have realized a new type of metamaterial through which sound waves flow in an unprecedented fashion. It provides a novel form of amplification of mechanical vibrations, which has the potential to improve sensor technology and information processing devices. This metamaterial is the first instance of a so-called ‘bosonic Kitaev chain’, which gets its special properties from its nature as a topological material. It was realized by making nanomechanical…
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) might be best known from text or image-creating applications like ChatGPT or Stable Diffusion. But its usefulness beyond that is being shown in more and more different scientific fields. In their recent work, to be presented at the upcoming International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), researchers from the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) in collaboration with colleagues from Imperial College London and University College London have provided a new open-source…
… Spiraling at the Edge of Milky Way’s Central Black Hole. A new image from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, with significant contribution of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, has uncovered strong and organized magnetic fields spiraling from the edge of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). Seen in polarized light for the first time, this new view of the monster lurking at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy has revealed a…
What makes us human? According to neurobiologists it is our neocortex. This outer layer of the brain is rich in neurons and lets us do abstract thinking, create art, and speak complex languages. An international team led by Dr. Mareike Albert at the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD) of TUD Dresden University of Technology has identified a new factor that might have contributed to neocortex expansion in humans. The results were published in the EMBO Journal. What makes us…
… to enhance systemic delivery of cancer immunotherapy. PLGA nanoparticles modified with ATP slowly release anti-cancer drugs and recruit immune cells to fight tumors. Purdue University researchers are developing and validating patent-pending poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid), or PLGA, nanoparticles modified with adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, to enhance immunotherapy effects against malignant tumors. The nanoparticles slowly release drugs that induce immunogenic cell death, or ICD, in tumors. ICD generates tumor antigens and other molecules to bring immune cells to a tumor’s microenvironment….
The recycling industry is increasingly relying on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to identify reusable raw materials in waste streams. The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen is playing a leading role in developing this highly precise technology for element analysis and is continuously expanding its range of applications. The transformation to a circular economy is in full swing. Recycling rates for raw materials such as paper or aluminum from packaging are already above 90 percent. In order to…
New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and Astronomy, and the School of Chemistry have proposed a new approach to designing efficient light-emitting materials in a paper published this week in Nature (27 March). Light-emitting materials are used in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) that are now found in the majority of mobile phone displays and smartwatches, and some…
Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants. Modern hybrid sugarcane is one of the most harvested crops on the planet, used to make products including sugar, molasses, bioethanol, and bio-based materials. It also has one of the most complex genetic blueprints. Until now, sugarcane’s complicated genetics made it the last major crop without a complete and highly…
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets. An international research team led by the Alfred Wegener Institute have now used sediments taken from the South Pacific to reconstruct the flow speed in the last 5.3 million years. Their data show that during glacial periods, the current slowed; during interglacials, it accelerated. Consequently, if the current global warming…
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