A promising option for creating a productive and sustainable energy source on Earth is the fusion of hydrogen nuclei. The problem? Extremely high pressures and temperatures are required to set the nuclear fusion process off. Technologically, this could be achieved using laser flashes (“laser fusion” or “inertial confinement fusion”). By drafting the “X-ray laser optimization of laser fusion” (Röntgenlaser-Optimierung der Laserfusion, ROLF) project) Dr. Tobias Dornheim from the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (HZDR)…
How the brain switches between different behaviors. How does our brain switch between different behaviors? A current study has now provided the first answers to this key question in neuroscience. Using mice, the researchers investigated electrical activity in a certain area within the brain. Results were then analyzed with the help of an adaptive computer algorithm. This artificial intelligence identified a type of typical fingerprint in the signals. Analyzing this signal allowed researchers to predict which behavior the animals would…
Amidst challenges like a booming global population and diminishing arable land, plant phenotyping offers a way to automate agriculture and improve crop diagnostics. However, translating the precision of controlled-environment phenotyping to field conditions remains a hurdle, particularly in accurately measuring leaf color due to sunlight glare. Existing solutions, ranging from light scattering simulations to 3D sensor fusion, often require complex, time-consuming, or impractical methods. In March 2024, Plant Phenomics published a research article entitled by “Mitigating Illumination-, Leaf-, and View-Angle…
Researchers created customizable arrays of waveguides to establish synthetic modal dimensions for effective control of light in photonic systems, with implications spanning from mode lasing to quantum optics and data transmission. In the realm of physics, synthetic dimensions (SDs) have emerged as one of the frontiers of active research, offering a pathway to explore phenomena in higher-dimensional spaces, beyond our conventional 3D geometrical space. The concept has garnered significant attention, especially in topological photonics, due to its potential to unlock…
Shining new light on electron behavior using 2-photon photoemission spectroscopy. Understanding electron behavior and surface structure of triphenylene thin film molecules deposited on graphite substrates under light irradiation. Organic electronics is a field that has garnered significant interest in academic and industrial circles due to its potential applications in OLEDs and organic solar cells, offering advantages such as lightweight design, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. These devices are made by depositing a thin film of organic molecules onto a substrate that acts…
The travelling salesman problem is considered a prime example of a combinatorial optimisation problem. Now a Berlin team led by theoretical physicist Prof. Dr. Jens Eisert of Freie Universität Berlin and HZB has shown that a certain class of such problems can actually be solved better and much faster with quantum computers than with conventional methods. The present work (arrow) shows that a certain part of the combinatorial problems can be solved much better with quantum computers, possibly even exactly….
A novel mixed light field technique that utilizes a mix of ray-controlled ambient lighting with projection mapping (PM) to obtain PM in bright surroundings has been developed by scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology. This innovative technology utilizes a novel kaleidoscope array to achieve ray-controlled lighting and a binary search algorithm for removing ambient lighting from PM targets. It provides an immersive augmented reality experience with applications in various fields. Projection mapping (PM) is a fascinating technology that provides an…
Leafhoppers, a common backyard insect, secrete and coat themselves in tiny mysterious particles that could provide both the inspiration and the instructions for next-generation technology, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers. In a first, the team precisely replicated the complex geometry of these particles, called brochosomes, and elucidated a better understanding of how they absorb both visible and ultraviolet light. This could allow the development of bioinspired optical materials with possible applications ranging from invisible cloaking…
While computer chips are getting smaller and faster every year, one challenge remains unsolved: combining electronics and photonics on a single chip. Although components such as micro LEDs are available as individual chips and waveguides as tiny fibre optic cables, the materials required are too different for a harmonised chip. A new type of etching process could now be the decisive breakthrough for combining light sources and optical fibres. In the OptoGaN project, researchers from the TU Braunschweig and the…
The adhesive neck patch is the latest advance by UCLA bioengineers in speech technology for people with disabilities. People with voice disorders, including those with pathological vocal cord conditions or who are recovering from laryngeal cancer surgeries, can often find it difficult or impossible to speak. That may soon change. A team of UCLA engineers has invented a soft, thin, stretchy device measuring just over 1 square inch that can be attached to the skin outside the throat to help…
Imaging being able to wear your smartphone on your wrist, not as a watch, but literally as a flexible band that surrounds around your arm. How about clothes that charge your gadgets just by wearing them? Recently, a collaborative team led by Professor Jin Kon Kim and Dr. Keon-Woo Kim of Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Professor Taesung Kim and M.S./Ph.D. student Hyunho Seok of Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), and Professor Hong Chul Moon of University of Seoul (UOS)…
The economical and ecological manufacturing of components using injection molding requires a high level of process reliability. This requires precise recording and monitoring of relevant parameters such as temperature and pressure curves. At Hannover Messe from April 22 – 26, 2024, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST will be presenting real-time data acquisition directly during the running process using integrated and wear-resistant thin-film sensors. The special feature here is that the tribologically resistant multifunctional sensor systems…
… with the development of a new optical sensor. For decades, people with diabetes have relied on finger pricks to withdraw blood or adhesive microneedles to measure and manage their glucose levels. Researchers have taken an important step towards eliminating this discomfort. For decades, people with diabetes have relied on finger pricks to withdraw blood or adhesive microneedles to measure and manage their glucose levels. In addition to being painful, these methods can cause itching, inflammation and infection. Researchers at…
Anyone who wants to produce medication, plastics or fertilizer using conventional methods needs heat for chemical reactions – but not so with photochemistry, where light provides the energy. The process to achieve the desired product also often takes fewer intermediate steps. Researchers from the University of Basel are now going one step further and are demonstrating how the energy efficiency of photochemical reactions can be increased tenfold. More sustainable and cost-effective applications are now tantalizingly close. Industrial chemical reactions usually…
Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have made a significant scientific breakthrough by discovering new yttrium-hydrogen compounds having serious implications for the research on high-pressure superconductivity. High-pressure superconductivity refers to the property of materials to become superconducting, which means conducting electrical current without resistance, when exposed to certain pressure conditions. The comprehensive high-pressure study of the Bayreuth Researchers shedding light on the complex nature of yttrium hydrides under extreme conditions was published in “Science Advances” journal. Several rare-earth superhydrides are…
Medical image analysis using AI has developed rapidly in recent years. Now, one of the largest studies to date has been carried out using AI-assisted image analysis of lymphoma, cancer of the lymphatic system. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, have developed a computer model that can successfully find signs of lymph node cancer in 90 percent of cases. New computer-aided methods for interpreting medical images are being developed for various medical conditions. They can reduce the workload…
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