An international research team led by scientists at the University of Oldenburg has succeeded in manipulating the energy-level structure in an ultra-thin sample in such a way that this semiconductor, which normally has a low luminescence yield, began to emit light. Whether or not a solid can emit light, for instance as a light-emitting diode (LED), depends on the energy levels of the electrons in its crystalline lattice. An international team of researchers led by University of Oldenburg physicists Dr…
An original approach to mass-producing low-cost solar cell foundation blocks could lead to the wide adoption of solar panels made from perovskite ink – a “miracle material” – according to research from the University of Surrey. In the paper published in Scientific Reports, Dr Ehsan Rezaee, a post-doctoral fellow of the Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) at the University of Surrey, explains his research: “The objective is simply to produce solar cell building blocks out of perovskite ink. Whilst perovskite ink…
From outside to inside: Researchers at Nara Institute of Science and Technology show that using four frequencies of applied voltage can improve the measurement of cell size and shape during impedance cytometry, enabling to enhance the speed and accuracy of biological experiments. Having a good eye for detail is an essential skill for many professions. In particular, biologists use special techniques and advanced technology to analyze individual cells with unprecedented precision. Impedance cytometry is one experimental method that can reveal…
The Webb team has now approved 10 out of 17 science instrument modes; since last week we added (14) MIRI imaging, (2) NIRCam wide-field slitless spectroscopy, and our final NIRISS mode, (10) single-object slitless spectroscopy. As we ramp down the final commissioning activities, some openings in the schedule have appeared. The team has started to take some of the first science data, getting it ready to release starting July 12, 2022, which will mark the official end of commissioning Webb and…
A new material holds promise for the next generation of organic electronics. For decades, field-effect transistors enabled by silicon-based semiconductors have powered the electronics revolution. But in recent years, manufacturers have come up against hard physical limits to further size reductions and efficiency gains of silicon chips. That has scientists and engineers looking for alternatives to conventional metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistors. “Organic semiconductors offer several distinct advantages over conventional silicon-based semiconducting devices: they are made from abundantly available elements, such…
Predicting the future: A long-term study has shown a common bone density scan can also show calcified plaque build-up in the abdominal aorta – revealing if someone is at increased risk of developing dementia. Late-life dementia is becoming increasingly common in people after 80 years of age. A new long-term study has shown a simple and common scan can reveal if people are at increased risk of developing the condition late in life. Late-life dementia develops when brain cells are…
Therapy sensitivity in prostate cancer halted by protein regulating circadian rhythm. Hormone therapy is successful at keeping metastatic prostate cancer under control, but eventually the tumor cells become resistant to it. An unexpected potential solution has now emerged in medicines not designed to fight cancer, but to target proteins that regulate a cell’s circadian rhythm. An international team of researchers led by the Netherlands Cancer Institute will publish this discovery June 27, 2022, in the renowned journal Cancer Discovery, a…
Earth of billions of years ago illuminated by light-capturing proteins. Using light-capturing proteins in living microbes, scientists have reconstructed what life was like for some of Earth’s earliest organisms. These efforts could help us recognize signs of life on other planets, whose atmospheres may more closely resemble our pre-oxygen planet. The earliest living things, including bacteria and single-celled organisms called archaea, inhabited a primarily oceanic planet without an ozone layer to protect them from the sun’s radiation. These microbes evolved…
Research team led by Göttingen University combine two techniques to achieve isotropic super-resolution imaging. Over the last two decades, microscopy has seen unprecedented advances in speed and resolution. However, cellular structures are essentially three-dimensional, and conventional super-resolution techniques often lack the necessary resolution in all three directions to capture details at a nanometer scale. A research team led by Göttingen University, including the University of Würzburg and the Center for Cancer Research in the US, investigated a super-resolution imaging technique…
Communication networks need nodes at which information is processed or rerouted. Physicists at the University of Basel have now developed a network node for quantum communication networks that can store single photons in a vapor cell and pass them on later. In quantum communication networks, information is transmitted by single particles of light (photons). At the nodes of such a network buffer elements are needed which can temporarily store, and later re-emit, the quantum information contained in the photons. Researchers…
University of Tübingen research team uses properties of quartz in sediments to study sedi-mentary cycles and climate dynamics. Global warming and a progressively drier climate in many parts of the world are causing more dust storms. To predict how these storms are caused, researchers are looking into the past to understand where the dust came from, for how long, and over what distances it was transported. An international research team led by Dr. Aditi K. Dave and Professor Kathryn Fitzsimmons…
Glass-free technique could enable visual features that don’t require special reading devices or illumination. Researchers have developed a new ultra-thin film that can create detailed 3D images viewable under normal illumination without any special reading devices. The images appear to float on top of the film and exhibit smooth parallax, which means they can be clearly viewed from all angles. With additional development, the new glass-free approach could be used as a visual security feature or incorporated into virtual or…
Scientists are developing artificial photosynthesis to help make food production more energy-efficient here on Earth, and one day possibly on Mars. Photosynthesis has evolved in plants for millions of years to turn water, carbon dioxide, and the energy from sunlight into plant biomass and the foods we eat. This process, however, is very inefficient, with only about 1% of the energy found in sunlight ending up in the plant. Scientists at UC Riverside and the University of Delaware have found…
ITQB NOVA researchers unveil the mechanism by which light regulates rice flowering time. Light affects most organisms. In plants, many behaviors and functions are determined by the length of light and dark cycles, including flowering. In the most recent publication of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the team of researchers that brings together the Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier da Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (ITQB NOVA), the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental…
It is becoming increasingly obvious that moving away from fossil fuels and avoiding the accumulation of plastics in the environment are key to addressing the challenge of climate change. In that vein, there are considerable efforts to develop degradable or recyclable polymers made from non-edible plant material referred to as “lignocellulosic biomass”. Of course, producing competitive biomass-based plastics is not straightforward. There is a reason that conventional plastics are so widespread, as they combine low cost, heat stability, mechanical strength,…
Rice lab creates first heat-tolerant, stable fibers from wet-spinning process. Boron nitride nanotubes used to be hard to process, according to Rice University researchers. Not anymore. A Rice team led by professors Matteo Pasquali and Angel Martí has simplified handling of the highly valuable nanotubes to make them more suitable for large-scale applications, including aerospace, electronics and energy-efficient materials. The researchers reported in Nature Communications that boron nitride nanotubes, aka BNNTs, assemble themselves into liquid crystals under the right conditions, primarily concentrations above 170 parts per million by…
Feedback
