From Heinrich Hertz to Terahertz: Today, high-tech applications in optoelectronics work with ultrafast electrical oscillations, reaching frequencies up to the terahertz range. A team from the Universities of Bayreuth and Melbourne has now succeeded in developing a microscope that records videos of these oscillations. The glow of semiconductor nanocrystals makes visible the previously hidden electric fields that drive ultrafast electrical components. The researchers present their discovery in the journal Light: Science & Applications. The microscope could be used to observe…

Providing the conditions for scalable diamond quantum microprocessors and thus advancing the economic usability of quantum computing in Germany—this is what the joint project “Deutsche Brilliance” has been working on since December 1, 2021. The BMBF is funding the cooperation between Fraunhofer IAF, the start-up Quantum Brilliance and Ulm University for three years with 15.6 million euros through the “Enabling Start-up” measure. For the best possible exchange between the project partners, a team of Quantum Brilliance is located at Fraunhofer…

For quantum communication or optical computing it is important to measure and to influence in which direction a light wave is oscillating. It is now for the first time possible to manipulate this polarization of a continuous laser wave with a special glass fibre, which has mirrors attached at both ends. The effect was discovered by a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in Erlangen together with colleagues from Switzerland, the UK, and…

The study, which received the International Paper Award 2021 of the “American Association for the Surgery of Trauma”, was published online in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery on 14 December 2021. Communicating without a voice Being voiceless is a very frustrating experience for patients in intensive care – especially when they consider themselves to be sufficiently aware to communicate with those around them. Intensive care staff therefore often have to use alternative methods of non-verbal communication as…

Serrated edge of owl wings makes them quieter than other birds, can help inform airfoil designs. Trailing-edge noise is the dominant source of sound from aeronautical and turbine engines like those in airplanes, drones, and wind turbines. Suppressing this noise pollution is a major environmental goal for some urban areas. In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, researchers from Xi’an Jiaotong University used the characteristics of owl wings to inform airfoil design and significantly reduce the trailing-edge noise. “Nocturnal owls…

Collision-avoidance system gets us closer to robots that can fix satellites or spacecraft in orbit. What do you call a broken satellite? Today, it’s a multimillion-dollar piece of dangerous space junk. But a new collision-avoidance system developed by students at the University of Cincinnati is getting engineers closer to developing robots that can fix broken satellites or spacecraft in orbit. UC College of Engineering and Applied Science doctoral students Daegyun Choi and Anirudh Chhabra presented their project at the Science…

There are 6,500 satellites in orbit, but only about half of them are functional. Once a satellite breaks down or runs out of fuel, it is essentially useless. Repairs, maintenance and upgrades are nearly impossible in orbit. It’s launch once, use once. But as satellites have become more robust, their operators often find that fleets outlast their projected lifespans and need new technology, repairs, refueling or maintenance to stay competitive, relevant and operational. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University will head…

The need for development of aircraft observations of cumulus cloud physical characteristics. In precipitating clouds, the vertical cloud structure reflects the dynamic and thermal structural characteristics and microphysical characteristics of precipitating cloud clusters. Aircraft cloud detection has become a basic method to determine the characteristics of cloud particle concentrations, liquid water content, and particle spectrum distributions. The airborne Ka-band cloud radar is able to observe the macrostructure of cloud particle characteristics in precipitating clouds during the process of the aircraft…

Gas giants are made of a massive solid core surrounded by an even larger mass of helium and hydrogen. But even though these planets are quite common in the Universe, scientists still don’t fully understand how they form. Now, astrophysicists Hiroshi Kobayashi of Nagoya University and Hidekazu Tanaka of Tohoku University have developed computer simulations that simultaneously use multiple types of celestial matter to gain a more comprehensive understanding of how these colossal planets grow from tiny specks of dust….

NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on Mars on Aug. 6, 2012, and since then has roamed Gale Crater taking samples and sending the results back home for researchers to interpret. Analysis of carbon isotopes in sediment samples taken from half a dozen exposed locations, including an exposed cliff, leave researchers with three plausible explanations for the carbon’s origin — cosmic dust, ultraviolet degradation of carbon dioxide, or ultraviolet degradation of biologically produced methane. The researchers note today (Jan.17) in Proceedings of…

Scientists unravel a bit more of the mystery underlying how wave-particle interactions generate other plasma waves in Geospace. In a new study published in Physical Review Letters, researchers from Japan show that high-frequency plasma waves in the Geospace can generate low-frequency plasma waves through wave-particle interactions by heating up low-energy ions, unveiling a new energy transfer pathway in collisionless plasma. A prominent signature of plasma — a state of matter characterized by freely roaming charged particles interacting via electromagnetic forces…

Chromium defects in silicon carbide may provide a new platform for quantum information. The Science Quantum computers may be able to solve science problems that are impossible for today’s fastest conventional supercomputers. Quantum sensors may be able to measure signals that cannot be measured by today’s most sensitive sensors. Quantum bits (qubits) are the building blocks for these devices. Scientists are investigating several quantum systems for quantum computing and sensing applications. One system, spin qubits, is based on the control of…

New nuclear magnetic resonance technique is five orders of magnitude more sensitive. An international team of researchers with participation of the PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM) has successfully advanced a laboratory method to search for extremely light axion-like particles (ALPs), which are possible candidates for being the elusive dark matter. The researchers use nuclear magnetic resonance techniques in their experiments: by using a new setup, they have now been…

University of Göttingen computational neuroscientist receives ERC starting grant of 1.5 million euros. The computational neuroscientist Professor Alexander Ecker from the University of Göttingen and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPIDS) has received a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The ERC has awarded his project “Deep Neuron Embeddings: Data-driven multi-modal discovery of cell types in the neocortex” a total of 1.5 million euros over five years. Ecker and his team want to find out…

Understanding the solar wind can help scientists predict how it will affect Earth’s satellites and astronauts in space. A new study led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers, using data from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, provides insight into what generates and accelerates the solar wind, a stream of charged particles released from the sun’s corona. Understanding how the solar wind works can help scientists predict “space weather,” or the response to solar activity—such as solar flares—that can impact both…

Scientists from TU Dresden, in cooperation with researchers at Seoul National University (SNU) and Korea University (KU), demonstrated the role of the re-use of photons (known as ‘photon recycling’) and light scattering effects in perovskite solar cells, providing a pathway towards high-efficiency solar energy conversion. The study has been published in the renowned journal ‘Science Advances’. Metal halide perovskites are receiving great attention as next-generation semiconductors for solar energy conversion. Since the first demonstration of 3.8% efficiency in 2009, efficiencies…