Researchers at Osaka University fabricate a protective nanoscale barrier of structured silica between a metal layer and analyte molecules, which leads to enhanced fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy for highly sensitive biosensing. While we might picture a biologist as a researcher hunched over a light microscope, carefully scrutinizing a single bacterium, modern scientists have more powerful instruments at their disposal to investigate, at much smaller scales, the internal structures of living cells. Fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy have become indispensable tools for…
For the first time, EPFL researchers have exclusively observed molecules participating in hydrogen bonds in liquid water, measuring electronic and nuclear quantum effects that were previously accessible only via theoretical simulations. Water is synonymous with life, but the dynamic, multifaceted interaction that brings H2O molecules together – the hydrogen bond – remains mysterious. Hydrogen bonds result when hydrogen and oxygen atoms between water molecules interact, sharing electronic charge in the process. This charge-sharing is a key feature of the three-dimensional…
Replacing organic solvents with molten salt lets researchers grow “previously unimaginable nanocrystals”. The type of semiconductive nanocrystals known as quantum dots are both expanding the forefront of pure science and also hard at work in practical applications including lasers, quantum QLED televisions and displays, solar cells, medical devices, and other electronics. A new technique for growing these microscopic crystals, published this week in Science, has not only found a new, more efficient way to build a useful type of quantum…
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) imaging instruments on three sun-orbiting observatories have captured sequences of comet C/2023 A3, known as Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, as it passed between the Earth and the Sun during the beginning of October 2024. The comet, discovered in 2023, traversed the field of view of NRL’s Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) telescope between Oct. 7-11. After the nucleus itself had left the scene, its massive dust trail remained visible for several days. LASCO has operated on the…
Scientists successfully increase the measurement rate of Raman spectroscopy, a widely used technique for identifying molecules. Researchers Takuma Nakamura, Kazuki Hashimoto, and Takuro Ideguchi of the Institute for Photon Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo have increased by a 100-fold the measurement rate of Raman spectroscopy, a common technique for measuring the “vibrational fingerprint” of molecules in order to identify them. As the measurement rate has been a major limiting factor, this improvement contributes to advancements in many…
… paves the way to solving the proteome. The new data-driven technique gives scientists a way to accurately measure the mass of individual proteins using nanoscale devices. Caltech scientists have developed a method driven by machine learning that allows them to accurately measure the mass of individual particles and molecules using complex nanoscale devices. The new technique opens the possibility of using a variety of devices for the measurement of mass and, therefore, the identification of proteins, and could pave…
NASA has revealed the first look at a full-scale prototype for six telescopes that will enable, in the next decade, the space-based detection of gravitational waves — ripples in space-time caused by merging black holes and other cosmic sources. The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission is led by ESA (European Space Agency) in partnership with NASA to detect gravitational waves by using lasers to measure precise distances — down to picometers, or trillionths of a meter — between a trio of…
Nanoscale spinning circles of magnetism may find broad application in microelectronic storage devices, quantum computing, and more. A difficult-to-describe nanoscale object called the magnetic skyrmion might one day yield new microelectronic devices that can do much more — for example, massive data storage — all while consuming much less power. But researchers need a more detailed understanding of skyrmions if they are ever to be used reliably in computational devices, including quantum computers. Peter Fischer, a senior researcher at the…
Quantum defects have the potential to act as ultra-sensitive sensors that could offer new kinds of navigation or biological sensor technology. One type of these defect systems, nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamonds, can measure nanoscale magnetic fields. But while scientists can control the quantum spin of these centers — single defects in the diamond, where nitrogen has replaced the carbon — they still do not have a full understanding of how to best isolate that spin from the spins…
Breakthrough non-invasive technology for imaging through scattering media. Researchers introduce image-guided computational holographic wavefront shaping, offering fast and versatile solutions for complex imaging challenges. New study introduces a novel computational holography-based method that enables high-resolution, non-invasive imaging through highly scattering media, without the need for traditional tools like guide stars or spatial light modulators. By leveraging computational optimization, the method drastically reduces the number of measurements required and corrects over 190,000 scattered modes using just 25 holographic frames. This innovation…
Modern astronomy has clung to the belief that the relativistic outflows or jets responsible for the existence of electromagnetic radiation of particularly high energies are located in the nuclei of active galaxies distant from Earth. However, a different picture of reality is emerging from the latest data from the HAWC observatory: also jets launched in astrophysical sources from our own intra-galactic ‘backyard’ turn out to be sources of gamma photons of extremely high energy. Electromagnetic radiation of extremely high energies…
…could be leap toward more energy-efficient supercomputing. Ferroelectric material adapts to light stimuli by reorganizing atomic connectivity on the nanoscale. “Today’s supercomputers and data centers demand many megawatts of power,” said Haidan Wen, a physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. “One challenge is to find materials for more energy-efficient microelectronics. A promising candidate is a ferroelectric material that can be used for artificial neural networks as a component in energy-efficient microelectronics.” Ferroelectric materials can be found…
It is usually not possible to look inside cloudy liquids, but researchers at the universities of Mainz and Düsseldorf have now managed to do so for the first time. When driving though a bank of fog, car headlights are only of limited help as the light is scattered by the water particles suspended in the air. The situation is similar when you try to observe the inside of a drop of milk in water or the internal structure of an…
New technique allows greater integration of synthetic diamonds, improving how both quantum and conventional electronics are built. Synthetic diamond is durable, inert, rigid, thermally conductive and chemically well-behaved—an elite material for both quantum and conventional electronics. But there’s one problem. Diamond only likes diamond. It’s homoepitaxial, meaning it only grows on other diamonds, and integrating diamond into quantum or conventional computers, quantum sensors, cellphones, or other devices would mean sacrificing the diamond’s full potential or using large, expensive chunks of…
World’s largest optical mirror successfully installed on support system prototype for the first time to validate telescope’s extraordinary performance. The Giant Magellan Telescope today announced the successful installation of one of its completed 8.4-meter-diameter primary mirrors into a support system prototype at the University of Arizona’s Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab. This highly sophisticated system — comparable in size to half a basketball court and containing three times the number of parts of a typical car — is vital to…
Teleoperated robots for gathering moon dust are a step closer, according to new research by scientists at the University of Bristol. The team were able to complete a sample collection task by controlling a virtual simulation, which then sent commands to a physical robot to mirror the simulation’s actions. They were able to do so while only monitoring the simulation – without needing physical camera streams – meaning this tool could be particularly useful for delayed teleoperation on the Moon….
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