… discovered over thousands of years of observations. The secrets of the origin of some of them have not been solved so far. For the first time in the history of observations, scientists from the Helsinki and Ural Federal Universities Jarmo Moilanen and Maria Gritsevich have systematized information about all forms of atmospheric halos recorded by mankind at the end of 2021. From numerous sources of data on observations, the history of which includes 4-5 millennia, 119 different forms of…
On-chip spectrometer, silicon nanowires determine light spectrum, angle. Image sensors measure light intensity, but angle, spectrum, and other aspects of light must also be extracted to significantly advance machine vision. In Applied Physics Letters, published by AIP Publishing, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Washington University in St. Louis, and OmniVision Technologies highlight the latest nanostructured components integrated on image sensor chips that are most likely to make the biggest impact in multimodal imaging. The developments could enable autonomous vehicles…
Researchers discover they contain a phase of quantum matter, known as charge density waves, that’s common in other unconventional superconductors. In other ways, though, they’re surprisingly unique. A new study shows that nickel oxide superconductors, which conduct electricity with no loss at higher temperatures than conventional superconductors do, contain a type of quantum matter called charge density waves, or CDWs, that can accompany superconductivity. The presence of CDWs shows that these recently discovered materials, also known as nickelates, are capable of…
The team* led by Prof. Toru Misawa of the School of General Education, Shinshu University found for the first time that the internal donut-shaped structure of the central nuclei of bright galaxies in the distant universe can have an “anisotropic” effect on the gas distributed over a vast area around them. Because luminous nuclei of distant galaxies (quasars) emit strong ultraviolet radiation, they ionize** hydrogen gas (intergalactic gas***) around them. If the quasar’s UV radiation is isotropic, the “ionization level”…
An international team of 23 researchers led by Maria Dainotti, Assistant Professor at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), has analyzed archive data for powerful cosmic explosions from the deaths of stars and found a new way to measure distances in the distant Universe. With no landmarks in space, it is very difficult to get a sense of depth. One technique astronomers use is to look for “standard candles,” objects or events where the underlying physics dictate that the…
Joint research work of Chemnitz University of Technology and several partner universities shows how slow electrons reduce the efficiency of novel organic solar cells – publication in the renowned journal Nature Communications. Photovoltaics will play a key role in the future energy supply. Conventional solar cells based, for instance, on silicon, a well-known semiconductor material, are already highly developed and in widespread use. However, their production is complex because it requires a high vacuum with high temperatures. It can take…
Graphene consists of carbon atoms that crosslink in a plane to form a flat honeycomb structure. In addition to surprisingly high mechanical stability, the material has exciting electronic properties: The electrons behave like massless particles, which can be clearly demonstrated in spectrometric experiments. Measurements reveal a linear dependence of energy on momentum, namely the so-called Dirac cones – two lines that cross without a band gap – i.e. an energy difference between electrons in the conduction band and those in…
A team of astronomers has developed a method that will allow them to ‘see’ through the fog of the early Universe and detect light from the first stars and galaxies. The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, have developed a methodology that will allow them to observe and study the first stars through the clouds of hydrogen that filled the Universe about 378,000 years after the Big Bang. Observing the birth of the first stars and galaxies has been…
Laser-manufactured 3D microstructures for complex photonic components. Two institutes from the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and one from the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft launched the joint project “LAR3S” on March 1, 2022. In this project, they are taking a completely new approach to producing three-dimensional photonic components with lasers, focusing on selective laser-induced etching and inverse laser drilling. A key goal is to achieve processes and procedures that can be automated to a large extent. New ideas for the industrial production of microstructures Glass is a…
A large-scale neutral hydrogen (HI) survey of the local universe is one of the major science initiatives under the Five-hundred Meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) project. Equipped with a 19-beam array receiver and combined with super-high sensitivity owing to its large collection area, FAST is the most powerful survey tool for exploring the HI universe. The late Prof. NAN Rendong, who founded the FAST project and served as its chief scientist and engineer, noted that the FAST HI survey…
Scientists have developed a new machine-learning platform that makes the algorithms that control particle beams and lasers smarter than ever before. Their work could help lead to the development of new and improved particle accelerators that will help scientists unlock the secrets of the subatomic world. Daniele Filippetto and colleagues at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) developed the setup to automatically compensate for real-time changes to accelerator beams and other components, such as magnets. Their…
The X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission will greatly expand our knowledge of the high-energy universe and recently passed two key milestones on its path to observing the cosmos. Nicknamed XRISM (pronounced “crism”), the mission is a collaboration between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA, with participation by ESA (the European Space Agency), to investigate the X-ray universe using high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy. “In May, the spacecraft components – including its two instruments, named Resolve and Xtend – were mechanically and electrically integrated…
Star systems: The detection of an unusually compact “one of a kind” system of three stars was announced earlier this year. The question about how this unique combination of a binary set of stars and a revolving bigger star can form is now the focus in a collaboration between two young researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen. Tertiary star formation on a massive scale The star system consists of a binary set of stars –…
Breakthrough in neutron physics: A team from TU Vienna, INRIM Turin and ILL Grenoble has succeeded for the first time in building a neutron interferometer from two separate crystals. Particles can move as waves along different paths at the same time – this is one of the most important findings of quantum physics. A particularly impressive example is the neutron interferometer: neutrons are fired at a crystal, the neutron wave is split into two portions, which are then superimposed on…
A team of international experts, renowned for debunking several black hole discoveries, have found a stellar-mass black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbour galaxy to our own. “For the first time, our team got together to report on a black hole discovery, instead of rejecting one,” says study leader Tomer Shenar. Moreover, they found that the star that gave rise to the black hole vanished without any sign of a powerful explosion. The discovery was made thanks to…
By mimicking features of living systems, self-organising lasers could lead to new materials for sensing, computing, light sources and displays. While many artificial materials have advanced properties, they have a long way to go to combine the versatility and functionality of living materials that can adapt to their situation. For example, in the human body bone and muscle continuously reorganise their structure and composition to better sustain changing weight and level of activity. Now, researchers from Imperial College London and…
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