news 2013

Fluorescent tetrapod nanocrystals could light the way to the future design of stronger polymer nanocomposites. A team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has developed an advanced opto-mechanical sensing technique based on tetrapod quantum dots that allows precise measurement of the tensile  strength of polymer fibers with minimal impact on the fiber's mechanical properties.

Engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have devised a method to convert a relatively inexpensive conventional microscope into a billion-pixel imaging system that significantly outperforms the best available standard microscope. Such a system could greatly improve the efficiency of digital pathology, in which specialists need to review large numbers of tissue samples.

24 Jul 2013 Scientists from The University of Manchester have revealed new images which provide the clearest picture yet of how white blood immune cells attack viral infections and tumours. They show how the cells, which are responsible for fighting infections and cancer in the human body, change the organisation of their surface molecules, when activated by a type of protein found on viral-infected or tumour cells.

An international collaboration of scientists in Austria and the US demonstrate a novel "crystalline coating" technique for producing low-loss mirrors. This technology will further accelerate progress in the development of narrow-linewidth lasers. The work appears this week in an advanced online publication of Nature Photonics.

New research has shown that subatomic particles called neutrinos have a previously unseen identity-shifting property. The results confirm early indications that neutrinos change between different types, or oscillate, in three ways where they had previously only been seen oscillating in two ways. Scientists from the T2K collaboration, which involves Dr Yoshi Uchida and Dr Morgan Wascko from Imperial's Department of Physics, made the announcement at a meeting of the European Physical Society in Stockholm, today.

Researchers at Yale have developed a way to alter the microanatomy of glass and measure how the changes affect the material's overall character - offering new possibilities for tailoring glass with unusual strength and flexibility. The method also applies to a wide variety of materials other than glass, including conventional metals like steels, porous materials, natural materials, and composites.

Understanding the properties that control surface dissipation of heat could lead to improved power plants and electronics with high heat-transfer rates. A team of MIT researchers has succeeded in carrying out the first systematic investigation of the factors that control boiling heat transfer from a surface to a liquid.

CeCoIn 5 is an oxymoron. It's a "heavy fermion" material, in which electrons act like their mass is 1,000 times what it should be, because moving electrons interact magnetically with its atoms and slow down. But it also can be a superconductor, in which an electric current flows without resistance, when its super heavy electrons join in "Cooper pairs" that are magnetically neutral and avoid magnetic interference.

Random Lasers are tiny structures emitting light irregularly into different directions. Scientists at the Vienna University of Technology have now shown that these exotic light sources can be accurately controlled. The light they emit is as unique as a fingerprint: random lasers are tiny devices with a light emission pattern governed by random scattering of light.

A deep link between two seemingly unconnected areas of modern science has been discovered by researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Geneva. While research tends to become very specialized and entire communities of scientists can work on specific topics with only a little overlap between them, physicist Dr Nicolas Brunner and mathematician Professor Noah Linden worked together to uncover a deep and unexpected connection between their two fields of expertise: game theory and quantum physics.

AUSTIN, Texas — A team of U.S. and U.K. scientists has found geologic evidence that casts doubt on one of the conventional explanations for how Antarctica's ice sheet began forming. Ian Dalziel, research professor at The University of Texas at Austin's Institute for Geophysics and professor in the Jackson School of Geosciences , and his colleagues report the findings today in an online edition of the journal Geology .

MIT researchers discover a new phenomenon that could lead to new types of lasers and sensors. There are several ways to "trap" a beam of light - usually with mirrors, other reflective surfaces, or high-tech materials such as photonic crystals. But now researchers at MIT have discovered a new method to trap light that could find a wide variety of applications.

Cambridge, MA - The Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona, has posed an enduring mystery. Why is it so hot? The Sun's visible surface is only 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, but as you move outward the temperature shoots up to millions of degrees. It's like a campfire that feels hotter the farther away you stand.

A breakthrough in our understanding of the properties of titania (titanium dioxide) - the basis of self-cleaning window technology - has been made by scientists at UCL, uncovering a decades old misunderstanding that has clouded our knowledge of how mixed phase titania catalysts operate. By carrying out cutting-edge computational simulations alongside precise experimental measurements of physical samples of the mineral, scientists at UCL found that the widely accepted explanation for how mixed phase titania catalysts operate was misguided.

A team of quantum physicists in Innsbruck led by Christian Roos and Cornelius Hempel have realised an extremely sensitive method for the spectroscopy of atomic and molecular atoms. This technique can be used to closely study a number of particles. The scientists have published their findings Photonics.

Objects that are smaller than the wavelength of thermal radiation cannot radiate heat efficiently. A generalized theory of thermal radiation has now been experimentally confirmed at the level of a single object at the Vienna University of Technology. All the objects around us emit thermal radiation.

The University of Nottingham and University College London have received a grant of £800,000 from Arthritis Research UK to develop new treatments for severe arthritis pain. Millions of people around the world suffer with arthritis, a form of joint disorder that involves painful inflammation and stiffness of one or more joints.

Jim Erickson, University of Michigan, (734) 647-1842, ericksn [a] umich (p) edu. or Lee Siegel, University of Utah, (801) 581-8993, (801) 244-5399 (cell), lee.siegel [a] utah (p) edu ANN ARBOR - A University of Michigan researcher worked with University of Utah colleagues to develop a new weapon to fight poachers who kill elephants, hippos, rhinos and other wildlife.

A University of Nottingham physicist has won a prestigious €1.5 million European grant for a major new research project to increase our understanding of quantum matter and pave the way for future technologies and materials to be developed. Dr Igor Lesanovsky , Associate Professor and Reader in the School of Physics , has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant which supports up-and-coming research leaders who want to establish their own team for independent research in Europe.

Chemists have discovered that an 'impossible' reaction at cold temperatures actually occurs with vigour, which could change our understanding of how alcohols are formed and destroyed in space. To explain the impossible, the researchers propose that a quantum mechanical phenomenon, known as ‘quantum tunnelling’, is revving up the chemical reaction.