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Theories of the primordial Universe predict the existence of knots in the fabric of space - known as cosmic textures - which could be identified by looking at light from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the relic radiation left over from the Big Bang. Using data from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite, researchers from UCL, Imperial College London and the Perimeter Institute have performed the first search for textures on the full sky, finding no evidence for such knots in space.

High-temperature superconductivity doesn't happen all it once. It starts in isolated nanoscale patches that gradually expand until they take over. That discovery, from atomic-level observations at Cornell and the University of Tokyo, offers a new insight into the puzzling "pseudogap" state observed in high-temperature superconductors; it may be another step toward creating new materials that superconduct at temperatures high enough to revolutionize electrical engineering.

Invisibility, once the subject of magic or legend, is slowly becoming reality. Over the past five years mathematicians and other scientists have been working on devices that enable invisibility cloaks - perhaps not yet concealing Harry Potter, but at least shielding small objects from detection by microwaves or sound waves.

Graphene is the wonder material that could solve the problem of making ever faster computers and smaller mobile devices when current silicon microchip technology hits an inevitable wall. Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms in a tight hexagonal arrangement, has been highly researched because of its incredible electronic properties, with theoretical speeds 100 times greater than silicon.

The first purely silicon oxide-based 'Resistive RAM' memory chip that can operate in ambient conditions - opening up the possibility of new super-fast memory - has been developed by researchers at UCL. Resistive RAM (or 'ReRAM') memory chips are based on materials, most often oxides of metals, whose electrical resistance changes when a voltage is applied - and they "remember" this change even when the power is turned off.

Researchers have now shown that quantum light sources can be fabricated using silicon, the most widely used material underpinning modern electronics. Shown here is a silicon photonic chip containing several dozen devices designed and fabricated by graduate students at the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at UC San Diego.

Two lamps are brighter than one. This simple truism does not necessarily apply to lasers, as a team of scientists, led by the Vienna University of Technology found out. When one laser is shining and next to it another laser is turned on gradually, complex interactions between the two lasers can lead to a total shutdown and no light is emitted anymore.

McGill team examines the practice of prescribing medications for indications that have not received regulatory approval from Health Canada A new McGill University study evaluating off-label prescribing of medications by primary care physicians in Quebec suggests the practice is common, although it varies by medication, patient and physician characteristics.

By Simon Levey Friday 30 March 2012 Scientists have taken an important step forward in developing a new material using nano-sized magnets that could ultimately lead to new types of electronic devices, with greater processing capacity than is currently feasible. Many modern data storage devices, like hard disk drives, rely on the ability to manipulate the properties of tiny individual magnetic sections, but their overall design is limited by the way these magnetic 'domains' interact when they are close together.

Reception and service at central level for international students after arrival at KTH. For Master's students For Exchange students At the KTH Symposium, the director of the U.S. National Science Foundation explains how scientific co-operation with Sweden benefits American research.

Despite Australia's critical shortage of skilled workers, many trade apprentices are living on a wage that falls below the poverty line and is barely higher than the unemployment benefit, according to research from the University of Sydney's Workplace Research Centre (WRC). The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) has commissioned researchers from the WRC to prepare a report on the work, wages and living standards of electrical apprentices as part of Fair Work Australia's review of modern awards.

Scientists revolutionise electron microscope Researchers at the University of Sheffield have revolutionised the electron microscope by developing a new method which could create the highest resolution images ever seen. For over 70 years, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which `looks through´ an object to see atomic features within it, has been constrained by the relatively poor lenses which are used to form the image.

At the nano level, researchers at Stanford have discovered a new way to weld together meshes of tiny wires. Their work could lead to innovative electronics and solar applications. To succeed, they called upon plasmonics. One area of intensive research at the nanoscale is the creation of electrically conductive meshes made of metal nanowires.

Wonder material graphene has been touted as the next silicon, with one major problem - it is too conductive to be used in computer chips. Now scientists from The University of Manchester have given its prospects a new lifeline. In a paper published this week in Science , a Manchester team lead by Nobel laureates Professor Andre Geim and Professor Konstantin Novoselov has literally opened a third dimension in graphene research.

A fundamental problem that has long puzzled scientists has been solved after more than 70 years. An international team of researchers has discovered a subtle electronic effect in magnetite, the most magnetic of all naturally occurring minerals. The effect causes a dramatic change to how this material conducts electricity at very low temperatures.

Discovery is of a fundamental interest for the development of future electronics A team of scientists, led by Guillaume Gervais from McGill's Physics Department and Mike Lilly from Sandia National Laboratories, has engineered one of the world's smallest electronic circuits. It is formed by two wires separated by only about 150 atoms or 15 nanometers (nm).

Hands-free information could stream across your lens, in a device that came one step closer to reality this week. In a new paper , University of Washington researchers demonstrated the safety of a prototype device tested in the eye of a rabbit. At the moment, the lens device contains only a single pixel of information, but the researchers say it is a proof of the concept that the device could be worn by a person.

by Steven Schultz Conventional wisdom would say that blocking a hole would prevent light from going through it, but Princeton University engineers have discovered the opposite to be true. A research team has found that placing a metal cap over a small hole in a metal film does not stop the light at all, but rather enhances its transmission.

Most exciting is that the Los Alamos researchers have shown that blinking can be controlled and even completely suppressed electrochemically. LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, November 9, 2011—Research by Los Alamos scientists published today documents significant progress in understanding the phenomenon of quantum-dot blinking.

A new technique which lets scientists 'see' our brain waves at work could revolutionise our understanding of the human body's most complex organ and help transform the lives of people suffering from schizophrenia and ADHD. Although, scientifically, the brain is the most studied organ in our body we still know relatively little about it.