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Nano-switch achieves first directed, gated flow of excitons

A new nanostructure acts like a wire and switch that can, for the first time, control and direct the flow of quantum quasiparticles called excitons at room temperature.

The transistor-like switch developed by University of Michigan engineers could speed up or even enable circuits that run on excitons instead of electricity—paving the way for a new class of devices.

Because they have no , excitons have the potential to move without the losses that come with moving electrically charged particles like electrons. These losses drive cell phones and computers to generate heat during use.

Newly developed organic compounds can serve as highly sensitive oxygen sensors

Researchers at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania, have developed new organic compounds that act as highly sensitive oxygen sensors. These sensors can accurately detect even the slightest amounts of oxygen in the environment—information that is crucial in situations where oxygen concentration can determine the success of a process or even a person’s life.

The sensors can be applied in medicine; for example, in diagnosing tumor hypoxia, a condition in which there is almost no oxygen around a tumor; in the food industry, to check whether packaging has lost its seal; and in biotechnology, to precisely monitor cell cultivation processes.

Moreover, their performance can be observed with the naked eye, while their record-high sensitivity ensures rapid and reliable detection. The study is published in the journal Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical.

Narrow-linewidth laser on a chip sets new standard for frequency purity

A record-breaking development in laser technology could help support the development of smaller, cheaper, more easily-fabricated optical and quantum technologies, its inventors say.

Researchers from the University of Glasgow have designed and built a narrow-linewidth laser on a single, fully integrated microchip that achieves the best performance ever recorded in semiconductor lasers of its type.

It could help overcome many of the barriers which have prevented previous generations of this type of monolithic semiconductor from being more widely adopted.

Clocks created from random events can probe ‘quantumness’ of universe

A newly discovered set of mathematical equations describes how to turn any sequence of random events into a clock, scientists at King’s College London reveal. The paper is published in the journal Physical Review X.

The researchers suggest that these formulas could help to understand how cells in our bodies measure time and to detect the effects of quantum mechanics in the wider world.

Studying these timekeeping processes could have far-reaching implications, helping us to understand proteins with rhythmic movements which malfunction in motor neuron disease or chemical receptors that cells use to detect harmful toxins.

Researchers revive the pinhole camera for next-gen infrared imaging

Researchers have used the centuries-old idea of pinhole imaging to create a high-performance mid-infrared imaging system without lenses. The new camera can capture extremely clear pictures over a large range of distances and in low light, making it useful for situations that are challenging for traditional cameras.

“Many useful signals are in the mid-infrared, such as heat and molecular fingerprints, but cameras working at these wavelengths are often noisy, expensive or require cooling,” said research team leader Heping Zeng from East China Normal University. “Moreover, traditional lens-based setups have a limited depth of field and need careful design to minimize optical distortions. We developed a high-sensitivity, lens-free approach that delivers a much larger depth of field and field of view than other systems.”

Writing in Optica, the researchers describe how they use light to form a tiny “optical pinhole” inside a nonlinear crystal, which also turns the into a visible one. Using this setup, they acquired clear mid-infrared images with a depth of field of over 35 cm and a field of view of more than 6 cm. They were also able to use the system to acquire 3D images.

From noise to power: A symmetric ratchet motor discovery

Vibrations are everywhere—from the hum of machinery to the rumble of transport systems. Usually, these random motions are wasted and dissipated without producing any usable work.

Recently, scientists have been fascinated by “ratchet systems,” which are that rectify chaotic vibrations into directional motion. In biology, molecular motors achieve this feat within living cells to drive the essential processes by converting random molecular collisions into purposeful motions. However, at a large scale, these ratchet systems have always relied on built-in asymmetry, such as gears or uneven surfaces.

Moving beyond this reliance on asymmetry, a team of researchers led by Ms. Miku Hatatani, a Ph.D. student at the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, along with Mr. Junpei Oguni, graduate school alumnus at the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Professor Daigo Yamamoto and Professor Akihisa Shioi from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at Doshisha University, demonstrate the world’s first symmetric ratchet motor.

Mysterious “Soot Planets” May Be Hiding in Plain Sight Among the Stars

Some planets may be soot-rich rather than water-based. Atmosphere studies will be key to understanding their true nature. Astronomers generally consider water worlds to be among the most common types of planets in our galaxy, largely because of their low densities and the abundance of water ice b

90% Chance: Physicists Predict a Black Hole Could Explode This Decade

UMass Amherst physicists believe such an explosion could occur within the next decade, potentially “revolutionizing physics and rewriting the history of the universe.” Physicists have long thought that black holes end their lives in rare explosions that occur, at most, once every 100,000 years. N

MIT Physicists Propose First-Ever “Neutrino Laser”

Super-cooling radioactive atoms could create a laser-like neutrino beam, potentially opening a new avenue for studying these elusive particles and even enabling novel forms of communication. Every instant, torrents of neutrinos pass through our bodies and the objects around us without leaving a t

Scientists Grow “Gold Quantum Needles” for Sharper Biomedical Imaging

Potential applications range from biomedical imaging to the conversion of light energy. University of Tokyo researchers Shinjiro Takano, Yuya Hamasaki, and Tatsuya Tsukuda have directly imaged how the geometric arrangement of atoms in gold nanoclusters develops at the very earliest stages of growth

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