Science

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New Model Presented to Design, Produce Electronic Nanodevices

Iranian researchers presented a new model to design and produce electronic switches.

Results of the research may lead to an appropriate approach to obtain nanometric devices and equipment to be used in electronics, computers, communication and biosciences.

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New Clues to How Gatekeeper for the Cell Nucleus Works

Berkeley Lab scientists study the nuclear pore complex, which contributes to many diseases when it malfunctions

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have uncovered new clues to how a molecular machine inside the cell acts as a gatekeeper, allowing some molecules to enter and exit the nucleus while keeping other molecules out.

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NbSe2, a true 2-D superconductor

Very few 2D superconductors exist in nature, and single-layer NbSe2 is the first among them that remains a superconductor in its isolated, 2D form without the need of a special substrate. Furthermore, CDW order - spatial modulation of both the electron density and the atomic lattice (see figure below) - has been revealed to be a genuine 2D electronic phenomenon in NbSe2.

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Atomically resolved STM image of the NbSe2 surface showing CDW modulation.

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Novel 'crumpling' of hybrid nanostructures increases SERS sensitivity

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Illustration of SERS enhancement from a crumpled graphene-Au nanoparticles hybrid structure. Raman spectrum is enhanced the most when the target molecule is situated at the center of Au nanoparticles in valley of crumpled graphene as depicted in inset.

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Graphene could take night-vision technology beyond 'Predator'

Movies such as 1987's "Predator," in which an alien who sees in the infrared hunts down Arnold Schwarzenegger and his team, introduced a generation of sci-fi fans to thermal imaging. Since then, heat-sensing devices have found many real-word applications but have remained relatively expensive and rigid. But a new development featuring graphene,could lead to a flexible, transparent and low-cost infrared vision system.

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A thermal sensor made out of graphene could lead to better night vision technology.

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IMF Staff Concludes Review Mission to Ghana

A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Joël Toujas-Bernaté, visited Accra from October 21–November 5, 2015, to conduct discussions on the second review of Ghana’s financial and economic program supported by the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The discussions focused on the implementation of the program, the medium-term outlook and policies needed to restore debt sustainability, macroeconomic stability, and a return to high growth and job creation while protecting the poor.

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IMF Staff Completes 2015 Article IV Consultation and Third Review of the Precautionary and Liquidity Line Mission to Morocco

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Nicolas Blancher, visited Morocco from October 21 to November 4, 2015 to conduct discussions with the Moroccan authorities on the 2015 Article IV consultation, as well as on the third review of economic performance under the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL) arrangement approved in July 2014. The discussions focused on increasing the resilience and the potential of the Moroccan economy.

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Excitement Grows as NASA Carbon Sleuth Begins Year Two

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Global average carbon dioxide concentrations as seen by NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission, June 1-15, 2015. OCO-2 measures carbon dioxide from the top of Earth's atmosphere to its surface. Higher carbon dioxide concentrations are in red, with lower concentrations in yellows and greens.

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Monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell achieves record efficiency

Organic-inorganic perovskite materials are one of the biggest surprises in solar cell research. In just six years, the efficiency of perovskite solar cells has increased five-fold; moreover, perovskite solar cells can be manufactured from solution and be cost-effectively printed on large areas in the future.

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A cross-section through the tandem cell is shown by this SEM-image.

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3-D laser printing of whispering-gallery-mode microcavities

Whispering-Gallery-Mode (WGM) microcavities that confine light in a small volume with high quality (Q) factors and enhance interaction of light with matters inside the cavity have shown promising applications as an element for a variety of devices such as micro-lasers, micro-sensors, micro-filters, and thus are becoming the basic building blocks of integrated photonic systems. This leads to tremendous progress in the development of micro-scale high-Q microcavity processing technologies.

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These are microscope images of WGM microcavities fabricated by femtosecond laser 3-D processing.