Science

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Moonrise over Earth, by Rosetta

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Moonrise over Earth

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NASA Mars Rover Curiosity Drills Second Rock Target

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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drilled into this rock target, "Cumberland," during the 279th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (May 19, 2013) and collected a powdered sample of material from the rock's interior. Analysis of the Cumberland sample using laboratory instruments inside Curiosity will check results from "John Klein," the first rock on Mars from which a sample was ever collected and analyzed. The two rocks have similar appearance and lie about nine feet (2.75 meters) apart.

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Competition in the Quantum World

Innsbruck physicists led by Rainer Blatt and Peter Zoller experimentally gained a deep insight into the nature of quantum mechanical phase transitions. They are the first scientists that simulated the competition between two rival dynamical processes at a novel type of transition between two quantum mechanical orders.

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The physicists engineer a classical environment, which generates dissipative dynamics, leading to fragile long-range quantum mechanical correlations between distant particles.

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Rice unveils method for tailoring optical processors: Arranging nanoparticles in geometric patterns allows for control of light with light

Rice University scientists have unveiled a robust new method for arranging metal nanoparticles in geometric patterns that can act as optical processors that transform incoming light signals into output of a different color.

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By arranging optically tuned gold discs in a closely spaced pattern, Rice University scientists created intense electrical fields and enhanced the nonlinear optical properties of the system. Here a computer model displays the plasmonic interactions that give rise to the intense fields.

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Nine-Year-Old Mars Rover Passes 40-Year-Old Record

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On the 3,309th Martian day, or sol, of its mission on Mars (May 15, 2013) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity drove 263 feet (80 meters) southward along the western rim of Endeavour Crater.

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Mars Rover Opportunity Examines Clay Clues in Rock

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The pale rock in the upper center of this image, about the size of a human forearm, includes a target called "Esperance," which was inspected by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Data from the rover's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) indicate that Esperance's composition is higher in aluminum and silica, and lower in calcium and iron, than other rocks Opportunity has examined in more than nine years on Mars. Preliminary interpretation points to clay mineral content due to intensive alteration by water.

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Moth-Inspired Nanostructures Take the Color Out of Thin Films

Thin-film interference is a well-known effect, and it is commonly observed in the colored appearance of many natural phenomena. Caused by the interference of light reflections from the interfaces of thin material layers, such interference effects can lead to wavelength and angle-selective behavior in thin-film devices.

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The nanostructures limit the amount of light reflected at the thin film interface.

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Artificial Forest for Solar Water-Splitting: Berkeley Lab Researchers Report First Fully Integrated Artificial Photosynthesis Nanosystem

In the wake of the sobering news that atmospheric carbon dioxide is now at its highest level in at least three million years, an important advance in the race to develop carbon-neutral renewable energy sources has been achieved.

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Schematic shows TiO2 nanowires (blue) grown on the upper half of a Si nanowire (gray) and the two absorbing different regions of the solar spectrum. Insets display photoexcited electron−hole pairs separated at the semiconductor-electrolyte interface to carry out water splitting with the help of co-catalysts (yellow and gray dots).

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Add boron for better batteries: graphene-boron mix shows promise for lithium-ion batteries

Frustration led to revelation when Rice University scientists determined how graphene might be made useful for high-capacity batteries.

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A theory developed at Rice University determined that a graphene/boron compound would excel as an ultrathin anode for lithium-ion batteries. The compound would store far more energy than graphite electrodes used in current batteries.

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Moth-Inspired Nanostructures Take the Color Out of Thin Films

Thin-film interference is a well-known effect, and it is commonly observed in the colored appearance of many natural phenomena. Caused by the interference of light reflections from the interfaces of thin material layers, such interference effects can lead to wavelength and angle-selective behavior in thin-film devices. In this work, we describe the use of interfacial nanostructures to eliminate interference effects in thin films. Using the same principle inspired by the moth-eye structures, this approach creates an effective medium where the index is gradually varying between the neighboring materials. We present the fabrication process for such nanostructures at a polymer-silicon interface, and experimentally demonstrate its effectiveness in suppressing thin-film interference. The principle demonstrated in this work can lead to enhanced efficiency and reduce wavelength/angle sensitivity in multilayer optoelectronic devices.

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The nanostructures limit the amount of light reflected at the thin film interface.