Science

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Zinc Oxide, Hydroxide Nanoparticles Utilized in Detecting Drugs

Researchers at Payam-e-Noor University of Tehran in collaboration with experts from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences found a simple synthesis method for zinc oxide (and hydroxide) and their application in modified carbon paste electrodes for determination of sympathomimetic drugs at micro-molar scales.

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Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Used in Producing DNA Biosensors

Iranian researchers from Alzahra University produced an electrochemical DNA biosensor by studying interactions between antimicrobial drug and double stranded DNA on the surface of glassy carbon electrode modified with multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT-DNA-GCE).

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Ultrafast technique unlocks design principles of quantum biology

University of Chicago researchers have created a synthetic compound that mimics the complex quantum dynamics observed in photosynthesis and may enable fundamentally new routes to creating solar-energy technologies. Engineering quantum effects into synthetic light-harvesting devices is not only possible, but also easier than anyone expected, the researchers report in the April 18 edition of Science Express.

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University of Chicago researchers have created a synthetic compound that mimics the complex quantum dynamics observed in photosynthesis. The compound may enable fundamentally new routes to creative solar light harvesting technologies.

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Revolutionary new device joins world of smart electronics: Unique properties of graphene and graph Exeter combine to create a new flexible, transparent, photosensitive device

Smart electronics are taking the world by storm. From techno-textiles to transparent electronic displays, the world of intelligent technology is growing fast and a revolutionary new device has just been added to its ranks. Researchers at the University of Exeter have developed a new photoelectric device that is both flexible and transparent. The device, described in a paper in the journal ACS Nano, converts light into electrical signals by exploiting the unique properties of the recently discovered materials graphene and graphExeter. GraphExeter is the best known room temperature transparent conductor and graphene is the thinnest conductive material.

At just a few atoms thick, the newly developed photoelectric device is ultra-lightweight. This, along with the flexibility of its constituent graphene materials, makes it perfect for incorporating into clothing. Such devices could be used to develop photovoltaic textiles enabling clothes to act as solar panels and charge mobile phones while they are being worn.

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Special deal on photon-to-electron conversion: Two for one! New technique developed at MIT could enable a major boost in solar-cell efficiency

Throughout decades of research on solar cells, one formula has been considered an absolute limit to the efficiency of such devices in converting sunlight into electricity: Called the Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit, it posits that the ultimate conversion efficiency can never exceed 34 percent for a single optimized semiconductor junction.

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NASA's Hubble Sees a Horsehead of a Different Color

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SN 1006: X-Ray View of A Thousand-Year-Old Cosmic Tapestry

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.A new Chandra image of SN 1006 provides new details about
the remains of an exploded star.
.This explosion was witnessed from Earth over a millennium
ago.
.The Chandra data provides the best map to date of the
debris field including information on important elements
expanding into space.
.SN 1006 belongs to a class of supernova used to measure
the expansion of the Universe.

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Star factory in the early Universe challenges galaxy evolution theory

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Starburst galaxy

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Fluorescence Technique Measures Photoacid Distribution in Photoresists with Nanoscale Resolution

A team of researchers from the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, the University of Maryland, and Korea University (Seoul, Korea) has measured the nanoscale distribution of photoacid molecules in photoresists using a fluorescence technique originally developed to provide images of biological structures smaller than the wavelength of light.* Photoresists are light-sensitive chemicals used for manufacturing the semiconductor integrated circuits found in computers and other electronics. By measuring the chemical reactions in photoresists at a smaller length scale, this method potentially opens a path to manufacturing smaller electronic devices.

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Schematic showing fluorescence from UV-activated fluorophores excited by 532 nm light that reveals nanoscale photoacid distribution (left). Activated fluorophore concentration corresponds to the inverse of the original photoacid distribution (right).

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A new twist for quantum systems

To maneuver a car into a parking spot parallel to the road can be quite a challenge. It would be an easy task, of course, if only the vehicle could move sideways. As this is not possible, the sideways motion must be pieced together - sometimes elegantly, sometimes less so - in a series of forward and backward movements and turns on the steering wheel. Such a finely tuned sequence of movements also enables cats to almost always land on their feet after a free fall. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now used a similar principle for steering a quantum system into a desired state. This new type of control should be useful in situations in which quantum systems must be precisely controlled, not least in the context of quantum computers.

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Macroscopic quantum objects: A microwave resonator measuring 32 mm x 15 mm x 5 mm (left) contains superconducting circuits (center and right) that display similar quantum behavior as atoms.