Science

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Scientists control the flow of heat and light in photonic crystals

Scientists from the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Twente in the Netherlands and Thales Research & Technology, France, have found a way to control heat propagation in photonic nano-sized devices, which will be used for high speed communications and quantum information technologies. Their results are published in the leading American journal Applied Physics Letters on 30 April 2015.

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Once the laser beam hits the surface of a sample it starts to generate heat which diffuses along the membrane but also it diffuses to the ambient gas. That effect reduces the width of the temperature distribution in the photonic crystal membrane.

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Diagnostics of quality of graphene and spatial imaging of reactivity centers on carbon surface

A convenient procedure to visualize defects on graphene layers by mapping the surface of carbon materials with an appropriate contrast agent was introduced by a team of researchers from Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) involved in international collaborative project. Developed imaging (tomography) procedure has revealed organized patterns of defects on large areas of carbon surfaces. Several types of defects on the carbon surface can be "caught" and captured on the microscopic image within a few minutes. The article describing the research was published in Chemical Science journal of Royal Society of Chemistry

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Location of defects is important to estimate the quality of carbon materials and to predict physical and chemical properties of graphene systems.

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NASA's Curiosity Rover Views Serene Sundown on Mars

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NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recorded this view of the sun setting at the close of the mission's 956th Martian day, or sol (April 15, 2015), from the rover's location in Gale Crater.

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Scientists' Efforts Lead to Increased Stability of Anticancer Drug Nanocarriers in Blood

anian researchers from the University of Tabriz succeeded in the production of nanocarriers for a type of anticancer drug, which significantly decreases the side effects of the drug.

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Quick Detour by NASA Mars Rover Checks Ancient Valley

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This map shows the route on lower Mount Sharp that NASA's Curiosity followed in April and early May 2015, in the context of the surrounding terrain. Numbers along the route identify the sol, or Martian day, on which it completed the drive reaching that point, as counted since its 2012 landing.

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Penn and UC Merced researchers match physical and virtual atomic friction experiments

Technological limitations have made studying friction on the atomic scale difficult, but researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Merced, have now made advances in that quest on two fronts.

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Studying atomic scale friction, teams from Penn and UC Merced helped slow experiments and fast simulations meet in the middle.

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NASA Selects Advanced Space Technology Concepts for Further Study

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This artist's rendering depicts 2015 NIAC Phase I Fellow Mason Peck's soft-robotic rover for planetary environments for missions that cannot be accomplished with conventional power systems. It resembles a squid, with tentacle-like structures that serve as electrodynamic 'power scavengers' to harvest power from locally changing magnetic fields. The goal is to enable amphibious exploration of gas-giant moons like Europa.

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Electrons corralled using new quantum tool: 'Whispering gallery' effect confines electrons, could provide basis for new electron-optics devices

Researchers have succeeded in creating a new "whispering gallery" effect for electrons in a sheet of graphene -- making it possible to precisely control a region that reflects electrons within the material. They say the accomplishment could provide a basic building block for new kinds of electronic lenses, as well as quantum-based devices that combine electronics and optics.

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Putting a new spin on plasmonics: Researchers at Aalto University have discovered a novel way of combining plasmonic and magneto-optical effects

Researchers at Finland's Aalto University have discovered a novel way of combining plasmonic and magneto-optical effects. They experimentally demonstrated that patterning of magnetic materials into arrays of nanoscale dots can lead to a very strong and highly controllable modification of the polarization of light when the beam reflects from the array. This discovery could increase the sensitivity of optical components for telecommunication and biosensing applications.

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Magnetic nanoparticles arranged in arrays put a twist on light: depending on the distance between the nanoparticles, one frequency of light (visible to the human eye by its colour) resonates in one direction; in the other direction, light (induced by quantum effects in the magnetic material) is enhanced at a different wavelength.

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Attosecond physics: A new gateway to the microcosmos

Ludwig Maximilians Universitaet (LMU) in Munich physicists at the Laboratory for Attosecond Physics have developed a new laser-light source that will lead to significant advances in research on fundamental physics.

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The novel ytterbium:yttrium-aluminium-garnet thin-disk laser emits light pulses lasting 7.7 femtoseconds and consisting of 2.2 optical oscillations. The pulses have an average power of 6 W and carry 0.15 microjoules of energy, over 1.5 orders of magnitude higher than those generated by commercially available Ti:Sa lasers. (LAP)