Oct 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Quantum computers are powerful computational devices that rely on quantum mechanics, or the science of how particles like electrons and atoms interact with the world around them. These devices could potentially be used to solve certain kinds of computational problems in a much shorter amount...
An all-in-one detector for thousands of colours
Oct 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Spectrometers are widely used throughout industry and research to detect and analyse light. Spectrometers measure the spectrum of light – its strength at different wavelengths, like the colours in a rainbow – and are an essential tool for identifying and analysing specimens and materials. Integrated...
Signatures of alien technology could be how humanity first finds extraterrestrial life
Oct 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) If an alien were to look at Earth, many human technologies – from cell towers to fluorescent light bulbs – could be a beacon signifying the presence of life. We are two astronomers who work on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence – or SETI. In...
Discovery could dramatically narrow search for space creatures
Oct 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) An Earth-like planet orbiting an M dwarf — the most common type of star in the universe — appears to have no atmosphere at all. This discovery could cause a major shift in the search for life on other planets. Because M-dwarfs are so ubiquitous,...
Webb reveals unprecedented glimpse of merging galaxies
Oct 21, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Using the James Webb Space Telescope to look back in time at the early universe, astronomers discovered a surprise: a cluster of galaxies merging together around a rare red quasar within a massive black hole. The findings by Johns Hopkins University and an international team...
Thinnest ferroelectric material ever paves the way for new energy-efficient devices
Oct 20, 2022 (Nanowerk News) As electronic devices become smaller and smaller, the materials that power them need to become thinner and thinner. Because of this, one of the key challenges scientists face in developing next-generation energy-efficient electronics is discovering materials that can maintain special electronic properties at an ultrathin...
The sunflower society
Oct 20, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees requires the energy system to be restructured as quickly as possible. But the speed of this transformation is physically limited. An Empa study (Biophysical Economics and Sustainability, "How Much Energy Storage can We Afford? On the Need for a...
How can digital data stored as DNA be manipulated?
Oct 20, 2022 (Nanowerk News) DNA can be used to reliably store a vast amount of digital data. However, retrieval or manipulation of specific data encoded in these molecules has hitherto been difficult. Now, researchers from the CNRS and the University of Tokyo have pioneered the application of a new...
Acidic layer in single-walled carbon nanotubes facilitates confinement of anion impurities
Oct 20, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Efficient purification processes that separate impurities from air and water are necessary to sustain life on earth. To this end, carbon materials have long been used for deodorizing, separating, and removing harmful anion impurities by adsorption. So far, the detailed mechanism by which carbon purifies...
Completing Einstein’s homework on special relativity in electromagnetism
Oct 20, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Albert Einstein, one of the most celebrated modern scientists, proposed the revolutionary theory of special relativity over a century ago. This theory forms the basis of most of what we understand about the Universe, but a part of it has not been experimentally demonstrated until...