University of Toronto

Human ancestors used fire one million years ago, archaeologist find

An international team led by the University of Toronto and Hebrew University has identified the earliest known evidence of the use of fire by human ancestors. Microscopic traces of wood ash, alongside animal ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Apr 02, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (42) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Researchers discover new quantum encryption method to foil hackers

A research team led by University of Toronto Professor Hoi-Kwong Lo has found a new quantum encryption method to foil even the most sophisticated hackers. The discovery is outlined in the latest issue of Physical Review Le ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Apr 02, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (10) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Ancient dinosaur nursery oldest nesting site yet found

An excavation at a site in South Africa has unearthed the 190-million-year-old dinosaur nesting site of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus—revealing significant clues about the evolution of comple ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Jan 23, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (13) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

World's most efficient flexible OLED on plastic created

(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineering researchers at the University of Toronto have developed the world's most efficient organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) on plastic. This result enables a flexible form factor, not to mention ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Oct 31, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (10) | comments 18 | with audio podcast

Research breakthrough takes supercomputing out of the lab

In the age of high-speed computing, the photon is king. However, producing the finely tuned particles of light is a complex and time-consuming process, until now.

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Apr 30, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 18 | with audio podcast

Quantum physics first: Researchers observe single photons in two-slit interferometer experiment

Quantum mechanics is famous for saying that a tree falling in a forest when there's no one there doesn't make a sound. Quantum mechanics also says that if anyone is listening, it interferes with and changes the tree. And ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Jun 02, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (23) | comments 44 | with audio podcast

Researchers crack full-spectrum solar challenge

In a paper published in Nature Photonics, U of T Engineering researchers report a new solar cell that may pave the way to inexpensive coatings that efficiently convert the sun's rays to electricity.

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Jun 26, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (24) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Astronomers find extreme weather on an alien world

(PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Toronto-led team of astronomers has observed extreme brightness changes on a nearby brown dwarf that may indicate a storm grander than any seen yet on a planet. Because old ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 12, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (10) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Research improves performance of next-generation solar cell technology

Researchers from the University of Toronto, the King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) and Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) have created the most efficient solar cell ever made based on collodial-quatum-dots ...

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Sep 18, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Human-powered ornithopter becomes first ever to achieve sustained flight (w/ Video)

Aviation history was made when the University of Toronto's human-powered aircraft with flapping wings became the first of its kind to fly continuously.

Technology / Engineering

created Sep 22, 2010 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (37) | comments 26 | with audio podcast

Nanoscientists build antenna for light

University of Toronto researchers have derived inspiration from the photosynthetic apparatus in plants to engineer a new generation of nanomaterials that control and direct the energy absorbed from light.

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Jul 10, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (18) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Researchers 'brighten' the future of OLED technology

Chlorine is an abundant and readily available halogen gas commonly associated with the sanitation of swimming pools and drinking water. Could a one-atom thick sheet of this element revolutionize the next generation of flat-panel ...

Technology / Engineering

created Apr 14, 2011 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (17) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Geophysicists employ novel method to identify sources of global sea level rise

As the Earth's climate warms, a melting ice sheet produces a distinct and highly non-uniform pattern of sea-level change, with sea level falling close to the melting ice sheet and rising progressively farther away. The pattern ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Apr 24, 2012 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (8) | comments 54 | with audio podcast

Lizard fossil provides missing link in debate over snake origins

(PhysOrg.com) -- Until a recent discovery, theories about the origins and evolutionary relationships of snakes barely had a leg to stand on.

Biology / Evolution

created May 18, 2011 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (7) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Omni-focus video camera to revolutionize industry

University of Toronto announced a breakthrough development in video camera design. The Omni-focus Video Camera, based on an entirely new distance-mapping principle, delivers automatic real-time focus of both ...

Technology / Engineering

created May 04, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (34) | comments 19 | with audio podcast