Caltech engineers invent light-focusing device

(Phys.org)—As technology advances, it tends to shrink. From cell phones to laptops—powered by increasingly faster and tinier processors—everything is getting thinner and sleeker. And now light beams are getting smaller, ...

In static friction, chemistry is key to stronger bonds

(Phys.org)—Inspired by phenomena common to both earthquakes and atomic force microscopy, University of Wisconsin–Madison materials engineers have learned that chemical reactions between two silicon dioxide surfaces cause ...

Scientists first to observe plasmons on graphene

With a beam of infrared light, scientists have sent ripples of electrons along the surface of graphene and demonstrated that they can control the length and height of these oscillations, called plasmons, using a simple electrical ...

Synthetic cells used to bioengineer new forms of silica

(Phys.org) -- Scientists do not fully understand how nature uses proteins to develop new materials and minerals, but learning more about the natural processes could lead to bioengineering methods such as the biological synthesis ...

Group uses controlled cracking for nanofabrication

(Phys.org) -- When creating nanomaterials, cracking is generally considered a problem; it usually means something has gone wrong and the result, as with other material making processes such as glass or ceramics, almost always ...

Glass sponge as a living climate archive

(PhysOrg.com) -- Climate scientists have discovered a new archive of historical sea temperatures. With the help of the skeleton of a sponge that belongs to the Monorhaphis chuni species and that lived in the East China Sea ...

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