Spectroscopy is an analytical technique that measures the interaction between electromagnetic radiation (or other energetic probes, such as electrons or ions) and matter as a function of wavelength, frequency, or energy to obtain information about a system’s composition, structure, and dynamics. By monitoring absorption, emission, scattering, or reflection, spectroscopy reveals quantized energy levels associated with electronic, vibrational, and rotational states. Variants such as UV–Vis, infrared, Raman, nuclear magnetic resonance, and X-ray spectroscopy exploit distinct interaction mechanisms and selection rules, enabling determination of molecular identity, chemical environment, bonding characteristics, and in some cases spatial or temporal evolution of materials and biochemical systems.
By rapidly twisting a microscopically small tip back and forth, researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have unlocked a new way to detect subtle changes on the surface of a material flexing in response to infrared ...
Nanomaterials
Aug 7, 2026
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Fluorescent dyes have long been used in biological research to identify and visualize structures within living cells. Although effective, they have several drawbacks, including altering the cells under study, limiting the ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 6, 2026
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12
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) and the Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad, have developed and tested a new class of fluorescent probes that enable scientists to visualize xylem, ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 1, 2026
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63
Researchers have developed and tested an infrared spectroscopy system that can rapidly detect chemical aerosols from a distance by using light reflected from common surfaces such as traffic signs, tree trunks or painted surfaces. ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 30, 2026
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18
Resolving a long-standing problem in semiconductor physics and optoelectronics, a team of researchers from Skoltech—a VEB.RF group institution—and their colleagues from ITMO University and HSE University have for the first ...
Condensed Matter
Jul 29, 2026
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Electronic motion sets the stage for virtually every light-induced process in nature, from the first step of a chemical reaction to the flow of charge in a solid. Yet these processes unfold so rapidly that they can be observed ...
General Physics
Jul 29, 2026
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A fleeting photoinduced electronic state and the subsequent formation of a photoinduced hidden state in a metal–organic framework were captured in just 30 femtoseconds by researchers at Science Tokyo, Tohoku University and ...
Condensed Matter
Jul 27, 2026
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10
A new study published in Nature Physics reports the first direct experimental evidence of a Floquet topological state, a novel light-induced phase of matter that, until now, has existed only on paper and in simulations. Topological ...
Researchers at the University of Twente have developed an optical method that follows the shape changes of a single protein in liquid without attaching anything to it. It reads the protein's structure from its own molecular ...
Bio & Medicine
Jul 22, 2026
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15
Are we alone in the universe? For scientists working on NASA's proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory, that question is no longer purely philosophical. It is increasingly becoming an engineering problem.
Astrobiology
Jul 20, 2026
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