In 2005, condensed matter physicists Charles Kane and Eugene Mele considered the fate of graphene at low temperatures. Their work led to the discovery of a new state of matter dubbed a "topological insulator," which would ...
General Physics
Jun 12, 2019
5
900
By determining simple guidelines, researchers at UC Santa Barbara's Solid State Lighting & Energy Center (SSLEC) have made it possible to optimize phosphors –– a key component in white LED lighting –– allowing for ...
General Physics
Oct 31, 2013
4
0
On an archaeology field trip in New Mexico as an undergraduate in 2006, Dana Bardolph noticed something that struck her as an odd gender imbalance: The professor leading the dig was a men, while the graduate assistant and ...
Social Sciences
Nov 19, 2014
6
3
Particle colliders creating black holes that could devour the Earth. Sounds like a great Hollywood script. But, according to UC Santa Barbara Physics Professor Steve Giddings, it's pure fiction.
Astronomy
Jun 28, 2008
30
0
Quantum computers use the fundamentals of quantum mechanics to potentially speed up the process of solving complex computations. Suppose you need to perform the task of searching for a specific number in a phone book. A classical ...
Quantum Physics
Oct 22, 2019
1
1150
In order to survive, organisms must control the pressure inside them, from the single-cell level to tissues and organs. Measuring these pressures in living cells and tissues in physiological conditions is a challenge.
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 3, 2023
0
391
Providing structural support and protection against such conditions as blistering, cataracts and dementia, intermediate filament proteins (IFs) reside in every cell in the human body. In insects, however, IFs are nowhere ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 7, 2016
0
895
Economic redistribution has been a core political dispute around the world for centuries. And while intuitively fairness seems a natural explanation for why people support redistribution, researchers at UC Santa Barbara find ...
Social Sciences
Jul 17, 2017
14
748
A laser-powered wafer-thin spacecraft capable of reaching Alpha Centauri in 20 years may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but it's not. And while such a launch isn't imminent, the possibility of one in the future ...
Space Exploration
Jun 23, 2015
1
251
Scientists can tell a lot about a star by the light it gives off. The color, for example, reveals its surface temperature and the elements in and around it. Brightness correlates with a star's mass, and for many stars, brightness ...
Astronomy
Aug 2, 2019
7
1107
