Nature has a way of finding optimal solutions to complex problems. For example, despite the billions of ways for a single protein to fold, proteins always fold in a way that minimizes potential energy. Slime mold, a brainless ...
General Physics
Jun 26, 2019
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1
Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and partners have demonstrated an experimental, next-generation atomic clock—ticking at high "optical" frequencies—that is much smaller than usual, ...
Optics & Photonics
May 17, 2019
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267
A team of University of Otago/Dodd-Walls Centre scientists have created a novel device that could enable the next generation of faster, more energy efficient internet. Their breakthrough results have been published in the ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 18, 2019
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960
Lasers play a vital role in everything from modern communications and connectivity to bio-medicine and manufacturing. Many applications, however, require lasers that can emit multiple frequencies—colors of light—simultaneously, ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 18, 2019
1
496
Scientists in the Emergent Photonics Lab (EPic Lab) at the University of Sussex have made a breakthrough to a crucial element of an atomic clock—devices which could reduce our reliance on satellite mapping in the future—using ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 11, 2019
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2616
It's one thing for humans to lose track of time, but what happens when our clocks do In an increasingly networked world, devices need to be more punctual than ever. To keep them running as we expect, they depend on an army ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 06, 2019
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115
A new astronomical spectrograph built by a Penn State-led team of scientists provides the highest precision measurements to date of infrared signals from nearby stars, allowing astronomers to detect planets capable of having ...
Astronomy
Feb 21, 2019
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20
The hunt for Earth-like planets, and perhaps extraterrestrial life, just got more precise, thanks to record-setting starlight measurements made possible by a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) "astrocomb."
Astronomy
Feb 19, 2019
1
151
Optical frequency combs are laser sources whose spectrum consists of a series of discrete, equally spaced frequency lines that can be used for precise measurements. In the last two decades, they have become a major tool for ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 12, 2019
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113
Most lasers emit photons of exactly the same wavelength, producing a single color. However, there are also lasers that consist of many frequencies, with equal intervals in between, as in the teeth of a comb; thus, they are ...
Optics & Photonics
Dec 11, 2018
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