New tool enables biomechanical studies of individual cells

More than 40 years ago, the foundation for optical tweezers was laid when Arthur Ashkin demonstrated that near the focus of a laser beam, momentum transfer between light and dielectric particles creates gradient forces large ...

Physicists tease out twisted torques of DNA

Like an impossibly twisted telephone cord, DNA, the molecule that encodes genetic information, also often finds itself twisted into coils. This twisting, called supercoiling, is caused by enzymes that travel along DNA's helical ...

First entanglement between light and optical atomic coherence

Using clouds of ultra-cold atoms and a pair of lasers operating at optical wavelengths, researchers have reached a quantum network milestone: entangling light with an optical atomic coherence composed of interacting atoms ...

Elucidating energy shifts in optical tweezers

A small piece of paper sticks to an electrically charged plastic ruler. The principle of this simple classroom physics experiment is applied at the microscopic scale by so-called optical tweezers to get the likes of polystyrene ...

Into the quantum internet at the speed of light

Not only do optical fibers transmit information every day around the world at the speed of light, but they can also be harnessed for the transport of quantum information. In the current issue of Nature Photonics, a research ...

New antimatter method to provide 'a major experimental advantage'

(Phys.org)—Researchers have proposed a method for cooling trapped antihydrogen which they believe could provide 'a major experimental advantage' and help to map the mysterious properties of antimatter that have to date ...

Probing the mystery of the Venus fly trap's botanical bite

Plants lack muscles, yet in only a tenth of a second, the meat-eating Venus fly trap hydrodynamically snaps its leaves shut to trap an insect meal. This astonishingly rapid display of botanical movement has long fascinated ...

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