Dust particles smaller than about a wavelength of light are abundant in our solar system, created by collisions between asteroids and from the evaporation of comets. As they scatter sunlight, these particles produce the zodiacal ...
Astronomy
Mar 9, 2015
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53
A theory borrowed from physics to understand how electrons move in semiconductors may explain the silvery mirror-like appearance of many fish, recent research suggests.
General Physics
Feb 25, 2015
0
49
Most lenses are, by definition, curved. After all, they are named for their resemblance to lentils, and a glass lens made flat is just a window with no special powers. But a new type of lens created at the Harvard School ...
Optics & Photonics
Feb 19, 2015
2
2901
A research team led by North Carolina State University has identified and synthesized a material that can be used to create efficient plasmonic devices that respond to light in the mid-infrared (IR) range. This is the first ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 16, 2015
0
41
Squeezing light into tiny circuits and controlling its flow electrically is a holy grail that has become a realistic scenario thanks to the discovery of graphene. This tantalizing achievement is realized by exploiting so-called ...
Nanomaterials
Jan 12, 2015
2
31
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) scientists, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Manchester, U.K.; Imperial College, London; University of California San Diego; and the National Institute of Material ...
Optics & Photonics
Nov 20, 2014
0
0
A group of researchers from Austria have sent twisted beams of light across the rooftops of Vienna.
Quantum Physics
Nov 11, 2014
1
0
(Phys.org) —Plants bask in the sun and need its light to live, but they also coat themselves in a natural sunscreen like a sunbather on the beach, protecting themselves from damaging rays.
Biochemistry
Nov 5, 2014
1
0
The physical properties of the ultra-white scales on certain species of beetle could be used to make whiter paper, plastics and paints, while using far less material than is used in current manufacturing methods.
Condensed Matter
Aug 15, 2014
0
1
(Phys.org) —Scientists have used selective breeding to create purple wings on the normally brown-winged butterfly Bicyclus anynana. Antonia Monteiro and her colleagues selected butterflies with wing scales that reflected ...
