These light paintings let us visualize invisible clouds of air pollution
World Health Organization: Air pollution causes 7 million premature deaths per year Enlarge / Light painting reveals a cloud of particulates on Airport Road, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PM2.5 10-20 micrograms per cubic meter). (credit.....»»
Thin and light is back in style, and Apple’s M4 iPad Pro is proof it can be done right
Not too long ago, Apple was on a mission to make all of its devices thinner and lighter. This ambition resulted in iPhones that bent, and MacBook Pros that removed pro ports and had a terrible keyboard. In the past few years, Apple has shifted gea.....»»
Ohio train derailment caused chemical pollution falling to Earth"s surface across the US and beyond, study reveals
A new study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters reveals that the environmental impact of the February 3, 2023, Norfolk Southern train accident in East Palestine, Ohio covered a very large geographical area. Inorganic pollutants re.....»»
Study reveals planetary boundary layer: Satellites illuminate atmospheric mysteries
The endeavor to keep tabs on and curb air pollution has been stymied by the enigmatic nature of the planetary boundary layer (PBL). This atmospheric strip is a hotbed for pollutants. Yet, its mercurial dance through time and across geographies presen.....»»
NASA planes fly over Baltimore power plants and landfills measuring air pollution, greenhouse gases
Planes are circling over power plants, landfills and airports around Baltimore collecting data for NASA on air pollutants and greenhouse gases......»»
New method enhances Brillouin optical fiber sensing for infrastructure monitoring
Brillouin scattering is the phenomenon of the inelastic scattering of light by thermally generated acoustic vibrations. Brillouin-based optical fiber sensing can be used to measure temperature and strain distributions by determining how the light sca.....»»
Researchers film energy materials as they form
Shooting a movie in the lab requires special equipment. Especially when the actors are molecules—invisible to the naked eye—reacting with each other......»»
AI shows how field crops develop: Software can simulate future growth based on a single initial image
Researchers at the University of Bonn have developed software that can simulate the growth of field crops. To do this, they fed thousands of photos from field experiments into a learning algorithm. This enabled the algorithm to learn how to visualize.....»»
Extended maternal care is a central factor to animal and human longevity, modeling study suggests
The relationship between mother and child may offer clues to the mystery of why humans live longer lives than expected for their size—and shed new light on what it means to be human......»»
Light-Based Chips Could Help Slake AI"s Ever-Growing Thirst for Energy
Optical neural networks, which use photons instead of electrons, have advantages over traditional systems. They also face major obstacles......»»
Stellantis cuts costs rather than turn defensive as Chinese threat grows
CEO Carlos Tavares said Stellantis would stick to its "asset light" strategy in China, mainly focused on exporting to the country rather than manufacturing there. .....»»
Novel photocatalyst enables efficient ester reduction with blue light
The sweet smell of strawberries and other fruits is thanks to a chemical compound called ester, which is also found in many fats and polyesters. The ubiquitous compound can be broken down to produce desirable alcohols and other chemicals for use acro.....»»
Strong coupling and catenary field enhancement in the hybrid plasmonic metamaterial cavity and TMDC monolayers
Researchers in the field of nanophotonics have spent significant time in recent years investigating fascinating concepts known as polaritons and/or plexcitons. These ideas revolve around the strong coupling of light photons and/or plasmons to exciton.....»»
Structured light beams with controllable polarization along arbitrary trajectories
A structured light refers to a light field which is "customized" in both space and time, characterized by its unique distribution of amplitude, phase, and polarization state in both space and time......»»
Ultracompact and high-efficiency liquid-crystal-on-silicon light engines for augmented reality glasses
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are innovative display technologies with the ability to revolutionize the way we interact and experience the world......»»
Enhancement and manipulation of second- and third-harmonic generation based on all-dielectric nonlinear metasurfaces
Nonlinear optics is a branch of optics that deals with the complex nonlinear relationships between the optical response of the medium and the incident light when it interacts with the optical medium. Currently, nonlinear optics has been successfully.....»»
Genomic insights into the tea gray geometrid"s survival strategy
A study has shed light on the genetic makeup of the tea gray geometrid, Ectropis grisescens. Through the re-sequencing of 43 genomes, scientists have mapped out the pest's population structure and its remarkable adaptation to tea crops, offering new.....»»
Astronomers discover an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting a nearby ultracool dwarf star
An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new Earth-sized exoplanet that orbits an ultracool dwarf star located just 54.6 light years away. The newfound alien world, designated SPECULOOS-3 b, is slightly smaller but much hotter.....»»
Watery planets orbiting dead stars may be good candidates for studying life—if they can survive long enough
The small footprint and dim light of white dwarfs, remnants of stars that have burned through their fuel, may make excellent backdrops for studying planets with enough water to harbor life......»»
New road lights, fewer dead insects—insect-friendly lighting successfully tested
In a transdisciplinary study, a research team led by IGB has developed insect-friendly street lighting and tested it in the Dark Sky Reserve Westhavelland as well as in three German municipalities. Tailored and shielded road lights make the light sou.....»»
Permanent gene edits to tardigrades help shed light on their amazing resilience
Some species of tardigrades are highly and unusually resilient to various extreme conditions fatal to most other forms of life. The genetic basis for these exceptional abilities remains elusive......»»