/ en-us Â鶹ÒùÔº internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ÒùÔºics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Cornell researchers have developed a two-phase liquid crystal system that can rapidly change—and hold—its shape, transforming from a transparent thin liquid film to an opaque emulsion, and then back again, all with a brief jolt of a high-frequency electric field. /news/2025-07-shapeshifting-liquid-crystal-emulsions.html Biochemistry Materials Science Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:20:12 EDT news671889700 A study in Nature describes both the mechanism and the material conditions necessary for superfluorescence at room temperature. The work could serve as a blueprint for designing materials that allow exotic quantum states—such as superconductivity, superfluidity or superfluorescence—at high temperatures, paving the way for applications such as quantum computers that don't require extremely low temperatures to operate. /news/2025-05-solitonic-superfluorescence-paves-high-temperature.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 28 May 2025 11:00:10 EDT news667640101 What if the magnon Hall effect, which processes information using magnons (spin waves) capable of current-free information transfer with magnets, could overcome its current limitation of being possible only on a 2D plane? If magnons could be utilized in 3D space, they would enable flexible design, including 3D circuits, and be applicable in various fields such as next-generation neuromorphic (brain-mimicking) computing structures, similar to human brain information processing. /news/2025-05-unveil-3d-magnon-neuromorphic-quantum.html Condensed Matter Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 22 May 2025 11:22:03 EDT news667131721 Laser frequency combs are light sources that produce evenly spaced, sharp lines across the spectrum, resembling the teeth of a comb. They serve as precise rulers for measuring time and frequency, and have become essential tools in applications such as lidar, high-speed optical communications, and space navigation. Traditional frequency combs rely on large, lab-based lasers. However, recent advancements have led to the development of chip-scale soliton microcombs, which generate ultrashort pulses of light within microresonators. /news/2025-05-chip-scale-soliton-microcombs-femtosecond.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 21 May 2025 15:40:30 EDT news667060828 Â鶹ÒùÔºicists at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created a compact laser that emits extremely bright, short pulses of light in a useful but difficult-to-achieve wavelength range, packing the performance of larger photonic devices onto a single chip. /news/2025-04-physicists-compact-mid-infrared-pulse.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 16 Apr 2025 11:00:11 EDT news663936961 An Aston University researcher has conducted the first experimental demonstration of intricate and previously theorized behaviors in the fundamental patterns that govern oscillatory systems in nature and technology. /news/2025-03-soliton-laser-unveils-complexities-synchronization.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Optics & Photonics Mon, 24 Mar 2025 10:23:04 EDT news662030581 The physical interaction between two or more systems, also known as coupling, can give rise to unique and unexpected effects. In the field of optics, coupled light sources (e.g., lasers) can influence each other, producing complex light patterns that cannot be emitted by individual light-emitting systems. /news/2025-01-coupled-semiconductor-lasers-generate-optical.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 31 Jan 2025 06:30:01 EST news657390200 In the world of modern optics, frequency combs are invaluable tools. These devices act as rulers for measuring light, enabling breakthroughs in telecommunications, environmental monitoring, and even astrophysics. But building compact and efficient frequency combs has been a challenge—until now. /news/2025-01-compact-gen-photonics.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 22 Jan 2025 11:00:01 EST news656756627 The amorphous state of matter is the most abundant form of visible matter in the universe, and includes all structurally disordered systems, such as biological cells or essential materials like glass and polymers. /news/2025-01-physicists-experimentally-topological-defects-glasses.html Condensed Matter Soft Matter Mon, 13 Jan 2025 10:40:01 EST news655984959 Researchers at University of Tsukuba have developed a unique technique for synthesizing commonly used polymers, such as polystyrene, using radical polymerization. Here, a remote spark discharge from a Tesla coil, which is a high-voltage, high-frequency generator allows the reaction to proceed without requiring conventional catalysts or polymerization initiators. /news/2024-08-approach-common-plastics-remote-discharge.html Polymers Mon, 05 Aug 2024 07:58:54 EDT news642063529 The emergence of ultrafast laser pulse generation, marking a significant milestone in laser science, has triggered incredible progress across a wide array of disciplines, encompassing industrial applications, energy technologies, life sciences, and beyond. Among the various laser platforms that have been developed, fiber femtosecond oscillators, esteemed for their compact design, outstanding performance and cost-effectiveness have become one of the mainstream technologies for femtosecond pulse generation. /news/2024-03-visible-femtosecond-fiber-oscillators-advance.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 27 Mar 2024 16:11:03 EDT news630774662 Mode-locked lasers are advanced lasers that produce very short pulses of light, with durations ranging from femtoseconds to picoseconds. These lasers are widely used to study ultrafast and nonlinear optical phenomena, but they have also proved useful for various technological applications. /news/2024-03-mode-lasers-hermitian-topological-physics.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 26 Mar 2024 08:20:01 EDT news630576977 Topological solitons can be found in many places and at many different length scales. For example, they take the form of kinks in coiled telephone cords and large molecules such as proteins. At a very different scale, a black hole can be understood as a topological soliton in the fabric of spacetime. Solitons play an important role in biological systems, being relevant for protein folding and morphogenesis—the development of cells or organs. /news/2024-03-endless-domino-effect-reciprocal-topological.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Condensed Matter Wed, 20 Mar 2024 13:30:43 EDT news630160239 In the realm of physics, synthetic dimensions (SDs) have emerged as one of the frontiers of active research, offering a pathway to explore phenomena in higher-dimensional spaces, beyond our conventional 3D geometrical space. The concept has garnered significant attention, especially in topological photonics, due to its potential to unlock rich physics inaccessible in traditional dimensions. /news/2024-03-team-synthetic-dimension-dynamics.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 19 Mar 2024 16:12:03 EDT news630083521 Chip-based devices known as frequency combs, which measure the frequency of light waves with unparalleled precision, have revolutionized timekeeping, the detection of planets outside of our solar system and high-speed optical communication. /news/2024-03-frequency-boost-accuracy-timekeeping.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 14 Mar 2024 15:46:03 EDT news629649961 We could be closer to understanding the mystery behind what dark matter is, following new research from physicists at King's College London. /news/2024-02-explosive-axion-stars-dark.html Astronomy Mon, 26 Feb 2024 11:38:52 EST news628169927 When light goes through a material, it often behaves in unpredictable ways. This phenomenon is the subject of an entire field of study called "nonlinear optics," which is now integral to technological and scientific advances from laser development and optical frequency metrology, to gravitational wave astronomy and quantum information science. /news/2024-01-kerr-solitons-boost-power-transmission.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 11 Jan 2024 14:00:02 EST news624194579 In an innovative approach to controlling ultrashort laser flashes, researchers from the Universities of Bayreuth and Konstanz are using soliton physics and two pulse combs within a single laser. The method has the potential to drastically speed up and simplify laser applications. /news/2024-01-ultra-short-laser-demand-pulse.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 11 Jan 2024 09:56:03 EST news624189361 When we last checked in with Caltech's Kerry Vahala three years ago, his lab had recently reported the development of a new optical device called a turnkey frequency microcomb that has applications in digital communications, precision time keeping, spectroscopy, and even astronomy. /news/2023-12-conjoined-racetracks-optical-device.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 08 Dec 2023 14:57:23 EST news621269838 Hopfions, magnetic spin structures predicted decades ago, have become a hot and challenging research topic in recent years. In a study published in Nature, the first experimental evidence is presented by a Swedish-German-Chinese research collaboration. /news/2023-11-experimental-evidence-hopfions-crystals-dimension.html Condensed Matter Wed, 22 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news619867713 By analyzing deep optical imagery from the IAC Stripe 82 Legacy Project, an international team of astronomers has serendipitously discovered a new almost dark galaxy. The newfound galaxy, dubbed "Nube," has a very low surface brightness and is as massive as the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The finding is reported in a paper published October 18 on the pre-print server arXiv. /news/2023-10-astronomers-dark-galaxy.html Astronomy Wed, 25 Oct 2023 10:08:23 EDT news617447298 When two lattices with distinct angles or periodicities come together, they conjure a moiré superlattice—a realm where astonishing phenomena like superconductivity and optical solitons spring to life. At the heart of this realm lies the moiré flatband, a key player in shaping advanced light–matter interactions, such as laser emission and second harmonic generation. In moiré physics and its relevant applications, wielding control over flatbands is a pivotal superpower. /news/2023-10-moir-physics-photonics-band-offset.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 04 Oct 2023 15:40:03 EDT news615652802 Microcombs can help us discover planets outside our solar system and track new diseases in our bodies. But current microcombs are inefficient and unable to reach their full potential. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have scored a world first with their solution to make microcombs 10 times more efficient. Their breakthrough opens the way to new discoveries in space and health care and paves the way for high-performance lasers in a range of other technologies. /news/2023-09-method-microcombs-efficient.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 20 Sep 2023 10:23:09 EDT news614424187 On January 15, 2022, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano in Tonga exploded, releasing large amounts of energy into the atmosphere and ocean, causing tsunamis across the Pacific Ocean. Scientists from the Shocks, Solitons and Turbulence Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have studied the disturbances in the atmosphere and ocean during this event and developed a model to improve current tsunami early warning systems. Their findings are published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics. /news/2023-09-real-time-accurate-tsunami-patterns.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 01 Sep 2023 12:36:33 EDT news612790589 New theoretical and experimental physics research shows the first ever creation of a diverse range of fine-sized, special polarization structures known as solitons in a multiferroic material. While solitons have been previously identified in pure ferroelectrics—or materials with polarization—this range of solitons had not been shown to exist in multiferroic materials, in which magnetic spin exists in addition to polarization. /news/2023-07-class-tiny-polarization-solitons.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Wed, 26 Jul 2023 10:16:03 EDT news609585361 The transition to chaos is ubiquitous in nonlinear systems. Continuous-wave-driven photonic-chip-based Kerr microresonators exhibit spatiotemporal chaos, also known as chaotic modulation instability. /news/2023-07-chaotic-microcomb-based-parallel-ranging.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 20 Jul 2023 13:10:06 EDT news609077401 A new tool for generating microwave signals could help propel advances in wireless communication, imaging, atomic clocks, and more. /news/2023-06-microcomb-device-advances-photonic-technology.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 21 Jun 2023 12:14:03 EDT news606568441 Can a computer learn from the past and anticipate what will happen next, like a human? You might not be surprised to hear that some cutting-edge AI models could achieve this feat, but what about a computer that looks a little different—more like a tank of water? /news/2023-05-built-analogue-chaotic-future.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Fri, 26 May 2023 12:26:41 EDT news604322798 Researchers have discovered a new generic production mechanism of gravitational waves generated by a phenomenon known as oscillons, which can originate in many cosmological theories from the fragmentation into solitonic "lumps" of the inflaton field that drove the early universe's rapid expansion, reports a new study published in Â鶹ÒùÔºical Review Letters on May 2. /news/2023-05-approach-explore-earliest-universe-dynamics.html Astronomy Thu, 11 May 2023 09:25:04 EDT news603015902 A moment's hesitation... Yes, a full stop here—but shouldn't there be a comma there? Or would a hyphen be better? Punctuation can be a nuisance; it is often simply neglected. Wrong! The most recent statistical analyses paint a different picture: punctuation seems to "grow out" of the foundations shared by all the (examined) languages, and its features are far from trivial. /news/2023-04-punctuation-literature-major-languages-intriguingly.html Mathematics Social Sciences Thu, 20 Apr 2023 14:25:04 EDT news601219501