/ 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. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD), in collaboration with international partners, have developed momentum-resolved Floquet optical selection rules. They show how these symmetry-based rules determine the spectral weight distributions of photon-dressed sidebands in time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (TrARPES) experiments across different pump-probe configurations. This fundamental work has now been published in Science Advances. /news/2025-08-symmetry-based-floquet-optical-sidebands.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Thu, 21 Aug 2025 16:12:03 EDT news675011521 A team of physicists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has made a breakthrough that could bring secure quantum communication closer to everyday use—without needing flawless hardware. /news/2025-08-imperfect-sources-benchmark-quantum-communication.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Thu, 21 Aug 2025 15:41:03 EDT news675009661 Scientists have long speculated that polaritons—hybrids of light and matter—could be harnessed to control photochemistry. Now, researchers at the City University of New York (CUNY) have shown that these fleeting states can indeed drive a fundamental type of molecular reaction. /news/2025-08-scientists-harness-polaritons-molecular.html Nanophysics Thu, 21 Aug 2025 15:22:43 EDT news675008559 Polaritons are formed by the strong coupling of light and matter. When they mix together, all the matter is excited simultaneously—referred to as delocalization. This delocalization has the unique ability to relay energy between matter that is otherwise not possible. /news/2025-08-disordered-energy-interactions.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 21 Aug 2025 14:00:22 EDT news674989542 A research team has developed upconversion nanoparticles to assist in powering molecular motors. The nanoparticles can convert near-infrared radiation, which is capable of penetrating bulk material, into blue or UV light that can efficiently power the motors. As a result, these motors can now be effectively used to make bulk materials responsive or act as molecular switches in biological applications. The results were published last month in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. /news/2025-08-upconversion-nanoparticles-aid-application-molecular.html Nanomaterials Thu, 21 Aug 2025 12:53:18 EDT news674999589 Holography—the science of recording and reconstructing light fields—has long been central to imaging, data storage, and encryption. Traditional holographic systems, however, rely on bulky optical setups and interference experiments, making them impractical for compact or integrated devices. Computational methods such as the Gerchberg–Saxton (GS) algorithm have simplified hologram design by eliminating the need for physical interference patterns, but these approaches typically produce scalar holograms with uniform polarization, limiting the amount of information that can be encoded. /news/2025-08-ultrathin-metasurface-enables-high-efficiency.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 21 Aug 2025 12:53:07 EDT news674999577 Our remarkable ability to perform complex tasks—such as thinking, observing, and touch—stems from proteins, the tiny nanometer-sized molecules in the body. Despite decades of research, our understanding of the structure and function of such molecular machines within the cellular environment remains limited. /news/2025-08-ngstrm-scale-optical-microscopy-deciphers.html Bio & Medicine Nanophysics Thu, 21 Aug 2025 11:43:03 EDT news674995382 Researchers have developed a technique to fold glass sheets into microscopic 3D photonic structures directly on a chip—a process they call photonic origami. The method could enable tiny, yet complex optical devices for data processing, sensing and experimental physics. /news/2025-08-photonic-origami-glass-microscopic-3d.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 21 Aug 2025 10:00:02 EDT news674908381 Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, our solar system formed from a huge disk of gas and dust orbiting our sun. The asteroids seen today are some of the most complete artifacts of this formation that are left to observe. Scientists can study these floating time capsules and examine their composition, shape, and surface makeup to infer what our solar system was like when it was born. /news/2025-08-asteroids-story.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Thu, 21 Aug 2025 08:20:03 EDT news674983200 They are barely thicker than a human hair—yet they could significantly improve the effectiveness of inhaled medications: carrier particles in dry powder inhalers transport the active ingredient and ensure it can be efficiently inhaled into the lungs. How well this works depends strongly on their shape. /news/2025-08-carrier-microparticles-inhaled-medicines-high.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 20 Aug 2025 16:32:03 EDT news674926321 For years, engineers have sought better ways to build tiny, efficient lasers that can be integrated directly onto silicon chips, a key step toward faster, more capable optical communications and computing. /news/2025-08-simple-additive-method-perovskite-laser.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 20 Aug 2025 16:22:03 EDT news674925721 The mysterious substance called dark matter is intrinsically invisible. It cannot be directly observed—rather, its presence is inferred by its gravitational influence on the universe, such as binding galaxy clusters together and moving stars around their galaxy faster than they should. /news/2025-08-deep-beneath-french-alps-scientists.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 20 Aug 2025 08:57:05 EDT news674899021 Imagine a whirlpool spinning in a river, or a tornado swirling through the sky. They don't just spin on the spot: they travel forward while maintaining that spiraling motion inside them. These twisting motions, called vortices, are powerful and organized spirals. Now, imagine light that behaves the same way: a beam of light that spins as it moves forward. This "twisted" light, known as an optical vortex, can carry more information than normal light, opening the door to faster internet and ultra-secure communications. /news/2025-08-ultra-thin-materials-optical-vortices.html Optics & Photonics Tue, 19 Aug 2025 15:27:03 EDT news674836021 Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) packs so much chemical energy into a small space that it is powerful enough to fuel rockets. But this same ability to concentrate energy also makes hydrogen peroxide useful for more earthly energy applications, such as powering fuel cells. It also holds promise as a green and sustainable energy source: when hydrogen peroxide releases its stored energy, the main byproduct is simply water. /news/2025-08-sunlight-powered-catalyst-standard-hydrogen.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Tue, 19 Aug 2025 14:24:03 EDT news674832241 Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) is the most preferable system for live-cell super-resolution imaging. It enables the observation of intricate subcellular dynamics. However, conventional SIM has long relied on the complex rotation of one-dimensional stripe illumination at three angles, requiring nine exposures to reconstruct a uniform super-resolution image. This greatly hinders imaging speed and causes unnecessary photobleaching, limiting the available information flux in live-cell imaging. /news/2025-08-triangle-illumination-microscopy-sustained-cell.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Mon, 18 Aug 2025 15:00:33 EDT news674748026 Topological spin textures, spatially organized patterns linked to the intrinsic angular momentum of particles, have proved to be highly advantageous for the development of spintronics and quantum technologies. One of the most studied among these textures are skyrmionic textures, which are two-dimensional and stable patterns of spin orientation. Recently, the study of skyrmionic textures has gained significant attention in the field of optics and photonics, revealing novel physical properties and promising potential applications. /news/2025-08-topological-textures-scientists-micro-materials.html Optics & Photonics Sat, 16 Aug 2025 07:30:02 EDT news674392450 Researchers at the College of Design and Engineering (CDE) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a supramolecular co-assembly platform that produces chiral soft materials with strong and stable full-color circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) across the visible spectrum, including in red, which has historically been a difficult target. /news/2025-08-strategy-robust-circularly-polarized-luminescence.html Condensed Matter Optics & Photonics Fri, 15 Aug 2025 12:38:59 EDT news674480331 For the first time, researchers at UmeÃ¥ University have demonstrated the full capabilities of their large-scale laser facility. In a study published in Nature Photonics, the team reports generating a combination of ultrashort laser pulses, extreme peak power, and precisely controlled waveforms that make it possible to explore the fastest processes in nature. /news/2025-08-sweden-powerful-laser-short-pulses.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 15 Aug 2025 09:18:03 EDT news674468282 The reliable engineering of quantum states, particularly those involving several particles, is central to the development of various quantum technologies, including quantum computers, sensors and communication systems. These collective quantum states include so-called Dicke and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states, multipartite entangled states that can be leveraged to collect precise measurements, to correct errors made by quantum computers and to enable communication between remote devices leveraging quantum mechanical effects. /news/2025-08-grover-algorithm-efficiently-quantum-states.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Fri, 15 Aug 2025 07:30:02 EDT news674389561 An international team of scientists led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has developed a new type of ultracompact laser that is more energy efficient and consumes less power. /news/2025-08-energy-efficient-ultracompact-laser-loss.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 14 Aug 2025 11:34:04 EDT news674390042 A team led by scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have generated a highly exotic type of light beam, called a Poincaré beam, using the FERMI free-electron laser (FEL) facility in Italy, marking the first time such a beam has been produced with a FEL. /news/2025-08-laser-advance-stage-ray-science.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 14 Aug 2025 11:15:03 EDT news674388901 Using NASA's Chandra and ESA's XMM-Newton space observatories, Indian astronomers have explored the population of ultraluminous X-ray sources in the galaxy NGC 5813, which resulted in the detection of a new source of this type. Results of the observational campaign were published August 7 on the pre-print server arXiv. /news/2025-08-ultraluminous-ray-sources-galaxy-ngc.html Astronomy Thu, 14 Aug 2025 10:10:01 EDT news674383040 When two mesh screens or fabrics are overlapped with a slight offset, moiré patterns emerge as a result of interference caused by the misalignment of the grids. While these patterns are commonly recognized as optical illusions in everyday life, their significance extends to the nanoscale, such as in materials like graphene, where they can profoundly influence electronic properties. /news/2025-08-customized-moir-patterns-stacked-metal.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 13 Aug 2025 15:23:03 EDT news674317381 While conventional computers store information in the form of bits, fundamental pieces of logic that take a value of either 0 or 1, quantum computers are based on qubits. These can have a state that is simultaneously both 0 and 1. This odd property, a quirk of quantum physics known as superposition, lies at the heart of quantum computing's promise to ultimately solve problems that are intractable for classical computers. /news/2025-08-quantum-longer.html Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 13 Aug 2025 12:59:56 EDT news674308789 Interactions between atoms and molecules are facilitated by electromagnetic fields. The bigger the distance between the partners involved, the weaker these mutual interactions are. In order for the particles to be able to form natural chemical bonds, the distance between them must usually be approximately equal to their diameter. /news/2025-08-molecular-hybridization-quantum-vacuum.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 13 Aug 2025 12:06:03 EDT news674305561 Researchers at the Optics and Photonics Research Center (CePOF) have succeeded in increasing the susceptibility of the fungus Candida albicans to drug treatment through light-activated therapy. The results of the study offer a promising alternative in the fight against antimicrobial resistance, a growing global problem that occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other parasites develop genetic mutations that render them resistant to drugs. /news/2025-08-laser-therapy-boosts-effectiveness-antifungal.html Cell & Microbiology Biotechnology Wed, 13 Aug 2025 11:46:04 EDT news674304361 As glaciers melt, huge chunks of ice break free and splash into the sea, generating tsunami-sized waves and leaving behind a powerful wake as they drift away. This process, called calving, is important for researchers to understand. But the front of a glacier is a dangerous place for data collection. /news/2025-08-seafloor-fiber-reveals-falling-ice.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 13 Aug 2025 11:00:19 EDT news674209681 Skyrmions are localized, particle-like excitations in materials that retain their structure due to topological constraints (i.e., restrictions arising from properties that remain unchanged under smooth deformations). These quasiparticles, first introduced in high-energy physics and quantum field theory, have since attracted intense interest in condensed matter physics and photonics, owing to their potential as robust carriers for information storage and manipulation. /news/2025-08-experimental-quantum-optical-skyrmions-semiconductor.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Â鶹ÒùÔºics Wed, 13 Aug 2025 08:30:01 EDT news674226132 Researchers with the schools of science and engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) are exploring new ways to manipulate matter with light to unlock a new generation of computer chips, photovoltaic cells and other advanced materials. /news/2025-08-material-properties-reveals-atomic-nanocrystals.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 12 Aug 2025 15:19:04 EDT news674230741 Plan a route, grab some snacks, and fuel up. Engineers and scientists have been sending massive magnets from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national labs on cross-country road trips. /news/2025-08-massive-magnets-repurposing-electromagnets.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 12 Aug 2025 14:03:59 EDT news674226234