Category Physics

Credit: Image courtesy of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

Technion researchers have demonstrated, for the first time, that laser emissions can be created through the interaction of light and water waves. This “water-wave laser” could someday be used in tiny sensors that combine light waves, sound and water waves, or as a feature on microfluidic “lab-on-a-chip” devices used to study cell biology and to test new drug therapies. For now, the water-wave laser offers a “playground” for scientists studying the interaction of light and fluid at a scale smaller than the width of a human hair.

The study is the first bridge between two areas of research that were previously considered unrelated to one another: nonlinear optics and water waves...

As well as being the thinnest, strongest and lightest known material, graphene is flexible, impermeable and extremely electrically and thermally conductive. All properties well suited for next generation NFC antennas. Credit: Image courtesy of Graphene Flagship

Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables 2 electronic devices to transfer data. The most distinctive characteristic of NFC is the fact that it can transmit small amounts of data wireless only within a close range while other methods, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, have a wide transmit range of up to 10 or even 100m. The reason why NFC technology is used to identify objects is that, with such a close transmitting range, it is more secure and less vulnerable to data hijacking...

Ketone (fluorenone) polymer can fix hydrogen via simple electrolytic hydrogenation in water at room temperature and release hydrogen when heated to 80 degrees C. Credit: Waseda University

Polymer addresses safety and energy loss. A Waseda University (Tokyo) research group has developed a polymer which can store hydrogen in a light, compact and flexible sheet, and is safe to touch even when filled with hydrogen gas. The conventional methods of storing and carrying hydrogen were accompanied by safety risks such as explosions. Recently, hydrogen-absorbing organic compounds have been studied as storage materials, for their ability to stably store and release hydrogen through chemical bonding...

One of NIST’s ytterbium lattice atomic clocks. NIST physicists combined two of these experimental clocks to make the world’s most stable single atomic clock. The image is a stacked composite of about 10 photos in which an index card was positioned in front of the lasers to reveal the laser beam paths. Credit: N. Phillips/NIST

What could be better than a world-leading atomic clock? 2 clocks in 1. Physicists NIST have combined two experimental atomic clocks based on ytterbium atoms to set yet another world record for clock stability. Stability can be thought of as how precisely the duration of each clock tick matches every other tick that comes before and after...