Category Physics

A method created at Rice University closes the gap between light and matter and may help advance technologies like quantum computers and communications. The lab designed and built a high-quality cavity to contain an ultrathin layer of gallium arsenide. By tuning the material with a magnetic field to resonate with a certain state of light in the cavity, they prompted the formation of polaritons that act in a collective manner. Credit: Qi Zhang/Rice University

Physicists probe photon-electron interactions in vacuum cavity experiments. Rice physicists are closing in on a way to create a new condensed matter state in which all the electrons in a material act as one by manipulating them with light and a magnetic field...

A new smart window material when incorporated into windows, sunroofs, or even curved glass surfaces, will have the ability to control both heat and light from the sun. Delia Milliron, an associate professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, and her team’s advancement is a new low-temperature process for coating the new smart material on plastic, which makes it easier and cheaper to apply than conventional coatings made directly on the glass itself. The team demonstrated a flexible electrochromic device, ie a small electric charge (~4 volts) can lighten or darken the material and control the transmission of heat-producing, near-infrared radiation. Such smart windows are aimed at saving on cooling and heating bills for homes and businesses.

Milliron and her team’s low-tempe...

Mystery of ‘Eclipse wind’ solved after 300 years

Edmund Halley – of Halley’s Comet fame – noted the ‘Chill and Damp which attended the Darkness’ of an eclipse in 1715, causing ‘some sense of Horror’ among the spectators. Now we know why. The eerie eclipse weather experienced by Halley – and during last year’s partial solar eclipse across the UK – was more than just a trick of the mind, scientists have confirmed. The ‘eclipse wind’ is a change in wind direction as the moon temporarily blocks out the sun, but up until now scientists have been baffled as to what causes it...

The fungi Aspergillus niger (top left), Penicillium simplicissimum (top right) and Penicillium chrysogenum (bottom) can recycle cobalt and lithium from rechargeable batteries. Credit: Aldo Lobos

Although rechargeable batteries in smartphones, cars and tablets can be charged again and again, they don’t last forever. Old batteries often wind up in landfills or incinerators, potentially harming the environment. And valuable materials remain locked inside. Now, a team is turning to naturally occurring fungi to drive an environmentally friendly recycling process to extract cobalt and lithium from tons of waste batteries.

Although a global problem, the U.S. leads the way as the largest generator of electronic waste. It is unclear how many electronic products are recycled...