Category Physics

The researchers, led by University of Cambridge, used ultrafast laser pulses to observe how a photon, can be converted into 2 energetically excited particles, known as spin-triplet excitons, through a process called singlet fission. If the process of singlet fission can be controlled, it could enable solar cells to double the amount of electrical current that can be extracted.

In conventional semiconductors such as silicon, when 1 photon is absorbed it leads to the formation of 1 free electron that can be harvested as electrical current. However certain materials undergo singlet fission instead, where the absorption of a photon leads to the formation of 2 spin-triplet excitons...

This image shows electron density in a molecule. Credit: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

This will make it possible to directly control chemical reactions and biological processes and obtain a desired result literally at the touch of a button. Using “attophysics”- the study of events with attosecond time resolution (10^-18 of a second), the researchers are trying to track the ultrafast movement of electrons in molecules, or more precisely the restructuring of their electron shells. These processes are the key to understanding chemical and biochemical reactions, as it is the “redistribution” of electrons that is involved in the formation of new chemical bonds...

Researchers explained that this air cooling system based on clean energy that is supplied with water and has photovoltaic modules that can operate for 12 continuous hours. Credit: Image courtesy of Investigación y Desarrollo

GeckoLogic firm developed an evaporative cooler that has an integrated photovoltaic system isolated from the electrical network, which enables to refresh an area of ​​~200 sq meters. The advantage of this product is that it works exclusively with sunlight and water, which makes it self-sustaining. It also entails the advantage of eliminating the need to connect it to a conventional power source. In addition to only using clean energy it reduces the environmental impact caused by the emission of greenhouse gases that traditional systems cause.

This air cooling syst...

This is a coronary artery structure being 3-D bioprinted. Credit: Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering

This month >4,000 Americans are on waiting list to receive a heart transplant. Researchers have used a new 3D bioprinting method to bioprint models of hearts, arteries, bones and brains out of biological materials. The work could one day lead to a world in which transplants are no longer necessary to repair damaged organs.

“We’ve been able to take MRI images of coronary arteries and 3D images of embryonic hearts and 3D bioprint them with unprecedented resolution and quality out of very soft materials like collagens, alginates and fibrins,” said Assoc Prof Adam Feinberg

“3-D printing of various materials has been a common trend in tissue engineering in the last decade, but unt...