Category Technology/Electronics

A fully packaged device for trapping and manipulating single electrons and photons. A series of on-chip electrodes (lower left and upper right) lead to the formation of a double quantum dot that confines a single electron below the surface of the chip. The photon, which is free to move within the full 7-millimeter span of the cavity, exchanges quantum information with the electron inside the double quantum dot. (Photo courtesy of the Jason Petta research group, Department of Physics)

In a step that brings silicon-based quantum computers closer to reality, researchers at Princeton University have built a device in which a single electron can pass its quantum information to a particle of light...

Setting up. The standard inverted microscope is upgraded to a high quality live imaging station. Credit: Linda Koffmar

A recent study from Uppsala University shows how smartphones can be used to make movies of living cells, without the need for expensive equipment. The study is published in the open access journal PLOS ONE, making it possible for laboratories around the world to do the same thing.

Live imaging of cells is a very powerful tool for the study of cells, to learn about how cells respond to different treatments such as drugs or toxins. However, microscopes and equipment for live imaging are often very expensive.

In the present study, old standard inverted microscopes that are very abundant at Universities and hospitals were upgraded to high quality live imaging stations using a ...

Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have created a bacteria-powered battery on a single sheet of paper that can power disposable electronics. Credit: Seokheun

Instead of ordering batteries by the pack, we might get them by the ream in the future. Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have created a bacteria-powered battery on a single sheet of paper that can power disposable electronics. The manufacturing technique reduces fabrication time and cost, and the design could revolutionize the use of bio-batteries as a power source in remote, dangerous and resource-limited areas.

“Papertronics have recently emerged as a simple and low-cost way to power disposable point-of-care diagnostic sensors,” said Assistant Professor Seokheun “Sean...

1. Color electron micrograph of an endosome, a cell organelle. Credit: Ranjan Ramachandra, UCSD 2. Check out more of our winter holiday-themed Cool Image collections

While it may look like a pine wreath dotted with crimson berries, it is in fact one of the world’s first color electron micrographs – and the method used to create it may dramatically advance cell imaging. As his Christmas gift to himself each year, the late biochemist Roger Tsien treated himself to 2 weeks of uninterrupted research in his lab. This image is a product of those annual sojourns.

Electron microscopy (EM) is a time-honored technique for visualizing cell structures that uses beams of accelerated electrons to magnify objects up to 10 million times their actual size...