Experimental device generates Electricity from the Coldness of the Universe

A drawback of solar panels is that they require sunlight to generate electricity. Some have observed that for a device on Earth facing space, the chilling outflow of energy from the device can be harvested using the same kind of optoelectronic physics we have used to harness solar energy. New work, in Applied Physics Letters, looks to provide a potential path to generating electricity like solar cells but that can power electronics at night. This is a schematic of the experimental infrared photodiode that has generated electricity directly from the coldness of space.
Credit: Masashi Ono

The obvious drawback of solar panels is that they require sunlight to generate electricity...

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Telescopes in Space for even Sharper Images of Black Holes

In space, the EHI has a resolution more than five times that of the EHT on Earth, and images can be reconstructed with higher fidelity. Top left: Model of Sagittarius A* at an observation frequency of 230 GHz. Top left: Simulation of an image of this model with the EHT. Bottom left: Model of Sagittarius A* at an observation frequency of 690 GHz. Bottom right: Simulation of an image of this model with the EHI.
Credit: F. Roelofs and M. Moscibrodzka, Radboud University

Astronomers propose placing two or three satellites in circular orbit around the Earth to observe black holes. Astronomers have just managed to take the first image of a black hole, and now the next challenge facing them is how to take even sharper images, so that Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity can be tested...

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Blue Supergiant Stars Open Doors to Concert in Space

A snapshot from a hydrodynamical simulation of the interior of a star three times as heavy as our Sun, which shows waves generated by turbulent core convection and propagating throughout the star’s interior. Darker and lighter colours represent fluctuations due to waves.
© Tamara Rogers (Newcastle University)

Almost all blue supergiants shimmer in brightness because of waves on their surface. Blue supergiants are rock-and-roll: they live fast and die young. This makes them rare and difficult to study. Before space telescopes were invented, few blue supergiants had been observed, so our knowledge of these stars was limited...

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A Novel Technique that uses Quantum Light to Measure Temperature at the Nanoscale

Illustration of nanoscale diamonds probing temperature of electronic circuits. Credit: Dr. Trong Toan Tran

Being able to measure, and monitor, temperatures and temperature changes at miniscule scales—inside a cell or in micro and nano-electronic components—has the potential to impact many areas of research from disease detection to a major challenge of modern computation and communication technologies, how to measure scalability and performance in electronic components.

A collaborative team, led by scientists from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), developed a highly-sensitive nano-thermometer that uses atom-like inclusions in diamond nanoparticles to accurately measure temperature at the nanoscale...

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