The airplane in which Flagship researchers performed experiment in microgravity. Operated by Novespace, the plane makes special maneuvers to create zero gravity conditions inside the plane. Credit: Graphene Flagship

In a successful collaboration between the Graphene Flagship and the ESA, experiments testing graphene for two different space-related applications have shown extremely promising results. Based on these results, the Flagship are continuing to develop graphene devices for use in space. “Graphene as we know has a lot of opportunities. One of them, recognised early on, is space applications, and this is the first time that graphene has been tested in space-like applications, worldwide,” said Prof...

A close-up of part of the fiber optical tweezers developed by a research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). The two fibers seen here project intersecting beams of laser light to create a three-dimensional optical trap that can hold and move individual cells. Credit: Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)

A team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has demonstrated how a device that uses beams of light to grip and manipulate tiny objects, including individual cells, can be miniaturized, opening the door to creating portable devices small enough to be inserted into the bloodstream to trap individual cancer cells and diagnose cancer in its earliest stages.

The technique, known as optical tweezers, uses optical beams of laser light to create an attractive force fi...

Artist’s impression of the architecture of a silicon CMOS chip for a spin-based quantum computer; above is mostly standard CMOS components, and below the quantum bits in operation. (Illustration: Tony Melov)

A reimagining of today’s computer chips by Australian and Dutch engineers shows how a quantum computer can be manufactured – using mostly standard silicon technology. Research teams all over the world are exploring different ways to design a working computing chip that can integrate quantum interactions. Now, UNSW engineers believe they have cracked the problem, reimagining the silicon microprocessors we know to create a complete design for a quantum computer chip that can be manufactured using mostly standard industry processes and components.

The new chip design, published in the jou...

VLT image of Saturn’s giant vortex at mid-infrared wavelengths. Credit: European Space Agency

Cassini mission study into immense northern storms on Saturn. Immense northern storms on Saturn can disturb atmospheric patterns at the planet’s equator, finds the international Cassini mission in a study led by Dr Leigh Fletcher from the University of Leicester. This effect is also seen in Earth’s atmosphere, suggesting the two planets are more alike than previously thought.

Despite their considerable differences, the atmospheres of Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn all display a remarkably similar phenomenon in their equatorial regions: vertical, cyclical, downwards-moving patterns of alternating temperatures and wind systems that repeat over a period of multiple years...