Electrons and light are moving in concert along the graphene sheet.
Credit: ICFO/ F. Vialla

Researchers have studied how light can be used to “see” the quantum nature of an electronic material. They managed to do that by capturing light in a net of carbon atoms and slowing down light it down so that it moves almost as slow as the electrons in the graphene. Then something special happens: electrons and light start to move in concert, unveiling their quantum nature at such large scale that it could observed with a special type of microscope.

The experiments were performed with ultra-high quality graphene...

Polymeric pigments produced by guided oxidation of peptide assemblies. Photography by Matej Vakula, NYC.

Scientists have long known that melanin has numerous useful qualities, including providing protection from cancer-causing UV radiation and free radicals, but also electronic conductance, adhesiveness and the capacity to store energy. To take advantage of these qualities, scientists across the City University of New York (CUNY) have developed a new approach for producing materials that not only mimic the properties of melanin, but also provide unprecedented control over expressing specific properties of the biopolymer, according to a paper published in the journal Science. The discovery could enable the development of cosmetic and biomedical products.

Unlike other biopolymers, eg DNA and...

1. The lighter green indicates optimistic regions of the habitable zone and the darker green denotes more conservative limits.
Credit: University of Oklahoma
2. This artist’s impression displays TRAPPIST-1 and its planets reflected in a surface. Image credit: NASA / R. Hurt / T. Pyle.
3. The TRAPPIST-1 system contains a total of seven Earth-size planets. Three of them — TRAPPIST-1e, f and g — dwell in their star’s so-called ‘habitable zone.’ Image credit: NASA

A University of Oklahoma post-doctoral astrophysics researcher, Billy Quarles, has identified the possible compositions of the 7 planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system...

1. Cristobalite crystals from Harvard Mineralogical Museum, found at Ellora caves in India. Credit: RRUFF Project / University of Arizona
2. A fresh impact crater on Mars, as imaged by the HiRISE camera on board NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

X-ray analysis reveals unexpected behaviour of silica minerals. With high-pressure experiments at DESY’s X-ray light source PETRA III and other facilities, a research team around Leonid Dubrovinsky from the University of Bayreuth has solved a long standing riddle in the analysis of meteorites from Moon and Mars. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, can explain why different versions of silica can coexist in meteorites, although they normally require vastly different conditions to form...