Image of photonic hypercrystals courtesy of Tal Galfsky

Control of light-matter interaction is central to fundamental phenomena and technologies such as photosynthesis, lasers, LEDs and solar cells. City College of New York researchers have now demonstrated a new class of artificial media called photonic hypercrystals that can control light-matter interaction in unprecedented ways. This could lead to such benefits as ultrafast LEDs for Li-Fi (a wireless technology that transmits high-speed data using visible light communication), enhanced absorption in solar cells and the development of single photon emitters for quantum information processing, said Vinod M. Menon, professor of physics in City College’s Division of Science.

Photonic crystals and metamaterials are two of the most well-known...

Don R. Baker et al, A metasomatic mechanism for the formation of Earth’s earliest evolved crust, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.01.022

More than 90% of Earth’s continental crust is made up of silica-rich minerals, eg, feldspar and quartz. But where did this silica-enriched material come from? And could it provide a clue in the search for life on other planets? Conventional theory holds that all of the early Earth’s crustal ingredients were formed by volcanic activity. Now, McGill University earth scientists Don Baker and Kassandra Sofonio have published a theory with a twist: some chemical components of this material settled onto Earth’s early surface from the steamy atmosphere that prevailed at the time.

First, a bit of ancient geochemical history: Sc...

This view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows two scales of ripples, plus other textures, in an area where the mission examined a linear-shaped dune in the Bagnold dune field on lower Mount Sharp. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

As it drives uphill from a band of rippled sand dunes, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is toting a fistful of dark sand for onboard analysis that will complete the rover’s investigation of those dunes. From early February to early April, the rover examined 4 sites near a linear dune for comparison with what it found in late 2015 and early 2016 during its investigation of crescent-shaped dunes. This two-phase campaign is the 1st close-up study of active dunes anywhere other than Earth...

1. View into the 2.1-kilometre long accelerator tunnel of European XFEL with the yellow superconducting accelerator modules hanging from the ceiling (photo: DESY/D. Nölle) 2. First Laser Light at the European XFEL, recorded by an X-ray detector at the end of the tunnel. Credit: DESY 3. The undulators gerenate the bright X-ray light. Credit: European XFEL/Heiner Müller-Elsner

European XFEL reaches the last big milestone before the official opening. The 3.4 km long facility, most of which is located in underground tunnels, has generated its first X-ray laser light. The X-ray light has a wavelength of 0.8 nm – about 500 times shorter than that of visible light. At first lasing, the laser had a repetition rate of one pulse per second, which will later increase to 2

7,000 per second.

Europe...