New laser could be used for applications in imaging, security, or communications. Researchers have taken a major step towards bringing terahertz frequencies out of their hard-to-reach region of the electromagnetic spectrum and into everyday applications. In a new paper, the researchers demonstrate a first-of-its-kind terahertz laser that is compact, operates at room temperature and can produce 120 individual frequencies spanning the 0.25 – 1.3 THz, far more range than previous terahertz sources.

The laser could be used in a range of applications, such as skin and breast cancer imaging, drug detection, airport security and ultrahigh-capacity optical wireless links.

The research, conducted by a team from at the Harvard John A...

A team mapping radio waves in the universe has discovered something unusual that releases a giant burst of energy three times an hour, and it’s unlike anything astronomers have seen before.

The team that discovered it think it could be a neutron star or a white dwarf—collapsed cores of stars—with an ultra-powerful magnetic field...

A group of genes that play an essential role in building components of our cells can also impact human lifespan, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

The genes have previously been found to extend lifespan in small organisms, such as making fruit flies live 10% longer, but this is the first time scientists have demonstrated a link in people as well, as they report in a new Genome Research paper.

Co-lead author Dr. Nazif Alic (UCL Institute of Healthy Ageing) said, “We have already seen from extensive previous research that inhibiting certain genes involved in making proteins in our cells, can extend lifespan in model organisms such as yeast, worms and flies...

As the world’s energy demands increase, so does our consumption of fossil fuels. The result is a massive rise in greenhouse gases emissions with severely adverse environmental effects. To address this, scientists have been searching for alternative, renewable sources of energy.

A main candidate is hydrogen produced from organic waste, or biomass, of plants and animals. Biomass also absorbs, removes and stores CO2 from the atmosphere, while biomass decomposition can lead to negative emissions or greenhouse gas removal. But even though biomass heralds a way forward, there is still the question of the best way to maximize its conversion into energy.

Biomass gasification

There are currently two main methods for converting biomass into energy: gasification and pyrolysis...