Phys.org February 10, 2020 Long-wavelength terahertz radiation which is considered to be much safer than X-ray radiation has not been used in security and medical devices because its energy is so low and it has been difficult to create high-resolution images using them. Instead of building a more sensitive sensor researchers in the UK made the waves more readable to conventional technology. They converted the terahertz radiation into green light by directing it into a cloud of excited cesium atoms. Once the cloud was formed, the researchers fired a secondary terahertz laser through a moving object, which allowed a “shadow […]
Tag Archives: S&T UK
Using sound and light to generate ultra-fast data transfer
Science Daily February 11, 2020 To be able to send data at increased speeds, the lasers need to be modulated very rapidly: switching on and off or pulsing around 100 billion times every second. Instead of using external electronics, researchers in the UK used acoustic waves to vibrate the quantum wells inside the quantum cascade laser. The acoustic waves were generated by the impact of a pulse from another laser onto an aluminium film that caused the film to expand and contract, sending a mechanical wave through the quantum cascade laser. They were able to control the light output by […]
Scientists find new way to sustainably make chemicals by copying nature’s tricks
EurekAlert January 6, 2020 Plants and microorganisms naturally biosynthesize chemicals that often are converted into derivatives with reduced toxicity or enhanced solubility. As a proof of principle, researchers in the UK used genetic engineering to program E. coli and cyanobacteria to make 1-octanol, a chemical currently used in perfumes, which is toxic to the bacteria. They then added an extra set of instructions to E. coli so it would produce two different derivatives of 1-octanol that are both less harmful. The researchers say if this were to be scaled up for industrial systems the engineered bacteria would produce the non-toxic […]
How Brexit Will Affect Europe’s Research Infrastructure
EurekAlert November 22, 2019 Britain’s likely exit from the EU will probably damage scientific research both in the UK and the EU for decades to come, according to researchers in the UK and the Royal Society. The impact manifests most clearly in two ways, reluctance to engage UK partners for EU research projects and EU nationals are less likely to want to apply for short-term jobs in the UK. An international workforce that can migrate across international borders is the life blood of science and research that could seriously damage UK science and technology. The situation becomes further muddied by […]
Scientists Built an ‘Artificial Leaf’ That Uses Sunlight to Produce Clean Synthetic Fuel
Science Alert October 26, 2019 Researchers in the UK have developed a leaf that mimics the photosynthesis as in plants, combining incoming light, water and carbon dioxide with perovskite as a catalyst which produces hydrogen and carbon monoxide to make syngas. According to the researchers, while the efficiency of the machine is low now, it should be possible to improve that with the unique combination of materials and catalysts. This technology is not limited for use in warm countries, or only operating the process during the summer months. It can be used from dawn until dusk, anywhere in the world. […]
Researchers reveal ultra-fast bomb detection method that could upgrade airport security
EurekAlert August 29, 2019 Paper spray mass spectrometry is a rapid and sensitive tool for explosives detection but so far it has only been demonstrated using high resolution mass spectrometry, which bears too high a cost for many practical applications. Researchers in the UK developed a system which uses swabbing material, they call “swab spray” to collect explosives from surfaces. Sensitive detection using swab spray will require a mass spectrometer with a mass resolving power of 4000 or more. The new detection method is able to analyse a wider range of materials than current thermal based detection systems used in […]
Colour-changing artificial ‘chameleon skin’ powered by nanomachines
Phys.org August 21, 2019 Researchers in the UK have demonstrated that gold nanoparticles coated with a poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) shell undergo reversible dis/assembly below and above the critical temperature of 32 °C. Loading these particles into microdroplets at high density creates light‐driven artificial chromatophores. Triggering the nanoparticle assembly gives dramatic color changes from nanoparticle localization at the base of the droplets, resembling zebrafish melanophores. These reversible chromatophore states can be switched by both bulk and optical heating. The material could be used in applications such as active camouflage and large-scale dynamic displays…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
UK budgets £130M for laser and RF weapons development
Optics.org July 10, 2019 The UK’s Ministry of Defence plans to spend up to £130 million developing three new directed-energy weapons – including both laser and radio-frequency systems. The plan is to trial the technologies at sea and on-board army vehicles in 2023. Similar programs to the UK’s are already under way elsewhere and appear to be at a significantly more advanced stage in the US. Following earlier tests of a 30-kilowatt system on the USS Ponce, the USS Preble is now set to become the first US Navy destroyer to be equipped with a high-energy laser, with installation expected […]
Spanish flu may have lingered two years before 1918 outbreak and vaccine could have treated it
Science Daily May 23, 2019 A team of researchers in the UK revisited the literature published in Europe and the United States, and the notes left by physicians who lived at the time. According to them the science of 2018 provides us with tools which did not exist at the time. Two such tools are ‘gain of function’ where a potential pandemic virus, such as influenza A (H5N1), can be deliberately mutated in the laboratory in order to change its virulence and spreadability. Key mutations can then be identified. A second tool lies in phylogenetics, combined with molecular clock analysis. […]
New method developed to detect and trace homemade bombs
Science Daily May 10, 2019 The new method for detecting trace amounts of explosives developed by researchers in the UK uses ion chromatography. The method is less time consuming. The technique can tell us so much more than just the explosives content. They have demonstrated that the technique detects thousands of different compounds simultaneously, which means there is an element of in-built future-proofing capability to detect new types of explosives if needed or provide critical information about where a device came from or who it belongs to. In particular, linearity for 19 targeted compounds yielded R2 > 0.99 across several orders of […]