192 articles from WEDNESDAY 7.9.2022

New study finds racial and ethnic differences in perception and use of 'red flag' laws

New research from the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program finds racial and ethnic differences in how extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs) are perceived and used in California. The study, published in Preventive Medicine, found Black Californians perceived ERPOs as less appropriate and were less willing to ask a judge to approve one. Black Californians were also less likely to have...

New on-chip laser frequency comb is 100 times more efficient than previous versions

On-chip laser frequency combs—lasers that emit multiple frequencies or colors of light simultaneously separated like the tooth on a comb—are a promising technology for a range of applications including environmental monitoring, optical computing, astronomy, and metrology. However, on-chip frequency combs are still limited by one serious problem—they are not always efficient. There are...

Taking solar-powered lasers to new heights with four-mirror pumping

The design of efficient solar cells, which harness energy to generate electricity or produce hydrogen by splitting water, has received much attention globally. Another route to harnessing abundant, free solar energy: using it as a pumping source for lasers. High-power lasers are earmarked for several applications, including deep space communication, atmospheric sensing, high-temperature material...

Research team confirms icy conditions existed in South Pole region during Late Cretaceous period

Let's pretend it's the Late Cretaceous, roughly 66 to 100 million years ago. We've got dinosaurs roaming the land and odd-looking early species of birds, although the shark as we know it is already swimming in the prehistoric oceans—which cover 82% of Earth. Redwood trees and other conifers are making their debut, as are roses and flowering plants, and with them come bees, termites and ants....

Research team discovers how to convert 3D-printed polymer to stronger, ductile hybrid carbon microlattice material

Developing a lightweight material that is both strong and highly ductile has been regarded as a long-desired goal in the field of structural materials, but these properties are generally mutually exclusive. However, researchers at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) have recently discovered a low-cost, direct method to turn commonly used 3D printable polymers into lightweight, ultra-tough,...

New lensless camera creates 3D images from a single exposure

Researchers have developed a camera that uses a thin microlens array and new image processing algorithms to capture 3D information about objects in a scene with a single exposure. The camera could be useful for a variety of applications such as industrial part inspection, gesture recognition and collecting data for 3D display systems.

Understanding the effects of wildfires on air quality

Wildfires, characterized by unplanned, uncontrolled, and unpredictable fires erupting in areas such as forests, grasslands, and prairies, have recently grown in frequency and intensity. Likely resulting from climate change effects, wildfires are increasingly impacting ecosystems and human lives. While wildfires are considered ecologically beneficial, there have been rising concerns over the...

Scientists see spins in a 2D magnet

All magnets—from the simple souvenirs hanging on your refrigerator to the disks that give your computer memory to the powerful versions used in research labs—contain spinning quasiparticles called magnons. The direction one magnon spins can influence that of its neighbor, which affects the spin of its neighbor, and so on, yielding what are known as spin waves. Information can potentially be...

US Postal Service Celebrates NASA’s Webb Telescope With New Stamp

Portal origin URL: US Postal Service Celebrates NASA’s Webb Telescope With New StampPortal origin nid: 482593Published: Wednesday, September 7, 2022 - 15:29Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: The U.S. Postal Service will issue a stamp celebrating NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, the largest, most powerful, and most complex science telescope...

Simple animal model reveals how environment and state are integrated to control behavior

Say you live across from a bakery. Sometimes you are hungry and therefore tempted when odors waft through your window, but other times satiety makes you indifferent. Sometimes popping over for a popover seems trouble-free but sometimes your spiteful ex is there. Your brain balances many influences in determining what you'll do. A new MIT study details an example of this working in a much simpler...

California’s move to phase out gas-powered cars could spark battery innovations

California, known for leading the United States in climate regulations, dropped a bombshell last month: By 2035, the state will ban sales of new gasoline powered cars and light trucks. Most new car sales are expected to shift to battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs). But along with high prices and modest range, current EVs have another big drawback: They are slow to recharge. Whereas...

How Will We Know if NASA’s DART Mission Successfully Changed an Asteroid’s Orbit?

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, also known as DART, is humanity’s first attempt to change the motion of a non-hazardous asteroid in space by intentionally crashing a spacecraft into it. After impact, ground-based observatories across the globe will turn their eyes to the skies to determine if this planetary defense test was successful. In this vode, NASA visits Lowell...

New insight into selecting appropriate primers and databases when sequencing soil nematode DNA

Soil nematodes represent a major component of soil communities in terrestrial ecosystems, and play an important role in regulating nutrient cycling and soil health. High-throughput sequencing technology is increasingly used in the study of nematode biodiversity. A recent study demonstrates that the selection of different primers and databases influenced the annotation of nematode taxa, but the...