Topics: Applied Physics, Biology, Microscopy, Molecules A major challenge in cell biology remains unraveling how cells control their biochemical reaction cycles. For instance, how do they regulate gene expression in response to stress? How does their metabolism change when resources are scarce? Control theory has proven useful in understanding how networks of chemical reactions canContinue reading “Drops in Cells…”
Category Archives: Applied Physics
Adversary, Friendly, or Neutral…
Topics: Aerodynamics, Applied Physics, Biology, Exoplanets, General Relativity, SETI May 17, 2019- No, little green men aren’t likely after the conquest of humanity. Boyd’s piece for Phys.org highlights the reason why the Pentagon wants to identify UFOs: they’re unidentified. If a warfighter on the ground or in the sky can’t ID an object, that creates aContinue reading “Adversary, Friendly, or Neutral…”
The Power of ASM…
Topics: Alternate Energy, Applied Physics, Atomic-Scale Microscopy, Nanotechnology When Ondrej Krivanek first considered building a device to boost the resolution of electron microscopes, he asked about funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. “The response was not positive,” he says, laughing. He heard through the grapevine that the administrator who held the purse strings declaredContinue reading “The Power of ASM…”
Black Phosphorous…
Topics: Alternative Energy, Applied Physics, Battery, Nanotechnology, Research A new electrode material could make it possible to construct lithium-ion batteries with a high charging rate and storage capacity. If scaled up, the anode material developed by researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and colleagues in the US might be usedContinue reading “Black Phosphorous…”
B-TENG…
Topics: Applied Physics, Nanotechnology, Polymers, Research A new low-cost nanogenerator that can efficiently harvest electrical energy from ambient wind has been created by Ya Yang at the Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues. The team reports that the device achieves high electrical conversion efficiencies for breezes of 4–8 m/s (14–28 km/h) andContinue reading “B-TENG…”
Transparency…
Topics: Applied Physics, Nanotechnology, Optics At the focus of a laser, a 100-nm-wide gold nanoparticle can block more than half the light. If additional particles are added, the amount of blocked light increases exponentially, as modeled by the Beer–Lambert law. But theorists predict that in the right set of circumstances, the addition of a moleculeContinue reading “Transparency…”
Fit…
Topics: Applied Physics, NIST, Research, Robotics A shoddily tailored suit or a shrunken T-shirt may not be the most stylish, but wearing them is unlikely to hurt more than your reputation. An ill-fitting robotic exoskeleton on the battlefield or factory floor, however, could be a much bigger problem than a fashion faux pas. Exoskeletons, manyContinue reading “Fit…”
Photography of the Invisible…
Topics: Applied Physics, Optics, Women in Science, X-rays In February 1896 Sarah Frances Whiting, founder of the physics and astronomy departments at Wellesley College, conducted a series of x-ray experiments. She was working only a few weeks after the public announcement of Wilhelm Röntgen’s discovery of the rays, and she was not alone; amateur andContinue reading “Photography of the Invisible…”
Physics and Nano 