ScienceDaily: Matter & Energy News

Federal funding for biomedical research has a 'ripple effect' of stimulating new studies even beyond the original purposes of a grant and may provide unexpected benefits, a new study suggests.

Researchers describe a technique of volumetric 3D printing that goes beyond the bottom-up, layered approach. The process eliminates the need for support structures because the resin it creates is self-supporting.

Using a scanning tunneling microscope equipped with a femtosecond terahertz laser, scientists have exploited the quantum properties of a two-atom hydrogen molecule to observe changes in the electrostatic field of a target sample, turning the hydrogen molecule into a quantum sensor.

Researchers have used the singing saw to demonstrate how the geometry of a curved sheet, like curved metal, could be tuned to create high-quality, long-lasting oscillations for applications in sensing, nanoelectronics, photonics and more.

Scientists have fabricated a flexible material that lights up brightly when stretched and/or when an electric field is applied. The results show promise for the development of bright, sustainable, stretchable devices for use, for example, as interactive skin displays and in soft robotics.

Researchers have successfully developed a novel optical fiber design allowing the generation of rainbow laser light in the molecular fingerprint electromagnetic region. This new optical fiber with a self-cleaned beam can help in developing applications to, for example, tagging pollutants, cancer diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and food control.

Micropollutants in water often are hormones that accumulate in the environment and may have negative impacts on humans and animals. Researchers have now developed a process for the photocatalytic degradation of these pollutants when they flow through polymer membranes. Irradiation with light triggers a chemical reaction, as a result of which steroid hormones are degraded on the membranes coated with titanium dioxide.

Optical solitons often combine into pairs with very short temporal separation. Introducing atomic vibrations in the terahertz range, researchers have solved the puzzle of how these temporal links are formed.

A research has developed new, highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells. The breakthrough invention is expected to greatly accelerate the commercialization of perovskite photovoltaic technology, providing a promising alternative to silicon solar cells.