New high-speed method for spectroscopic measurements

Researchers at Tampere University and their collaborators have shown how spectroscopic measurements can be made much faster. By correlating polarization to the colour of a pulsed laser, the team can track changes in the spectrum of the light by simple and extremely fast polarization measurements. ...

Using X-rays to identify liquid chiral molecules

New method can for the first time distinguish their components in liquid form – and more effectively than ever before

Sugars, amino acids, drugs - chiral molecules are everywhere. Researchers in the AQUACHIRAL project at the Fritz-Haber-Institut have used X-rays to study hair-thin liquid jets of these molecules. Using a new method, they can now for the first time distinguish their components in liquid form – and ...

Molecular device turns infrared into visible light

Breakthrough ushers in a new class of compact sensors for thermal imaging and chemical or biological analysis

Light is an electromagnetic wave: it consists of oscillating electric and magnetic fields propagating through space. Every wave is characterized by its frequency, which refers to the number of oscillations per second, measured in Hertz (Hz). Our eyes can detect frequencies between 400 and 750 ...

The "new" kilogram is approaching

Avogadro constant determined with enriched silicon-28

A milestone in the international Avogadro project coordinated by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) has been reached: With the aid of a single crystal of highly enriched 28Si, the Avogadro constant has now been measured as exactly as never before with a relative overall uncertainty ...

Improved detection methods for allergenic substances

BfR and LGL develop test systems

Experts deal with the development of analytical methods for the detection of allergenic substances in foods at a joint event of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority (LGL) which ends today in Berlin. The labelling of allergens on food ...

Focused ion beam technology: a single tool for a wide range of applications

From physics, materials science and chemistry to life sciences and even archaeology

Processing materials on the nanoscale, producing prototypes for microelectronics or analysing biological samples: The range of applications for finely focused ion beams is huge. Experts from the EU collaboration FIT4NANO have now reviewed the many options and developed a roadmap for the future. ...

UK fingerprint “developer” can read a letter from its envelope

UK scientists have discovered a fingerprint “developer” which can highlight invisible prints on almost any surface – and read the text of a letter just from the envelope it was sent in. Paul Kelly and colleagues at Loughborough University found that a disulfur dinitride (S2N2) polymer turned ...

MDS Sciex Signs Distribution Agreement with D.I Biotech for Korean Market

MDS Sciex and D.I Biotech, a leading biotechnology instrumentation and supplies distribution company, announced the signing of a distributorship agreement to deliver the NanoLC system in Korea. "As a leading supplier to the prospering Korean biotechnology market place, we are very pleased to ...

Power to the constants!

On World Metrology Day what defines a kilogram, an ampere and all the other units will change fundamentally

If you come across someone who can tell you by heart and without cheating what a kilogram is after 20 May 2019, beware! It is probably a particular kind of scientist, a metrologist, who is still overly enthusiastic about the fundamental change experienced by the International System of Units, the ...

Feeling the force between sand grains

For the first time, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have measured how forces move through 3D granular materials, determining how this important class of materials might pack and behave in processes throughout nature and industry. Granular materials such as sand, soil and ...