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New Design Tool for Metamaterials

Berkeley Lab Study Shows How to Predict Metamaterial Nonlinear Optical Properties

Metamaterials – artificial nanostructures engineered with electromagnetic properties not found in nature – offer tantalizing future prospects such as high resolution optical microscopes and superfast optical computers. To realize the vast potential of metamaterials, however, scientists will need to hone their understanding of the fundamental physics behind them. This will require accurately predicting nonlinear optical properties – meaning that interaction with light changes a material’s properties, for example, light emerges from the material with a different frequency than when it entered. Help has arrived. (more…)

‘Deep Web Search’ May Help Scientists

Science

When you do a simple Web search on a topic, the results that pop up aren’t the whole story. The Internet contains a vast trove of information — sometimes called the “Deep Web” — that isn’t indexed by search engines: information that would be useful for tracking criminals, terrorist activities, sex trafficking and the spread of diseases. Scientists could also use it to search for images and data from spacecraft. (more…)

Hitliste der Umweltchemikalien

Environment

Wie gefährlich sind Umweltchemikalien und wie beeinflussen sie unsere Gesundheit? Die Innsbrucker Pharmazeutin Daniela Schuster entwickelt in einem Projekt des Wissenschaftsfonds FWF ein computerbasiertes „Frühwarnsystem“ für gefährliche Substanzen. (more…)

Ancient rocks show life could have flourished on Earth 3.2 billion years ago

Science

A spark from a lightning bolt, interstellar dust, or a subsea volcano could have triggered the very first life on Earth.

But what happened next? Life can exist without oxygen, but without plentiful nitrogen to build genes – essential to viruses, bacteria and all other organisms – life on the early Earth would have been scarce. (more…)

Dynamisch und flexibel – So arbeiten wir heute

Economy, Health, Jobs

Flexible Arbeitszeiten, das Verschwimmen von Grenzen zwischen Beruf und Privatleben oder die Erwartung einer ständigen Erreichbarkeit am Smartphone sowie per Mail – das sind nur einige Faktoren, die Arbeitende in unserer Gesellschaft nur zu gut kennen. Jürgen Glaser, Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologe, versucht Strukturen in der Arbeitswelt zu verbessern. (more…)

Impact of Radiant Temperature on Comfort

Small Business, Technology

What is radiant temperature? One way to think about radiant temperature is to think about stepping into a car on a hot summer day. The heat from the dash board and steering wheel can be hot to the touch and unbearable. The heat can linger for minutes until the cars air conditioner cools the cabin. In your home the fire place is often a form of radiant heat. In the days before electricity, the warmth from a fire could mean the difference between life and death during a harsh winter. Today many use space heaters as a form of radiant heat in the home.
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85 college students tried to draw the Apple logo from memory. 84 failed.

Health, Technology

We don’t notice much of what we see, UCLA psychology study indicates

“You can observe a lot just by watching.”
– Yogi Berra

Could you draw the ubiquitous Apple computer logo from memory? Probably not, as it turns out. (more…)

Gleichgewichtsorgan der Hörnchen unterscheidet sich je nach Bewegungsart

Science

Bogengänge des Innenohrs der Tiere variieren

WissenschaftlerInnen um Cathrin Pfaff von der Universität Wien untersuchten Eichhörnchen und ihre nahen Verwandten und fanden heraus, dass der Durchmesser der Bogengänge des Innenohres je nach Bewegungsweise der Tiere variiert: Gleithörnchen haben deutlich dünnere und somit weniger sensitive Bogengänge im Innenohr als am Boden lebende Tiere – obwohl erstere mehr Informationen über ihre Lage im Raum benötigen. Die ForscherInnen vermuten, dass sich dies als Anpassung an einen zu großen Informationsfluss ins Gehirn erklären lässt. Ihre Ergebnisse werden aktuell im Fachjournal “Proceedings of the Royal Society B” veröffentlicht. (more…)