Paul Anastas, the Yale chemist widely known as the “father of green chemistry,” talks about greenhouse gases, science policy, Richard Nixon, and being “a sworn enemy of the status quo.” (more…)
Yale’s Noah J. Planavsky and collaborators have published a Nature review article titled “The rise of oxygen in Earth’s early ocean and atmosphere.”
Published online Feb. 19, the review surveys and assesses research about the emergence of significant oxygen concentrations and suggests that this happened hundreds of millions of years before the “great oxygenation event” of 2.3 billion years ago. In between, oxygen levels appear to have fluctuated considerably, according to the authors. (more…)
The number of known places in our galaxy theoretically hospitable to life may be significantly greater than previously thought, according to new research.
Researchers with Planet Hunters are reporting the discovery of a Jupiter-sized planet in the so-called “habitable zone” of a star similar to Earth’s sun, as well as the identification of 15 new candidate planets also orbiting within their star’s habitable zone. (more…)
Using “random lasers” as a source of illumination in medical imaging equipment could improve both processing time and the clarity of the final images, according to new research by Yale University scientists.
Imaging systems currently rely on a variety of light sources — specialty light bulbs, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and traditional lasers. But systems using traditional lasers, the brightest of these light sources, often yield undesirable visual byproducts that mar the final picture. One common byproduct, speckle, looks something like a snowfall pattern. (more…)
A year-long study by Yale University paleontologists concludes that two related horned dinosaurs are different animals and not adult and juvenile versions of the same.
“We’re saying, ‘No, they’re different,’” said Nicholas R. Longrich, a postdoctoral fellow in Yale’s Department of Geology and Geophysics and the lead author of the study. “They’re separate animals.” (more…)
Physicists at Yale University have taken another significant step in the development of quantum computing, a new frontier in computing that promises exponentially faster information processing than the most sophisticated computers of today.
In research published online this month in the journal Nature, the Yale physicists demonstrate the most basic form of quantum error correction — a way to compensate for quantum computing’s intrinsic susceptibility to errors. Developing technology to correct these errors on the fly is a necessary step for fully realizing quantum computers. (more…)
Engineers at Yale University have developed a new, highly efficient technique for separating, sorting, and concentrating synthetic microscopic particles within complex fluids based on size.
The new technique suggests the possibility of significant clinical, diagnostic, and pharmaceutical applications, such as isolating rare liquid-borne pathogens, monitoring tumor cells in bloodstreams, and rapidly assessing blood cell counts, for example. (more…)
