It is no mystery that light is essential to human life. Since the discovery of fire, humans have developed various artificial light sources, such as incandescent lamps, gaslights, discharge lamps, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The distribution and intensity of artificial lights indoors are important factors that affect our ability to study and work effectively and influence our physical and mental health.

A study from the University of California, Los Angeles, published in Advanced Photonics introduces a cutting-edge approach to 3D Quantitative Phase Imaging (QPI) using a wavelength-multiplexed diffractive optical processor.

New research has found that 4,642 species of vertebrates are threatened by mineral extraction around the world through mining and quarrying, and drilling for oil and gas.

Why do flies buzz around in circles when the air is still? And why does it matter? In a paper published in Current Biology, University of Nevada, Reno Assistant Professor Floris van Breugel and Postdoctoral Researcher S. David Stupski respond to this previously unanswered question. Their answer could hold a key to public safety—specifically, how to better train robotic systems to track chemical leaks.

AP180 is a protein involved in endocytosis and in signal transmission between nerve cells. This protein, which largely lacks a three-dimensional structure, has never been fully studied.

The intuition to distill hard numbers like "90 percent" into words like "almost all" may help make science and statistics more accessible, but new research shows that isn't necessarily the best way to engage people online.

A new study sheds light on the unexplored diversity of galeommatoidean bivalves, a little-known group of marine mollusks, from the western coast of South Africa.

Researchers at the University of Liège have for the first time determined the acidity of ionic liquids using Raman spectroscopy, thanks to Hammett acidity functions. This advance promises to revolutionize our understanding and use of these organic solvents, in which dissolved acids can be remarkably more acidic than in water, with an acidity that can be up to 100 million times greater.

Senckenberg researcher Dr. Rachel Racicot and her former student Joyce Sanks from Vanderbilt University have examined the inner ear of the extinct dolphin genus Parapontoporia. In their study, published in the journal The Anatomical Record, they show that the toothed whales had already developed specialized high-frequency hearing in the Miocene.

An international team of scientists, including two researchers who now work in the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology (CAST) at UMBC, has shown that twisted carbon nanotubes can store three times more energy per unit mass than advanced lithium-ion batteries. The finding may advance carbon nanotubes as a promising solution for storing energy in devices that need to be lightweight, compact, and safe, such as medical implants and sensors. The research was published recently in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.