Hubble and Webb tag-team to image “Christmas Tree” galaxy cluster

The James Webb Space Telescope may have been touted as a successor to Hubble, but the old-timer still has some life left in it yet. These two iconic instruments have now teamed up to take a star-studded deep-field image of the colorful “Christmas Tree … Continue reading Hubble and Webb tag-team to image “Christmas Tree” galaxy cluster

James Webb spots carbon on Europa, boosting case for life

The best places in our solar system to search for life beyond Earth aren’t planets like Mars – they’re icy moons like Europa. The case for life on this watery world just got stronger, as the James Webb Space Telescope has detected a fresh carbon source… Continue reading James Webb spots carbon on Europa, boosting case for life

James Webb analyzes atmosphere of first TRAPPIST planet

The James Webb Space Telescope has achieved one of the first major science goals announced for it way back in 2017. The infrared instrument has now probed the atmosphere around one of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets.Continue ReadingCategory: Space, ScienceTa… Continue reading James Webb analyzes atmosphere of first TRAPPIST planet

Watery material makes windows selectively block light and/or heat

Windows are pretty basic necessities for letting in light and heat, but you don’t always want both at once. Now engineers at North Carolina State University (NCSU) have developed a new material that allows windows to easily switch between three modes.C… Continue reading Watery material makes windows selectively block light and/or heat

All-in-one gadget sees the invisible to accurately spot problem wounds

When Captain Kirk stepped out with a tricorder in hand in the very first episode of Star Trek in 1966, the data-sensing, -scanning and -analyzing gadget seemed to be a rather useful but very far-in-the-future piece of technology.Continue ReadingCategor… Continue reading All-in-one gadget sees the invisible to accurately spot problem wounds

Invisible QR codes embed object data into infrared tags

Barcodes and QR codes feel like they’re everywhere nowadays, but they don’t have to be. Scientists at MIT have developed an invisible tagging system called BrightMarker, which embeds fluorescent tags into objects that can be viewed and tracked through … Continue reading Invisible QR codes embed object data into infrared tags

Fluorescent Filament Makes Object Identification Easier

Four images in as many panes. Top left is a fuchsia bottle with a QR code that only shows up on the smartphone screen held above it. Top right image is A person holding a smartphone over a red wristband. The phone displays a QR code on its screen that it sees but is invisible in the visible wavelengths. Bottom left is a closeup of the red wristband in visible light and the bottom right image is the wristband in IR showing the three QR codes embedded in the object.

QR codes are a handy way to embed information, but they aren’t exactly pretty. New work from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have a new way to …read more Continue reading Fluorescent Filament Makes Object Identification Easier

Colorful new paints block heat for cooler summers and warmer winters

Heating and cooling account for huge portions of our energy consumption and environmental impact, so systems that can passively control indoor climate are important. Now scientists at Stanford have created a new type of paint that blocks heat from ente… Continue reading Colorful new paints block heat for cooler summers and warmer winters