Patricia Daukantas

2 weeks ago | optica-opn.org | Patricia Daukantas

When humans return to the moon, they will need electrical power for life support, habitat construction, experiments, transportation and other requirements. But boosting heavy glass-based solar panels from Earth to the lunar surface will be expensive, and solar cells based on thin foil eventually degrade in the harsh ultraviolet rays from the sun.

4 weeks ago | optica-opn.org | Patricia Daukantas

Could noninvasive photoacoustic sensing detect blood glucose levels in diabetic patients without piercing their skin? Researchers in India are building the foundation for future instrumentation that could perform such measurements. The scientists developed a proof-of-concept system that uses near-infrared photoacoustic sensing to correlate optical rotation with concentrations of glucose and other molecules in solution, at depths of several millimeters (Sci. Adv., doi:10.1126/sciadv.ado8012 ).

1 month ago | optica-opn.org | Patricia Daukantas

Agave is one tough desert plant, and in new work, terahertz technology is peeling back the mystery of its extreme drought resistance. Scientists in Mexico used terahertz spectroscopy and imaging to probe the plant’s ability to retain water through drought conditions (Appl. Opt., doi: 10.1364/AO.547952 ).

1 month ago | optica-opn.org | Patricia Daukantas

As the saying goes, the nose knows. But sometimes the human olfactory system needs a boost—and a new interferometric technique can distinguish the faintest traces of gas molecules. Researchers at a US laboratory have modified cavity ringdown spectroscopy to enhance the method’s sensitivity in the mid-infrared region, where many interesting molecules have their spectral signatures (Nature, doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08534-2 ).

2 months ago | optica-opn.org | Patricia Daukantas

For half a century or more, astronomers have searched the universe for clues to the nature of dark matter: a hypothetical type of matter that does not interact with electromagnetic radiation. With light detectors off the table, scientists must use unconventional technologies to seek evidence of dark matter’s existence. Researchers in Australia and Germany have developed a new technique that searches for subtle interactions between potential dark matter and electrons (Phys. Rev.