Speed limits apply not only to traffic. There are limitations on the control of light as well, in optical switches for internet traffic, for example. Physicists at Chalmers University of Technology now understand why it is not possible to increase the speed beyond a certain limit – and know the circumstances in which it is best to opt for a different route. 

Every year, many University of Victoria graduate students set off to do research in countries around the world.

In the first ten years of their lives, kids born with Fanconi anemia lose the ability to make blood cells and need bone marrow transplants to survive. And although the transplant cures the bone marrow failure, people remain at greatly increased risk of cancer and rarely live past their 20s.

A new family of enzymes has been discovered which paves the way to convert plant waste into sustainable and high-value products such as nylon, plastics, chemicals, and fuels.

As much of the UK and Europe swelters under heatwave conditions, new research led by scientists from the University of Bristol has produced compelling evidence that loss of life through increased heat stress during heatwaves can be limited if we stabilise climate at the lower of the Paris Agreement climate goals.

Solar irradiation provides light, heat and energy for driving atmospheric motion on Earth, and is directly affected by solar activities. The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicated that solar activities have significant effects on the climate system, but large uncertainties also exist. The related mechanisms, especially how solar activities affect East Asian climate, are still unclear and need further investigation.

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have designed a way to sense dangerous chemicals using, in part, a simple rig consisting of a smartphone and a box made from Lego bricks, which could help first responders and scientists in the field identify deadly and difficult-to-detect nerve agents such as VX and sarin. The new methodology described in a paper published Wednesday in the open-access journal ACS Central Science  combines a chemical sensor with photography to detect and identify different nerve agents — odorless, tasteless chemical weapons that can cause severe illness and death, sometimes within minutes.

To improve water treatment, researchers use modeling to understand how chemical byproducts form during the advanced oxidation process.

With the help of this new method, waste water can be treated faster than before, and the environmentally positive aspect is that the process leaves less solid radio-active waste.

A research team has successfully recorded the sound of methane bubbles from the seafloor off the Oregon coast using a hydrophone, opening the door to using acoustics to identify – and perhaps quantify – this important greenhouse gas in the ocean.