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Diamond ‘flaws’ pave way for nanoscale MRI
By exploiting flaws in miniscule diamond fragments, researchers say they have achieved enough coherence of the magnetic moment inherent in these defects to harness their potential for precise quantum...
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Quantum waves at the heart of organic solar cells
By using an ultrafast camera, scientists say they have observed the very first instants following the absorption of light into artificial yet organic nanostructures and found that charges not only...
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Understanding the chain fountain - a problem-solving partnership
The problem of the chain fountain was revealed by BBC Science presenter Steve Mould. 2.8 million people have watched his video demonstration of a chain appearing to defy gravity by first leaping out of...
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Cambridge scientists honoured in Top 100
Science today is not only about the work of academics and researchers: it relies on a broad spectrum of dedicated people – teachers and mentors, policy makers and regulators, writers and broadcasters,...
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Revolutionary solar cells double as lasers
Commercial silicon-based solar cells - such as those seen on the roofs of houses across the country - operate at about 20% efficiency for converting the Sun’s rays into electrical energy. It’s taken...
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First Gold award for boosting the role of women in Cambridge
The University of Cambridge has received its first Gold award for boosting the role of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) departments.Athena SWAN Awards are given for...
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Exposing ‘evil twins’
A direct relationship between the way in which light is twisted by nanoscale structures and the nonlinear way in which it interacts with matter could be used to ensure greater purity for...
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Nanomaterials Up Close: Salt baskets
"These baskets are just ordinary salt, dried from droplets of salt water. As the perfectly spherical water droplets dry out, the salt crystallises quickly from the outside, each crystal straining...
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Taking inspiration from nature’s brightest colours
Brightly-coloured, iridescent films, made from the same wood pulp that is used to make paper, could potentially substitute traditional toxic pigments in the textile and security industries. The films...
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Nanomaterials Up Close: Synthetic opal
“Currently, solar panels are usually built from some form of crystalline silicon, and achieve reasonable power conversion efficiencies. However, this crystalline silicon is relatively expensive to make...
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Superconducting secrets solved after 30 years
Harnessing the enormous technological potential of high-temperature superconductors – which could be used in lossless electrical grids, next-generation supercomputers and levitating trains – could be...
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Trapping the light fantastic
Jeremy Baumberg and his 30-strong team of researchers are master manipulators of light. They are specialists in nanophotonics – the control of how light interacts with tiny chunks of matter, at scales...
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The atomic building site
Making a perfectly flat layer of billiard balls is fairly straightforward. Doing the same thing with atoms is rather more difficult. But as we demand more of materials, the ability to control atoms as...
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Black hole trio holds promise for gravity wave hunt
An international team, including University of Cambridge scientists, led by Dr Roger Deane from the University of Cape Town, examined six systems thought to contain two supermassive black holes. The...
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Light in, light out: the ‘rock’ that breaks the rules
Discovered 175 years ago in Russia’s mineral treasure box – the Ural Mountains – and named after the mineralogist Count Lev Aleksevich von Perovski, perovskite is fast becoming a ‘rock’ to be reckoned...
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Nanomaterials Up Close: Gum Arabic
"This lustrous picture was taken on an electron microscope, allowing us to see below the wavelength of light. It's actually a very boring scrap of gum arabic powder, which is made from the hardened sap...
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Institute of Physics announces 2014 award winners
The Institute of Physics (IOP) has announced this year’s award winners with three Cambridge academics among their ranks.In its Gold award category is Professor Michael Payne from University of...
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"Brain Workout" for Physics Teachers at the Cavendish Laboratory
Funded by the Rutherford Physics Partnership, the residential has been held for four years alongside the Senior Physics Challenge.The residential provides teachers with copies of the resources and...
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Building ‘invisible’ materials with light
A new method of building materials using light, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, could one day enable technologies that are often considered the realm of science fiction, such...
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LEDs made from ‘wonder material’ perovskite
A hybrid form of perovskite - the same type of material which has recently been found to make highly efficient solar cells that could one day replace silicon - has been used to make low-cost, easily...
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