Toilets spew invisible aerosol plumes with every flush – here's the proof, captured by high-powered lasers

Toilets eject aerosol droplets that may carry disease-causing pathogens. Learning about how these particles move could help reduce exposure in public restrooms.

John Crimaldi, Professor of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
Dec. 8, 2022 • ~7 min

Attosecond measurements capture electrons in water clusters

A new method allows for time-resolved measurements of electron motion in water clusters lasting only a few attoseconds.

Oliver Morsch-ETH Zurich • futurity
July 26, 2022 • ~6 min

Russians reportedly building a satellite-blinding laser – an expert explains the technology

Build a powerful enough laser, and you can shine it into space. Aim it well, and you can blind satellites.

Iain Boyd, Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
July 26, 2022 • ~9 min

Laser tool that measures glaciers fits in a backpack

A new tool that uses lasers to measure glaciers is small enough to fit in a backpack and be carried up steep mountains.

U. Oregon • futurity
July 15, 2022 • ~6 min

Lasers find new measure of gravity’s strength

The gravitational constant G determines the strength of gravity, but the value is hard to nail down. Now, researchers have remeasured it using lasers.

Peter Rüegg-ETH Zurich • futurity
July 13, 2022 • ~6 min

How cables in glaciers could help forecast future sea level rise

New research shows how fibre-optic cables can monitor the hidden structure of glaciers, teaching us about past and future ice flow.

Adam Booth, Associate Professor in Applied Geophysics, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds • conversation
May 14, 2021 • ~7 min

Antimatter: scientists find way to trap elusive material by blasting it with lasers

Laser-cooling enables new measurements that could explain why antimatter is so scarce in our universe.

Niels Madsen, Professor of Physics, Swansea University • conversation
April 22, 2021 • ~7 min

Lasers show how ‘turbulent dynamos’ create huge magnetic fields

A new study sheds light on a once-elusive phenomenon known as a "turbulent dynamo," an astrophysical process that amplifies magnetic fields.

Lindsey Valich-Rochester • futurity
March 26, 2021 • ~5 min

Laser-steering microrobot offers surgeons high-speed precision

Robotic engineers from Harvard’s Wyss Institute and John A. Paulson School for Engineering and Applied Science have developed a laser-steering microrobot in a miniaturized 6 by 16 millimeter package that can be integrated with existing endoscopic tools.

Harvard Gazette • harvard
Jan. 13, 2021 • ~6 min

Researchers develop a high-power, portable terahertz laser

The instrument could bring powerful sensing and imaging capabilities out of the lab and into hospitals, airports, or other settings.

Michaela Jarvis | MIT News correspondent • mit
Nov. 2, 2020 • ~7 min

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