New way to control particle motions on 2-D materials

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A new study points the way to new photonic devices with one-way traffic lanes. In the new work, the team showed that shining beams of circularly polarized light onto the graphene ribbons causes electrons in the material to cluster into two different "valleys" in the electronic band structure.
via Science Daily

Solar fuels: Refined protective layer for the 'artificial leaf'

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A process for providing sensitive semiconductors for solar water splitting ('artificial leaves') with an organic, transparent protective layer has been developed by researchers. The extremely thin protective layer made of carbon chains is stable, conductive, and covered with catalyzing nanoparticles of metal oxides. These accelerate the splitting of water when irradiated by light.
via Science Daily

Trilobites: What Spring Looks Like from Space

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An image from the Meteosat-9 satellite shows Earth on the vernal equinox, the official start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.










via New York Times

The LHC wakes up from its winter break

Alaskan Moondogs

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Intricate solar structure

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Space science image of the week: Superheated iron atoms show what human eyes cannot see in the Sun’s atmosphere
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/03/Ultraviolet_image_shows_the_Sun_s_intricate_atmosphere

Hunting for big bang neutrinos that could provide fresh insight on the origin of the universe

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Big Bang neutrinos are believed to be everywhere in the universe but have never been seen. The expansion of the universe has stretched them and they are thought to be billions of times colder than neutrinos that stream from the sun. As the oldest known witnesses or “relics” of the early universe, they could shed new light on the birth of the cosmos if scientists could pin them down. That’s a tall order since these ghostly particles can speed through planets as if they were empty space.
via Science Daily
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