Silicon nanoparticles boost performance of solar cells

Solar cells coated with a film of 1 nanometer, blue luminescent particles showed a power enhancement of about 60 percent in the ultraviolet range of the spectrum, but less than 3 percent in the visible range, researchers report.

“Integrating a high-quality film of silicon nanoparticles 1 nanometer in size directly onto silicon solar cells improves power performance by 60 percent in the ultraviolet range of the spectrum,” said Munir Nayfeh, a physicist at the University of Illinois and corresponding author of a paper accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letters.

See EurekAlert.

3-D Image of Live Cell

Researchers at MIT have for the first time imaged in 3-D a living cell using three-dimensional interferometry.

See Biophotonics.

Popular "bad physics" hurts students' understanding

Movies such as Spiderman and Speed generate excitement among audiences with their cool special effects. But they also defy the laws of physics, contributing to students’ ignorance about science.

"Some people really do believe a bus traveling 70 mph can clear a 50-foot gap in a freeway, as depicted in the movie Speed. And, if that were realistic, a ramp would be needed to adjust the direction of motion to even try to make the leap", said UCF professor Costas J. Efthimiou, who co-authored the article.

See PhysOrg.

Imaging the Lungs using Vibration Response Imaging (VRI)

A technological replacement for the stethoscope draws a 3D picture by gauging lung vibrations.

The process, which uses no radiation, works by analyzing acoustic vibrations given off by the lungs. As a patient breathes normally for several seconds, sensors placed on the back—in effect, electronic stethoscopes—pick up these lung vibrations and feed them to a computer, where they're processed and turned into vivid images. Conditions such as asthma, emphysema, and pneumonia each produce distinct and definable images.

See Business Week.

Reversing the Casimir Effect

The Casimir effect or Casimir-Polder force is a physical force exerted between separate but extremely close objects and can be dominant on the nano scale, the strength of the force falling off rapidly with distance. It poses significant problems for nanotechnologists.

Using a special lens of a kind that has already been built, Prof Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin report in the New Journal of Physics they can engineer the Casimir force to repel, rather than attract. Because the Casimir force could potentially cause problems for nanotechnologists, who are trying to build electrical circuits and tiny mechanical devices on silicon chips, among other things, the team believes the feat could initially be used to stop tiny objects from sticking to each other.

See Daily Telegraph.
Also Wikipedia - The Casimir Effect.