One of the most mysterious features of quantum mechanics is that if two particles (or photons) interact at some point in time then the properties of these particles will remain connected at future times. A consequence of this is that determining the quantum state of one of the particles simultaneously determines the quantum state of […]
A reported case study in a Colombian woman , member of a family carriers of a mutation in the presinilin 1 gene which leads to early onset Alzheimer’s, has shown that a certain mutation in the gene APOE3 can protect from the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease. This woman was already aged 70 but […]
One of the most important scientific objectives in recent years is to find solutions to the problem of climate change and environmental pollution. Unfortunately, this issue is not only related to the amount of CO 2 that is released into the atmosphere from fossil fuels. The chemical industry, in the complex processes it carries out […]
Graphene is a diamagnetic material, this is, unable of becoming magnetic. However, a triangular piece of graphene is predicted to be magnetic. This apparent contradiction is a consequence of “magic” shapes in the structure of graphene flakes, which force electrons to “spin” more easily in one direction. Triangulene is a triangular graphene flake, which possesses […]
As important as remembering, it is forgetting. As Sherlock Holmes said the brain is like a room that you furnish with memories but where space is limited and unnecesary information should be erased. Much on how this erasing works is unkown, but a new study points out to a certain immune cell population in the […]
What differentiates us from our closest relatives and how are these differences caused? Scientists are trying to answer t his question by comparing the genomic information of us and our closest relatives . Yet, we are far from having a genomic explanation that justifies the observed phenotypic differences. Human Accelerated Regions (HARs) However, some findings […]
Condensed matter • Materials • Nanotechnology • Quantum physics • Theoretical physics
When two photons with the same energy interact with a nonlinear material, they “combine” and generate a new photon with twice the energy of the initial photons. More precisely, two photons at the fundamental frequency are absorbed by a plasmonic structure to emit one photon at the second-harmonic frequency. This is called second-harmonic generation. Second-harmonic […]
Too much of anything is usually a mistake, when we speak of a substance of abuse so common, and so easy to find as alcohol we can really get in trouble. Why do some indulge in too much drinking while others seem to easily control those urges is a valid question for which there is […]
We all know what glass is, don’t we? We just point to the nearest window and it is that transparent sheet. Humans have been producing glass for at least 6,000 years, way before they knew how to smelt iron. Actually, the chemistry is well known: to produce window glass we just heat a mixture of […]
Renewable energy sources are crucial to react to the continuous increase of energy consumption and pollution by carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Biofuels, where the energy content is derived from a biological source, are one of the alternatives to oil and natural gas. Still, some biofuels are controversial, like biodiesel, because they imply cultivating certain crops […]