Media Watch Archives
Light interacts with its past self in twist on double-slit experiment
New Scientist -
The famous double-slit experiment, which demonstrated that light is both a wave and a particle, has been performed using “slits in time”. The techniques involved present a new way to manipulate light that could be used to create strange materials called time crystals. … It could also help with more everyday applications, says Maxim Shcherbakov, [assistant professor, electrical engineering and computer science], at the University of California, Irvine. “The temporal interference is an exciting find that can see applications in many modern technologies but especially in telecommunications, where the way we treat signals in time is very important,” he says. Read More
The coming flood: Meet the flood watchers
Smart Water Magazine -
Using a new flood modeling and mapping method named PRIMo (Parallel Raster Inundation Model) to show in nearly house-by-house detail the impact of a 100-year flood, the study found existing assessments to be wildly inaccurate and the aging waterway control system to be woefully inadequate for coping with a massive deluge.
"We knew the paper would get some attention because we're saying that the number of people at risk is 30 times greater than the federally defined flood plains would suggest," says lead author Brett Sanders, UC Irvine professor of civil and environmental engineering. "On top of that, we identified glaring racial and economic inequalities in the flooding risks that residents face. … Sanders' co-authors include fellow Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty [and Professor] Amir AghaKouchak, along with research specialist Jochen Schubert and grad student Daniel Kahl; [Professor] Steven J. Davis of the Department of Earth System Science; [Professor] Richard A. Matthew and [Assistant Professor] Nicola Ulibarri of the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy; and researchers from UC Riverside, UC San Diego and the University of Miami. Read More
Better camouflage is needed to hide from new electronic sensors
The Economist -
A team at the University of California, Irvine is designing infrared camouflage by embedding tiny metal flakes into thin sheets of rubber. These sheets can then be incorporated into clothing. … Both designs would add but a trivial amount of weight to military fatigues, notes Alon Gorodetsky, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Irvine, who leads the project. The technology, he says, could be ready within a few years. Such materials, he adds, might also be used as insulation for the better control of heat flows in electronics. Read More
Hydrogen may help replace fossil fuels in California — but it’s still a greenhouse gas
Desert Sun -
DWP is hardly the only Californian institution rushing to commit to hydrogen. SoCalGas, one of the state’s largest natural gas utilities, hopes to blend hydrogen into the gas network that supplies homes and businesses across Southern California. To do that, it has begun work on a massive hydrogen pipeline project called the Angeles Link, and is planning tests in campus buildings at UC Irvine. Meanwhile, a Bay Area transit agency is preparing to manufacture hydrogen to power a new train line linking Alameda and San Joaquin counties. Read More
Electric generators will fill a critical role in developing hydrogen in the LA area, analysis finds
Utility Dive -
Analysis from the University of California, Irvine, concluded that green hydrogen could provide about 20% of the emissions reductions needed for Los Angeles to comply with federal smog standards …. In a four-month period modeled by UC Irvine, the improved air quality would result in 27 fewer deaths, 960 fewer hospitalizations and 7,500 fewer lost work days, said Michael MacKinnon, a senior scientist in the advanced power and energy program at UC Irvine. … Developing a green hydrogen industry could also support more than 28,000 full-time jobs in the LA area, compared to the 22,000 jobs currently supported by the natural gas and refining industries, according to Jeffrey Reed, chief scientist for renewable fuels and energy storage at UC Irvine. Read More
Human cells hacked to act like squid skin cells could unlock key to camouflage
Ars Technica -
"In general, there's two ways you can achieve transparency," UC Irvine's Alon Gorodetsky, associate professor, chemical & biomolecular engineering], who has been fascinated by squid camouflage for the last decade or so, said during a media briefing at the ACS meeting. "One way is by reducing how much light is absorbed—pigment-based coloration, typically. Another way is by changing how light is scattered, typically by modifying differences in the refractive index." The latter is the focus of his lab's research. Read More
Human cells help researchers understand squid camouflage
Science Daily -
For many years, Alon Gorodetsky, Ph.D., and his research group have been working on materials inspired by squid. In past work, they developed "invisibility stickers," which consisted of bacterially produced squid reflectin proteins that were adhered onto sticky tape. "So then, we had this crazy idea to see whether we could capture some aspect of the ability of squid skin tissues to change transparency within human cell cultures," says Gorodetsky, who is the principal investigator on the project. Read More
Octopus Camouflage Ability Transferred To Human Skin Cells
ScienceBlog -
For many years, Alon Gorodetsky, Ph.D., [associate professor, chemical & biomolecular engineering] and his research group have been working on materials inspired by squid. In past work, they developed “invisibility stickers,” which consisted of bacterially produced squid reflectin proteins that were adhered onto sticky tape. “So then, we had this crazy idea to see whether we could capture some aspect of the ability of squid skin tissues to change transparency within human cell cultures,” says Gorodetsky, who is the principal investigator on the project. Read More
Human cells help researchers understand squid camouflage
Phys.org -
For many years, [associate professor] Alon Gorodetsky, Ph.D., and his research group have been working on materials inspired by squid. In past work, they developed "invisibility stickers," which consisted of bacterially produced squid reflectin proteins that were adhered onto sticky tape. "So then, we had this crazy idea to see whether we could capture some aspect of the ability of squid skin tissues to change transparency within human cell cultures," says Gorodetsky, who is the principal investigator on the project. The team at the University of California, Irvine focused their efforts on cephalopod cells called leucophores, which have particulate-like nanostructures composed of reflectin proteins that scatter light. Read More
Mammalian Cells Help Researchers Study Squid Transparency
Laboratory Equipment -
Typically, scientists use animals to study humans, but researchers at the University of California, Irvine reversed the system in their newest research. At the American Chemical Society 2023 meeting, researchers detailed how they used human cells to better understand squid camouflage. … “We had this crazy idea to see whether we could capture some aspect of the ability of squid skin tissues to change transparency within human cell cultures,” said PI [and Associate Professor] Alon Gorodetsky, whose research group has been working on materials inspired by squid. The team at the University of California, Irvine focused their efforts on cephalopod cells called leucophores, which have particulate-like nanostructures composed of reflecting proteins that scatter light. Read More