Tag

Ultraviolet

All articles tagged with #ultraviolet

Van-Chased Storms Reveal Trees’ Ultraviolet Corona
science1 month ago

Van-Chased Storms Reveal Trees’ Ultraviolet Corona

Researchers mounted a UV camera on a modified minivan to capture the ultraviolet corona emitted by trees during thunderstorms for the first time. The team observed 41 bursts in sweetgum and loblolly pine across the U.S. East Coast, with each burst emitting billions of photons at around 260 nanometers. This real but previously unobserved glow could influence forest health and atmospheric chemistry and may play a role in thunderstorm electrification, suggesting such coronae occur across forests worldwide.

Trees Glow Ultraviolet in Storms - First Real-World Corona Evidence
science1 month ago

Trees Glow Ultraviolet in Storms - First Real-World Corona Evidence

Scientists captured the first field evidence of coronae—ultraviolet glows at leaf tips—generated by charge buildup as storms pass over trees. In lab simulations and storm-intercept observations along the US East Coast, researchers logged 41 bursts lasting 0.1–3 seconds, emitting about 100 billion photons per frame at ~260 nm, across species including sweetgum, loblolly pine, maple, and spruce, suggesting a real, widespread electrical glow with potential implications for forest chemistry and how thunderstorms electrify in a warming climate.

Private Mauve telescope captures first starlight, signaling a new era in commercial astronomy
astronomy1 month ago

Private Mauve telescope captures first starlight, signaling a new era in commercial astronomy

The suitcase-sized Mauve telescope, created by Blue Skies Space, made its first observation by targeting the bright star eta Ursa Majoris (104 light-years away), recording visible and ultraviolet light in a five-second exposure. This marks the debut measurements for a privately funded space telescope and could help scientists identify nearby stars that host potentially habitable exoplanets, while supporting a growing commercial astronomy sector.

Storm Sparks UV Glows on Tree Tips Confirmed in the Wild
earth-science1 month ago

Storm Sparks UV Glows on Tree Tips Confirmed in the Wild

A Penn State–led team captured the first in-the-wild coronae—brief ultraviolet glows at leaf tips—during thunderstorms, logging 41 events on multiple tree species across the East Coast in about 90 minutes. Each glow lasts roughly three seconds and can hop between leaves. While coronae had been seen in laboratory tests, this study confirms they occur in nature and may light tens to hundreds of treetop leaves during a single storm, though the displays are invisible to the naked eye.

Deer Glow: Ultraviolet Signposts Reveal Hidden Forest Communication
science1 month ago

Deer Glow: Ultraviolet Signposts Reveal Hidden Forest Communication

University of Georgia researchers found that white-tailed deer rubs and ground scrapes glow under ultraviolet light (365 and 395 nm), suggesting deer may communicate using UV-visible ‘signposts’ in the forest. Irradiance measurements showed these spots were brighter than the surroundings, though whether the glow comes from deer secretions, plant compounds, or both remains unclear. The study analyzed 109 rubs and 37 scrapes in a Whitehall Forest during two fall surveys in 2024, and the findings point to a possible new form of deer communication, published in Ecology and Evolution.

"Breakthrough: Scientists Unveil Full-Spectrum Laser with Unprecedented Intensity"
science-and-technology2 years ago

"Breakthrough: Scientists Unveil Full-Spectrum Laser with Unprecedented Intensity"

Scientists have developed a cascaded architecture of gas-filled hollow-core fiber, a lithium niobate crystal plate, and a specially designed chirped periodically poled lithium niobate crystal to generate an intense four-octave-spanning ultraviolet-visible-infrared (UV-Vis-IR) full-spectrum laser. By harnessing the synergic action of second-order nonlinear (2nd-NL) high harmonic generation (HHG) and third-order nonlinear (3rd-NL) self-phase modulation (SPM) effects, the laser achieves an extremely large bandwidth, high-flatness spectral profile, and large pulse energy. This breakthrough could have applications in optical spectroscopy, physics, chemistry, biology, materials science, information technology, industrial processing, and environmental monitoring.

Metamaterials Revolutionize Holography's Spectrum Possibilities.
technology2 years ago

Metamaterials Revolutionize Holography's Spectrum Possibilities.

Researchers at Pohang University of Science and Technology have developed a method for generating meta-holograms in both the visible and ultraviolet spectral regions, overcoming prior limitations. They also devised a way to encode two distinct holographic phase profiles onto a single metasurface, leveraging polarization characteristics and liquid crystal, leading to potential applications in security technologies such as anti-counterfeiting measures, identifications, and passports.