Tag

Ultraviolet

All articles tagged with #ultraviolet

science7 days ago•38 min saved

The Ultraviolet Blind Spot: How Evolution Shaped Human Vision

Humans can’t see ultraviolet light because the eye’s cornea and lens absorb most UV radiation before it reaches the retina. Evolution favored eye protection from UV damage, leaving our photoreceptors tuned to the visible spectrum. By contrast, many other animals have UV-sensitive visual systems, which helps them detect flowers, prey, or mates that reflect UV patterns. The article explains how this filtering works, why UV perception is advantageous for some species but not humans, and what this tells us about how vision has evolved in different lineages.

via Forbes|

#biology #evolution #eyes

environment8 days ago•27 min saved

UV Light Unmasks a Hidden Glow on Cassowary Casques

Scientists shined ultraviolet light on cassowaries and discovered that the casque on these birds glows green-blue, with southern and northern cassowaries showing strong, species-specific fluorescence patterns while dwarf cassowaries show little glow. While not yet proven as a social signal, the glow could help with species or individual recognition and offers a modern cue for studying extinct dinosaurs; the study examined 95 birds and preserved specimens, and researchers aim to test the cue’s relevance under natural rainforest light in future work.

via ZME Science|

#biofluorescence #cassowary #communication

science1 month ago•4 min saved

Field Confirmation: Trees Emit Corona Discharges During Thunderstorms

Field observations in North Carolina recorded 859 corona events on a sweetgum and 93 on a loblolly pine during a thunderstorm, marking the first natural confirmation of corona discharges in trees. Using a UV-sensitive Corona Observing Telescope System, researchers linked leaf-tip discharges to hydroxyl production and potential atmospheric cleansing, while noting questions about tree health and ecological impacts.

via Science Daily|

#atmospheric-electricity #corona-discharge #forest-canopy

science2 months ago•6 min saved

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.

via Indian Defence Review|

#corona #forests #meteorology

science2 months ago•5 min saved

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.

via ScienceAlert|

#atmospheric-electricity #corona #science

astronomy2 months ago•53 min saved

Ganymede's auroras echo Earth's northern lights, NASA finds

A 2021 Juno flyby showed Ganymede's ultraviolet auroras break into bead-like patches, not smooth ovals, mirroring Earth’s auroras and driven by Jupiter's magnetosphere; the finding by LPAP Liège researchers highlights Ganymede’s unique magnetic field and sets the stage for further study by the JUICE mission.

via Space|

#astronomy #auroras #ganymede

astronomy2 months ago•56 min saved

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.

via Space|

#astronomy #eta-ursa-majoris #exoplanets

earth-science3 months ago•15 min saved

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.

via Gizmodo|

#coronae #earth-science #electrical-discharges

science3 months ago•5 min saved

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.

via ScienceAlert|

#deer #ecology #photoluminescence

technology4 months ago•6 min saved

Galaxy S26 Ultra color lineup leaks confirm four shades, including Ultraviolet

A new leak of SIM-slot images reportedly confirms four Galaxy S26 Ultra colors—Black Shadow, White Shadow, Galactical Blue, and Ultraviolet—matching prior reports, with online-exclusive variants likely; the piece also notes expected charging speed upgrades and a privacy display.

via PhoneArena|

#black-shadow #color-options #leak

science5 months ago•4 min saved

New Insights Suggest Changes in Black Hole Fundamentals

Recent research suggests that the relationship between ultraviolet and X-ray emissions in quasars has changed over billions of years, challenging long-held assumptions about the uniformity of matter surrounding supermassive black holes and impacting methods used to study the universe's structure and evolution.

via ScienceDaily|

#black-holes #cosmology #quasars

science-and-technology2 years ago•4 min saved

"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.

via Phys.org|

#full-spectrum #infrared #laser

technology2 years ago•3 min saved

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.

via SciTechDaily|

#holography #liquid-crystal #metamaterials