New Atlas

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Can tropical tectonic activity trigger ice ages?

Michael Irving March 14, 2019

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a major driver of shifts in the Earth’s climate, and in the past too little CO2 has been associated with triggering ice ages. Now a team of scientists has found a surprising new mechanism that could lead to ice ages: Tropical tectonic activity.

Tropical tectonic activity, such as that occurring in Indonesia today, may have triggered ice ages in ...

Science

Researchers show they can count people through walls using only Wi-Fi

James Holloway September 26, 2018

In what may be seen as a worrying development to those troubled by the growth of the surveillance state, researchers at the University of California have demonstrated that they can count people through walls using only Wi-Fi signals.

The method is accurate to within two people

Space

"World's most advanced camera" cranks up the contrast to join exoplanet hunt

Michael Irving April 16, 2018

Described as the world’s largest and most advanced superconducting camera, a new instrument dubbed DARKNESS is designed to filter out the blinding light of stars to see orbiting exoplanets in more detail than ever before.

DARKNESS is a new instrument that can take higher contrast images to help spot fainter exoplanets ...

Science

Not one, but two super eruptions formed the colossal Yellowstone caldera

Anthony Wood October 26, 2017

According to new research, the colossal caldera of the Yellowstone supervolcano was created by not one, but two powerful and closely spaced eruptions that took place some 630,000 years ago. The eruptions were powerful enough to affect the global climate as the planet was recovering from an ice age.

The last time the Yellowstone supervolcano erupted, it caused a climate-altering volcanic winter

Space

Supernova shows "the universe is crazier than science fiction"

Michael Franco August 15, 2017

Thanks to a global network of 18 robotic telescopes, researchers caught a brief blue glow in the sky which, they say, was the result of a different kind of supernova explosion. The find reveals surprising information about the companion star next to the white dwarf that sparked the spectacle.

Supernova SN 2017cbv is located in the galaxy NGC 5643, about 55 million light years away, ...

Digital Cameras

Computational Zoom allows changes to photo composition post capture

Scott Collie July 31, 2017

A team at UC Santa Barbara has developed a system that uses image stacking to adjust the composition of a photo after it's been taken. Working with Nvidia, the team says the "computational zoom" system can create images that, in some cases, couldn't be captured with a normal camera.

The Computational Zoom system makes it possible to automatically combine wide-angle and telephoto perspectives into a ...

Science

Drones use Wi-Fi to see what's hidden

Ben Coxworth June 19, 2017

Three years ago, scientists used Wi-Fi-equipped ground-based robots to obtain 2D images of objects hidden behind brick walls. Now, using aerial drones, they've obtained 3D images of similarly-hidden objects.

Both drones were equipped with Wi-Fi transceivers

Science

Harnessing electricity-generating bacteria to clean up drinking water

Michael Irving February 12, 2017

The bacteria Shewanella oneidensis is useful for cleaning water and generates electricity while it chows down. Now, researchers at UCSB have chemically modified the bacteria to increase its energy production, which could lead to wastewater treatment plants that generate some of their own power.

DSFO+, a molecule seen here in crystal form, has been used to boost the power generated ...

Biology

We could bring the woolly mammoth back to life, but should we?

Michael Irving August 26, 2016

With various “de-extinction” projects in the works right now, researchers have published a paper analyzing the ecological benefits, risks and responsibilities of reintroducing once-extinct species into modern ecosystems.

Researchers at UCSB have put forward ecological guidelines on determining how viable it may be to ...

Electronics

Tiny lasers on silicon means big things for electronics

Colin Jeffrey June 5, 2016

An international team of researchers has found a way to create microscopically-small lasers directly from silicon, unlocking the possibilities of direct integration of photonics on silicon, and a significant step towards light-based computers.

Scientists have found a way to create nanoscale lasers directly from silicon, unlocking the possibilities of ...