AZoOptics speaks to Nicole Meulendijks from TNO in the Netherlands about the SPOTLIGHT consortium and its use of photonics such as LEDs to turn carbon dioxide and green hydrogen into renewable energy.
By Laura Thomson
24 Feb 2022
One technique that has emerged as a powerful tool in such cellular studies is using atomic force microscopy to perform force spectroscopy on immobilized cellular species.3 This is known as single-cell force spectroscopy and is a powerful technique for measuring the mechanical forces between cells that are an essential part of the cell adhesion process.
By Rebecca Ingle, Ph.D
24 Feb 2022
Reducing food waste is one key strategy to increasing food availability and ensuring that our limited global resources are better allocated. An international team of researchers from the United States Department of Agriculture and the Korea Food Research Institute has developed a novel microscopy technique that may help reduce food waste by identifying produce, specifically blueberries, that are more susceptible to spoilage.
By Sarah Moore
24 Feb 2022
Nitrogen is a vital element for plant and animal growth. An overabundance of the substance, however, is linked with adverse effects on the health of humans, animals, and our ecosystems.
By Sarah Moore
23 Feb 2022
Spectroscopy is being used to sort different kinds of plastic waste for recycling. Many plastics that are made from different polymers and require different recycling procedures are colorless and indistinguishable by eye, but techniques such as Raman and infrared spectroscopy, which are sensitive to the molecular vibrations in the sample, can be used to tell them apart.
By Rebecca Ingle, Ph.D
22 Feb 2022
Machine vision and imaging spectroscopy approaches have been successfully used for the identification of Japanese knotweed and can discriminate between different plant species in the same area. Other species, such as serica, can also be identified using such methodologies and instrumentation attached to airborne vehicles that can either be piloted remotely or run in autonomous modes.
By Rebecca Ingle, Ph.D
22 Feb 2022
Spectroscopy measures the interactions of electrons, protons, and ions in a material, based on collision energy. It is a popularly used non-destructive analytical tool in plant science and agriculture research, which helps determine the presence of microbial infection, pests, toxins, chemical composition, and adulterants in agricultural produce.
By Rebecca Ingle, Ph.D
21 Feb 2022
Photonics is helping automate processes in agriculture and manufacturing such as screening fields for crop quality and plant diseases. With the right spectroscopic and imaging techniques, it is possible to check water levels in plants and determine the nutritional content of plant species.
By Rebecca Ingle, Ph.D
21 Feb 2022
AZoOptics speaks to Yishai Klein, Research Physicist from Bar-Ilan University, about his x-ray fluorescence technique based on computational ghost imaging. The new method overcomes current challenges such as limited resolution by removing focusing requirements and significantly reducing measurement times.
By Laura Thomson
18 Feb 2022
In the next few decades, opportunities provided by photonics have the potential to have a much more societal impact. Photonics will be at the heart of some of the most competitive and high-profile marketplaces in history, with a £14.5 billion niche industry.
By Akhlaqul Karomah
18 Feb 2022