A new class of microscopic crystal structures developed at the University of Toronto is bringing high bandwidth optical microchips one step closer to efficient, large-scale fabrication. The structures, known as photonic band gap (PBG) materials, could usher in an era of speedy computer and telecommunications networks that use light instead of electrons.

“This will be a tremendous breakthrough,” says Sajeev John, a professor in U of T’s Department of Physics and co-investigator of the st

It’s been something of a mystery to scientists – how are blind mice able to synchronize their biological rhythms to day and night? New research by a team of scientists, including one from the University of Toronto, seems to have uncovered the answer.

Rods and cones in the outer retina are the eyes’ main photoreceptors, explains Nicholas Mrosovsky, professor emeritus in zoology at U of T. When these rods and cones degenerate, mammals and animals become blind. Despite this, however, some ani

A new species of the gentian family gets a Potteresque name

Harry Potter’s influence pervades even the science of plant taxonomy at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Lena Struwe, assistant professor of ecology, evolution and natural resources at Rutgers’ Cook College – and a fan of the fictional young wizard – has shared in the discovery of a rare, new jungle plant that now bears a Potteresque name.

The new species, Macrocarpaea apparata , is descr

High in the canopy of a Neotropical Panamanian forest, researchers have discovered that birds, especially native ones during the rainy season, protect trees by reducing the numbers of leaf-eating insects.

The finding — being published this week on the Online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences — was a mild surprise, said researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. That birds help crops and low-lying plants in temperate forests by devouri

The arrival of summer brings increased chances of thunderstorms and dangerous lightning. NASA marks National Lightning Safety Awareness Week, June 22-29, by highlighting the unique contributions agency lightning research makes to climate studies, severe storm detection and prediction.

Lightning is dangerous, so improving our understanding of it and its role in weather and climate is important. NASA researchers at the National Space Science and Technology Center in Huntsville, Ala., created

The Northern Lights are a visible result of physical processes in inner space. By studying the optical signal from the Northern Lights and similar phenomena, we can gain new knowledge about the physics behind them. In the long run such pure research may be of great importance for applications in our future supply of energy and for future space travel.

A dissertation at Umeå University, Sweden, by researcher Urban Brändström at The Swedish Institute of Space Physics, focuses on the constructi