a blog by the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology
Now that we’ve passed the winter solstice and are starting to get some more daylight here in Wisconsin, it seems like a good time to talk about how valuable photons are. And not just big groups of photons like what are emitted from lasers or LEDs – I’m talking about the importance of just one …
Continue reading "A Photon Saved is a Photon Earned"
Hearing of the fire at Notre Dame de Paris a year ago broke my heart. I have only been there once in my life, but that visit is one of my most cherished memories. Before studying chemistry and joining the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, I earned a music education degree, with a major in voice …
Continue reading "Molecular music: Patterns of vibrations at the quantum level"
In a previous post, Can gold melt at room temperature? Melting temperature depression!, we talked about how the color of gold changes from shiny yellow to dark red when it is shrunk down to the nanoscale. We know that lots of materials have interesting properties when they get that small, but why do gold nanoparticles have …
Continue reading "What gives gold nanoparticles their color?"
The United States celebrated Independence Day last week, and most people in the US probably managed to see some fireworks. Besides the fireworks, one of my favorite things this time of year is another kind of light show—fireflies! There’s something almost ethereal about fireflies in a field on a calm summer night. When I was …
Continue reading "How does nanoscale chemistry make fireflies glow brightly?"
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