Category: Press Releases — Page 21

Stanford physicists develop revolutionary low-power polariton laser

Stanford University, May 2013

Lasers are an unseen backbone of modern society. They’re integral to technologies ranging from high-speed Internet services to Blu-ray players. The physics powering lasers, however, has remained relatively unchanged through 50 years of use. Now, an international research team led by Stanford’s Yoshihisa Yamamoto, a professor of electrical engineering and of applied physics, has demonstrated a revolutionary electrically driven polariton laser that could significantly improve the efficiency of lasers.

Featured in Game Changers: Energy on the Move.

Stanford engineers monitor heart health using paper-thin flexible ‘skin’

Stanford University, May 2013

Most of us don’t ponder our pulses outside of the gym. But doctors use the human pulse as a diagnostic tool to monitor heart health. Zhenan Bao, a professor of chemical engineering at Stanford, has developed a heart monitor thinner than a dollar bill and no wider than a postage stamp. The flexible skin-like monitor, worn under an adhesive bandage on the wrist, is sensitive enough to help doctors detect stiff arteries and cardiovascular problems.

Picked up by the San Francisco Chronicle, The Daily Mail, The Future of Things, and others.

Turbulent seas signal sea urchin larvae to settle down, Stanford scientist discovers

Stanford University, April 2013

The swirling waters of a rocky shore motivate sea urchin larvae to grow up and settle down.

Stanford’s Hank Greely presents the ethics of resurrecting extinct species

Stanford University, April 2013

Twenty years after the release of Jurassic Park, the dream of bringing back the dinosaurs remains science fiction. But scientists predict that within 15 years they will be able to revive some more recently extinct species, such as the dodo or the passenger pigeon, raising the question of whether or not they should – just because they can.