Looking up at the night sky — expansive and seemingly endless, stars and constellations blinking and glimmering like jewels just out of reach — it’s impossible not to wonder: Are we alone? For many of us, the notion of intelligent life on other planets is as captivating as ideas come. Maybe in some other star…
Ultrasensitive Biosensor Outshines Graphene
Move over, graphene. An atomically thin, two-dimensional, ultrasensitive semiconductor material for biosensing developed by researchers at UC Santa Barbara promises to push the boundaries of biosensing technology in many fields, from health care to environmental protection to forensic industries. Based on molybdenum disulfide or molybdenite (MoS2), the biosensor material — used commonly as a dry…
Robots to See Through Solid Walls with Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi makes all kinds of things possible. We can send and receive messages, make phone calls, browse the Internet, even play games with people who are miles away, all without the cords and wires to tie us down. At UC Santa Barbara, researchers are now using this versatile, everyday signal to do something different and…
Surface-Initiated Self-Healing of Polymers in Aqueous Media
A surfboard that seals its own cracks without having to cure in the sun for days. Underwater structures that can be fixed with less work and downtime. Joints that are almost instantly stronger after surgery. Sounds like science fiction, but thanks to researchers at UC Santa Barbara, it’s coming closer to reality. “Since the late…
Next Generation Green Electronics
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara, in collaboration with University of Notre Dame, have recently demonstrated the highest reported drive current on a transistor made of a monolayer of tungsten diselenide (WSe2), a 2-dimensional atomic crystal categorized as a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD). The discovery is also the first demonstration of an “n-type” WSe2 field-effect-transistor (FET),…