Latest Raman spectroscopy Stories
Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) reveals invisible colors in art masterpiecesWhat do Winslow Homer's For to Be a Farmer's Boy (1887) and Vincent van Gogh's The Bedroom (1889) have in common?First, they are both displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC). Homer's painting represents a high point in the career of America's premiere watercolorist, while Van Gogh's painting is perhaps one of most recognizable paintings in the world. However, they also share a key physical...
Scientists are using antibody-based techniques to identify and study the organic compounds used in paintingsProteins, enzymes, antibodies--when we hear these words, we are likely to conjure images in our heads of colorful molecular models, cancer, flu shots or even skin care. However, we seldom associate these terms with art. What does a protein, like collagen, for example, have to do with a Renaissance painting? The answer may surprise you.At the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) in New York...
Princeton researchers have invented an extremely sensitive sensor that opens up new ways to detect a wide range of substances, from tell-tale signs of cancer to hidden explosives.The sensor, which is the most sensitive of its kind to date, relies on a completely new architecture and fabrication technique developed by the Princeton researchers. The device boosts faint signals generated by the scattering of laser light from a material placed on it, allowing the identification of various...
GLASGOW, Scotland, February 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Renishaw Diagnostics Ltd, a world leading provider of trace level detection technologies based on the exploitation of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS), for research and molecular diagnostics applications, today announced the launch of its first research use only (RUO) multiplex assay system which allows precious research samples to be 'screened' for 10 or more 'targets',...
In asymmetric warfare, early detection and identification of trace level chemical and biological agents and explosive compounds is critical to rapid reaction, response, and survivability. While there are many methods currently being used that can detect these threats, none allow for the unique fingerprinting of threat agents at trace levels.A research team, led by Drs. Joshua Caldwell and Orest Glembocki, scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Electronic Science and Technology...
Natelson Lab pioneers technique to measure heat, dissipation at very small scalesYou can touch a functioning light bulb and know right away that it's hot. Ouch! But you can't touch a single molecule and get the same feedback.Rice University researchers say they have the next best thing -- a way to determine the temperature of a molecule or flowing electrons by using Raman spectroscopy combined with an optical antenna.A new paper from the lab of Douglas Natelson, a Rice professor of physics...
Highlights of Frontiers in Optics 2010/Laser Science XXVI MeetingScientists and engineers from around the world will gather on the shores of Lake Ontario in Rochester, N.Y. next week to discuss some of the latest breakthroughs in lasers and optics and their applications to cutting-edge science, the development of new materials, and medicine.Journalists are invited to Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2010/Laser Science XXVI -- the 94th annual meeting of the Optical Society (OSA), which is being held...
A paper by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may breathe new life into the use of a powerful"”but tricky"”diagnostic technique for cell biology. The paper,* appearing this week in the Biophysical Journal, demonstrates that with improved hardware and better signal processing, a powerful form of molecular vibration spectroscopy can quickly deliver detailed molecular maps of the contents of cells without damaging them. Earlier studies have suggested...
In two landmark studies published today in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis (DTA), UK and Swiss research teams reveal two techniques proven to identify dissolved cocaine in bottles of wine or rum. These tools will allow customs officials to quickly identify bottles being used to smuggle cocaine, without the need to open or disturb the container.Cocaine is among the most common drugs of abuse and a large number of imaginative techniques of smuggling cocaine through border controls have...
Portable devices that use a laser beam to probe bones, teeth, and other parts of the body for early signs of diseases like osteoporosis and tooth decay may seem like something out of science fiction. But those devices are moving closer to reality, according to an article in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine.C&EN Senior Editor Celia Henry Arnaud notes that these new diagnostic tools will have the ability to see beneath the skin and...
