[HN Gopher] Physicists steer chemical reactions by magnetic fiel... ___________________________________________________________________ Physicists steer chemical reactions by magnetic fields and quantum interference Author : wrycoder Score : 33 points Date : 2022-03-09 16:10 UTC (2 days ago) (HTM) web link (phys.org) (TXT) w3m dump (phys.org) | westurner wrote: | Perhaps also practical for intersecting applications: "These | Superabsorbent Batteries Charge Faster the Larger They Get: In | the lab, the prototype quantum batteries are charged with light" | https://spectrum.ieee.org/quantum-battery : | | > _Previous work found that matter could act collectively in | surprising ways due to quantum physics. For example, in | "superradiance," a group of atoms charged up with energy can | release a far more intense pulse of light than they could | individually._ | | > _In the past decade, researchers have also discovered the | reverse of superradiance was possible--superabsorption, with | atoms cooperating to display enhanced absorption. However, until | now superabsorption was seen for only small numbers of atoms._ | | [...] | | > _The new device consists of a reflective waferlike microcavity | enclosing a semiconducting organic Lumogen F orange dye, which | the researchers charged with energy using a laser. Ultrafast | detectors helped the team monitor the way in which this dye | charged and stored light energy at femtosecond resolution. As the | microcavity size and the number of dye molecules increased, the | charging time decreased._ | | Could a combo PV photovoltaic, storage, full-spectrum e.g. LED | product for outdoor and/or indoor applications be created with | super absorption, , and superradiance? | | Maybe also wrap the thing in thin film (and/or graphene sheets | that throw off electrons) to harvest energy off the thermal | gradient around the unit; and shape it like self-cleaning petals. | hinkley wrote: | Does this mean we're finally learning how to do enzymatic | reactions without the enzyme? | | Also I wonder what this is going to end up teaching us about EM | fields and organisms. Maybe the tinfoil hats weren't entirely | wrong... | pcj-github wrote: | This is super simple atoms at a millionth of a degree above | zero. It has no practical relevance to influencing the outcome | of a chemical reaction at normal temperatures. But, it's not | every day you can demonstrate a new way to tune chemical | reactions, even in extremely specialized environments like | these. | rsfern wrote: | This is super cool, but I think it's pretty far from the kind | of catalysis that enzymes do, it's an ultra cold reaction of | some like diatomic Na-Li compound. (Molecule?) | Terry_Roll wrote: | Doesnt everything with electrons have a magnetic field that | corresponds to the size & number electrons? | | https://ece.northeastern.edu/fac-ece/nian/mom/magfields.html | | The joys of small things! ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2022-03-11 23:00 UTC)