Optics

We now know of more than 5,000 exoplanets beyond the solar system. What we really understand about each of these worlds, though, is barely anything at all. Most of them have been seen only indirectly from their shadows as they cross in front of the stars they orbit. The few that researchers have managed to actually take a picture of—that is, to directly image using light emanating from the planets themselves—appear as little more than monochromatic dots even in the very best current telescopes. And so far all of those…

Scientists have long tried to create new allotropes (forms) of carbon because of their versatility and usefulness for the industry. But only limited success was achieved so far. That is set to change now. In a major breakthrough, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder, US, have successfully synthesised the long-hypothesised “next-generation wonder material” graphyne. An allotrope of carbon, graphyne is similar to graphene, which is highly valued by industry. In fact, the research on graphene was awarded the…

Vivo X80 Series launch in China will take place on April 25, the Chinese company has announced via a post on Weibo. Vivo has also shared a small video clip on the Chinese microblogging website, teasing a quad rear camera setup with Carl Zeiss optics, and an orange colour variant. The smartphone series is said to comprise of three models, the Vivo X80, Vivo X80 Pro and Vivo X80 Pro+. Meanwhile, a tipster has shared the alleged renders of the Vivo X80 suggesting a design similar to the Vivo X80 Pro+. Vivo X80 series…