In Brief

The EU’s Photonics Public Private Partnership has launched three manufacturing pilot lines to help small businesses take photonics technologies from lab to market. They will focus on health applications, flexible organic light-emitting diodes and sensors for the detection of chemicals in gas and liquids Professor Colin Whitehouse has been appointed as Chair of the Cardiff based Compound Semiconductor Centre. 2D tin monoxide layers deposited on sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition have shown p-type conduction. More than 18,300 people applied to join NASA’s 2017 astronaut class. The 18-month process will end with the selection of 8-14 individuals going on for the opportunity to become astronaut candidates.