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Subcategory: Physics
Large Hadron Collider Repaired for Relaunch
Nov 18 2009 - The Guardian
Scientists have repaired the world's largest atom smasher and plan by this weekend to restart the machine.
Signature of Antimatter Detected in Lightning
Nov 13 2009 - ScienceNews
The Fermi telescope finds evidence that positrons, not just electrons, are in storms on Earth.
Tweak Gravity: What If There Is No Dark Matter?
Nov 6 2009 - Scientific American
Modifications to the theory of gravity could account for observational discrepancies, but not without introducing other complications.
7.3 Billion Years Later, Einstein’s Theory Prevails
Oct 30 2009 - The New York Times (requires free registration)
Astronomers said a contest between gamma rays of differing energies and wavelengths tested a proclamation by Einstein on the speed of light.
Researchers Create an Electromagnetic "Black Hole" the Size of a Salad Plate
Oct 21 2009 - Scientific American
A collection of metamaterial rings efficiently absorbs microwave radiation the way black holes gobble up matter and light, and an optical-light analogue may not be far behind.
'Magnetricity' Observed and Measured for First Time
Oct 15 2009 - ScienceDaily
A magnetic charge can behave and interact just like an electric charge in some materials, according to new research led by the London Centre for Nanotechnology.
Time Telescope Could Boost Web
Sep 30 2009 - BBC News
Researchers have demonstrated a "time telescope" that could squeeze much more information into the data packets sent around the internet. Rather than focusing information-carrying light pulses in space, it focuses them in time.
Superheavy Element 114 Confirmed: A Stepping Stone to the 'Island Of Stability'
Sep 25 2009 - ScienceDaily
Scientists have been able to confirm the production of the superheavy element 114, 10 years after a group in Russia first claimed to have made it. The search for 114 has long been a key part of the quest for nuclear science's hoped-for Island of Stability.
How Photon Echoes Can Be Used to Create a Quantum Memory Device
Sep 14 2009 - ScienceDaily
A new way of storing and 'echoing' pulses of light has been discovered by a team from The Australian National University, allowing bursts of laser to work as a flexible optical memory and potentially assist in extending the range of quantum information systems.
Laser Cooling May Create "Exotic" States of Matter
Sep 9 2009 - National Geographic News
Laser beams are best known as weapons in science fiction and as heating and cutting tools in science fact. But a new study has flip-flopped conventional physics to show lasers in a whole new light.
Magnetic Monopoles Detected in a Real Magnet for the First Time
Sep 4 2009 - ScienceDaily
Researchers have for the first time observed magnetic monopoles and how they emerge in a real material.
Swinging Arms Save Energy
Aug 4 2009 - Scientific American
A new study shows that one reason we swing our arms while walking is probably because it makes ambulation a significantly more efficient operation, saving about 12% of the energy required to walk with the arms immobile.
Guiding Light Around Corners With New Metamaterial Device
Aug 3 2009 - ScienceDaily
Using a composite metamaterial to deliver a complex set of instructions to a beam of light, physicists have created a device to guide electromagnetic waves around objects such as the corner of a building or the profile of the eastern seaboard.
Breakdown In Planck's Law: Bringing Objects Close Together Can Boost Radiation Heat Transfer
Jul 31 2009 - ScienceDaily
A well-established physical law describes the transfer of heat between two objects, but some physicists have long predicted that the law should break down when the objects are very close together. For the first time, however, MIT researchers have achieved this feat, and determined that the heat transfer can be 1,000 times greater than the law predicts.
"Repulsive" Side to Light Force Could Control Nanodevices
Jul 14 2009 - ScienceDaily
A team of Yale University researchers has discovered a "repulsive" light force that can be used to control components on silicon microchips, meaning future nanodevices could be controlled by light rather than electricity.
Trapped Atom Makes for Supersensitive Probe and Quantum Link
Jul 10 2009 - Scientific American
Physicists suspend an ion in space to act as a minuscule stylus.
Finally, an Average Black Hole
Jul 2 2009 - ScienceNOW Daily News
Heavyweight and lightweight black holes abound in the universe, but nobody has detected a middleweight—and some scientists argue they don't exist. Now, astronomers say they have found the first conclusive evidence for one of these elusive objects at the fringe of a distant galaxy.
Crews Begin Work on World's Deepest Underground Science Lab in Quest to Understand Dark Matter
Jun 24 2009 - Los Angeles Times
Far below the Black Hills of South Dakota, crews are building the world's deepest underground science lab at a depth equivalent to more than six Empire State buildings—a place uniquely suited to scientists' quest for mysterious particles known as dark matter.
World's First Controllable Molecular Gear at Nanoscale Created
Jun 22 2009 - ScienceDaily
Scientists have scored a breakthrough in nanotechnology by creating the world's first molecular gear of the size of 1.2 nanometers whose rotation can be deliberately controlled.
Efficient New Light Unfolds Like Paper
Jun 8 2009 - Discovery News
The next time your lamp needs a new light bulb, you might change the shade instead of the bulb. New research shows that cheap and thin organic light-emitting diodes can create white light as bright as any compact fluorescent bulb for nearly half the electricity as many compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Do Particles Larger than Galaxies Fill the Universe?
Jun 4 2009 - National Geographic News
The oldest of the subatomic particles called neutrinos might each encompass a space larger than thousands of galaxies, new simulations suggest.
World's Strongest Laser Unveiled at California Lab
Jun 1 2009 - Yahoo! News
The world's most powerful laser, created to help keep tabs on the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile while also studying the heavens, has been unveiled at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Austria to Quit CERN Particle Physics Laboratory
May 8 2009 - Reuters
Austria plans to pull out of the international particle physics laboratory CERN because its share of the high cost is eating up too much of the country's budget for international research.
Lights Out for Dark Matter Claim?
May 4 2009 - ScienceNow Daily News
Recent satellite measurements fail to confirm the presence of dark matter in our galaxy. The observations don't disprove the existence of dark matter, but they put a damper on hopes that physicists had already begun to see it.
World First for Strange Molecule
Apr 23 2009 - BBC News
A molecule that until now existed only in theory has finally been made, reinforcing fundamental quantum theories developed by Nobel prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi. Known as a Rydberg molecule, it is formed through an elusive and extremely weak chemical bond between two atoms.
High-Intensity Lasers Throw Scientists a Curve
Apr 13 2009 - Scientific American
Researchers at the University of Arizona in Tucson and the University of Central Florida in Orlando reported that they have found a way to bend a high-intensity pulsed laser beam, a breakthrough they are hoping will help them better understand how ultra-intense laser pulses travel through the air and find potential new uses for the technology.
Cold Fusion Debate Heats Up Again
Mar 24 2009 - BBC News
The long-standing debate about cold fusion is receiving new impetus at the American Chemical Society's national meeting this week. In a bid to avoid the negative connotations of a largely discredited approach, research in the field now appears under the umbrella of "low-energy nuclear reactions," or LENR.
Nanotube Tech Transforms CO2 Into Fuel
Mar 24 2009 - Discovery Channel
Powered by sunlight, titanium oxide nanotubes can turn carbon dioxide into methane, which can be harnessed as an energy source, say scientists at Pennsylvania State University. The nanotubes could dramatically reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and reduce our need for fossil fuels.
"Corkscrew" Waves Seen on Sun—Keys to Solar Mystery?
Mar 23 2009 - National Geographic News
New pictures have revealed that mysterious "corkscrew" waves appear to be pushing heat from the Sun's surface to its outer atmosphere. The discovery could help solve the long-standing puzzle of how the Sun is able to heat its atmosphere to millions of degrees hotter than its surface, a new study says.
Is It a Gas, Fluid, Solid, or All of the Above?
Mar 19 2009 - ScienceNow Daily News
Five years ago, researchers saw the first evidence of a "supersolid," a bizarre state of matter in which crystals of ultracold helium could flow like a liquid without viscosity. Now, there is a new contender for the supersolidity claim. Physicists report evidence that a gas of rubidium atoms might form a supersolid. If the new observations hold up, they could usher in a new class of materials ideal for understanding the quantum behavior of matter.
Dark Energy to Erase Big Bang's Fading Signal
Feb 23 2009 - Discovery News
Even with the most sensitive detectors, future scientists will not be able to observe the leftover radiation from the Big Bang explosion, study the motion of distant galaxies to conclude that space is expanding, or even see distant objects. The force astronomers know as dark energy will stretch the universe beyond detection, with objects receding faster than the speed of light.
Scientists Make Advances on "Nano" Electronics
Feb 19 2009 - Reuters
Two U.S. teams have developed new materials that may pave the way for ever smaller, faster, and more powerful electronics as current semiconductor technology begins to reach the limits of miniaturization.
Race for "God Particle" Heats Up
Feb 17 2009 - BBC News
Europe's particle physics lab, Cern, is losing ground rapidly in the race to discover the elusive Higgs boson, or "God particle", its US rival claims. The particle, whose existence has been predicted by theoreticians, would help to explain why matter has mass.
"Big Bang" Machine's Restart Delayed Again
Feb 10 2009 - CBS News
The Large Hadron Collider could be restarted at the end of September—a year after the world's largest particle accelerator was knocked off line by an electrical malfunction. The delay is the latest in a string of restart dates. CERN had originally expected to have the LHC back online at the beginning of April.
A Leap for Teleporting, Between Ions Feet Apart
Feb 3 2009 - The New York Times (requires free registration)
Scientists have achieved a milestone in communication: teleporting the quantum identity of one atom to another a few feet away.
Mysterious Dark Energy Demystified
Dec 17 2008 - MSNBC
The mysterious force now called dark energy has been expanding the universe at an increasing pace. New measurements of this accelerating expansion, which drives galaxies away from one another on large scales but so far shows no effects on small scales (such as within a galaxy), provide details about the nature of the unseen and unknown dark energy that is at work.
Why a Speeding Shark is Like a Golf Ball
Nov 10 2008 - ABC News
Shortfin mako sharks can shoot through the ocean at up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometres an hour). Now a trick that helps them to reach such speeds has been discovered—the sharks can raise their scales to create tiny wells across the surface of their skin, reducing drag like the dimples on a golf ball.
Simulation Points to Dark Matter
Nov 6 2008 - MSNBC
A computer simulation showing the formation and evolution of a galaxy like the Milky Way points to where scientists should look to spot dark matter, researchers report. The findings may move researchers a step closer to unraveling the mystery of the substance that makes up most of the universe.
Under Pressure: Jimmy Choo and Body Image in The Devil Wears Prada
Oct 24 2008 - Jacob Clark Blickenstaff—NSTA WebNews
Prof. Blickenstaff believes science is everywhere, and he finds manifestations of it in The Devil Wears Prada that science teachers may be able to use in their classrooms.
"Buckypaper" Hype Could Soon Be Reality
Oct 20 2008 - CBS News
"Buckypaper" looks a lot like ordinary carbon paper, but don't be fooled by the flimsy appearance. It could revolutionize the way everything from airplanes to TVs are made. Buckypaper is 10 times lighter but potentially 500 times stronger than steel when sheets of it are stacked and pressed together to form a composite. Unlike conventional composite materials, though, it conducts electricity like copper or silicon and disperses heat like steel or brass.
Cylindrical Solar Cells Give a Whole New Meaning to Sunroof
Oct 8 2008 - Scientific American
A California-based company hopes to capture the wasted sunlight falling on roofs by using large, flat arrays of cylindrical thin-film solar cells. This design not only seals out moisture but allows the glass to act as a sunlight concentrator, funneling photons onto the thin film.
Dark Energy: Is It Merely an Illusion?
Sep 29 2008 - Science Daily
Dark energy is at the heart of one of the greatest mysteries of modern physics, but it may be nothing more than an illusion, according physicists at Oxford University. They are proposing that it's possible that we simply live in a very special place in the universe—specifically, we're in a huge void where the density of matter is particularly low.
Supercollider Down Until Next Year?
Sep 22 2008 - Time Magazine
The unique qualities of the world's largest particle collider mean that the meltdown of a small electrical connection could mean putting off high-energy collisions of particles—the machine's ultimate objective—until 2009.
"Big Bang" Experiment Passes Key Tests
Sep 10 2008 - CBS News
The world's largest particle collider passed its first major tests by firing two beams of protons in opposite directions around a 17-mile underground ring Wednesday in what scientists hope is the next great step to understanding the makeup of the universe.
Fingers Crossed, Physicists Are Ready for Collider to Roll
Sep 9 2008 - The New York Times (requires free registration)
On Wednesday at 3:30 a.m. Eastern time, CERN scientists will try to send the first beam of protons around the 17-mile-long Large Hadron Collider, 300 feet underneath the Swiss-French border. The Fermilab, outside Chicago, will hold a "pajama party" for staff members and journalists to watch the events live from a remote control room.
A Fine-Tooth Comb to Measure the Accelerating Universe
Sep 5 2008 - ScienceDaily
Astronomical instruments needed to answer crucial questions, such as the search for Earth-like planets or the way the Universe expands, have come a step closer with the first demonstration at the telescope of a new calibration system for precise spectrographs.
Invisibility Cloak One Step Closer, Scientists Say
Aug 11 2008 - Reuters
Scientists have created two new types of materials that can bend light the wrong way, creating the first step toward an invisibility cloaking device. One approach uses a type of fishnet of metal layers to reverse the direction of light, while another uses tiny silver wires, both at the nanoscale level.
Date Set for Operation of Large Hadron Collider
Aug 8 2008 - The New York Times (requires free registration)
Officials at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, announced that their new particle accelerator, the world’s largest, would begin operation on Sept. 10. On that date, the physicists and engineers will make the first attempt to circulate a beam of protons around a 17-mile-long super-cooled underground racetrack known as the Large Hadron Collider.
A Journey to the Center of the Earth, or How Low Can You Go?
Aug 1 2008 - Jacob Clark Blickenstaff—NSTA WebNews
We all know that a trip to the center of the Earth has to be science fiction, but one of the goals of this column is to help teachers use current films (sci-fi, fantasy, or action) to motivate students to think about science when they are outside the classroom. A Journey to the Center of the Earth can certainly be used to stimulate discussion of Earth science, physics, and even physiology.
Colorful Dyes Can Turn Regular Windows into Solar Panels
Jul 14 2008 - Discover Magazine
Coating an ordinary sheet of glass with dye could be the key to cheaper, more efficient solar panels, according to a new study. Researchers say the dye absorbs visible light and transmits it to the edges of the glass sheet, where strips of photovoltaic cells convert the light into electricity.
In Unique Stellar Laboratory, Einstein's Theory Passes Strict, New Test
Jul 8 2008 - National Science Foundation
Taking advantage of a unique cosmic configuration, astronomers have measured an effect predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of General Relativity in the extremely strong gravity of a pair of superdense neutron stars. Essentially, the famed physicist's 93-year-old theory passed yet another test.
Plastics Unite to Make Unexpected 'Metal'
Jun 16 2008 - NewScientist
Jamming the right two pieces of plastic together creates a thin but strongly conducting channel along the junction that acts like a metal, say Dutch researchers. The discovery could lead to a whole new way of making electronics from non-metallic materials, and even new superconductors.
New Nanopaper More Break-resistant than Cast Iron
Jun 11 2008 - ScienceDaily
Researchers in Sweden and Japan report development of a new type of paper that resists breaking when pulled almost as well as cast iron. The new material, called "cellulose nanopaper," is made of sub-microscopic particles of cellulose and may open the way for expanded use of paper as a construction material and in other applications.
Huge Black Hole Catapulted through Space
Apr 30 2008 - MSNBC
A colossal black hole has been spotted exiting its home galaxy, kicked out after a huge cosmic merger took place. The event, seen for the first time, was announced Tuesday.
Solar Power Lightens Up with Thin-Film Technology
Apr 28 2008 - Scientific American
Cheap, durable, efficient devices are needed to generate a significant amount of electricity from the Sun. So-called thin-film photovoltaic cells may be just the ticket.
Iron Exposed as High-Temperature Superconductor
Apr 24 2008 - Scientific American
For more than 20 years, the only known superconductors that worked far above liquid-helium temperatures were a few dozen compounds--virtually all based on copper. Now, scientists have discovered the first high-temperature superconductors based on iron. These novel materials could help unravel one of the biggest mysteries in science--how exactly the high-temperature versions work.
Quarter Electrons May Enable Exotic Quantum Computer
Apr 22 2008 - Scientific American
Quarter electrons crop up in new experiments that create currents of electronlike "quasiparticles." By forcing the current through a small junction, researchers deduced that the quasiparticles had one quarter the charge of single electrons-—possibly the type needed for an exotic form of quantum computer.
Possible Breakthrough in Lightning Control
Apr 18 2008 - National Geographic
Scientists say they have triggered early stages of lightning by shooting lasers into clouds over New Mexico. The apparent breakthrough brings the decades-old goal of causing lightning with lasers closer, according to a new study. If achieved, lightning control could eventually make airports, power plants, and other sites safer, scientists say.
Shape-Shifting Skin to Reduce Drag on Planes and Subs
Apr 16 2008 - NewScientist.com
Aircraft or submarines covered with an undulating skin able to change at a flick of a button would experience 50% less drag than conventional vehicles. This trick, which naturally occurs in dolphins, is now being tested by human engineers.
"God Particle" Expected to Be Found Soon
Apr 8 2008 - ABC News
The father of a theoretical subatomic particle dubbed "the God particle" says he's almost sure it will be confirmed in the next year in a race between powerful research equipment in the United States and Europe.
Is Graphene the New Silicon?
Mar 31 2008 - National Science Foundation
Research results from physicists show that graphene, a new material that combines aspects of semiconductors and metals, could be a leading candidate to replace silicon in applications ranging from high-speed computer chips to biochemical sensors.
Asking a Judge to Save the World, and Maybe a Whole Lot More
Mar 31 2008 - New York Times (requires free registration)
Two men are pursuing a lawsuit to stop scientists from using a giant particle accelerator, saying it could create a black hole that might eat up the Earth.
"Nanominerals" Influence Earth Systems from Ocean to Atmosphere to Biosphere
Mar 21 2008 - National Science Foundation
The ubiquity of tiny particles of minerals (mineral nanoparticles) in oceans and rivers, atmosphere and soils, and in living cells are providing scientists with new ways of understanding Earth's workings. Our planet's physical, chemical, and biological processes are influenced or driven by the properties of these minerals, states a team of researchers from seven universities.
Loopy Photons Clarify "Spookiness" Of Quantum Physics
Mar 20 2008 - Science Daily
Researchers have developed a new method for creating pairs of entangled photons, particles of light whose properties are interlinked in a very unusual way dictated by the rules of quantum physics. The researchers used the photons to test fundamental concepts in quantum theory.
Colliding Black Holes may Leave Infrared Afterglow
Mar 5 2008 - NewScientist
Supermassive black holes could leave behind long-lasting infrared afterglows visible to current instruments when they merge, a new study says. If so, scientists could find signs of these mergers much sooner than expected.
World's Biggest Particle Smasher Completed
Mar 3 2008 - MSNBC
Engineers have created what they say will be the world's largest scientific instrument--a nuclear particle accelerator in a 17-mile tunnel under the Swiss-French border. The wheel-shaped piece of equipment, with a diameter of about 30 feet, was lowered down a 330-foot (100-meter) shaft and fitted with other equipment known as detectors in an underground room the size of a cathedral.
Jumping to the Wrong Conclusions
Feb 26 2008 - Jacob Clark Blickenstaff—NSTA WebNews
A physics educator takes a look at the science in the new science fiction movie Jumper. This is the first in an ongoing series of movie reviews whose aim is to examine how scientific concepts are used, misused, or simply ignored on the silver screen.
Scientists Create a Black That Erases Virtually All Light
Feb 21 2008 - Washington Post (requires free registration)
Researchers in New York report that they have created a paper-thin material that absorbs 99.955% of the light that hits it, making it by far the darkest substance ever made -- about 30 times as dark as the government's current standard for blackest black. The material, made of hollow fibers, is a Roach Motel for photons -- light checks in, but it never checks out. By voraciously sucking up all surrounding illumination, it can give those who gaze on it a dizzying sensation of nothingness.
Black Holes May Harbour Their Own Universe
Oct 31 2007 - NewScientist.com
When matter gets swallowed by a black hole, it could fall into another universe contained inside the black hole or become trapped in a worm-like connection to a second black hole, according to a new study. Many researchers believe that some kind of new, over-arching theory that unites gravity and quantum effects will resolve the problem. But two scientists at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom say a rival approach called loop quantum gravity works.
Physicists Tackle Knotty Puzzle
Oct 18 2007 - NSTA News
New research has resulted in the first model of how knots form. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study examined the likelihood of knot formation and the types of knots formed in a tumbled string. Researchers say they were interested in the problem because it has many applications, including to the biophysics research questions their group usually studies.
Thunderstorm Gamma Rays Linked to Lightning
Oct 12 2007 - National Geographic News
New research shows the formation of gamma rays in thunderclouds might be connected to lightning production. Scientists first observed gamma rays in thunderstorms in the early 1990s. But the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory unexpectedly detected radiation originating from the ground while peering at distant supernovae. Researchers note, however, how thunderclouds produce the rays has not been explained. There is also no explanation behind the nature of their apparent link to lightning formation.
Gold Rings Create First True Invisibility Cloak
Oct 2 2007 - NewScientist.com
U.S. physicists have created the world’s first true invisibility cloak. The device guides rays of light around an object inside and releases them on the other side. The light waves appear to have moved in a straight line, so the cloak, and any object inside, appears invisible.
Shrinking Kilogram Bewilders Physicists
Sep 13 2007 - CBS News
Known as the international prototype for the metric mass, the kilogram is mysteriously losing weight. Physicist Richard Davis of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France says the reference kilo appears to have lost 50 micrograms compared with the average of dozens of copies. “The mystery is that they were all made of the same material, and many were made at the same time and kept under the same conditions, and yet the masses among them are slowing drifting apart,” Davis explained. “We don’t really have a good hypothesis for it.”
Physicists Get Two Atoms to Communicate
Sep 11 2007 - Science Daily
For the first time, University of Michigan researchers have coaxed two atoms to communicate with a type of quantum intuition. “The linkage between remote atoms could be the fundamental piece of a radically new quantum computer architecture,” explained professor Christopher Monroe, principal investigator of the research who has since moved to the University of Maryland. More information about the research can be found in the journal Nature.
Evidence for Unified Theory May Lie in Black Holes
Aug 27 2007 - NewScientist.com
Calculations by two particle physicists show that black holes might be harboring enigmatic hypothetical entities known as magnetic monopoles. Physicist Paul Dirac first proposed magnetic monopoles in 1931. If the new calculations prove true, physicists would now have a key ingredient for the unified theory and an explanation for why some black holes rotate.
Kinder, Gentler Way of Counting Photons Does Not Annihilate Them
Aug 23 2007 - Scientific American
After 17 years of work, researchers have counted the number of photons or particles of light in a light beam without destroying them in the process. Researchers at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris fired specially primed atoms through a pair of the most reflective mirrors ever built, gradually revealing the number of photons bouncing between their reflective surfaces. The high quality of the mirrored cavity played a key role in the researchers’ success. Scientists note the technique may be useful in creating future quantum–based technologies.
Silicon Nanoparticles Boost Solar Cells
Aug 22 2007 - Science Daily
Physicists have shown that placing a film of silicon nanoparticles on a silicon solar cell can increase the cell’s power, reduce heat, and extend cell life. “Integrating a high quality film of silicon nanoparticles one nanometer in size directly onto silicon solar cells improves power performance by 60% in the ultraviolet range of the spectrum,” explained Munir Nayfeh, a University of Illinois physicist. Nayfeh noted the improved performance is a result of enhanced voltage, not current.
Photons Flout the Light Speed Limit
Aug 17 2007 - NewScientist.com
Two physicists claim they have propelled photons faster than the speed of light. Observers explain it is a speed record that is supposed to be impossible to break. But Gunter Nimtz and Alfons Stahlhofen of the University of Koblenz in Germany have been exploring a phenomenon in quantum optics known as photon tunneling. The scientists say they have tunneled photons “instantaneously” across a barrier of various sizes, and the photons traverse the barrier much faster than the speed of light.
Dancing Atoms Could Accelerate Computing
Jul 26 2007 - MSNBC.com
Physicists have coaxed pairs of super-cold rubidium atoms to repeatedly change positions, an effort that could make them useful for storing and processing data in quantum computers. Computers today have a binary digit, the smallest unit of storage, which can only have two values, zero or one. “In the quantum world, instead of the possibilities of zeros and ones, you have a range of possibilities,” noted Trey Porto, a researcher with the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology.
New Lasers to Help With Gravity Theory
Jun 25 2007 - NewScientist.com
NASA is funding the development of lasers that could be placed on the Moon to check for subtle deviations from the standard theory of gravity. Lasers have been used to make very precise measurements of the distance between the Earth and Moon since the Apollo era, when astronauts left reflectors at three sites on the lunar surface. A fourth reflecting device is attached to a robotic lunar lander launched by the Soviet Union.
Mercury May Serve as Example of Star's Weather
Jun 24 2007 - Scientific American
If aliens could live on the star Alpha Andromedae in the Andromeda constellation, they might have a ready source of small talk: the weather. A seven year study showed shifting blotches of mercury vapor encircling the star, suggesting that its atmosphere churns the element up and down in great clouds. If correct, the discoverers say, the result marks the first example of stellar surface features that depend solely on atmospheric effects and not on magnetic fields. “No one has been able to find definite signatures of weather in stars before,” noted astrophysicist Saul Adelman of The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. “In most stars, what is seen is the result of magnetic activity.”
Einstein Theory Put to Test
Jun 21 2007 - Christian Science Monitor
Physicists testing Albert Einstein’s relativity theory need abundant patience and exquisite measurement skills. The theory testing Gravity Probe-B satellite, carrying the most nearly perfect rotating spheres ever made, is rewarding both of those virtues. It took 40 years of work to finally get the spheres into orbit three years ago. This month’s update of the analysis of the spherical gyroscope data promises significant scientific results. Meanwhile, a plan to seek Einstein’s predicted gravitational waves, which are ripples in space itself, passed a milestone June 18. In a ceremony at the Paris Air Show, the heads of NASA and the European Space Agency signed a formal agreement to proceed with the first stage of this joint project.
Liquid Coated Dish May Be First Step to Moon Telescope
Jun 20 2007 - Scientific American
Although still years from construction, researchers say they have taken the first step toward a lunar-looking glass by laying a smooth coating of silver on a small dish of so-called ionic liquid. Similar to a liquid version of table salt, ionic liquids do not evaporate, and they remain liquid at frosty temperatures such as those found on the moon.
Single Spinning Nuclei Offer Stable Quantum Computing Building Block
Jun 14 2007 - NSTA News--Kristin Collins
Surmounting several district hurdles to quantum computing, Harvard University physicists have found that individual carbon 13 atoms in a diamond lattice can be manipulated with extraordinary precision to create stable quantum mechanical memory and a small quantum processor, also known as a quantum register, operating at room temperature. The finding brings the futuristic technology of quantum information systems into the realm of solid-state materials under ordinary conditions.
The results, reported in the journal Science, could revolutionize scientists’ approach to quantum computing, which is built on the profound eccentricity of quantum mechanics, and could someday far out perform conventional supercomputers in solving certain problems.
Wireless Energy Lights Bulb from Seven Feet Away
Jun 7 2007 - Scientific American
Researchers have successfully lighted a 60-watt light bulb by transferring energy through the air from one specially designed copper coil to the bulb, which was attached to a second coil seven feet away. The ultimate goal: to shrink the coils and increase the distance between them so that a single base station emitting “WiTricity,” as the inventors refer to the effect, could power a roomful of rechargeable gadgets, each containing its own small coil.
Scientists Make Electron Motion Movie
Jun 7 2007 - Science Daily
For the first time, physicists have videotaped the motion of a single electron using high-intensity sound pulses. Observing the motion of an electron, an elementary particle with a mass that is one billionth of a billionth of a gram, had been considered as something that was not possible. But Brown University physics Professor Humphrey Maris, and doctoral student Wei Guo, successfully videotaped an electron through a container of super-fluid helium.
Scientists Create 'Optical Tweezers'
May 31 2007 - Science Daily
Spanish researchers have developed a simple technique for trapping suspended microparticles with a laser-illuminated array of gold microdots. Created by Romain Quidant and colleagues at the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona, Spain, the technique is expected to prove useful for manipulating living cells in “lab-on-a-chip” microfluidic systems.
Physicists Predict the Death of Cosmology
May 23 2007 - MSNBC.com
Physicists are now foretelling the death of cosmology, or the study of our universe, as we know it. Thankfully, cosmologists won't be jobless for a couple trillion years. The universe is rapidly expanding, perhaps not rapidly enough to rip to shreds, but enough that distant galaxies will eventually be moving away faster than the speed of light. This much has been known for decades. Once all these galaxies blink out of existence, scientists ask in an upcoming issue of The Journal of Relativity and Gravitation, how will future intelligent beings study space if the human race's knowledge is long gone? Will they be able to figure out if the Big Bang happened? Or rediscover relativity? For the most part, said Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and co-author of the journal article, future observers will be out of luck.
Chemistry of Neutron Stars Modeled for the First Time
May 22 2007 - NewScientist.com
Neutron stars are like layered candies, with different chemicals concentrated at different depths, reveal the first detailed computer simulations of the stars' chemistry. If correct, this could affect the strength of any gravitational waves the stars emit, and may help explain the origin of the spectacular nuclear explosions seen tearing across their surfaces.
Quantum Theory Fails Reality Checks
Apr 18 2007 - Scientific American
Reality just got a one-two punch. A new experiment has tried to ascertain which of two counterintuitive ingredients is more basic to quantum theory, only to find that they go hand-in-hand.
When it Comes to Photosynthesis, Plants Perform Quantum Computation
Apr 16 2007 - Scientific American
Plants soak up some of the joules of solar energy that bathe Earth each second, harvesting as much as 95% of it from the light they absorb. The transformation of sunlight into carbohydrates takes place in a million billionths of a second, preventing much of that energy from dissipating as heat. But exactly how plants manage this nearly instantaneous trick has remained elusive. Now biophysicists at the University of California, Berkeley, have shown that plants use the basic principle of quantum computing—the exploration of a multiplicity of different answers at the same time—to achieve near perfect efficiency.
New Thinking on the Death of Sun-like Stars
Apr 9 2007 - MSNBC.com
When stars like our sun die, they bloat to become red giants and then eject gigantic clouds of gas and dust into space. Increasingly, however, scientists have found themselves at a profound loss to explain how exactly dying stars could blow away these clouds. Now astrophysicists propose that unexpected chemical reactions during the formation of stardust could help solve this mystery.
Scientists Create Nanotube-tipped Pipettes
Apr 9 2007 - Science Daily
Scientists have developed carbon nanotube-tipped pipettes for use in DNA sequencing and organelle-targeted drug delivery. The Drexel University College of Engineering researchers said the pipettes make it possible to perform injections or probe fluid in specific regions inside a cell, and perhaps even specific organelles. The scientists note the probe has the possibility of transferring fluids through the carbon nanotube in and out of the pipette, thereby bridging the gap between existing microscale technologies and nanoscale interactions.
Escape from the Nucleus: Ionization via Quantum Tunneling Observed
Apr 4 2007 - Scientific American
For the first time, a group of scientists have measured electrons tunneling their way out of atoms. The work could help with investigating poorly understood processes in which electrons exchange energy with one another.
Closer to Vanishing: Bending Light as a Step Toward Invisibility Cloaks
Mar 27 2007 - Science News
Harry Potter fans, do not despair! Invisibility cloaks may be a long shot, but last year physicists demonstrated technology that might some day hide you from radar. Now, two groups of researchers have taken steps toward performing the same trick with visible light.
Mathematicians Finally Map 248-Dimension Structure
Mar 19 2007 - NewScientist.com
Mathematicians have finally conquered a fiendishly complicated mathematical challenge. “E8 was discovered over a century ago, in 1887, and until now, no one thought the structure could ever be understood,” explains team leader Jeffrey Adams of the University of Maryland, College Park.
Photon's Life Cycle 'Watched' in Full
Mar 14 2007 - NewScientist.com
Blink and you will miss it, but for the first time scientists have observed the birth, life, and death of a single photon in real time.
Physicists Remember When Superconductors Were Hot
Mar 6 2007 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
Twenty years ago this month, nearly 2,000 physicists filled a New York Hilton ballroom to hear about a breakthrough class of materials called high temperature superconductors, which promised amazing new technologies like magnetically levitated trains. Many of the participants from the 1987 session reconvened yesterday during the American Physical Society’s meeting in Denver, partly to reminisce and partly to take stock of what has happened since then.
Small Plops, Big Splashes
Feb 25 2007 - Nature News
New research reveals that a ball dropped into water can make a tiny plop or a huge splash, depending on what the ball is coated with.
Physicists Take Photos of 'Frequency Comb'
Feb 15 2007 - Science Daily
Physicists at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology say they have taken the first two-dimensional pictures of a “frequency comb.” The accomplishment provides extra information that can enhance the comb’s usefulness in optical atomic clocks, secure high-bandwidth communications, real time chemical analysis, remote sensing, and the ultimate in precision control of atoms and molecules.
Wizardry at Harvard: Physicists Move Light
Feb 8 2007 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
In a quantum mechanical sleight of hand, Harvard physicists have shown that they can not only bring a pulse of light, the fleetest of nature’s particles, to a complete halt, but also resuscitate the light at a different location and let it continue on its way.
Space Life Search Turns to TV, Radio Signals
Jan 8 2007 - Scientific American
Is there intelligent life on other planets? If so, what do space aliens watch on television? Astronomers plan to search 1,000 nearby stars for television broadcasts and other signals that could indicate extraterrestrial life, the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announced. Planned for early 2008, the project would consist of using a new radio telescope to search for radio traffic similar to that found on Earth.
9 Billion-Year-Old 'Dark Energy' Reported
Nov 17 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
A strange thing happened to the universe five billion years ago. As if God had turned on an antigravity machine, the expansion of the cosmos speeded up, and galaxies began moving away from one another at an even faster pace.
Science Takes a Bite Out of Vampires
Oct 27 2006 - MSNBC.com
It may be the season for vampires, ghosts, and zombies. But just remember, they are not real, warns physicist Costas Efthimiou. Efthimiou, a professor at the University of Central Florida, points to surveys that show American gullibility for the supernatural.
Scientists Create Cloak of Invisibility
Oct 19 2006 - Seattle Post Intelligencer
Five months after scientists, David Schurig and David Smith, published their theory that a cloak of invisibility was possible, they appear to have achieved their goal. In this experiment the scientists cloaked a copper cylinder; they used microwaves to try and detect the cylinder. Like light and radar waves, microwaves bounce off objects making them visible and creating a shadow, though it has to be detected with instruments. This breakthrough could point the way for hiding people and objects from visible light.
Nobel Prize for Americans in Physics
Oct 3 2006 - CBS News
Americans John C. Mather and George F. Smoot have won the 2006 Nobel Prize in physics for work that helped cement the big–bang theory of how the universe was created. The two scientists will share $1.4 million for discovering the nature of blackbody radiation, a cosmic background radiation believed to stem from the Big Bang. "They have not proven the Big Bang theory, but they give it very strong support," said Per Carlson, chairman of the Nobel committee for physics. "It is one of the greatest discoveries of the century. I would call it the greatest. It increases our knowledge of our place in the universe."
Einstein's Only Known Experiment Rebuilt
Oct 3 2006 - Scientific American
For as long as the name Einstein is remembered, it will surely be as a conjurer of great ideas, relativity being foremost among them. But the most celebrated theoretical physicist of all time also tried his hand once at designing an experimental instrument. It did not amount to much, but that does not make it any less fascinating to physicists, who have reconstructed the device that Einstein called his "little machine."
Quantum Entanglement Demonstrated in Superconducting Wires
Sep 7 2006 - Scientific American
A dark horse candidate for the super powerful quantum computer of the future has now passed an important milestone. Researchers have made the first direct measurement showing they can forge a crucial quantum link between currents flowing through ultracold, superconducting wires.
Butterfly Wings May Inspire New Flat Panel Displays
Sep 6 2006 - NewScientist.com
Copying the way butterflies create the extraordinary metallic coloring on their wings could lead to new kinds of dyes, cosmetics, and even flat panel displays. Furthermore, the materials could be grown, potentially making them less expensive than manufactured alternatives. The latest work supporting these ideas comes from a group of European and American researchers, who have measured for the first time the structure and optical characteristics of the photonic crystals that naturally occur in the wings of the butterfly Cyanophrys remus.
In Search of the Island of Stability
Aug 23 2006 - Nature News
New research may help pinpoint the “island of stability,” a theoretical region of relatively stable, but very heavy elements beyond the limits of the current periodic table. A research team led by Rolf-Dietmar Herzberg of the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom has examined high–energy states of the element nobelium using the particle accelerator of the University of Jvyaskyla, Finland. The results, published in Nature, will constrain theorists’ view of exactly where the island of stability lies.
Baked Seaweed and Chips
Aug 1 2006 - Nature News
New materials for advanced electronics are usually high–tech and expensive. But a team of researchers from France has shown energy storage components known as supercapacitors can be made from a cheap material. Francois Beguin of the Center for National Scientific Research on Divided Matter and his colleagues say that seaweed, when burned to a charcoal-like form, is the perfect material for making the electrodes in state-of-the-art supercapacitators.
What Shape is a Pebble?
Jul 24 2006 - Nature News
When asked what shape is a pebble, most people might answer by saying “pebble-shaped.” But scientists from France and the United States have now defined what pebble-shaped means. Material physicist Doug Durian of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and his colleagues explain that a pebble is a rounded body with a near-gaussian distribution of curvatures. While no two pebbles are exactly alike, the scientists say all pebbles seem to end up with this mathematical form.
Scientists Question Nature's Fundamental Laws
Jul 12 2006 - MSNBC.com
New research suggests that the value of certain fundamental parameters, such as the speed of light or the invisible glue that holds nuclei together, might have been different in the past. The observed differences are small, but have huge implications. Experts note that the laws of physics would have to be rewritten and more room might be needed for six additional spatial dimensions than the standard three people are used to.
Mini Solar System Could Reveal Hidden Dimensions
Jul 7 2006 - NewScientist.com
A new study suggests that a tiny, artificial solar system could reveal hidden spatial dimensions and test alternative theories of gravity. Scientists explain that this artificial system would reside inside a spacecraft that would be sent to the L2 Lagrange point, a point that lies about four times as far away from Earth as the moon does. Once at the Lagrange point, the artificial solar system would be set in motion inside the spacecraft.
Massive Neutron Star Rules Out Exotic Matter
Jun 28 2006 - NewScientist.com
Exotic states of matter such as free quarks do not arise inside neutron stars, according to a new analysis of one of the super-dense stellar corpses. The finding contradicts previous theories and offers an unprecedented view into the behavior of matter under extreme pressure.
Physicists Probe the Fifth Dimension
Jun 6 2006 - MSNBC.com
The cosmos would make perfect sense…if it turns out we are living in a 10 or 11-dimensional realm where gravity is bubbling off a different plane entirely. At least that is what is emerging as the hottest concept on the frontier of physics, writes MSNBC’s science editor Alan Boyle. Although these sound like virtually unverifiable claims, Boyle explains that physicists are attempting to come up with ways to gather evidence to support or reject the extra-dimensional theories that are a mystery. But he notes it will take several years to get that evidence, if it can be found at all.
Scientists Ponder Invisibility Cloak
May 26 2006 - ABC News
Researchers in England and the United States think they can create an invisibility cloak that would work just like the one Harry Potter inherited from his father. The researchers are laying out the blueprint and asking for help in developing the exotic materials needed to build the cloak. The special manmade materials are intended to steer light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation around an object, rendering it as invisible. Scientists not associated with the work say the idea “presents a solid case for making invisibility an attainable goal.”
Impressive New Tricks of Light, All Within the Laws of Physics
May 16 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
Physicists can now perform some new tricks with light, thanks to an experiment by an optics professor from the University of Rochester. Robert W. Boyd and his colleagues have demonstrated an optical fiber with a couple of odd characteristics: a pulse of light shot into the fiber departs before it enters, and within the fiber, the pulse travels backward and faster than the speed of light. “This is a good example of something which is very counterintuitive that the laws of nature permit,” explains Boyd.
Cosmic Map Highlights Knowledge Gap
May 15 2006 - MSNBC.com
A new cosmic map is giving scientists clues about the universe. The map confirms that the universe is full of dark energy, a strange force pushing galaxies apart at faster speeds. “We now have a precise view of what makes up our universe, but little idea as to why,” said Ofer Lahv, head of the Astrophysics Group at University College London. “It is intriguing that the ordinary matter our bodies are made of and that we experience in everyday life only accounts for a few percent of the total cosmic budget.”
When is a Black Hole Like a Dripping Faucet?
May 11 2006 - NewScientist.com
Physicists struggling to understand how black holes behave in the extra dimensions posited by string theory should turn off their computers and turn on their kitchen faucets, a new study shows. The objects act like narrow streams of water that begin to separate into drops. The research suggests that relatively simple calculations could shed light on how gravity itself behaves in extra dimensions, a problem that currently relies on complicated numerical solutions to Einstein’s equations of general relativity.
Physics in America at Crossroads and in Crisis, Panel Says
Apr 27 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
A National Academy of Sciences panel says that physics in America is at a crossroads and in crisis, as humanity stands on the verge of great discoveries about the nature of matter and the universe. The United States should be prepared to spend up to half a billion dollars in the next five years to ensure that a giant particle accelerator being designed can be built on American soil. The panel noted if this fails to happen, particle physics will “wither in this country.” The collider recommendation is part of a new report titled Revealing the Hidden Nature of Space and Time, Charting the Course for Elementary Particle Physics. The report comes on the heels of the 2005 NAS report Rising Above the Gathering Storm.
Mathematical Model May Provide Insight Into How We Sense
Apr 24 2006 - Scientific American
Two Brazilian physicists have shown how the mathematical models that describe phase transitions in physical systems might also explain our capacity to hear, see, smell, taste and touch. Mauro Copelli and Osame Kinouchi of the University of Sao Paulo used a mathematical formula to show how a random network of “excitable elements” such as neurons or axons have a collective response that is both sensitive and broad in scope. But some scientists argue that although a mathematical model seems to fit a natural phenomenon it does not necessarily follow that the two are related.
Scientists Make Water Run Uphill
Mar 29 2006 - MSNBC.com
Researchers have taken an everyday sighting in the kitchen to a new level in the lab. They have discovered that water drops can travel quickly and in one direction: up. “The drop rides along on the vapor like a boat on a river,” explains physicist Heiner Linke of the University of Oregon. The traveling drops could prove helpful in cases where scientists need to cool something down with water or another liquid.
Best Ever Map of the Early Universe Revealed
Mar 17 2006 - New Scientist.com
The universe went through a traumatic growth spurt before it was a billionth of a billionth of a second old, according to the latest data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. The probe has also given physicists their first clues about what drove that frantic expansion, and revealed that the cosmic "dark age" before the first stars switched on was twice as long as previously thought.
Explaining Ice: The Answers are Slippery
Feb 21 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
Why is ice slippery? Though the question may seem to be a simple one, physicists are still searching for a simple answer. The explanation once commonly dispensed in textbooks turns out to be wrong. And slipperiness is just one of the unanswered puzzles about ice. Besides the everyday ice that you can slip on, there are about a dozen other forms, some of which experts suspect exist in the hot interior of the Earth or on the surface of Pluto. Scientists expect to discover more variations of ice in the coming years.
Gravity Theory Dispenses With Dark Matter
Jan 25 2006 - New Scientist.com
A modified theory of gravity that incorporates quantum effects can explain a trio of puzzling astronomical observations, including the wayward motion of the Pioneer spacecraft in our solar system, new studies suggest. The work appears to rule out the need to invoke dark matter or another alternative gravity theory called Modified Newtonian Dynamics. But other experts caution it has yet to pass the most crucial test—how to account for the afterglow of the Big Bang.
Astrophysicists Weigh Up Risks of Cosmic Wipeout
Dec 8 2005 - New Scientist.com
Earthlings can rest easy. The likelihood of a doomsday scenario in which Earth is destroyed in a freak astrophysical catastrophe is remote - about once in a billion years, according to a new calculation. Max Tegmark, an astrophysicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Nick Bostrom at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom made the calculation. The story behind the work begins in 1999, when the media reported concerns that heavy-ion collisions at Brookhaven Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider could spark the destruction of Earth.
Nobel Doubts
Dec 7 2005 - Inside Higher Ed
Newton said he saw so far because he stood on the shoulders of giants. And yet, if the Nobel Prize had been around in Newton’s day, when Sir Isaac won, one might have heard grumblings from some of the giants left out. This year, with room for only one theoretical physicist among the three winners, E.C. George Sudarshan, a physics professor at the University of Texas at Austin, is feeling overlooked. Although many Nobel choices have been questioned over the years, Sudarshan’s supporters say that — at the very least — the Nobel selection panel didn’t adequately credit his work when describing research in which he unquestionably played a key role.
Trio Win Physics Nobel for Shedding Light on Optics
Oct 4 2005 - ABC News
Two Americans and a German have won the 2005 Nobel Prize in physics. Roy Glauber, John Hall, and Theodor Haensch won the prize for studying light and harnessing lasers to create a “measuring stick” to gauge frequencies with extreme precision. Such precision will be needed in the future for “navigation on long space journeys and for space-based telescope arrays,” according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences who awarded the prize. Haensch added the research could also lead to three-dimensional holographic television.
Scientists Explain the 'Cheerio Effect'
Sep 21 2005 - MSNBC.com
You may or may not have pondered why your breakfast cereal tends to clump together or cling to the sides of a bowl of milk. But there is now an easy explanation for that. Dubbed the “Cheerio Effect” by scientists, this clumping phenomenon applies to anything that floats, including fizzy soda bubbles and hair particles in water after a morning shave. This effect has been known for some time, but an explanation for nonscientists has been lacking.
Science That's a Thrill
Sep 6 2005 - CBS News
If you have ever ridden a roller coaster, you know how it feels to creep up a towering hill of steel, your train slowly, slowly squeaking its way to the steep drop ahead. You hold your breath and then, you’re off—flying into a whirlwind of motion as you plummet and rise again into loop-the-loops and 90-degree bends. But what you may not know is that, amid all the fun, you have experienced some basic laws of physics. Some of the most exhilarating aspects of an amusement park ride—whether it’s a roller coaster, a pendulum, or even a carousel—are the physical forces at play as the ride changes speed and direction.
Einstein Manuscript Found in Netherlands
Aug 20 2005 - MSNBC
A student working on his master’s degree thesis has uncovered the original manuscript of a paper Albert Einstein published in 1925. Rowdy Boeyink discovered the handwritten manuscript, titled “Quantum Theory of the Monatomic Ideal Gas,” in the archives of Leiden University’s Lorentz Institute for Theoretical Physics, according to scholars. The theory was considered one of Einstein’s last great breakthroughs. Photographs of the 16-page document and an account of its discovery have been posted on the institute’s website.
Scientists Ponder Universe's Missing Antimatter
Jul 6 2005 - National Geographic News
Why is the universe dominated by matter? Theories of physics require that for every particle of matter created at the big bang, there is an antiparticle equivalent, or antimatter, says Persis Drell, a particle physicist. Drell adds that “all we see now is matter,” but asks what happened to all the antimatter? Elvin Harms, head of the antiproton source department at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, says another way to phrase the question is: Where is the antimatter? “Is it just this part of the universe that tends to be dominated by matter? Researchers have begun to formulate answers to these questions, but their best explanations fall short of accounting for the matter-antimatter imbalance in the universe today. New particle colliders may provide more answers.
Scientists Put Melting Mystery on Ice
Jun 30 2005 - MSNBC
Scientists have never been able to explain why ice cubes in your drink melt. A new study, however, supports a leading theory that melting starts when the fundamental structure of matter begins to crack. “The existence of premelting inside solid materials implies that liquids exist within crystals before their melting temperature is reached,” noted Arjun Yodh of the University of Pennsylvania. “Understanding this effect will provide insight for the design of strong materials that are more or less impervious to temperature changes and could also apply to our theories of how natural materials, such as water, evolve in our environment.”
New State of Matter is 'Nearly Perfect' Liquid
Apr 18 2005 - Scientific American
Physicists have created what appears to be a new state of matter out of the building blocks of atomic nuclei, quarks, and gluons. Observations of the characteristics of the nearly perfect liquid match those predicted for a type of matter called a quark-gluon plasma, which is theorized to have existed just microseconds after the Big Bang. One large discrepancy, however, is that the quark-gluon plasma was predicted to behave like a gas. Scientists hope to collect more data in the coming years to resolve this discrepancy.
Scientists Debate Wait on 'New Einstein'
Apr 17 2005 - Yahoo-Associated Press
Will there ever be another Albert Einstein? That’s the question under debate at several Einstein meetings being held throughout 2005. Many physicists say the next Einstein has not been born yet, or is a baby now. That’s because the quest for a unified theory that would account for all the forces of nature has pushed current mathematics to its limits. New math must be created before the problem can be solved. But researchers note other factors such as the current state of the physics field and education are working against another Einstein emerging anytime soon.
Physicists Debate Creation of Mini Big Bang
Mar 21 2005 - MSNBC
What do you get when you increase the temperature a trillion degrees? A big heating bill. Actually physicists claim at this temperature nuclear material melts into an exotic form of matter called a quark-gluon plasma, which is thought to have been the state of the universe a microsecond after the Big Bang. The recreation of this primordial soup is the primary purpose of the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider(RHIC) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. After five years of data, it appears as if RHIC may have succeeded. But a big mystery looms over the detection: the putative plasma explodes more violently than predicted.
New Robots Approach More Humanlike Gaits
Feb 18 2005 - Scientific American
Scientists have developed three new robots that walk like humans. Inspiration for the robots’ design came from simple toys that have existed for centuries. The scientists, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University, and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, exploited the phenomenon, known as passive-dynamics, to build the new robots. In order to make the robots move across flat landscapes, the scientists inserted motors that could supply power, instead of gravity. Further information about the robots can be found in the journal Science.
Brace Yourself! Here Comes Einstein's Year
Jan 25 2005 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
“There’s a typhoon headed are way.” That’s how one physics professor is describing a year-long effort to honor Albert Einstein. Einstein Year is part of the International Year of Physics, which has already offered several fun moments with more activity to come in 2005. Earlier this month, a professional stunt cyclist flew off a ramp in the London Science Museum, and did a black flip 12 feet in the air while folding his bicycle sideways. Other events scheduled include “Constant Speed,” a ballet inspired by relativity, concerts, contests, conferences, lectures, games, and a controversial intercontinental light show.
Physics Goes in Search of 'Cool'
Jan 6 2005 - BBC News
The United Kingdom and Ireland have launched Einstein Year in an effort to excite students about physics. Organizers of the event hope that the various activities planned will raise the profile of physics. Fewer than 29,000 students opted to study physics in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 2004. There has also been a dramatic decrease in the past decade of students applying to pursue physics as a teaching career.
Device to Probe Limits of Physics
Nov 29 2004 - BBC News
British physicists have completed the first crucial element of an experimental device designed to probe the forces that shape the universe. The Atlas experiment will explore the fundamental properties of matter and search for “new physics” beyond the limits of our current understanding.
Physicists Unravel Slippery Surface Problem
Nov 8 2004 - Scientific American
It's a driver's nightmare: losing control of a car when it careens over a wet road. Although this phenomenon might seem straight forward, explaining the loss of braking power and rubber skidding has been a problem for physicists. Scientists, however, have developed a new hypothesis to explain what happens between wet surfaces and car tires, thanks to data from new computer models. Click on the link above to learn more.
Experiments Claim to See Einstein's "Frame Dragging"
Oct 21 2004 - Scientific American
Earth’s spin warps space around the planet, according to a new study that confirms a key prediction of Einstein’s general theory of relativity. After 11 years of observing the movements of two Earth-orbiting satellites, researchers discovered each satellite was “dragged” about six feet every year because the fabric of space is twisted by our whirling world. Scientists note the new results are more precise than preliminary findings published by the same group of researchers in the late 1990s.
Gravity Constant Called Into Question
Oct 18 2004 - New Scientist.com
Gravity, one of nature’s constants, may not be the same for every type of particle in the universe, according to a new study. In conventional models, the constant is the same for both particles of matter and photons of light. But two scientists have discovered that changing the gravitational constant in computer models had no impact on the development of the early universe. Physicists say the finding could explain a persistent mystery on how much helium was created in the first few minutes after the big bang.
U.S. Trio Wins Physics Nobel
Oct 5 2004 - CBS News
A trio of American scientists will share the 2004 Nobel Prize in physics. David J. Gross, H. David Politzer, and Frank Wilczeck won the prestigious prize for their exploration of the force that binds particles inside the atomic nucleus. Their work has helped science get a step closer to “fulfilling a grand dream, to formulate a unified theory comprising gravity as well—a theory for everything,” noted the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, who awarded the physics prize on Oct. 5.
Popcorn Gets Poppier
Sep 28 2004 - Nature News
Scientists have discovered the secret to super-sized popcorn. The trick? Pop the kernels at a lower pressure. Paul Quinn of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania and Joseph Both of the Stanford School of Medicine in California achieved this by fitting a simple vacuum pump to a pressure cooker where they popped their own corn. Quinn and Both discovered the makeshift popping apparatus produced nearly double the volume of popcorn for the same number of kernels. For more information on Food Science, NSTA members can refer to the October 2004 issue of The Science Teacher.
Only in Quantum Physics: Spinning While Standing Still
Sep 21 2004 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
After conducting an experiment with super-cooled helium, researchers at Pennsylvania State University say they have found that as a solid ring spins around, part of it can remain perfectly still. Experts note this experiment suggests a new state of matter: a supersolid. Although some physicists agree the supersolid explanation makes the most sense, they note additonal experiments should be performed to obtain more data.
Researchers Unveil Smallest Atomic Clock Yet
Aug 31 2004 - Scientific American
Scientists have manufactured the world’s smallest atomic clock with inner machinery about the size of a grain of rice. “The real power of our technique is that we are able to run the clock on so little electrical power that it could be battery operated and that it’s small enough to be easily incorporated into a cell phone or some other kind of handheld device,” noted John Kitching of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Further information about the novel clock can be found in the latest issue of Applied Physics Letters.
New Approach Could Lead to Improved Semiconductors
Aug 26 2004 - Scientific American
Japanese researchers report in the Aug. 26 issue of the journal Nature they have improved the seeds on which good Silicon carbide crystals form. Scientists note this new effort could help boost the performance of semiconductors. Silicon carbide semiconductors will be put into practical use in the next six to eight years, according to the study’s authors.
Nanotubes May Have No 'Temperature'
Aug 19 2004 - Nature News
Physicists have made a bizarre discovery: the concept of temperature has no meaning in some tiny objects. Although the concept of temperature is known to break down on the scale of individual atoms, new research suggests that it may also fail to apply in rather larger entities such as carbon nanotubes.
Scientists Solve Sun Jet Mystery
Jul 29 2004 - Scientific American
Scientists have solved a 127-year-old mystery. Researchers have wondered why and how solar spicules shoot out from the sun since 1877. A report in today’s issue of the journal Nature explains the challenge behind searching for these solar jets is a result of them being so close to the surface of the sun, which makes them difficult to observe. Experts note this latest discovery can enable researchers to determine how supersonic jets are tied to solar wind.
Physicist Rethinks Theory on Black Holes
Jul 22 2004 - ABC News
Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has changed his mind about black holes. Hawking recently presented new evidence that suggests black holes are able to cast out their contents. Hawking’s original theory was that black holes destroy all molecular fingerprints of their contents and emit only a generic form of radiation. Physics professors say they are skeptical and puzzled over the new theory. Observers note the latest theory offers hope that scientists might be able to identify the history of what a black hole has taken in over time by decoding what it emits.
Testing Einstein Theory in the Real Universe
Jul 12 2004 - The Washington Post
After facing several technical challenges following its launch into orbit in April, NASA’s Gravity Probe B is ready to perform science experiments. The probe will attempt to prove two tenets of Einstein’s theory of general relativity. These tenets include the “geodetic effect” and “frame dragging.” “There’s no question that people will be very interested in the results, and if it achieves what it is supposed to do, the results will be cited for years,” noted Joseph H. Taylor, a Princeton University physicist.
Mature Galaxies in Young Universe at Odds With Theory
Jul 8 2004 - Scientific American
Two groups of scientists have provided evidence for large and fully developed galaxies at both ends of the cosmos, according to a report in the journal Nature. Andrea Cimatti of the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics and his colleagues propose giant galaxies must have completed the majority of their growth before the universe was a quarter of its age. Karl Glazebrook of John Hopkins University and his associates have found that a new ingredient is required to make more stars form earlier in big galaxies. That ingredient, however, remains a mystery.
Fundamental Physics Constants Stay Put
Jun 25 2004 - New Scientist.com
A German scientist and his colleagues have ruled out any possible change to an earlier claim that a key constant varied as the universe evolved. Theodor Hansch of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics is challenging a claim made by astronomer John Webb of the University of New South Wales in Australia. Webb made the news in 2001 when he reported that the value for alpha—based on observations of how gas clouds absorbed light from quasars—was different 12 billion years ago from what it is today. Scientists note that a changing alpha can impact the constancy of the speed of light and would revolutionize traditional physics.
Scientists Teleport Not Kirk, but an Atom
Jun 17 2004 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
Two groups of scientists have teleported individual atoms, taking characteristics of one atom and imprinting them on a second atom, for the first time. “This will be an important part of attempts to build quantum computers,” Dr. H. Jeff Kimble, a California Institute of Technology physics professor, said in a commentary on the research project. Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Colorado and the University of Innsbruck in Austria conducted the experiment independently using a process proposed by I.B.M. scientist Dr. Charles H. Bennett and others in 1993.
Cosmos 'a Billion Years Older'
May 20 2004 - BBC News
Italian and German scientists claim the universe might be a billion years older than previously thought. The scientists learned of their finding through measurements made in an underground laboratory in Italy that suggested an atomic reaction that produces energy inside stars is half the rate than once believed. The result: massive stars live longer, a factor that impacts estimates of the age of the universe.
Scientists Create New Form of Matter
Jan 28 2004 - Yahoo-Reuters
Scientists have created a new form of matter called fermionic condensate. Deborah Jin, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s joint lab, who led the study with the University of Colorado noted the development is “a scientific breakthrough in providing a new type of quantum mechanical behavior.” Researchers added the new form of matter could help lead to the next generation of superconductors for use in electricity generation, more efficient trains, and other applications.
Star Twins
Jan 9 2004 - Nature News
Astronomers will now be able to test Einstein’s theory of relativity in new ways, thanks to a unique discovery. Scientists have learned that a rare set of double stars is comprised of two pulsars. Previous reports published by scientists indicated the binary system contained one pulsar and one neutron star. Andrew Lyne, lead author of the first study and director of the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Britain, said the preliminary report “was simply a matter of bad luck.”
Americans and Russian Share Nobel Physics Prize
Oct 7 2003 - The New York Times (Requires free registration)
The 2003 Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to two Russians and an American for their work concerning two phenomena: superconductivity and superfluidity. Alexei A. Abrikosov, Anthony J. Leggett, and Vitaly L. Ginzburg will share the $1.3 million prize money that accompanies the prestigious award.
Key Step in Atomic Physics 100 Years Ago Today
Aug 13 2003 - Nature News
A hundred years ago today two Nobel prize chemistry winners discovered alpha particles are helium ions. William Ramsay and Frederick Soddy reported in the August 13, 1903 edition of the journal Nature that helium gas is produced by the radioactive decay of the radium. The finding by the two scientists helped to reveal the structure of atoms and paved the way for nuclear energy exploitation.
Big Bang AfterGlow Reveals Dark Energy's Repulsion
Jul 22 2003 - New Scientist.com
Observations by scientists of the cosmic radiation emitted after the Big Bang have revealed further evidence for the universe’s dark energy. Astronomers studying changes in the energy of cosmic microwave background photons have found they have higher energy levels when leaving galactic concentrations. Scientists note this change can only be explained by “the invoking influence” of dark energy into the photons.
Accelerating Universe Theory Dispels Dark Energy
Jul 2 2003 - Nature News
A group of American scientists is proposing that the accelerating expansion of the universe can be explained without invoking a force of dark energy. The scientists claim that gravity alone might be driving everything apart with increasing speed. “This could eventually lead to a more general theory for the evolution of the entire universe,” noted cosmologist Pedro Gonzalez-Diaz.
Physics Team Goes Where No Quark Has Gone Before
Jul 1 2003 - USA TODAY
A team of scientists has discovered a new class of subatomic particles. The creation of the pentaquark, a five-quark particle, should offer insight into the nature and stability of the essential building blocks of all matter, according to physicist Ken Hicks of Ohio University, who participated in the experiment and a confirmatory effort at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.
The Clocks That Shaped Einstein's Leap in Time
Jun 24 2003 - The New York Times (Requires free registration)
Scholars have long regarded Einstein’s relativity theory as a monument to the power of abstract thought. But if Dr. Peter Galison, a Harvard professor of the history of science and of physics is right, physics and Einstein have flourished more in their connections to the world than in any ivory tower aloofness. Galison notes one clue to the origin of relativity can be found in something as “mundane and practical as a 19th-century train schedule.”
Physicists Re-Create Primordial Soup
Jun 19 2003 - The Washington Post
Scientists say they have created a new form of matter called quark-gluon plasma, which will play a role in understanding both the dawn of the universe and the interior of atomic nuclei. “The matter we have created has properties that have never before been observed,” noted William Zajc, a Columbia University physics professor, and one of 100 scientists worldwide working on the project at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York.
Artificial Black Holes: On the Threshold of New Physics
May 23 2003 - The Christian Science Monitor
Scientists have known for years that two systems describe the universe: quantum mechanics and general relativity. Researchers, however, have faced the challenge of finding a way to combine these two systems to better understand the universe. The answer: black holes.
Alchemy with Light Shocks Physicists
May 21 2003 - New Scientist.com
An unexpected and stunning new phenomenon could allow light to be turned into heat, or X-rays into radio waves. Click on the above link to learn more about this latest development by photonics crystal pioneer John Joannopoulos and his colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Physicists Find "Rebel" Particle
May 2 2003 - BBC News
Physicists have found a subatomic particle whose existence had been predicted by current theory. But it has sent theorists "back to their drawing boards" because its mass is lower than expected.
New Fusion Method Offers Hope of New Energy Source
Apr 8 2003 - The New York Times (Requires free registration)
Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, have achieved thermonuclear fusion. “It’s the first observation of fusion for a pulsed power source,” said Dr. Ramon Leeper, manager of Sandia’s target physics department. Researchers noted that the controlled explosions might offer an alternative way of generating electricity by harnessing fusion.
Prize Makes Jersey Astrophysicist a Star
Mar 20 2003 - The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ)
A New Jersey astrophysicist is debating how to spend a million dollars after winning the Dan David award for his work in solar physics. The Dan David Foundation, an Israeli group, recently recognized John Bahcall for developing the theoretical groundwork of solar neutrinos, invisible charged particles that make the sun shine. Bahcall will receive the award on May 18 at Tel Aviv University.
Cosmic Rays Could Reveal Hidden Uranium
Mar 20 2003 - Nature News
A nuclear physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico claims he can build a detector within a year that could help find hidden nuclear material. Christopher Morris said his invention would aid cross-border surveillance and help fight terrorism. Scientists not involved in the project believe Morris’ invention is possible, but note “there are easier and cheaper ways to detect uranium such as Geiger counters.”
Physicists Solve Spherical Puzzle
Mar 14 2003 - Scientific American
How does nature organize electrons, cells, or other particles onto the surface of a sphere? Physicists from around the globe have solved that mystery. A new report in the journal Science explains that experimental particles are organized into a crystalline network punctuated by predictable patterns of cracks and defects. Researchers say their work may help scientists create new chemicals and learn new insights into tectonics.
Robot Finger Has Feeling
Mar 5 2003 - Nature News
Two scientists from Spain have created a robotic finger with a sense of touch. Toribio Fernandez Otero and Maria Teresa Cortes of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena developed the robotic finger from polypyrrole, a smart polymer that expands in response to electric current and performs differently to changes in air pressure. Click on the above link to learn more this discovery and its functions.
Einstein Proved Right on Gravity
Jan 8 2003 - BBC News
Two American scientists have measured the speed of gravity for the first time, proving that gravity does move at the same speed of light. Scientists say their recent efforts are significant because knowing the speed of gravity is “important in the study of branches of cosmology where the Universe has more spatial dimensions than the usual three.”
E and mc2: Equality, It Seems, Is Relative
Dec 31 2002 - The New York Times (Requires free registration)
A group of physicists claim that Einstein’s theory of relativity might need to be revised in the near future. Scientists suggest, for example, the speed of a light wave could depend on its color or the rate of the passage of time might depend on a clock’s orientation in space. “What makes this worth talking about is the possibility of near-term experimental implications,” observed Dr. Lee Smolin, a gravitational theorist at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Ontario.
Small Molecule 2002's Major Find
Dec 27 2002 - BBC News
Catch up on the top science news stories of 2002! Every December, Science magazine's editors pick the highlights of the year, and it has been a vintage year for research, in their view. They say the most significant advance concerned molecules called small RNAs that control much of a gene's behavior. Other big stories involved neutrinos, the Cosmic Microwave Background, circadian retinal cells, and a very old hominid.
Vanishing Anti-Neutrinos Good News for Physicists
Dec 10 2002 - NewScientist.com
Physicists at the KamLAND detector in Japan say they’re satisfied after only two-thirds of the electron anti-neutrinos they were expecting in a recent experiment appeared. Researchers said the deficit shows anti-neutrinos behave similar to their real matter counterparts, neutrinos, which have been found to disappear while traveling toward the Sun. “Our results mesh very nicely with all the other evidence we have about neutrinos,” said Giorgio Gratta, a KamLAND spokesman.
Scientists on Alert for Hidden Island off Sicily
Nov 25 2002 - Yahoo-Reuters
If seismic rumblings continue, a hidden volcanic island off the coast of Sicily might reappear. “The island could come back to the surface, but we’ll have to wait and see…it could be a few weeks or months,” said Enzo Boschi, head of Italy’s Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology. The island last reappeared in 1831 before it sank beneath the Mediterranean sea six months later.
Iceland Invents Energy-from-water Machine
Oct 23 2002 - BBC News
A new device uses an old idea to translate the difference between the temperature of hot and cold water into energy. According to the inventor, "In between the hot and the cold side are crystals made of semiconductors. As the heat is transferred through these crystals part of it is converted from heat energy into electric energy."
Scientists Uncover Gecko Stickiness
Aug 28 2002 - MSNBC
The mystery of what makes geckos stick to just about any surface has puzzled scientific minds since Aristotle. But a study released yesterday may have the answer, suggesting that so-called van der Waals forces (and not water-based forces, as some had thought) are the secret to the lizard's grip. Experts say the findings could help scientists develop new and better synthetic adhesives. "I watched 'Spiderman' on an airplane and I couldn't help thinking we could do better than that someday," the lead researcher said. Read more...
Nanoscience: Big Interest in Studying the Very Small
Aug 23 2002 - National Geographic -- Scripps Howard News Service
What is nanoscience? You may want to ask the Incredible Shrinking Man. As the above article reports, nanoscience is the science of the very, very small -- focused, for example, on the interactions, reactions, and construction of materials the size of atoms and molecules. But what can scientists possibly learn by studying materials on a nano scale? Quite a lot, say experts, who hope to some day use nanoscience to build more durable metals and materials, including products that, remarkably, can repair their own defects.
Inconstant Speed of Light May Debunk Einstein
Aug 8 2002 - CBS News -- Reuters
A team of Australian scientists suggests in this week's Nature that the speed of light may not be constant, having possibly slowed over billions of years. If confirmed, the finding would be revolutionary, forcing physicists to rethink many of their basic ideas about the laws of the universe, including Einstein's theory of relativity. Still, experts say more study is needed before any firm conclusions can be drawn.
A Tiny Particle Could Smash a Big Hole in Physics Theories
Jul 31 2002 - USA Today
The so-called Standard Model of particle physics has stood as a foundation of scientific thought for more than 30 years. But could it be flawed? A team of scientists working at Brookhaven National Laboratory released fresh results yesterday suggesting just that possibility. If their work is verified, it could be history-making, perhaps revealing that the universe contains yet undiscovered "superpartner" particles that are counterparts to those known under the Standard Model.
Australians Launch Hypersonic Scramjet Engine
Jul 30 2002 - BBC News
How would you like to fly halfway across the world in three hours or less? We may be a step closer to that goal thanks to scientists in Australia who today launched a hypersonic "scramjet" -- a revolutionary engine that could one day propel airliners at more than seven times the speed of sound. While the experiment seemed to go smoothly, the project's scientists stressed that it will be another few days (or weeks) before they know for sure if everything worked properly.
Time Travel Isn't What It Used to Be
Jul 30 2002 - New York Times (requires free registration)
Time travel has always been the Holy Grail of science fiction fans, and lately, even respected physicists have given the subject some thought. But is actual time travel possible? "The answer is a resounding maybe," says Paul C. W. Davies, the author of the recently published "How to Build a Time Machine." But even if time travel is theoretically plausible, don't expect a souped-up Delorean (a la Back to the Future) to carry you to the Jurassic Age any time soon. As the above article muses, a "wormhole" through space would be the more likely mode of transport.
New Research Deals Blow to Claim of Bench-Top Nuclear Fusion
Jul 25 2002 - BBC News
Scientists have long sought a practical nuclear fusion approach that would eliminate the need to use the far dirtier fission process currently employed in the world's nuclear reactors. Towards this end, researchers raised the hopes of many last March, claiming they had achieved nuclear fusion in a small, tabletop experiment. But a new study published in this week's Nature refutes that claim, arguing that the temperatures achieved in the earlier experiment fell several million degrees short of that needed for fusion.
Building a Trap to Catch Neutrinos
Jul 9 2002 - MSNBC -- AP
Deep inside an underground laboratory in Minnesota, scientists are building a multi-million dollar trap aimed at "catching" neutrinos, elusive subatomic particles with no charge. What exactly do researchers hope to learn from the endeavor? Click above to find out...
Australian Scientists "Teleport" a Beam of Light
Jun 18 2002 - ABC News -- Reuters
Australian scientists said yesterday that they had successfully "teleported" a laser beam of light, breaking it up in one spot and reconstructing an exact replica about one meter away in a blink of an eye. But don't sell your car yet, scientists warn; human teleportation, Star Trek-style, still remains a near-impossible task. More realistically, the breakthrough achieved by the Australian team will be used to help design a new generation of super-fast quantum computers.
Scientists Fashion First Single-Molecule Transistors
Jun 13 2002 - Scientific American
How small and fast can electronic devices get? Two teams of researchers working in the field of "nanotechnology" report in today's Nature that it is indeed possible to create transistors from single molecules. While challenges remain, it is hoped that molecular-scale transistors might one day serve as the building blocks for a new generation of electronic components, resulting in exponential increases in computing speed.
True Cause of Whip's Crack Uncovered
May 28 2002 - Scientific American
Few sounds are more menacing than the crack of a whip. But what is the mechanism behind that noisemaker? A new study provides the surprising answer. Click above to learn more...
Scientists Try to Pin Down Elusive Neutrinos
May 22 2002 - National Geographic News
According to the above article, physicists are designing a $160 million project to understand the nature of neutrinos, elusive sub-atomic particles that rarely interact with other matter but are essential in the running of the universe. Among other questions, scientists want to know if neutrinos have mass, a finding that could potentially upend the so-called "Standard Model" of physics. "[This work] is very exciting from the point of view that we really may be probing very, very new physics," one researcher observed. Read more...
Can Earth Be Powered by Energy Beamed from Moon?
Apr 29 2002 - National Geographic News
Does beaming solar power to Earth via the moon seem like lunacy to you? That's not how physicist David Criswell sees things. Writing in the most recent issue of The Industrial Physicist, Criswell proposes a Lunar Solar Power System that would collect solar energy and convert it to electricity, supplying enough power to meet all the Earth's needs. Is the plan really feasible, and how much would it cost? Click above to learn more...
New Model Suggests Endless Series of Big Bangs
Apr 26 2002 - National Geographic News
The "inflationary" model, the most widely accepted cosmological model, holds that the universe was born (and time began) some 14 billion years ago (see yesterday's story), when an unimaginably small, dense entity blew up, triggering an infinite expansion of matter and energy. Under this model, the spreading could potentially continue forever. This week, however, top theorists writing in the journal Science issued a provocative challenge to this view of the cosmos. Under their so-called "cyclic" model, the universe is locked in a perpetual series of formations ("big bangs") and contractions ("big crunches"), making the current estimated age of the universe seem like the blink of an eye. Indeed, under this new model, time has neither a beginning nor an end. Intrigued? Confused? Click above to learn more...
Star Findings Suggest a New Form of Matter
Apr 11 2002 - Washington Post
Using the Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have identified a pair of collapsed stars that may be composed entirely of quarks, the fundamental components of protons and neutrons. If these so-called "strange quark stars" are confirmed, they would provide the first direct proof that quarks can exist in a "free" state -- that is, independent of a more massive particle. A strange quark star would be "unlike any other ever observed...a discovery of fundamental significance," said Norman Glendenning, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Find out more...
Mathematicians Solve Egg-Spin Mystery
Mar 29 2002 - Yahoo - AP
Why does a hard-boiled egg that you've spun on a tabletop rise up on one end and begin whirling like a top? Like many things in nature that seem simple, this trick is trickier than originally thought. A report in the journal Nature explaining the phenomenon contains no fewer than 16 equations in the space of two pages. This article also contains the answer, in plain English.
New Satellites to Map Gravity More Precisely
Mar 19 2002 - New York Times (requires free registration)
How much do really know about the earth’s gravitational field – and all its subtle variations across place and time? Not nearly as much as we should, scientists say. As a result, NASA and the German Aerospace Center have launched the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace). The project consists of a pair of satellites (nicknamed Tom and Jerry), which will produce a gravity map of the planet 100 times as accurate and detailed as any done before. “The Grace measurements are going to revolutionize our understanding of the earth’s structure, the oceans, and the changes going on underneath, ... changes that can affect climate and many other things,” one NASA scientist said.
Despite New Tools, Detecting Nuclear Material is Doubtful
Mar 18 2002 - New York Times (requires free registration)
Since Sep. 11, the federal government has sharply increased support for research into advanced sensors that can detect nuclear weapons or so-called dirty bombs. But even the most sophisticated detectors are likely to face forbidding challenges, the above article reports, including "a brick wall imposed by the laws of physics." Find out more...
Giant Blue Jet Caught on Film
Mar 15 2002 - Nature
Images taken last September and published in this week's Nature show the largest blue jet ever caught on camera. The images provide the first direct evidence that blue jets (fleeting electrical discharges that occur above thunderstorms) may connect the cloud top to a layer of electrically charged air known as the ionosphere. Similarly, scientists say, flashes of this magnitude could explain the 300,000-volt difference between the electrical charge of the ionosphere and that of the ground, thus constituting an important part of the global electrical circuit (GEC).
Fusion Experiment Sparks an Academic Brawl
Mar 11 2002 - Washington Post
As reported last week (see previous New York Times story),
a team of scientists has claimed to replicate the sun's nuclear fusion reactions in a small "tabletop" experiment. If true, the achievement could have huge implications for ordinary energy production. But skeptics abound, and as the above article notes, the experiment has "set off a quarrel among scientists that [is] the academic equivalent of a barroom brawl." Who's saying what, and when will a final verdict be rendered? Read more...
Only a Matter of Time
Mar 6 2002 - ABC News.com
Time travel may seem far-fetched -- the stuff of science fiction and Hollywood movies. But according to some physicists, just because the feat seems impossible, doesn't mean it is. "We have a hard time perceiving how time can bend just like other dimensions, so Einstein's predictions seem strange," says a professor of astrophysics at Princeton. "But this appears to be the world we live in." Want to challenge your mind? Click above to read more...
Experiment Hints at Tabletop Fusion
Mar 5 2002 - MSNBC, New York Times
Nuclear fusion, the power that lights the sun, has long been regarded as the ultimate energy source: limitless and waste-free. Now, a team of scientists will report in Friday's issue of Science that it has achieved nuclear fusion in a small, tabletop experiment. The claim is already generating fierce debate. Did the researchers really create fusion, or did they misinterpret the results of their experiment? And even if fusion was achieved in such a manner, can it be used as a viable commercial energy source? Learn more about this breaking story. Click above for an MSNBC article, or click here for an article in the New York Times (requires free registration).
Centuries-old Clock Puzzle Solved
Feb 22 2002 - Nature
In 1665, the Dutch scientist Christian Huygens noticed something odd about his two side-by-side pendulum clocks. No matter where they started, within about half an hour the two pendulums swung towards and away from each other in unison. But why, he wondered. For centuries, this riddle of synchronization went explained. Now, U.S. physicists think they have the answer. Read more...
Learning Lessons from Wads of Paper
Feb 20 2002 - New York Times (require free registration)
Even preschool children are capable of making the following observation: A sheet of paper gains surprising strength as it crumples, eventually resisting further compression. But why is crumpled paper so strong? As the above article notes, the fascinating truth is that physicists still don't have a complete answer to that question.
Looking Anew at Nuclear Power for Space Travel
Feb 12 2002 - New York Times (requires free registration)
Recognizing the limits of conventional power and propulsion systems, NASA last week announced a major initiative to move the agency into a new nuclear age. According to NASA officials, nuclear power would help space explorers "conquer the problems of distance and time," cutting a trip to Pluto, for example, by half the time. Officials also stressed that a major priority of the new program will be safety. "We will design these new systems for a worst-case scenario," the agency's head of space science said. Read more...
U.S. In Fusion Rethink
Jan 25 2002 - BBC News
Fusion energy, which is produced by forcing together atoms at very high temperatures, offers a potentially attractive energy source that would avoid the greenhouse gas emissions of fossil fuel and the radioactive waste produced by current nuclear fission stations. But exploiting fusion power has not been easy, and many technical problems remain. To tackle some of these challenges, an international consortium has been formed to build an experimental fusion reactor--probably in Canada or Japan. But as the above article notes, a big question remains: Will the U.S. join the project?
Pocket Particle Accelerator Built
Jan 4 2002 - Nature
When one thinks of particle physics, gigantic particle accelerators--such as the Tevatron at Fermilab, near Chicago--usually come to mind. But now Tevatron has a baby brother: Nevatron, a new device measuring just six centimeters around. Unlike its giant relatives, the table-top accelerator won't create exotic new particles, but scientists say it might find more practical uses, such as in the emerging field of atom optics or as part of a quantum computer.
Magnetic Trains Gather Momentum
Dec 27 2001 - National Geographic
Is it the train of the future? Instead of clacking along steel rails, magnetic-levitation (maglev) trains would ride on a cushion of magnetic fields at speeds of up to 300 miles an hour, propelled by manipulating the magnets' attraction and repulsion. Research on maglev trains has been under way for decades, and in some countries--including China, Japan, Germany, and the U.S.--maglev is beginning to move from the test track to the main line. But the question remains: Will maglev technology render wheeled trains a thing of the past?
Challenging Particle Physics as Path to Truth
Dec 4 2001 - New York Times (requires free registration)
In the upper echelons of academia, a fascinating and impassioned debate is taking place among physicists over the how the universe is made and how science should be done. In one camp are the particle physicists, who argue that the richness of reality can be distilled into a few underlying equations governing subatomic particles. In the other camp are the “solid-staters” (derisively dubbed “squalid-staters” by their particle physicist rivals), who argue that many forms of matter cannot be described in terms of fundamental particle interactions. In fact, to the abhorrence of particle physicists, solid-staters lean toward the notion that it is the equations that flow from nature (which they see as an unruly force), instead of the other way around. So what’s at stake in this great debate? Nothing more than who deserves bragging rights as the arbiters of ultimate truth.
A Practical Way to Make Power from Wasted Heat
Nov 28 2001 - New York Times (requires free registration)
Scientists at M.I.T. and a small company in Utah announced yesterday that they have advanced a technique for transforming heat pollution into electricity, claiming that they have built "thermoelectric" devices that improve the efficiency of the conversion process by more than half above current technology. It is hoped that such devices might one day significantly increase the electrical output of existing power plants or power the electrical systems of automobiles. "The underlying technology is really very simple. It should be a very practical, relatively cheap technology," one of the scientists involved in the research said.
Fundamental Theory Under Question
Nov 16 2001 - BBC News
Sometimes research produces more questions than answers, and that was the case with a study of neutrinos at Fermilab near Chicago. These elusive subatomic particles react with hardly anything, but new measurements of how they do react showed a surprising 1% discrepancy between predictions of their behavior and their actual behavior. This translates to a one in four hundred chance that predictions based on current theory are correct.
A New Frontier in Physics' Top Quest
Nov 5 2001 - MSNBC/AAAS
At the heart of modern physics are three basic principles: quantum mechanics, Einstein's theory of general relativity, and Einstein's theory of special relativity. But despite years of effort, an ultimate "theory of everything" that ties these principles into one elegant package has remained elusive. Might a recent study bring scientists a step closer to solving this tantalizing puzzle?
True Believers: Cold Fusion Scientists Pine for a Breakthrough
Oct 12 2001 - MSNBC-Newsweek
On the fringes of the scientific community and often the objects of ridicule, cold-fusion scientists nevertheless remain fiercely committed to their primary pursuit: finding a cheap and easy way to produce vast amounts of energy from a nuclear-fusion reaction without the need for so much as a Bunsen burner. Whether they get there or not, many cold fusionists have come to relish the role of outsider. “Researching cold fusion makes me feel a lot like Galileo,” one believer said.
Zero-Gravity Hurts: What Happens to the Human Body in Space
Oct 11 2001 - FirstScience.com
If you’ve ever carried a heavy backpack uphill, you know that gravity can hurt. But as astronauts have experienced, a lack of gravity can hurt even more, weakening muscles and bones for long periods of time. As a result, in preparation for future space missions, scientists are experimenting with devices that mimic the body-strengthening benefits of gravity.
Harnessing "Star Power"
Oct 2 2001 - BBC News
Fusion, the form of nuclear energy that powers the stars, may be "within reach" as a commercial energy source, say British scientists who are experimenting with leaner, swifter fusion reactors. "Perhaps in a few decades we could have commercial fusion reactors in cities providing cheap pollution-free power," said one of the scientists involved in the project.
Beam Me Up, Scotty?
Sep 28 2001 - MSNBC-Reuters
Physicists in Denmark have made two samples of trillions of atoms interact at a distance in a "quantum entanglement" experiment that may bring Star Trek-style teleportation closer to reality.
The Astronaut's New Clothes: Designing Space Suits for Mars
Sep 27 2001 - Scientific American
What would astronauts wear on a mission to the Red Planet? The question is a challenging one for engineers, experts say, as astronauts will need space suits that are lighter and offer greater mobility than those currently in use.
Huge Black Hole in Milky Way
Sep 6 2001 - Nature News Service
NASA's Chandra X-ray telescope recently yielded evidence that brings astronomers a step closer to uncovering what has been called the "Holy Grail" of astrophysics: solid proof that a supermassive black hole lies at the heart of our galaxy.
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