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"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler", Albert Einstein
Browsing All Posts published on »May, 2011«
CDF W JJ Resonance Closer To 5 Sigma Now
The fact that I am swamped by the too many activities I am involved in these days can be gauged by things like the following: I get to know about important new physics results coming from an experiment I am part of by… private communications from amateurs! Knowledgeable and informed ones, of course -but that’s […]
Dead Galaxies Are Not so Dead After All
May 31, 2011
There was a time when most astronomers concluded that elliptical galaxies were a lot like their globular clusters – full of similarly evolved and aged stars. But not anymore. Thanks to the resolving power of the Hubble Space Telescope, a team of researchers from the University of Michigan were able to peer into the heart […]
Faint young Sun paradox remains
May 31, 2011
Last year, scientists claimed to have solved the faint young Sun paradox. They were wrong. Now the paradox is back and more puzzling than ever. Liquid water has flowed on Earth for some 3.8 billion years, since not long after the planet formed. The evidence comes from rocks that date from that period which seem […]
Endeavour Astronaut Shatters Space Endurance Records
May 30, 2011
Officials at the American space agency say that they now have a new record-holder for most days spent in space by a US astronaut. Michael Fincke, a member of space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-134 crew, has now surpassed the previous, 377-day record…. Read more: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Endeavour-Astronaut-Shatters-Space-Endurance-Records-202936.shtml
Towards an Observational Appraisal of String Cosmology
May 30, 2011
David J. Mulryne, John Ward We review the current observational status of string cosmology when confronted with experimental datasets. We begin by defining common observational parameters and discuss how they are determined for a given model. Then we review the observable footprints of several string theoretic models, discussing the significance of various potential signals. Throughout we comment on present […]
Mars: Red Planet’s Rapid Formation Explains Its Small Size Relative to Earth
May 30, 2011
Mars developed in as little as two to four million years after the birth of the solar system, far more quickly than Earth, according to a new study published in the May 26 issue of the journal Nature. The red planet’s rapid formation helps explain why it is so small, say the study’s co-authors, Nicolas […]
Research finds how words are formed in the brain
May 30, 2011
Scientists have discovered a way to watch words form in the human brain in a breakthrough that could one day allow those with severe disabilities to ‘speak’. The researchers have found a way to peer into the deepest recesses of the brain in order to watch words forming. Using electrodes they found the area of […]
New Synchrotron Technique Could See Hidden Building Blocks of Life
May 30, 2011
Scientists from Finland and France have developed a new synchrotron X-ray technique that may revolutionize the chemical analysis of rare materials like meteoric rock samples or fossils. The results have been published on 29 May 2011 in Nature Materials as an advance online publication Life, as we know it, is based on the chemistry of […]
Testing the Spiral Density Wave Theory
May 30, 2011
Spiral galaxies are one of the most captivating structures in astronomy, yet their nature is still not fully understood. Astronomers currently have two categories of theories that can explain this structure, depending on the environment of the galaxy, but a new study, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, suggests that one of these theories […]
NMR spectroscopy without the ‘M’
May 29, 2011
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is perhaps the most useful technique in the organic chemist’s toolkit. But conventional NMR requires the sample to be placed in a very high magnetic field, which needs large and expensive superconducting magnets cooled by liquid helium. Now, an interdisciplinary group in the US has managed to accomplish NMR spectroscopy […]
Pictured: The galactic wreck that predicts our future… in five billion years
May 29, 2011
Astronomers have created a ‘galactic train wreck’ atlas image depicting how a variety of galaxies around Earth will collide in five billion years time. The collision between the Milky Way – Earth’s galaxy – and the Andromeda Galaxy is predicted to take place in between three and five billion years. The ‘train wreck’ style merger […]
How to make graphene superconducting
May 28, 2011
Graphene is the physical realization of many fundamental concepts and phenomena in solid state-physics, but in the long list of graphene remarkable properties, a fundamental block is missing: superconductivity. Making graphene superconducting is relevant as the easy manipulation of this material by nanolytographic techniques paves the way to nanosquids, one-electron superconductor-quantum dot devices, superconducting transistors […]
Detecting Gravitational Waves from Earth
May 28, 2011
German researchers from the Albert Einstein Institute (AEI) say that the likelihood of detecting proposed universal patterns called gravitational waves from Earth could increase significantly if just a single new detector is installed on Earth. Thus far, these structures were not identified, but detectors are being built to do so. The expected rate of detection […]
DARK STARS: A NEW LOOK AT THE FIRST STARS IN THE UNIVERSE
May 27, 2011
Astronomers now believe that the cores of trillions of galaxies across the Universe are being powered by supermassive black hole. Recently, a team of experts proposed that these dark behemoths were produced by the collapse of massive stars made out of dark matter. Unlike usual stars, which are made up of normal, baryonic matter, dark […]
Spitzer Sees Crystal Rain in Infant Star Outer Clouds
May 26, 2011
Cosmic Fountain of Crystal Rain NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope detected tiny green crystals, called olivine, thought to be raining down on a developing star. This graphic illustrates the process, beginning with a picture of the star and ending with an artist’s concept of what the crystal “rain” might look like. The top picture was taken […]
WormHole Division
May 26, 2011
Give your students practice with division by letting them dive into a wormhole. Difficulty of wormholes varies widely, so you may want to design a wormhole before you give it to your class. Explain this video benvitale-funwithnum3ers.blogspot.com
How Do Astronauts Take Spacewalks?
May 26, 2011
What is a spacewalk (and what’s an EVA)? When astronauts leave the protective confines of a spacecraft – such as the space shuttle or International Space Station – and float around in the vacuum of space, that’s called a spacewalk. NASA refers to these jaunts as extravehicular activities (EVAs), because they take place outside the […]
Observation of the Dynamical Casimir Effect
May 26, 2011
A rapidly moving mirror that turns virtual photons into real ones is the first experimental evidence of the dynamical Casimir effect. “One of the most surprising predictions of modern quantum theory is that the vacuum of space is not empty. In fact, quantum theory predicts that it teems with virtual particles flitting in and out […]
Electrons are fantastically round, say British scientists
May 25, 2011
Most precise measurements of the roundness of the electron to date provide a window ‘on the high-energy soul of the cosmos’ After three months of experiments in a basement laboratory in London, scientists can confirm – with more confidence than ever – that the electron is very, very round. In the most exquisite measurements yet, […]
Carina Nebula: Pumping More Than Just Iron
May 25, 2011
We are all just star stuff… But when it comes to the elements produced by a star, it just doesn’t get any heavier than iron. So how do more exotic elements come into existence? Try the Great Cosmic Recycler – supernova. Its energy disperses newly synthesized materials right into the interstellar neighborhood where an enriched […]
Some of the Universe’s Missing Mass Found
May 25, 2011
An Australian science student managed to provide additional evidence that expert Fritz Zwicky was right in its theory on where the missing mass of the Universe may be hiding. The work done by Amelia Fraser-McKelvie, 22, has already been published in a scientific journal. The Monash University aerospace engineering/science student made the discovery during a […]
LHC Sets New Collisions Record
May 24, 2011
….”100 Million Collisions per Second” European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) scientists look at computer screens showing traces on the Atlas experiment of the first protons injected in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) during its switch-on operation in 2008 near Geneva. It set a new record early Monday, a feat that should accelerate the quest […]
Soyuz Capsule Lands Safely
May 24, 2011
…With Space Station Crew A Russian Soyuz space capsule has landed safely on Earth, returning three veteran spaceflyers home after a five-month mission to the International Space Station. The Soyuz carrying Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA astronaut Cady Coleman and Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan at 10:37 p.m. EDT (0227 […]
No new physics!
May 23, 2011
We present a search for new physics in events with two high pT leptons of the same electric charge using data with an integrated luminosity of 6.1 fb-1 The observed data are consistent with standard model predictions…. Read more: science20.com - cdf.fnal.gov
Rewriting the textbooks: When science gets it wrong
May 23, 2011
THE business of gaining understanding of the world about us rarely follows a simple path from A to B. False starts, dead ends and U-turns are part of the journey. Science’s ability to accept those setbacks with aplomb – to say “we got it wrong”, to modify and abandon cherished notions and find new ideas […]
Multiverse = Many Worlds
May 23, 2011
Two of the most bizarre ideas in modern physics are different sides of the same coin, say string theorists The many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is the idea that all possible alternate histories of the universe actually exist. At every point in time, the universe splits into a multitude of existences in which every […]
Neutron Stars May Gradually Become ‘Strange’ Stars
May 20, 2011
Recent research suggests that neutron stars may gradually transform into ‘strange’ stars – i.e. in stars made up primarily from the ‘strange’ quark. Conventional wisdom is that the electric field of a such a hypothetical strange star (made up from strange matter) at its surface would be so huge and its luminosity so big that […]
Weird ‘unparticle’ boosted by Tevatron signal
May 19, 2011
ELASTIC “unparticles” could explain a mysterious signal glimpsed at a particle collider a year ago. That would link a tenuous but intriguing idea to one of the biggest mysteries in physics: why matter prevails over antimatter in the universe “I think this will increase the unparticle’s credibility as a theory,” says Run-Hui Li of Yonsei University […]
Is super-Planckian physics visible?
May 18, 2011
Scattering of black holes in 5 dimensions It may be widely believed that probing short-distance physics is limited by the presence of the Planck energy scale above which scale any information is cloaked behind a horizon. If this hypothesis is correct, we could observe quantum behavior of gravity only through a black hole of Planck mass. We […]
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS)
May 17, 2011
Cosmic ray detector blasts off on space shuttle AAn instrument for detecting cosmic rays – and possibly even dark matter – has finally been lifted into orbit on board the space shuttle Endeavour. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), which is the brainchild of the Nobel-prize-winning physicist Samuel Ting, will soon be installed on the International […]
Milky Way Is Warped, Like a Beer Bottle Cap
May 16, 2011
The discovery of a new arm in the Milky Way suggests that our galaxy is warped, say astronomers In 1852, Stephen Alexander, an astronomer at the College of New Jersey, put forward the radical suggestion that the Milky Way galaxy is a spiral. But while today’s astronomers agree on this general shape, they disagree over the […]
Quick Reminder on Top Quarks
May 14, 2011
“….Top quark pairs may be produced at the Tevatron proton-antiproton collisions when a energetic quark and its antiparticle hit each other head on; this happens only if the total energy of the collision is larger than twice the mass of the top quark. Since the top is very massive (172 GeV or so), such collisions […]
Amateur captures glittering all-sky view of the cosmos
May 14, 2011
sphotopicskysurvey-interactive360 Read more:newscientist.com
Τhe muon
May 14, 2011
Ιn 1900, shortly after the electron and radioactivity were discovered, Lord Kelvin famously remarked: There is nothing new to be discovered in physics. All that remains is more and more precise measurement He would be proved horribly wrong. The discovery of the nucleus and then its constituents, the proton and neutron, revolutionised our view of […]
Cosmic Fireworks
May 13, 2011
How to Watch Ultra High-Energy Cosmic Rays Hitting Earth The best place to watch ultra high-energy cosmic rays hitting the Earth is from space. But building an observatory that can do the trick will be hard, warn physicists In 1962, a couple of physicists noticed a remarkable phenomenon in the skies above New Mexico. These […]
Graphene may reveal the grain of space-time
May 13, 2011
COULD the structure of space and time be sketched out inside a cousin of plain old pencil lead? The atomic grid of graphene may mimic a lattice underlying reality, two physicists have claimed, an idea that could explain the curious spin of the electron. Graphene is an atom-thick layer of carbon in a hexagonal formation. […]
Rotating Schrödinger’s Cat To Death
May 13, 2011
You may suspect the beating of a dead horse by now, but the problem is actually that the animals in question are still alive. As was discussed, the alive cats expect to see something when the box opens. If we interact with the Schrödinger cat superposition state inside the otherwise isolated box so that we will […]
Beware Higgs impostors at the particle party
May 12, 2011
NEW particles that mimic the long-sought Higgs boson may bamboozle physicists, who could spend years trying to confirm or rule out the possibility of an impostor, a new study warns. The standard model of particle physics predicts that a particle called the Higgs boson endows many other particles with mass. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN […]
Atomic clock is smallest on the market
May 12, 2011
Researchers in the US have developed the world’s smallest commercial atomic clock. Known as the SA.45s Chip Size Atomic Clock (CSAC), it could be yours for just $1500. The clock, initially developed for military use, is about the size of a matchbox, weighs about 35 grams and has a power requirement of only 115 mW. […]
Interstellar Solid Hydrogen
May 12, 2011
from Ching Yeh Lin, Andrew T.B. Gilbert (Research School of Chemistry, ANU), Mark A. Walker (Manly Astrophysics) “We consider the possibility that solid molecular hydrogen is present in interstellar space. If so cosmic-rays and energetic photons cause ionisation in the solid leading to the formation of H+6. This ion is not produced by gas-phase reactions […]
The Mystery of The Ridge Around Iapetus
May 11, 2011
The mysterious ridge around the equator of Iapetus is probably an ancient ring that settled onto the surface of the moon, say planetary geologists Saturn’s moon Iapetus is one of the more mysterious objects in the Solar System. It’s fairly large, the 11th largest moon in the Solar System, and made mostly of ice. But […]
The carbon challenge
May 9, 2011
1. Helium burning “…In the first-generation stars the ash resulting from hydrogen burning via the p-p chain is entirely helium-4, the creation of heavier elements having been blocked by the instabilities at A=5 and A=8. These are referred to as the mass gaps. Since carbon-12, the fourth most abundant nuclear species observed in the universe, […]
Life and the Cosmos, Word by Painstaking Word
May 9, 2011
— Like Einstein, he is as famous for his story as for his science. At the age of 21, the British physicist Stephen Hawking was found to have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease. While A.L.S. is usually fatal within five years, Dr. Hawking lived on and flourished, producing some of the most important cosmological […]
Chain Reactions Reignited At Fukushima After Tsunami
May 9, 2011
Radioactive byproducts indicate that nuclear chain reactions must have been burning at the damaged nuclear reactors long after the disaster unfolded Nuclear reactors produce radioactive by-products that decay at different rates. One common by-product is iodine-131 which has a half life of about 8 days while another is cesium-137 with a half life of about […]
Update of Background Studies in the Search for the Higgs Boson
May 9, 2011
…in the Diphoton Channel with the ATLAS detector at √s = 7TeV The ATLAS collaboration This note presents an update of the study of the backgrounds in the search for the Higgs boson decaying into a pair of photons. The analysis done with 38 pb-1 of pp collision data collected in 2010 with the ATLAS […]
Saturn moon’s atmosphere forged by comet impacts
May 8, 2011
The unique atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan could have been created by comets blasting gases out of its icy crust. Titan is the only moon in the solar system with much atmosphere, and the origin of its nitrogen-rich air is a puzzle. There are several theories: volcanic activity may have belched it out, or sunlight […]
Dark matter without dark energy
May 7, 2011
Newtonian Perturbations on Models with Matter Creation Creation of Cold Dark Matter (CCDM) can macroscopically be described by a negative pressure, and, therefore, the mechanism is capable to accelerate the Universe, without the need of an additional dark energy component. In this framework we discuss the evolution of perturbations by considering a Neo-Newtonian approach where, unlike in […]
Test of the Einstein Equivalence Principle
May 7, 2011
The S Stars in the Galactic-center region are found to be on near-perfect Keplerian orbits around presumably a supermassive black hole, with periods of 15–50 yr. Since these stars reach a few percent of light speed at pericenter, various relativistic effects are expected, and have been discussed in the literature. We argue that an elegant test of the […]
May 31, 2011
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