Physics News Archives

“No matter what dark matter and dark energy are, these two phenomena are likely not independent of each other.”

Dr HongSheng Zhao, of the University's School of Physics and Astronomy, has shown that the puzzling dark matter and its counterpart dark energy may be more closely linked than was previously thought. via Science Daily

“Heart disease is an excellent example. Channels control the flow of electricity in the heart. If we could simply fix what's happening electrically in the heart, we could change the course of the disease and its impact on our society.”

A study at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago published this week in the online version of Biophysical Journal proposes that bubbles may control the opening and closing of ion channels. via PhysOrg Weblog

“At least in principle, one may be able to use experimental data to test and constrain the geometry of our universe.”

When the world's most powerful particle accelerator starts up later this year, exotic new particles may offer a glimpse of the existence and shapes of extra dimensions. via PhysOrg Weblog

“The datacenter here was at its capacity, especially in terms of the electrical service to the building and the amount of heat we could take back out. And the experiments needed their next year's worth of computing”

When the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center wanted to increase its computing capacity last year it considered a satellite datacenter or an extension to the existing building, but in the end it chose a faster ... via Infoworld

“This kind of event would definitely motivate a large number of young minds, bringing them to the forefront of the most advanced technology and frontiers of science”

India will host for the first time an international conference on quarks, at the cutting edge of nuclear physics research, with Jaipur playing the host Feb 4-10. The conference, Quark Matter 2008, is being ... via Deccan Herald

“We want to predict the light curves so we can look for them in the survey data.”

A strange and violent fate awaits a white dwarf star that wanders too close to a moderately massive black hole. via RedOrbit

Categories Blogroll Scientists Academics Books Punditry Archives Tinty Trophy for Football Physics Category: Physics Posted on: January 28, 2008 8:04 PM, by Chad Orzel Get your camera out... 'cause the world's ... via Uncertain Principles

“The ability of the device to do biopsy is probably one of its most unique characteristics. There are other breast imagers, but none that are built specifically to do biopsy as well as imaging”

A new medical imager for detecting and guiding the biopsy of suspicious breast cancer lesions is capable of spotting tumors that are half the size of the smallest ones detected by standard imaging systems, ... via PhysOrg Weblog

“What is the air doing to create the splash?”

You might think scientists would have figured out by now the answers to such basic questions as why water droplets splash, why sand castles collapse and what makes shaving cream so creamy. via Themonitor.com

“It is important to know how the sparticles will be ordered in mass because different theories lead to different patterns”

Squarks, photinos, selectrons, neutralinos. These are just a few types of supersymmetric particles, a special brand of particle that may be created when the world's most powerful atom smasher goes online this ... via USA Today

“If we embed brane inflation into string theory, a network of cosmic strings is predicted to form”

Ancient light absorbed by neutral hydrogen atoms could be used to test certain predictions of string theory, say cosmologists at the University of Illinois. via Huliq.com

“This will badly affect the UK astronomical community's ability to address questions such as how galaxies form, or look for planets around other stars, or be able to adequately exploit space observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope”

UK astronomers will lose access to two of the world's finest telescopes in February, as administrators look to plug an 80m hole in their finances. via HowardThomson.co.uk

“If you needed a furnace that can go up to 1000 degrees Celsius, well, you built it yourself!”

Our Institute will be celebrating its centenary during the year 2008-09. While the big bang inauguration will probably happen during the first major event , the IISc Centenary Lecture series had its kick off ... via Nanopolitan

Squeezed light source: a crystal that is illuminated with green light places photons of an infrared laser beam in a specific order, thereby reducing the photon noise in that infrared laser. via PhysOrg Weblog

It is a wild ride when Dr. Paul Doherty, Ph. D. director of the Teacher Institute at San Francisco's famed Exploratorium takes the stage for the Placer Nature Center's Fourth Friday Lecture Series . via Auburn Journal

“He was born in Mount Pleasant. All of his life seemed to be pointing toward working in space.”

James Van Allen dedicated his life to exploring space as an astrophysicist at the University of Iowa. via Press-Citizen

“It's the ubiquitous nature of cell phones and other portable electronic devices that give this system its power”

Purdue physics professor Ephraim Fischbach, at right, and nuclear engineer Jere Jenkins review radiation-tracking data as part of research to develop a system that would use a network of cell phones to detect ... via Free Republic

“We can't reproduce in any laboratory the extreme physical conditions that occur in gamma-ray bursts, so we don't understand how they work. By studying them with these instruments, we may learn some new physics about matter.”

Artist's concept: A gamma-ray burst destroys a star. Credit: NASA/SkyWorks Digital From mother Earth, the night sky can look peaceful and unchanging, but the universe as seen in gamma-rays is a place of sudden ... via Physics Blog

“The LHC is poised to take us to a new level of understanding of our universe.”

GENEVA, Switzerland, Jan. 24 Installation of the final component of the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator is under way along the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland. via Earth Times

“The more people are walking around with cell phones and PDAs, the easier it would be to detect and catch the perpetrator. We are asking the public to push for this.”

US researchers are developing technology to power a network of mobile phones that could find and track radiation sources. via Vnunet

“We'll be the first lab in the world which takes beams of 40 percent the speed of light, brings them to rest and then reaccelerates them to low energies”

The small linear accelerator being built at Michigan State University's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory will give the lab world unique research capabilities. via WZZM-TV Grand Rapids

“The direction we're trying to go is applied science ... you learn why it's important, and then you do it.”

A scientist from the Los Alamos National Laboratory believes individual action is the only way to resolve the inherent conflicts and confusion that dominate what he calls "the global energy system." On ... via Aspen Times

What new frontiers of science can be probed with the world's first free electron laser using x-ray wavelengths? How can we quickly deploy appropriate radiation detection systems to any location on a highway ... via Newswise

“DIUS wanted to focus funding increases on medical science and Full Economic Costs, but they went too far. They didn't appreciate they were causing the STFC problems”

The Science and Technology Facilities Council will not receive any funding to plug the 80m shortfall in its budget over the next three years, research council chiefs have confirmed. via Guardian Unlimited

“Such a nanotube array not only reflects light weakly, but also absorbs light strongly. These combined features make it an ideal candidate for one day realizing a super black object.”

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Rice University have created the darkest material ever made by man. via Huliq.com

“So this system would use the same process to send an extra signal to a home station. The software can uncover information from this data and evaluate the levels of radiation.”

Researchers at Purdue University are working with the state of Indiana to develop a system that would use a network of cell phones to detect and track radiation to help prevent terrorist attacks with ... via Science Blog

Categories Blogroll Scientists Academics Books Punditry Archives Big Science and Outreach Category: Physics Posted on: January 22, 2008 10:19 AM, by Chad Orzel In comments to my complaint about the ... via Uncertain Principles

“How can we help change this absurd culture of celebrity worship, and replace it with one that values the contributions of science?”

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, by Carl Sagan The Doubter's Companion: by John Ralston Saul Skeptic Magazine: www.skeptic.com Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of ... via ScienceBlogs

Within the framework of the Integrated Infrastructures Initiative for Neutron Scattering and Muon Spectroscopy , researchers have identified a new type of interaction between a magnetic field and electrons on ... via EETimes.eu

“This is an exciting result for physicists. Cosmic strings are relics of the very early Universe and signposts that would help construct a theory of all forces and particles.”

Cosmic strings are predicted by high energy physics theories, including superstring theory. via Science Daily

“The pope is open to all religions.”

More than 100 000 people sent up loud cheers on Sunday as Pope Benedict XVI urged academics to be "respectful of the opinions of others" following an anti-clerical protest led by physics professors in Rome last ... via Independent Online

“Given the UK's decision to pull out of the ILC and the funding debacle in the US, this report demonstrates the sustained commitment to high-energy physics of the Japanese - who, of course, are one of the leading contenders to host the ILC”

With funding for high-energy particle physics being slashed in the United States and the United Kingdom , research organizations in Japan are pointing out that they, at least, are pushing ahead with ambitious ... via Wired News

NitinCR quantum_gravity Abstract The greatest challenge in fundamental physics attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity in a theory of "quantum gravity." The project suggests a profound ... via CiteULike

“The Future of Physics". I was quickly disappointed when I realized that the article covers only "terascale”

Categories Blogroll Scientists Academics Books Punditry Archives Physics Contains Multitudes Category: Physics Posted on: January 19, 2008 11:32 AM, by Chad Orzel It's not often that I find myself agreeing with ... via Uncertain Principles

“This year marks Intel's 10th year of sponsorship of this historic competition, and we are honored to be a part of a program that is fostering the talent of America's brightest young minds”

At 194 high schools across the country today, 300 seniors were named semifinalists of the Intel Science Talent Search 2008. via WebWire

West, Montreal, Quebec, H4B 1R6, Canada 2 Centre de Recherches Mathematiques, Universite de Montreal, CP 6128, Succ. via Journal of High Energy Physics latest...

ArXiv Quantum Physics e-prints Scis0000002's tags for this article toe toe Abstract The problem of how mathematics and physics are related at a foundational level is of much interest. via CiteULike

Scis0000002's tags for this article Abstract It is a basic insight of modern physics that the universe is made of fields and that all particles of matter and radiation are simply "field quanta," i.e. quantized ... via CiteULike

“This research has the potential to deepen our understanding of the nature of physics at its most basic level”

Three Northeastern University researchers have proposed a new approach for the highly anticipated discovery of supersymmetric particles, often called sparticles. via PhysOrg Weblog

The Conservatives have accused the government of ignoring warnings of a "severely constrained" physics budget that is putting pressure on university departments. via Guardian Unlimited

“For his decisive contributions to high-energy astrophysics and cosmology, in particular processes and dynamics around black holes and neutron stars and demonstration of the diagnostic power of structures in the background radiation”

STOCKHOLM, Sweden : Theoretical physicist Edward Witten of the United States and Russians Maxim Kontsevich and Rashid Alievich Sunyaev were announced the winners of the annual US$500,000 Crafoord Prize on ... via International Herald Tribune

“What prospects are there now for those of us hoping to progress in our careers? And this comes at a time when the Government is trying to encourage more young people into science.”

Two physics students at the University of Bristol have organised a petition against the recently-announced funding cut of 80 million by the body that funds physics research in the UK, the Science and Technology ... via PhysOrg Weblog

“When an appropriation bill is passed, that's like setting up a checking account”

Nanotechnology researchers at the University of Arkansas landed a $ 4 million grant from the state's major capital improvement fund, Gov. via Herald-Leader

A Foothill College professor known for reading poetry to his students and having them analyze the lyrics of rock songs in his astronomy class has won an international prize in physics. via KNTV San Jose

“Method for corrected spectrophotometer output for measurements on multiple substrates”

Mestha is the 101st Xerox inventor who has received 50 or more patents, showcasing a culture of innovation that is both broad and deep. via PR-inside.com

“The Church can no longer use pyres or corporal punishment”

Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday cancelled a speech at Rome's La Sapienza university in the face of protests led by scientists opposed to a high-profile visit by the head of the Catholic Church to a secular ... via Raw Story

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry Article Date: 15 Jan 2008 - 4:00 PST newsletters There is no attractive gravitational force between matter. via Medical News Today

“Was the declaration more a way for scientists at least to say, - Look we've done everything we can do?'”

Dr. Richard C. J. Somerville Richard C. J. Somerville, a climatologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography near San Diego, is one of a growing array of scientists who have chosen to move beyond studying ... via New York Times

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday concluded his inspection tour of the eastern Anhui Province, showing concern for local economic development and people's livelihood. via Xinhuanet

“We're just sort of looking at areas where there are high risks of problems and taking care of those right away.”

A giant steel tank built 4,850 feet deep within the old Homestake gold mine to catch neutrinos might have more to contribute to science. via The Black Hills Pioneer

“The equivalence principle says that if I take two objects of different mass and I drop them, they will accelerate at the same rate, assuming you get rid of air resistance and messy forces like that”

In a 25-foot pit in the basement of Varian Physics Building, Stanford researchers are running an experiment that could unravel Einstein's most famous theory. via Stanford Daily

“When the Mariner 10 spacecraft did its flybys in the mid-1970s, it saw only one hemisphere - a little less than half the planet”

Image: On January 9, 2008, the MESSENGER spacecraft snapped one of its first images of Mercury at a distance of about 2.7 million kilometers from the planet. via Mercury Today

“An asymmetric distribution of positrons in the Galactic disk revealed by big gamma-rays”

Posted on 01/12/2008 3:29:53 PM PST by LibWhacker [...snip...] But on to antimatter, a cloud of which has been known to exist around the galactic center since the 1970s, when balloon-based gamma-ray detectors ... via Freerepublic.com

Confusing computer science with software engineering . Joel Spolsky comments on undergraduate programming education . via Fully Situated

“Particle physics is suffering mixed fortunes at the moment”

The reality of the US budget cuts to particle physics has hit home. The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in California, US, has just announced a trio of painful consequences: the end of work on the ... via New Scientist

Posted by: Michael Medved at 3:51 AM How could professional pollsters go wrong so substantially when it came to calling New Hampshire? On Primary day, the four most up-to-the-minute state-wide polls showed ... via Town Hall

“The MOU is simply a handshake but it will trigger talks with other entities interested in high-energy physics”

CERN director general Robert Aymar explaining how the CMS , one of the detectors of the LHC , works. via The Times

“It lets them know what they should discover. We hope the actual space images developed in the coming months and years prove our calculations to be correct.”

It turns out that our math teachers were right: being able to solve problems without a calculator does come in handy in the "real" world. via PhysOrg Weblog

“By avoiding techniques that destroy life, while vigorously supporting alternative approaches, President Bush is encouraging scientific advancement within ethical boundaries.”

Some prominent scientists want to bring reality, not rhetoric, to the presidential campaign. via HeraldTribune.com

The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is planning to cut back research and lay off about 125 employees because of an unexpected reduction in federal spending on physics research.

It will be the largest layoff in the history of SLAC, which is considered one of the country's top physics research labs.

The lab had expected to receive $120 million in federal funding for high-energy physics, but only got $95 million after Congress cut the budget increase for the Department of Energy's Office of Science. Read more

“This discovery dramatically moves back the time at which we know short GRBs were exploding. The short burst is almost twice as far as the previous confirmed record holder”

Oldest known short gamma ray burst occurred halfway back to Big Bang Using the powerful one-two combo of NASA's Swift satellite and the Gemini Observatory, astronomers from a number of institutions, including ... via Huliq.com

“The Paul Scherrer Institute is highly respected for its work in advancing medical imaging and we are delighted they have chosen both our MAPD photo detectors and, as previously announced, LFS scintillation crystal for their PET program”

Zecotek Photonics Inc. today announced that the Swiss-based Paul Scherrer Institute has selected Zecotek's proprietary Micro-pixel Avalanche Photo Diodes for trials in its next-generation Positron Emission ... via Market Wire

“This means that as a lab, we will need to focus our efforts on a smaller number of programs and resize our workforce.”

The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, one of the nation's premier physics research laboratories, is planning to stop work on two key projects and lay off more than 125 people because of a surprise reduction ... via Inside Bay Area

“The (international linear collider) would be a huge project that would bring thousands of jobs and brain power here”

For the past seven years, Jamie Santucci, an engineering physicist at Batavia's Fermilab, has been working on a facet of the proposed International Linear Collider, the world's latest super collider project, ... via The Daily Gazette

“It doesn't even involve subatomic particlesinstead, it will test a new way to circulate the theories, methods, and experimental results that are the lifeblood of science.”

Posted January 9th, 2008 by Ellen Duranceau "The next big experiment in particle physics won't need an accelerator, detector, or other big machine," says Glennda Chui in the latest issue of Symmetry : ... via MIT Libraries News

Astronomy and NASA - Rewards and Challenges: Address By NASA Administrator Mike Griffin Before the American Astronomical Society STATUS REPORT Date Released: Tuesday, January 8, 2008 Source: NASA HQ Good ... via Space Ref

“How status does this, we just don't know.”

Winning the Nobel Prize quite literally gives scientists a new lease of life. New research at the University of Warwick in central England shows that scientists who have won the prize for their work in ... via Pretoria News

“If we establish the starting conditions, we can tell what happened in between then and now.”

Four years ago, NASA's Stardust spacecraft chased down a comet and collected grains of dust blowing off its nucleus. via Innovations-report.com

Mathematicians at the University of Liverpool have found that it is possible to gain full control of sound waves which could lead to improved medical scans, for technology such as ultra sound machines ... via EurekAlert!

“It might even find the 'hidden dimensions' of String Theory, but there's plenty to be excited about even if it doesn't”

Their music may be the scourge of parents, but the thrashing guitars of heavy metal bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden could help explain the mysteries of the universe. via Guardian Unlimited

Perfection is to be strived for but not attained A software version of this saying is "shipping is a feature". In general one wants to do the best possible job, but getting something accomplished is usually ... via Blah Blah Blog [Ryan Rogers]

Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics is delighted to announce the online publication of a special issue on Nuclear Astrophysics, featuring the proceedings of Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics III , ... via New Journal of Physics latest papers

“We've learned to appreciate each other from these years' life together”

Nobel Laureate Chen Ning Yang and his wife Weng Fan stepped into spotlight again as the 85-year-old physicist's new book has become available on the bookshelf. via People's Daily Online

American Journal of Physics , Vol. 69, No. 11. , pp. 1127-1137. EDU 292 Fall 2007's tags for this article Capellla EDU 292 Fall 2007 Abstract Research on the learning and teaching of physics is essential for ... via CiteULike

“When he was a professor at Princeton, Frank and his family lived in the same house that Albert Einstein had lived in during his 20 or so years at Princeton.”

New Zealand have the opportunity to unravel mysteries of the universe when an American, Nobel prize-winning, physicist comes to New Zealand next week. via XtraMSN Real Estate

“Well, we are the current users of the pit”

Not every physicist has to wear a hard hat to work. But when Stanford University physics professor Mark Kasevich and two of his graduate students, Jason Hogan and David Johnson, descend into the 25-foot pit ... via Palo Alto Daily News

Physical Review B , Vol. 76, No. 23. Abstract We present an experimental and theoretical study of the polarized photoluminescence spectrum of single semiconductor quantum dots in various charge states. via CiteULike

“The bottom line is that the world is round, humans evolved from an extinct species, and Elvis is dead”

According to an article appearing in the January 2008 issue of The FASEB Journal, the introduction of "non-science," such as creationism and intelligent design, into science education will undermine the ... via Science Daily

“I am excited to have Mario join us. He is a technologist who has built successful technology-based businesses. Mario's leadership will be a tremendous asset as FormFactor moves forward and continues to expand into new markets.”

FormFactor, Inc. today announced the appointment of Mario Ruscev as President, reporting to Igor Khandros, CEO, and as a member of the Board of Directors, both appointments effective January 7, 2008. via TMCnet

“I am intrigued by the mission and description of the programs at Berry, and by the concept of integrating the 'head, heart and hands' in student development”

Provided by Berry College ROME - Katherine M. Whatley, interim vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of physics at the University of North Carolina Asheville, has been selected to serve as the new ... via Dalton Daily Citizen