Physics and Astronomy
This area deals with the fundamental laws and building blocks of nature and how they interact, the properties and the behavior of matter, and research into space and time and their structures.
innovations-report provides in-depth reports and articles on subjects such as astrophysics, laser technologies, nuclear, quantum, particle and solid-state physics, nanotechnologies, planetary research and findings (Mars, Venus) and developments related to the Hubble Telescope.
Physicists transfer information between matter and light; advancing quantum communications
Converting quantum bits
A team of physicists at the Georgia Institute of Technology has taken a significant step toward the development of quantum communications systems by successfully transferring quantum information from two different groups of atoms onto a single photon.
The work, to be published in the October 22 issue of the journal Science, represents a “building block” that could lead to development of large-scale quantum networks. Sponsored by the Research Corpor
Turbulence in Saturn’s atmosphere
This turbulent boundary between two latitudinal bands in Saturn’s atmosphere curls repeatedly along its edge in this NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens image.
This pattern is an example of a ’Kelvin-Helmholtz instability’, which occurs when two fluids of different density flow past each other at different speeds. This type of phenomenon should be fairly common on the gas-giant planets given their alternating jets and the different temperatures in their belts and zones.
The i
Why thin, flat things rise and glide on the way down: Cornell physicists finally solve the falling-paper problem
Exactly what governs the motions of falling paper?
While college students suspect the answer is known to lazy professors — the ones who allegedly grade essays by throwing them down stairwells to see which sails the farthest — the so-called falling paper problem has long intrigued scientists.
Now an enterprising professor and her graduate student at Cornell University have solved the falling paper problem — in part by calculating the motions of a scientific journal p
Gourmet cooking on the way to Mars
Technologies from space provide new solutions for food handling on Earth. In exchange travellers in space will get gourmet menus from Earth to cheer them up during long space missions. At the International Food Exhibition SIAL in Paris this week, ESA presents an exchange of ideas between food and space, including recipes for travellers to Mars.
“Every year we research and develop a number of pioneering technologies needed for space exploration. Many have potential for innovative s
Last ion engine thrust puts SMART-1 on the right track for its Moon encounter
From 10 to 14 October the ion engine of ESA’s SMART-1 carried out a continuous thrust manoeuvre in a last major push that will get the spacecraft to the Moon capture point on 13 November.
SMART-1, on its way to the Moon, has now covered more than 80 million kilometres. Its journey started on 27 September 2003, when the spacecraft was launched on board an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Since then, it has been spiralling in progressively larger orbit
Researchers guide light through liquids and gases on a chip
A major step forward for optical sensing technology
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have reported the first demonstration of integrated optical waveguides with liquid cores, a technology that enables light propagation through small volumes of liquids on a chip. The new technology has a wide range of potential applications, including chemical and biological sensors with single-molecule sensitivity. “It is an enabling technology that opens up a wide range of