New, higher precision data that could only have been gathered at the Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) shows the Theta-plus pentaquark doesn’t appear in another place it was expected. This intriguing finding contradicts evidence previously presented by Jefferson Lab researchers that they had sighted a pentaquark, a particle built of five quarks. Volker Burkert, a Jefferson Lab Experimental Hall Leader, will present this preliminary result in a

As of 6 July 2005, 990 comets have been discovered using the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft, which is expected to discover its 1000th comet this summer.

The SOHO spacecraft, a joint effort between NASA and the European Space Agency, has been so prolific that it has accounted for almost half of all comet discoveries for which orbits have been computed in the history of astronomy.

Before SOHO was launched, only 16 ‘sungrazing’ comets had be

Quantum computers that store information in so-called quantum bits (or qubits) will be confronted with a fundamental limitation. This is the claim made by Dutch theoretical physicists from the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) and Leiden University in an article recently published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

A quantum computer can only function if the information exists for long enough to be processed. The so-called coherence of the qubit ensures that the qu

Dutch researcher Bram Wijngaarden investigated how bottom quarks are created during collisions between protons and antiprotons. Wijngaarden’s measurements have contributed to a better understanding of the theory, and can be used to explain why the production of these quarks during such collisions is higher than had originally been expected.

Bram Wijngaarden investigated the creation of bottom quarks using the D zero experiment of the particle accelerator at the Fermi lab in

ESA’s XMM-Newton observations of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 revealed that the object is a weak X-ray source. These data were acquired on 4 July 2005 by one of the EPIC X-ray cameras on board the spacecraft during the post-impact observation phase.

XMM-Newton observed that Tempel 1 emits X-rays, as suspected from previous observations of comets, but this emission is very weak. It is not certain whether it is possible to obtain spectral data which indicate the mechanisms by which the c

Scientists using the Swift satellite witnessed a tale of fire and ice today, as NASA’s Deep Impact probe slammed into the frozen comet Tempel 1. The collision briefly lit the dim comet’s surface and exposed, for the first time, a section of ancient and virgin material from the comet’s interior.

Swift is providing the only simultaneous multi-wavelength observation of this rare event, with a suite of instruments capable of detecting optical light, ultraviolet, X-ray

A new research article outlines another aspect of Quantum Cryptography

In “No Signaling and quantum key distribution”, a new paper published in Physical Review Letters 95 (010503 – 2005), Barrett, Hardy and Kent give the first example of a way of implementing quantum cryptography which is provably secure – even if quantum theory is incorrect, so long as a successor theory shares with quantum theory the features which make faster-than-light signaling impossible. The scheme can b

Its name is Y(4260) and it is not a new humanoid of Stars Wars, but a particle identified for the first time by BaBar experiment: an international collaboration – formed by the large participation of the Italian physicists of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (Infn) – that has its seat in Stanford (California). Y(4260) represents an interesting element with respect of particles’ field and it will provide very useful signs about character of the strong force, that is the force that holds tog

A groundbreaking group of theoretical and experimental physicists is coming together to experiment with a phenomenon that disturbed Einstein and which could one day make super-fast quantum computers a possibility.

Centenary professor of quantum information science Vlatko Vedral (pictured) is an expert in the theoretical study of entanglement – a phenomenon Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance’. Two ‘entangled’ particles are connected because the fate of one depends on the

VLT First Images of Comet Tempel 1 After Impact

On the night of July 4, 2005, all ESO telescopes continued their extensive observing campaign of Comet Tempel 1. But this time, they were able to see the effect of the impact on the comet. The astronomers were clearly not disappointed.

The impact occurred at 07:52 CEST but because the comet has already set in Chile at that time, observers at the La Silla Paranal Observatory could only start observing several hours later. The

These animations, composed of images taken by the OSIRIS Narrow Angle Camera on board ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft, shows how the brightness of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 developed after impact.

www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Rosetta/SEMSJ06DIAE_0.html

Dust and gas are seen in these images of Comet 9P/Tempel 1, as observed with the 1-metre ESA Optical Ground Station (OGS) telescope, located at the Observatorio del Teide on Tenerife, Canary Islands.

Two different filters have been used in different visible light observations to study different aspects of the comet’s nature. Red ’broadband’ filters allowed the detection of dust, while blue ’narrowband’ filters, filtering only carbon gaseous compounds, allow the observations to

Through the night of 4 July 2005, all European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescopes observed the effects of the impact on Comet 9P/Tempel 1. At sunset in Chile, the seven telescopes of the La Silla Paranal Observatory went into action.

The FORS2 multi-mode instrument on Antu, one of the 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) array, took stunning images, showing that the morphology of the comet had dramatically changed: a new bright fan-like structure was

The World Wide Web allows us to access masses of information, both textual and visual. Conducting a search for images by entering a few keywords into a search engine is simple, but such a search often results in hundreds and sometimes thousands of images being returned. Many of these images will be totally unrelated to the subject of the search as current image searching is largely based on words rather than image content.

Oxford Inventors collaborating with colleagues at California In

A fundamentally new approach to computer identification of words was been suggested by Russian scientists. With its help, people will be able to give orders even to the most primitive cellular phones.

A sentient being recognizes without difficulty a familiar word regardless of the voice and intonation it is pronounced with. “Six” or “eight” remain six and eight for a person no matter how they are pronounced – in a loud voice or in a whisper, in an excited or a calm voice, by the

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed an agreement on 27 June 2005 for including European instruments on board India’s first scientific mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-1.

This agreement, under the umbrella agreement for co-operation already existing between ISRO and ESA, was signed by Mr G Madhavan Nair, Chairman of ISRO, and Mr Jean Jacques Dordain, Director General of ESA, at Bangalore.

Chandrayaan-1 is planned