A novel, computer-assisted method for colorizing black and white images and movies has been developed by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Benin School of Computer Science and Engineering.

The method is less expensive and time-consuming than earlier colorization methods developed in the late 20th century and which were used to convert to color several classic black-and-white motion pictures such as “Casablanca.”

A major difficulty with colorization ha

The first superconducting magnet for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was lowered into the accelerator tunnel at 2.00 p.m. on Monday, 7th March. This is the first of the 1232 dipole magnets for the future collider, which measures 27 km in circumference and is scheduled to be commissioned in 2007. The date was thus a key one for CERN since the delivery of the 15 metre long dipole magnet weighing 35 tonnes to its final location marks the start of LHC installation.

The LHC will c

Astronomers using the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton telescope have discovered that observing the giant planet Jupiter may actually give them an insight in to solar activity on the far side of the Sun! In research reported in the most recent edition of Geophysical Research Letters, they discovered that Jupiter’s x-ray glow is due to x-rays from the Sun being reflected back off the planet’s atmosphere.

Jupiter is an intriguing object when viewed in x-rays; it has dramatic x-ra

Computer reveals that life around black holes is turbulent and violent

For more than 30 years, astrophysicists have believed that black holes can swallow nearby matter and release a tremendous amount of energy as a result. Until recently, however, the mechanisms that bring matter close to black holes have been poorly understood, leaving researchers puzzled about many of the details of the process.

Now, however, computer simulations of black holes developed by researchers,

Public confidence in electronic channels of communication, such as the internet, mobile and wireless communications is at its lowest point for a decade, claim information and communication technology (ICT) experts at two leading British Universities.

Researchers from Cranfield University, Shrivenham, Oxfordshire and the London School of Economics recently collaborated in a Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) funded research study that examined the evolution of the inter

Three of the world’s largest and fastest yachts are in the midst of a non-stop trans-global race, hurtling in excess of 25 knots – 46 kilometres per hour – through the Southern Ocean encircling Antarctica. Iceberg collision is a real risk, but ice-sensitive radar satellites are monitoring the area to provide advance warning to crews.

“It has been a huge tactical – and psychological – advantage to planning our track through the Southern Ocean,” says navigator Will Oxley aboa

Researchers from Berlin and Seoul store light in plasmonic crystals

Light can creep through tiny holes in a metal plate, even if those holes are smaller in diameter than the wavelength of light. What’s more, the light is stored for a short period of time on the metal surface, as if the metal were a photonic crystal. The controlled interaction of light with such metal structures could pave the way to unique methods for nanosensing or nanoscale information transfer, write Claus

Livermore scientists are working to solve a 50-year-old question: Can neutrinos – a particle that is relatively massless, has no electric charge yet is fundamental to the make-up of the universe – transform from one type to another?
Scientists are using two giant detectors, one at Fermi Lab and another in a historic iron mine in northern Minnesota, to work on the answer.

As part of the international team working on the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search (MINOS) proj

Experts encounter a serious problem when studying the crime scene after an explosion. They can establish to a high degree of probability the type and power of the device used by terrorists and with what explosive substance it was filled with. However, they are usually unable to answer the most important question as to where and when the explosive itself was made: TNT is still TNT, regardless of the where and when it was produced.

Specialists from the Semenov Institute of Chemical Ph

On February 15, 2005 of the Physics/Einstein Year, the complete story of the discovery of natural atom antihydrogen, started in 1985, was published on-line.

The antihydrogen problem has become a highly mediatic issue, both in the specialized physics and the more general press [1]. A real hype started at the end of 2002 when rivalling CERN-based groups ATHENA and ATRAP both claimed the production of large quantities of artificial antihydrogen. Scientists, wondering about a signatu

Very Large Telescope Finds Planet-Sized Transiting Star

An international team of astronomers have accurately determined the radius and mass of the smallest core-burning star known until now.

The observations were performed in March 2004 with the FLAMES multi-fibre spectrograph on the 8.2-m VLT Kueyen telescope at the ESO Paranal Observatory (Chile). They are part of a large programme aimed at measuring accurate radial velocities for sixty stars for which a temporary br

A program developed by Russian scientists under support from the International Science and Technology Center (Project 1917) helps to protect spacecraft from orbital debris that rushes at great speed, in the most effective and economic manner.

The system, under development by Russian scientists with financial support from the International Science and Technology Center, effectively and economically protects spacecraft from meteoroids and orbital debris. First tests, conducted by th

Antenna and telescope mirrors, walls and partitions for space stations, solar battery panels and even houses on the Moon and on Mars – all this can be achieved with technology developed by Russian scientists in the framework of ISTC projects 2835 and 2836. What is more, it can be achieved quickly, with good levels of strength and reliability, with minimal expense of time, space, energy and money.

These construction materials or, to be more accurate, original semi-products for futur

One year into its twelve year journey to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta mission will make a “close” flyby of Earth on Friday 4th March. UK scientists involved in the mission are hoping for a glimpse of the spacecraft which should be visible in the UK with the use of a telescope.

Whilst it has been visible to large amateur telescopes since 26th February, the best opportunity to view the spacecraft in Europe will be on Friday 4th March w

Jupiter’s formation linked to that of primitive meteorites

The process that formed the giant planet Jupiter may also have spawned some of the tiniest and oldest members of our solar system — millimeter-sized spheres called chondrules, the major part of the most primitive meteorites. As witnesses to the early history of the solar system, chondrules may provide important clues to how the planets formed.

A report of this research result, by theorists Alan P. Boss of th

A research group led by Academy Professor Mikko Sams is developing a brain-computer interface, a device that transforms electrical or magnetic brain signals into commands a computer can understand. Equipment of this kind is necessary. For instance, it enables physically disabled persons to use a computer keyboard. The Brain-Computer Interface, or BCI, allows both physically disabled and healthy persons to direct a computer by merely thinking of certain commands. The On-line Adaptive Brain-Computer