New methodology enables the detection of ground deformation automatically at a global scale. Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are applying machine learning algorithms to help interpret massive amounts of ground deformation data collected with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) satellites; the new algorithms will improve earthquake detection. “Applying machine learning to InSAR data gives us a new way to understand the physics behind tectonic faults and earthquakes,” said Bertrand Rouet-Leduc, a geophysicist in Los Alamos’ Geophysics group. “That’s crucial…

University of Rochester researchers for the first time package a way of amplifying interferometric signals using inverse weak value amplification —without increase in extraneous input or “noise”—on an integrated photonic chip. By merging two or more sources of light, interferometers create interference patterns that can provide remarkably detailed information about everything they illuminate, from a tiny flaw on a mirror, to the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere, to gravitational patterns in far reaches of the Universe. “If you want…

New insights into element synthesis in the universe. How are chemical elements produced in our Universe? Where do heavy elements like gold and uranium come from? Using computer simulations, a research team from the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, together with colleagues from Belgium and Japan, shows that the synthesis of heavy elements is typical for certain black holes with orbiting matter accumulations, so-called accretion disks. The predicted abundance of the formed elements provides insight into which heavy elements…

Forming planets are one possible explanation for the rings and gaps observed in disks of gas and dust around young stars. But this theory has trouble explaining why it is rare to find planets associated with rings. New supercomputer simulations show that after creating a ring, a planet can move away and leave the ring behind. Not only does this bolster the planet theory for ring formation, the simulations show that a migrating planet can produce a variety of patterns…

Virtual and augmented reality headsets are designed to place wearers directly into other environments, worlds and experiences. While the technology is already popular among consumers for its immersive quality, there could be a future where the holographic displays look even more like real life. In their own pursuit of these better displays, the Stanford Computational Imaging Lab has combined their expertise in optics and artificial intelligence. Their most recent advances in this area are detailed in a paper published Nov. 12 in Science…

How gentle nuclear reactions with fragile nuclei could help us better understand the universe and fight cancer. It’s strange to think that there are nuclear reactions that physicists classify as gentle. After all, the particle accelerators that let scientists study these reactions are nicknamed “atom smashers,” not “atom coddlers.” But gentle nuclear reactions represent more than a strange-sounding curiosity. These reactions let researchers stress-test certain scientific models that account for how the universe’s fundamental rules work, said Kaitlin Cook of the Facility for…

The UK Space Agency has awarded almost £650,000 to Northumbria University to continue world-leading work to develop the first commercially available laser-based inter-satellite communications system. Currently satellites use radio frequency to transmit data, but this is limited in terms of speed, capacity and data security. However, researchers at Northumbria University are working to develop a new laser-based communications system for small satellites, known as CubeSats, which has the potential to transform the satellite communications industry. By using lasers instead of…

By implementing artificial intelligence techniques similar to those used in autonomous cars, a team from the UNIGE and the UniBE, in partnership with the company Disaitek, has discovered a new method for detecting exoplanets. The majority of exoplanets discovered to date have been discovered using the transit method. This technique is based on a mini eclipse caused when a planet passes in front of its star. The decrease in luminosity observed makes it possible to deduce the existence of a…

New approach expands the application of powerful, ultrafast laser pulses. Quick bursts of laser light, lasting less than a trillionth of a second, are used in a range of applications today. These ultrashort laser pulses have allowed scientists to observe chemical reactions in real-time, image delicate biological samples, build precise nanostructures, and send long-distance, high-bitrate optical communications. But any application of ultrashort laser pulses in the visible spectrum must overcome a fundamental difficulty — red light travels faster than blue…

Nanoscale machinery has many uses, including drug delivery, single-atom transistor technology, or memory storage. However, the machinery must be assembled at the nanoscale which is a considerable challenge for researchers. For nanotechnology engineers the ultimate goal is to be able to assemble functional machinery part-by-part at the nanoscale. In the macroscopic world, we can simply grab items to assemble them. It is not impossible to “grab” single molecules anymore, but their quantum nature makes their response to manipulation unpredictable, limiting the…

The Snowman Nebula is an emission nebula that resides in the constellation Puppis in the southern sky, about 6,000 light-years away from Earth. Emission nebulae are diffuse clouds of gas that have become so charged by the energy of nearby massive stars that they glow with their own light. The radiation from these massive stars strips electrons from the nebula’s hydrogen atoms in a process called ionization. As the energized electrons revert from their higher-energy state to a lower-energy state,…

A group of scientists working at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), Pune have for the first time unravelled the eclipse mechanisms for the millisecond pulsars in compact binary systems using the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT). Eclipses in millisecond pulsars have been known since the 1980’s, but the exact cause of these eclipses have not been understood till now. Devojyoti Kansabanik a Ph.D. student at NCRA is the lead author of the paper describing this work, which…

Researchers built an open source room-temperature control system for superconducting quantum processors. A team of physicists and engineers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) successfully demonstrated the feasibility of low-cost and high-performance radio frequency modules for qubit controls at room temperature. They built a series of compact radio frequency (RF) modules that mix signals to improve the reliability of control systems for superconducting quantum processors. Their tests proved that using modular design methods reduces the cost and size of…

… for Florida Department of Transportation. Resulting platform will enable real-time, safety-critical data analysis, dissemination. Southwest Research Institute is leading an $8 million project to develop a data exchange platform enabling the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to analyze road conditions in real-time and communicate important travel information to the traveling public, state/local government entities, private sector partners and other stakeholders. In addition to real-time analysis, the platform will also support analysis of long-term historic data enabling data-driven infrastructure investments…

Dr. Jan Vogelsang, a physicist at the University of Oldenburg, has been accepted into the renowned Emmy Noether Programme (ENP) run by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Vogelsang can now establish his own junior research group, for which the DFG is providing up to 2.5 million euros in funding. In his project “Attosecond Charge Carrier Dynamics at Nanoscale Interfaces”, Vogelsang is making processes visible that are far too small and too fast for the human eye to detect. “Offering our…

Scientists for the first time demonstrated Young’s experiment for photons in the reciprocal space. Spin patterns corresponding to the persistent spin helix and the Stern-Gerlach experiment are realized in an optically anisotropic liquid crystal microcavity. By applying electric voltage across the microcavity, the liquid crystal molecules inside could be rotated in such a way that the light passing through the cavity was forced to change its internal state into right- and left-handed circular polarized components. Young’s experiment from almost 220…