The Universe is filled with energetic particles, such as X rays, gamma rays, and neutrinos. However, most of the high-energy cosmic particles’ origins remain unexplained. Now, an international research team has proposed a scenario that explains these; black holes with low activity act as major factories of high-energy cosmic particles. Details of their research were published in the journal Nature Communications. Gamma rays are high-energy photons that are many orders of magnitude more energetic than visible light. Space satellites have…

This sparkling starfield, captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys, contains the globular cluster ESO 520-21 (also known as Palomar 6). A densely packed, roughly spherical collection of stars, it lies close to the center of the Milky Way, where interstellar gas and dust absorb starlight and make observations more challenging. Interstellar absorption affects some wavelengths of light more than others, changing the colors of astronomical objects by causing them to…

Rochester researchers next will aim for a combination of spatial, temporal imaging. When we look at an object with our eyes, or with a camera, we can automatically gather enough pixels of light at visible wavelengths to have a clear image of what we see. However, to visualize a quantum object or phenomenon where the illumination is weak, or emanating from nonvisible infrared or far infrared wavelengths, scientists need far more sensitive tools. For example, they have developed single-pixel imaging…

Exotic phase transitions unlock pathways to future, superfluid-based technologies. We can learn a lot by studying microscopic and macroscopic changes in a material as it crosses from one phase to another, for example from ice to water to steam. A new Australian study examines systems transitioning from ‘normal’ fluid to a quantum state known as a superfluid, which can flow with zero friction, with a view to future, superfluid-based, quantum technologies, such as ultra-low energy electronics.We can learn a lot…

The exotic nucleus tin-100 is challenging to access experimentally, but ab initio calculations provide reliable results. This is shown by new precision mass measurements of indium isotopes in the vicinity of tin in the nuclear chart, using sophisticated techniques at CERN. Physicists from Klaus Blaum’s department at the MPI for Nuclear Physics played a major role in this. Achim Schwenk’s Max Planck Fellow group at the TU Darmstadt contributed to the theoretical calculations. The tin isotope with the mass number…

EURAMET to start a new European Metrology Network… Central pool of expertise under the coordination of PTB More than 23 million people in the world are exposed to ionizing radiation sometime during the course of their work. Natural radiation is everywhere and affects everyone. The topic of radiation protection is also becoming ever more varied. Due to the latest developments, such as pulsed radiation in medical, industrial or technical applications, we are now increasingly dealing with radiation fields of ever…

A team of researchers from Germany, China and the United States has discovered that two twisted layers of MoS₂ can be used to control kinetic energy scales in solids. In addition to using the twist angle to control the material’s electronic properties, the researchers have also now demonstrated that the electrons in MoS₂ can interfere destructively, stopping their motion for certain paths. This property makes it possible to engineer exotic magnetic states. The work by scientists from the Max Planck…

When optical gain or loss are precisely controlled using nanophotonics, a new physical event called the non-Hermitian phenomenon can be observed, potentially the next-generation technology of optical signal control and sensing. However, it is difficult to control the optical gain and loss in optical experiments precisely. Recently, a research team led by Professor Heedeuk Shin of the Department of Physics at POSTECH, in collaboration with a research team led by Professor Jae Woong Yoon of the Department of Physics at…

The size of a grain of sand, dispersed microfliers could monitor air pollution, airborne disease and environmental contamination. Northwestern University engineers have added a new capability to electronic microchips: flight. About the size of a grain of sand, the new flying microchip (or “microflier”) does not have a motor or engine. Instead, it catches flight on the wind — much like a maple tree’s propeller seed — and spins like a helicopter through the air toward the ground. By studying…

A team of researchers from Harvard, MIT and the Max Planck Institute Chemical Physics of Solids developed a theory to explain how hydrodynamic electron flow could occur in 3D materials and observed it for the first time using a new imaging technique. Electrons flow through most materials more like a gas than a fluid, meaning they don’t interact much with one another. It was long hypothesized that electrons could flow like a fluid, but only recent advances in materials and…

Sensors have become the ubiquitous companions of our lives. Whether knowingly or not, we use them every day to collect, process, and interpret data and help us make sense of the world around us. The demand for connected devices keeps growing – in particular in the Internet of Things, or IoT for short. The Fraunhofer flagship project ZEWOPEL has shown successfully how all of these sensor systems can become extremely energy efficient or even completely autonomous. The potential result: Up…

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, present a unique optical amplifier that is expected to revolutionise both space and fiber communication. The new amplifier offers high performance, is compact enough to integrate into a chip just millimeters in size, and – crucially – does not generate excess noise. “This could be compared to switching from older, dial-up internet to modern broadband, with high speed and quality,” says Professor Peter Andrekson, Head of the Photonics Laboratory at the Department of…

NASA is developing tools to increase astronaut autonomy to operate spacecraft or systems without assistance from the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston because communication delays from Earth will last longer. Most often, communications delays between the International Space Station crew and ground are nearly unnoticeable as they are routed from one Tracking and Data Relay Satellite to another as the station orbits about 250 miles above Earth. As NASA prepares to explore the Moon, about 240,000 miles away, and…

If you want to remove a layer of paint from a metal surface, you can use a sandblaster: Countless grains of sand are blasted onto the surface, and what emerges is clean metal. “Sputtering” can be imagined in a very similar way – only much smaller, on an atomic scale. The surface is irradiated with ions, i.e. charged atoms, allowing microscopic impurities to be removed, for example. If you are dealing with perfect surfaces where all the surface atoms are…

Columbia Engineers invent software-controlled robotic lasers that cook food with unparalleled precision, retaining more moisture, and creating an entirely new, customized way to cook a tasty meal. Imagine having your own digital personal chef; ready to cook up whatever you want; able to tailor the shape, texture, and flavor just for you; and it’s all at the push of a button. Columbia engineers have been working on doing just that, using lasers for cooking and 3D printing technology for assembling…

A new experimental method that tracks the motion of fibers instead of particles reveals previously hidden information about turbulent flows. Turbulent flows are random, chaotic and occur across many scales, making them notoriously difficult to measure Scientists have now developed a new and improved means of measuring turbulent flows, using fibers rather than tracer particles The team tested their method by using both computer simulations and lab experiments The researchers used fibers of different lengths to measure the turbulent flow…