Where do you see patterns in chaos? It has been proven, in the incredibly tiny quantum realm, by an international team co-led by UC Santa Cruz physicist Jairo Velasco, Jr. In a new paper published on November 27 in Nature, the researchers detail an experiment that confirms a theory first put forth 40 years ago stating that electrons confined in quantum space would move along common paths rather than producing a chaotic jumble of trajectories. Electrons exhibit both particle and wave-like properties—they don’t simply…
Unusual magnetically driven vortices may be generating Earth-size concentrations of hydrocarbon haze. While Jupiter’s Great Red Spot has been a constant feature of the planet for centuries, University of California, Berkeley, astronomers have discovered equally large spots at the planet’s north and south poles that appear and disappear seemingly at random. The Earth-size ovals, which are visible only at ultraviolet wavelengths, are embedded in layers of stratospheric haze that cap the planet’s poles. The dark ovals, when seen, are almost…
Scientists from the H.E.S.S. collaboration including a consortium of German universities, the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik and the CNRS in France have recently identified electrons and positrons with the highest energies ever recorded on Earth. They provide evidence of cosmic processes emitting colossal amounts of energy, the origins of which are as yet unknown. These findings are due to be published on November 25 in the journal Physical Review Letters. The universe is full of extreme environments, from the coldest temperatures…
Scientists at the European XFEL and DESY produce high-power attosecond X-ray pulses at megahertz repetition rates. Publication in Nature Photonics. A research team at European XFEL and DESY has achieved a major advance in X-ray science by generating unprecedented high-power attosecond hard X-ray pulses at megahertz repetition rates. This advancement opens new frontiers in the study of ultrafast electron dynamics and enables non-destructive measurements at the atomic level. Researchers have demonstrated single-spike hard X-ray pulses with pulse energies exceeding 100…
Curtin study. New Curtin University-led research has uncovered what may be the oldest direct evidence of ancient hot water activity on Mars, revealing the planet may have been habitable at some point in its past. The study analysed a 4.45 billion-year-old zircon grain from the famous Martian meteorite NWA7034, also known as Black Beauty, and found geochemical ‘fingerprints’ of water-rich fluids. Study co-author Dr Aaron Cavosie from Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences said the discovery opened up new…
An inaugural measurement of the neutron will help physicists learn about nucleon structure and spin. Protons and neutrons–known collectively as nucleons–are the building blocks of matter, but one of these particles has received a bit more attention in certain types of nuclear physics experiments. Until now. New results published in Physical Review Letters describe a first-time glimpse of the internal structure of the neutron thanks to the development of a special, 10-years-in-the-making detector installed in Experimental Hall B at the…
A massive collision of galaxies sparked by one travelling at a scarcely-believable 2 million mph (3.2 million km/h) has been seen in unprecedented detail by one of Earth’s most powerful telescopes. The dramatic impact was observed in Stephan’s Quintet, a nearby galaxy group made up of five galaxies first sighted almost 150 years ago. It sparked an immensely powerful shock akin to a “sonic boom from a jet fighter” – the likes of which are among the most striking phenomena…
The mystery of why life uses molecules with specific orientations has deepened with a NASA-funded discovery that RNA — a key molecule thought to have potentially held the instructions for life before DNA emerged — can favor making the building blocks of proteins in either the left-hand or the right-hand orientation. Resolving this mystery could provide clues to the origin of life. The findings appear in research recently published in Nature Communications. Proteins are the workhorse molecules of life, used…
Dr. Ksenia Fedosova from the Cluster of Excellence Mathematics Münster, along with an international research team, has proven a conjecture in string theory that physicists had proposed regarding certain equations. Their findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). String theory aims to explain all fundamental forces and particles in the universe – essentially, how the world operates on the smallest scales. Though it has not yet been experimentally verified, work in string theory…
A new theory, that explains how light and matter interact at the quantum level has enabled researchers to define for the first time the precise shape of a single photon. Research at the University of Birmingham, published in Physical Review Letters, explores the nature of photons (individual particles of light) in unprecedented detail to show how they are emitted by atoms or molecules and shaped by their environment. The nature of this interaction leads to infinite possibilities for light to…
Aligning the quantum property known as spin for fusion fuels could make it easier to generate electricity economically. A different mix of fuels with enhanced properties could overcome some of the major barriers to making fusion a more practical energy source, according to a new study. The proposed approach would still use deuterium and tritium, which are generally accepted as the most promising pair of fuels for fusion energy production. However, the quantum properties of the fuel would be adjusted for…
Algorithm reconstructs wind fields quickly, accurately, and with less observational data. Hurricanes, or tropical cyclones, can be devastating natural disasters, leveling entire cities and claiming hundreds or thousands of lives. A key aspect of their destructive potential is their unpredictability. Hurricanes are complex weather phenomena, and how strong one will be or where it will make landfall is difficult to estimate. In a paper published this week in Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, a pair of researchers from the…
Physicists at the University of Magdeburg develop low-cost production process for transition metal nitrides in high industrial demand. A team of researchers at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg has developed a new process for producing transition metal nitrides cheaply and more energy-efficiently. Endowed with additional and application-related functionalities, these innovative materials could in future play, among other things, a key role in electronics and communication technology and, for example, significantly improve data transmission in mobile phone networks. As part of…
New on-chip device uses exotic light rays in 2D material to detect molecules. Researchers have developed a highly sensitive detector for identifying molecules via their infrared vibrational “fingerprint”. Published in Nature Communications, this innovative detector converts incident infrared light into ultra-confined “nanolight” in the form of phonon polaritons within the detector´s active area. This mechanism serves two crucial purposes: it boosts the overall detector´s sensitivity and enhances the vibrational fingerprint of nanometer-thin molecular layer placed on top of the detector, allowing…
… pave the way for sensitive detection of atmospheric pollutants. Alongside carbon dioxide, methane is a key driver of global warming. To detect and monitor the climate pollutants in the atmosphere precisely, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) have developed an advanced laser technology. A high-power ytterbium thin-disk laser drives an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) to generate high-power, stable pulses in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectral range. This allows researchers to detect and analyze…
…helps extract the timescale of the Sun’s birth. Have you ever wondered how long it took our Sun to form in its stellar nursery? An international collaboration of scientists is now closer to an answer. They succeeded in the measurement of the bound-state beta decay of fully-ionised thallium (205Tl81+) ions at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) of GSI/FAIR. This measurement has profound effects on the production of radioactive lead (205Pb) in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and can be used…
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