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Scientists discover heavy new element The New York Times Share    
A team of Russian and American scientists has discovered a new element that has long stood as a missing link among the heaviest bits of atomic matter ever produced. The element, still nameless, appears to point the way toward a brew of still more massive elements with chemical properties no one can predict. Read the associated APS Physics Viewpoint article. More
Combing makes for neat qubits PhysicsWorld Share
Physicists in the U.S. have used an optical "frequency comb" to reliably entangle a pair of atomic qubits. The breakthrough bodes well for practicable quantum computing because it allows for simpler manipulation of quantum states than in previous systems. Read the associated APS Physics Viewpoint article. More Fruit flies turn on autopilot ScienceNews Share
Fruit flies turn in midair with a shrug of their shoulders. A new analysis shows that the flies’ aerial gymnastics are driven by wing joints that act like wind-up toys, letting the bugs whirl around almost automatically. Read the associated Physical Review Letters paper and APS Focus article. More
Einstein equations indicate possibility of black hole formation at the LHC PhysOrg Share
One of the concerns that has been voiced about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), is that it could result in the formation of black holes that could destroy the world. While most scientists dismiss claims that anything produced in the LHC would destroy the planet, there are some that think that black hole formation could be seen with LHC collisions of sufficiently high energy. This idea has gotten a further boost from recent efforts by Matthew Choptuik at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and Frans Pretorius, at Princeton University in New Jersey. Read the associated Physical Review Letters paper. More
Making surgery scalpels from sound waves Ars Technica Share
Sound waves are used in many imaging applications, but they're often underpowered and hard to focus. But focus them into "sound bullets" and all sorts of interesting things happen. More Colliding dust grains charge each other up ScienceNews Share
It's the ultimate love-at-first-sight story: In the middle of the desert, hundreds of miles from anything else, lonely sand grains meet up in a crowd and decide to electrify each other. Sparks fly. More
Enter the matrix: the deep law that shapes our reality NewScientist Share
Suppose we had a theory that could explain everything. Not just atoms and quarks but aspects of our everyday lives too. Sound impossible? Perhaps not. It's all part of the recent explosion of work in an area of physics known as random matrix theory. Originally developed more than 50 years ago to describe the energy levels of atomic nuclei, the theory is turning up in everything from inflation rates to the behavior of solids. So much so that many researchers believe that it points to some kind of deep pattern in nature that we don't yet understand. More
Rising from the ashes The Economist Share
Conventional coal-burning power stations release more radioactivity into the environment than nuclear stations do. The reason is that the ash left over when coal is burned contains radioactive elements, notably uranium and thorium. Could such ash be worth investigating as a source of nuclear fuel? More |
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