Stars containing dark matter should look different from other stars
PhysOrg
Finding evidence for dark matter - the unknown substance that theoretically makes up 23 percent of the universe - has been one of the biggest challenges in modern cosmology. Now in a new study, scientists have shown that feebly annihilating dark matter particles captured inside a star can provide an additional source of energy to the star, resulting in changes to its structure and appearance. Observing these stars could potentially offer scientists a tool to detect and analyze this kind of dark matter. Read the associated Physical Review letters abstract.
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Graphene-based composites could cool electronics
Physics World
Researchers say that they have developed a new "thermal interface material" (TIM) that could efficiently remove unwanted heat from electronic components such as computer chips or light-emitting diodes. The material is a composite of graphene and multilayer graphene.More

Squid can fly to save energy
Nature News
Squid can save energy by flying rather than swimming, according to calculations based on high-speed photography. Squid of many species have been seen to 'fly' using the same jet-propulsion mechanisms that they use to swim: squirting water out of their mantles so that they rocket out of the sea and glide through the air. Until now, most researchers have thought that such flight was a way to avoid predators, but new calculations show that propelling themselves through the air may actually be an efficient way for squid to travel long distances.More

Uterus contractions caused by electrical coupling
Physics World
New research could help explain one of the "miracles" of childbirth – how the uterus contracts to push babies into the world. Computer models, developed by researchers in India and France, reveal that as the moment of birth approaches, the cells in the uterus become more electrically connected, enabling them to behave in synchrony. To date, it had not been clear how the cells in the uterus could act together to generate a large-scale contraction during labor. Read the associated APS Physics Synopsis.
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Crystals may be possible in time as well as space
Science News
What sounds like the title of a bad fantasy movie - time crystals - could be the next big thing in theoretical physics. In two new papers, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Frank Wilczek lays out the mathematics of how an object moving in its lowest energy state could experience a sort of structure in time. Such a "time crystal" would be the temporal equivalent of an everyday crystal, in which atoms occupy positions that repeat periodically in space. More

Obama aims to increase federal science funding in 2013
Scientific American
The White House has scaled back but boosted its overall funding request for non-defense research and development by 5 percent, pushing it up to $64.9 billion.More

Pulsars can help detect gravitational waves
News Track India
Astronomers are using pulsars, superdense neutron stars, throughout our Milky Way Galaxy as a giant scientific instrument to directly detect gravitational waves.More

Physicists entangle 8 photons in 'spooky' experiment
LiveScience
Researchers have entangled four pairs of photons. The achievement extends the range of previous experiments that had entangled up to six photons.More

DNA nanorobot delivers drugs
Physics World
Researchers have developed a new nanorobotic device based on DNA that can deliver "cargo," such as drugs, to individual biological cells. The technology might one day be used to treat various diseases by directly programming the immune response of cells.More

Fukushima faces future quakes
Discovery News
The disastrous magnitude 9.0 earthquake that shook Japan on March 11 of last year greased the wheels for another quake. The quake allowed fluids to move upward in the Earth's crust, which lubricated seismic faults and increased the chance that they will give way and rattle the region again. More