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Distant gas blob threatens to shake nature's constants NewScientist Share    
The basic constants of nature aren't called constants for nothing. Physics is supposed to work the same way across the universe and over all of time. Now measurements of the radio spectra of a distant gas cloud hint that some fundamental quantities might not be fixed after all, raising the possibility that a radical rethink of the standard model of particle physics may one day be needed. Read the associated Physical Review Letters article. More
Earth's random walk could jolt particle accelerators Physics World Share
Apart from motion due to tides, seismic activity and other geophysical phenomena, the ground also moves entirely at random, at least over scales ranging from metres to kilometres. Vladimir Shiltsev came to this conclusion after using data from several particle accelerator facilities, where accurate information about the facility's precise position is essential. The result confirms a simple equation he put forward to describe the motion and may also prove useful in the design of future particle accelerators. Read the associated Physical Review Focus article. More On the deceleration behavior of black holes PhysOrg Share
Researchers use the concept of "anti-kick" to explain why the speed suddenly decreases after the collision of such exotic objects. Read the associated Physical Review Letters article. More Spotting fake bank notes with butterfly color PhysicsWorld Share
When it comes to head-turning fashion the animal kingdom often steals the show with its fantastic "structural colors" that can manipulate light in some weird and wonderful ways. One such beauty is Papilio blumei, a butterfly native to Indonesia, whose wings manage to combine green and blue in varying mixes depending on your viewing angle. This particular effect has now been mimicked by a group of researchers in the UK who say that their man-made structural colors could be added to bank notes to help prevent forgery. More
Hubble glimpses stars on the move Popular Science Share
New photos from the Hubble Space Telescope show once again the value of having a decades-old orbiting observatory. After examining identical photos taken 10 years apart, scientists measured the speeds of individual stars in a distant nebula -- a feat akin to seeing the apparent thickness of a human hair 500 miles away. More A liberal sprinkling of quantum dots PhysicsWorld Share
Researchers at Rice University claim to have found a way to add electronic and optical elements to the "wonder material" graphene without sacrificing its mechanical properties. They have designed a technique for patterning the hydrogenated form of graphene with quantum dots – a phenomenon that promises many novel applications. More Glaciers' wane not all down to humans Nature Share
According to a recent study, about half of the glacier loss in the Swiss Alps is due to natural climate variability -- a result likely to be true for glaciers around the world. More Giant glowing bubbles found around Milky Way NewScientist Share
Is the Milky Way blowing giant bubbles? A pair of gamma ray bubbles, shaped like an hourglass, seem to be spewing from the black hole we think lies at the centre of our galaxy. That is according to the latest maps from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Its large area telescope has been scanning the whole sky every three hours since June 2008. More
A giant proposal for a new type of molecule ScienceNews Share
Researchers have predicted the existence of a new kind of gargantuan molecule, large enough to dwarf a virus, that looks weird and acts even weirder. Such a molecule, described in a paper to appear in Physical Review Letters, would have the potential to be in two configurations simultaneously, a feat that might prove useful in storing and transmitting quantum information. More Titan's atmosphere oddity consistent with methane-based life Ars Technica Share
Something strange is afoot in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan, according to data sent back from the Cassini mission. Data returned from a spectrometer on Cassini indicates that there's a large flux of hydrogen in the moon's atmosphere, with the gas forming in the upper atmosphere and being removed from the atmosphere at Titan's surface. More Spooky Eyes: Using human volunteers to witness quantum entanglement Scientific American Share
The mysterious phenomenon known as quantum entanglement -- where objects seemingly communicate at speeds faster than light to instantaneously influence one another, regardless of their distance apart -- was famously dismissed by Einstein as "spooky action at a distance." New experiments could soon answer skeptics by enabling people to see entangled pulses of light with the naked eye. More |
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