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Archive for the ‘physics’ category: Page 201

May 28, 2020

Next-gen laser facilities look to usher in new era of relativistic plasmas research

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

The subject of the 2018 Nobel Prize in physics, chirped pulse amplification is a technique that increases the strength of laser pulses in many of today’s highest-powered research lasers. As next-generation laser facilities look to push beam power up to 10 petawatts, physicists expect a new era for studying plasmas, whose behavior is affected by features typically seen in black holes and the winds from pulsars.

May 27, 2020

Physicists measure a short-lived radioactive molecule for first time

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have combined the power of a super collider with techniques of laser spectroscopy to precisely measure a short-lived radioactive molecule, radium monofluoride, for the first time.

Precision studies of radioactive molecules open up possibilities for scientists to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model, such as phenomena that violate certain fundamental symmetries in nature, and to look for signs of dark matter. The team’s experimental technique could also be used to perform laboratory studies of radioactive molecules produced in astrophysical processes.

“Our results pave the way to high-precision studies of short-lived radioactive molecules, which could offer a new and unique laboratory for research in fundamental physics and other fields,” says the study’s lead author, Ronald Fernando Garcia Ruiz, assistant professor of physics at MIT.

May 26, 2020

A Bar Owner in The UK Has Built a Faraday Cage to Stop Customers Using Their Phones

Posted by in categories: mobile phones, physics

The owner of a cocktail bar in the UK has turned to physics in an attempt to force his customers to actually talk to other instead of just staring at social media all night.

Steve Tyler, who owns the Gin Tub in East Sussex, has built his very own Faraday cage around the establishment to block mobile phone signals from entering the building.

Continue reading “A Bar Owner in The UK Has Built a Faraday Cage to Stop Customers Using Their Phones” »

May 21, 2020

New Gravitational-Wave Model Helps Reveal the True Nature of Neutron Stars

Posted by in categories: physics, space

Gravitational-wave researchers at the University of Birmingham have developed a new model that promises to yield fresh insights into the structure and composition of neutron stars.

The model shows that vibrations, or oscillations, inside the stars can be directly measured from the gravitational-wave signal alone. This is because neutron stars will become deformed under the influence of tidal forces, causing them to oscillate at characteristic frequencies, and these encode unique information about the star in the gravitational-wave signal.

This makes asteroseismology — the study of stellar oscillations — with gravitational waves from colliding neutron stars a promising new tool to probe the elusive nature of extremely dense nuclear matter.

May 21, 2020

Modified tattoo electrodes can be used to measure brain activity

Posted by in categories: neuroscience, physics

In 2015 Francesco Greco, head of the Laboratory of Applied Materials for Printed and Soft electronics (LAMPSe) at the Institute of Solid State Physics at Graz University of Technology, developed so-called “tattoo electrodes” together with Italian scientists.

These are conductive polymers that are printed using an inkjet printer on standard tattoo paper and then stuck to the skin like transfers to measure heart or muscle activity.

This type of electrode, optimized in 2018, opened up completely new paths in electrophysiological examinations, such as electrocardiography (ECG) or electromyography (EMG). Thanks to a thickness of 700 to 800 nanometres — that is about 100 times thinner than a human hair — the tattoos adapt to uneven skin and are hardly noticeable on the body.

May 19, 2020

Longstanding mystery of matter and antimatter may be solved

Posted by in category: physics

An element which could hold the key to the long-standing mystery around why there is much more matter than antimatter in our Universe has been discovered by a University of the West of Scotland (UWS)-led team of physicists.

The UWS and University of Strathclyde academics have discovered, in research published in the journal Nature Physics, that one of the isotopes of the element thorium possesses the most pear-shaped nucleus yet to be discovered. Nuclei similar to thorium-228 may now be able to be used to perform new tests to try find the answer to the mystery surrounding matter and antimatter.

UWS’s Dr. David O’Donnell, who led the project, said: Our research shows that, with good ideas, world-leading nuclear physics experiments can be performed in university laboratories.

May 18, 2020

Unreal Engine 5 Revealed! | Next-Gen Real-Time Demo Running on PlayStation 5

Posted by in category: physics

Real time photorealistic graphics, at home, are just about here. It’s been a dream for almost 50 years. Pretty amazing how close we are.


Unreal Engine 5 empowers artists to achieve unprecedented levels of detail and interactivity, and brings these capabilities within practical reach of teams of all sizes through highly productive tools and content libraries.

Continue reading “Unreal Engine 5 Revealed! | Next-Gen Real-Time Demo Running on PlayStation 5” »

May 17, 2020

The Weight of the Universe – Physicists Challenge the Standard Model of Cosmology

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

Results from physicists in Bochum have challenged the Standard Model of Cosmology. Infrared data, which have recently been included in the analysis, could be decisive.

Bochum cosmologists headed by Professor Hendrik Hildebrandt have gained new insights into the density and structure of matter in the Universe. Several years ago, Hildebrandt had already been involved in a research consortium that had pointed out discrepancies in the data between different groups. The values determined for matter density and structure differed depending on the measurement method. A new analysis, which included additional infrared data, made the differences stand out even more. They could indicate that this is the flaw in the Standard Model of Cosmology.

Rubin, the science magazine of Ruhr-Universität Bochum, has published a report on Hendrik Hildebrandt’s research. The latest analysis of the research consortium, called Kilo-Degree Survey, was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics in January 2020.

May 13, 2020

Mach Effect for In Space Propulsion: Interstellar Mission

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

James Woodward Space Studies Institute, Inc.

We propose to study the implementation of an innovative thrust producing technology for use in NASA missions involving in space main propulsion. Mach Effect Gravity Assist (MEGA) drive propulsion is based on peer-reviewed, technically credible physics. Mach effects are transient variations in the rest masses of objects that simultaneously experience accelerations and internal energy changes. They are predicted by standard physics where Mach’s principle applies as discussed in peer- reviewed papers spanning 20 years and a recent book, Making Starships and Stargates: the Science of Interstellar Transport and Absurdly Benign Wormholes published in 2013 by Springer-Verlag.

In Phase I we achieved the following:

May 12, 2020

Researchers develop real-time physics engine for soft robotics

Posted by in categories: physics, robotics/AI

Motion picture animation and video games are impressively lifelike nowadays, capturing a wisp of hair falling across a heroine’s eyes or a canvas sail snapping crisply in the wind. Collaborators from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Carnegie Mellon University have adapted this sophisticated computer graphics technology to simulate the movements of soft, limbed robots for the first time.