Physics in the News

Sunday, August 31, 2014

What time is it in the Universe? (VIDEO)

via universetoday

The limits of gravity, space and time… (VIDEO)

via astronomytoday

Robonaut 2 gets legs, New Horizons Pluto-bound (VIDEO)

via floridatoday

Our Sun’s power is stable and steadfast (VIDEO)

via techtimes

Latest theory of everything to hit the physics shelves

Agravity, short for ‘adimensional gravity’, is one of the most recent Theory of Everything (ToE) proposals in a long line of such proposals that have come about ever since the problem of reconciling Gravity with the Standard Model was realized by physicists. It attempts to merge gravity with the Higgs interaction (the thing that gives particles mass and electric charge) and thus the rest of the Standard Model by reconciling the huge difference between the Planck Scale (on the order of 1019 giga-electron-volts (GeV) = 1011 Joules (J)) and the relatively small masses of all the other particles
Agravity, short for ‘adimensional gravity’, is one of the most recent Theory of Everything proposals in a long line of such proposals that have come about ever since the problem of reconciling Gravity with the Standard Model was realized by physicists.  It attempts to merge gravity with the Higgs interaction, and thus the rest of the Standard Model, by reconciling the huge difference between the Planck Scale and the relatively small masses of all the other particles. (Credit: SGTW, Daniels)

via united-academics

Mars Rover Opportunity to have memory wiped

The decision to reformat Opportunity’s flash memory early next month is prompted by the multiple computer resets the rover has been experiencing. This month alone, Opportunity has had to be rebooted a dozen times, interrupting valuable time that should be taken up with carrying out science near the rim of Endeavour crater. (Credit: NASA, O'Neil)
The decision to reformat Opportunity’s flash memory early next month is prompted by the multiple computer resets the rover has been experiencing. This month alone, Opportunity has had to be rebooted a dozen times, interrupting valuable time that should be taken up with carrying out science near the rim of Endeavour crater. (Credit: NASA, O’Neil)

via discovery

Astronomers spot the birth of ‘Sparky,’ a massive star factory(PDF)

“It’s fascinating that the early universe could make galaxies in this way and the modern universe just can’t anymore, and we’re really beginning to understand in a profound way how different the early universe was than it is now,” said Erica Nelson of Yale University. (Credit: Neslson)
via washingtonpost

NASA probes studying Earth’s radiation belts to celebrate two year anniversary

NASA’s Van Allen Probes orbit through two giant radiation belts surrounding Earth. Their observations help explain how particles in the belts can be sped up to nearly the speed of light. Image (Credit: NASA)

Mysteries of space dust revealed

This is a scanning electron microscope image of an interplanetary dust particle that has roughly chondritic elemental composition and is highly rough (chondritic porous: "CP"). CP types are usually aggregates of large numbers of sub-micrometer grains, clustered in a random open order. (Credit: Donald E. Brownlee)
This is a scanning electron microscope image of an interplanetary dust particle that has roughly chondritic elemental composition and is highly rough (chondritic porous: “CP”). CP types are usually aggregates of large numbers of sub-micrometer grains, clustered in a random open order. (Credit: Donald E. Brownlee)
via phys.org

Are there evidences for cosmic inflation?

Inflation explains the origin of the large-scale structure of the cosmos. Many physicists believe that inflation explains why the Universe appears to be the same in all directions (isotropic), why the cosmic microwave background radiation is distributed evenly, why the universe is flat, and why no magnetic monopoles have been observed. (Credit: NASA)
Inflation explains the origin of the large-scale structure of the cosmos. Many physicists believe that inflation explains why the Universe appears to be the same in all directions (isotropic), why the cosmic microwave background radiation is distributed evenly, why the universe is flat, and why no magnetic monopoles have been observed. (Credit: NASA)
via science20

Sparks fly as NASA pushes the limits of 3-D printing technology

Engineers just completed hot-fire testing with two 3-D printed rocket injectors. Certain features of the rocket components were designed to increase rocket engine performance. The injector mixed liquid oxygen and gaseous hydrogen together, which combusted at temperatures over 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit, producing more than 20,000 pounds of thrust. (Credit: NASA photo/David Olive)
Engineers just completed hot-fire testing with two 3-D printed rocket injectors. Certain features of the rocket components were designed to increase rocket engine performance. The injector mixed liquid oxygen and gaseous hydrogen together, which combusted at temperatures over 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit, producing more than 20,000 pounds of thrust. (Credit: NASA photo/David Olive)
via spacefellowship

Physics in the News

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Shipyard workers test out robot suits in South Korea

Chu says worker feedback from the trial has been mostly positive. Testers were pleased that the exoskeleton let them lift heavy objects repeatedly without strain, but everyone also wanted it to move faster and be able to cope with heavier loads. (Credit: Daewoo)
via cnet

An NMR Chip The Size of a Seed

Harvard electrical engineering and applied physics professor Donhee Ham and his colleagues have drastically shrunk the size of the electronics even further, fitting the RF receiver, transmitter and other components on a tiny seed-sized chip. (Credit: Dongwan Ha/Harvard SEAS)
Harvard electrical engineering and applied physics professor Donhee Ham and his colleagues have drastically shrunk the size of the electronics even further, fitting the RF receiver, transmitter and other components on a tiny seed-sized chip. (Credit: Dongwan Ha/Harvard SEAS)
via ieee

The never-ending conundrums of classical physics

The incorrect “equal transit time” explanation for lift. (Credit: )
The incorrect “equal transit time” explanation for lift. (Credit: )

via  archtechnia

Is cosmic radiation the dawn of new physics or statistical slip-up?

The Milky Way is bit of a barrier between us the extra-galactic universe. (Credit: NASA, CC BY)
The Milky Way is bit of a barrier between us the extra-galactic universe. (Credit: NASA, CC BY)

via theconversation

Full NASA Cannae Drive and EMdrive Test paper shows that there is anomolous thrust and the null test article criticism is wrong

nasatestemdrive4
via nextbigfuture

Inmarsat warns over delays from failed rocket launch

Inmarsat used its satellite network to name search areas for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight
Inmarsat used its satellite network to name search areas for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight

via telegraph

Jupiter’s volcanic moon spews “curtains of fire”

Footage from the Venus Express orbiter confirmed sightings of hot spots on the surface of the planet, in accordance with volcanoes still simmering. (Credit: NASA)
Footage from the Venus Express orbiter confirmed sightings of hot spots on the surface of the planet, in accordance with volcanoes still simmering. (Credit: NASA)
via slashgear

Physicists introduce another quantum animal: The Quantum Pigeon

At the present moment another measurement is performed which is influenced both by what happened earlier and what happened later. (Credit: Jeff Tollaksen)
At the present moment another measurement is performed which is influenced both by what happened earlier and what happened later. (Credit: Jeff Tollaksen)
via phys

Radio telescope pinpoints Pluto for spacecraft buddy

The cold surface of Pluto and its largest moon Charon as seen with ALMA on July 15, 2014. (Credit: /AUI/NSF)
The cold surface of Pluto and its largest moon Charon as seen with ALMA on July 15, 2014. (Credit: /AUI/NSF)
via discovery

Social trails go off the beaten path: quantum lines of desire happen in physics also

 Kater Murch (right), assistant professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis, and junior Chris Munley work with the equipment that can map a quantum device's trajectory between two points in quantum state space, a feat until recently considered impossible. (Credit: Joe Angeles/WUSTL Photos)

Kater Murch (right), assistant professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis, and junior Chris Munley work with the equipment that can map a quantum device’s trajectory between two points in quantum state space, a feat until recently considered impossible. (Credit: Joe Angeles/WUSTL Photos)

via sciencecodex

Planting imperfections at specific spots within diamond lattice could advance quantum computing

This is a schematic of the process to localize NV centers in 3-D. The researchers blasted carbon ions through holes to create vacancies and heated the diamond to make the vacancies mobile within the crystal. NV centers could form in the nitrogen-doped layer below where the holes were placed. (Credit: F.J. Heremans and D. Awschalom/U. Chicago and K. Ohno/UCSB)
This is a schematic of the process to localize NV centers in 3-D. The researchers blasted carbon ions through holes to create vacancies and heated the diamond to make the vacancies mobile within the crystal. NV centers could form in the nitrogen-doped layer below where the holes were placed. (Credit: F.J. Heremans and D. Awschalom/U. Chicago and K. Ohno/UCSB)

via phys