Physics in the News

Saturday, August 30, 2014

The pivotal discovery you’ve probably never heard of

Three consecutive images of comet C/1979 Q1 plunging into the solar atmosphere on August 30, 1979. In these SOLWIND coronagraph images, the Sun is masked behind the solid disk in the center of the image. (Credit: NRL)
Three consecutive images of comet C/1979 Q1 plunging into the solar atmosphere on August 30, 1979. In these SOLWIND coronagraph images, the Sun is masked behind the solid disk in the center of the image. (Credit: NRL)
via planetary

NASA’s Spitzer scopes out huge asteroid smashup, and just misses it

Spitzer's observations of the aftermath of an asteroid collision offer insights into how Earth was formed. (Credit: NASA)
Spitzer’s observations of the aftermath of an asteroid collision offer insights into how Earth was formed. (Credit: NASA)
via latimes

Yes, the Universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, sort of

Before the big explosion: The artist’s impression shows a binary star system where mass is transferred from a companion to a white dwarf. As soon as sufficient matter has collected on the surface of the dwarf star, this can trigger a nuclear explosion which in turn ignites the catastrophic nuclear burning and destroys the white dwarf – a type Ia supernova flares up. (Credit: ESA, Justyn R. Maund)
Before the big explosion: The artist’s impression shows a binary star system where mass is transferred from a companion to a white dwarf. As soon as sufficient matter has collected on the surface of the dwarf star, this can trigger a nuclear explosion which in turn ignites the catastrophic nuclear burning and destroys the white dwarf – a type Ia supernova flares up. (Credit: ESA, Justyn R. Maund)
via newscientist

Distillery anticipates zero gravity single malt whiskeys return to Earth

Director of distilling, Bill Lumsden. Ardbeg Scottish whisky was sent into space three years ago in an experiment looking at the impact of gravity on how it matures.  It will return to Earth September 12th. (Credit: Paul Dodds/Ardbeg/PA)
Director of distilling, Bill Lumsden. Ardbeg Scottish whisky was sent into space three years ago in an experiment looking at the impact of gravity on how it matures. It will return to Earth September 12th. (Credit: Paul Dodds/Ardbeg/PA)
via theguardian

The largest ever made rocket may carry humans to Mars

via mysteriousuniverse

Meet the computer scientist trying to digitize, analyze and visualize our past

via gigaom

NASA warns massive solar flare can disrupt communication signals

NASA has warned that a new sunspot spewing powerful X-class flares is beginning to rotate to a position directly in line with Earth. (Credit: NASA)
NASA has warned that a new sunspot spewing powerful X-class flares is beginning to rotate to a position directly in line with Earth. (Credit: NASA)
via austriantribune

Why the multiverse may be the most dangerous idea in physics

In the past decade an extraordinary claim has captivated cosmologists: that the expanding universe we see around us is not the only one; that billions of other universes are out there, too. (Credit: Slim Films, Ellis)
In the past decade an extraordinary claim has captivated cosmologists: that the expanding universe we see around us is not the only one; that billions of other universes are out there, too. (Credit: Slim Films, Ellis)
via scientificamerican

Experiments reveal a neutron halo around neutron-rich magnesium nuclei

Neutron-rich magnesium nuclei have a neutron halo that extends beyond the tightly packed core of the nucleus. (Credit: Ken-ichiro Yoneda, RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science)
Neutron-rich magnesium nuclei have a neutron halo that extends beyond the tightly packed core of the nucleus. (Credit: K. Yoneda, RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science)
via phys.org

Voyage to Pluto: NASA’s New Horizons mission continuing Voyager’s legacy of exploration

via spaceref

Happy 30th birthday to Discovery, NASA’s greatest space shuttle

On August 30th, 1984, the space shuttle Discovery launched on its first voyage to space. It wasn't the first, but over the next 27 years it became the undeniable king of NASA's shuttle program. (Credit: NASA)
On August 30th, 1984, the space shuttle Discovery launched on its first voyage to space. It wasn’t the first, but over the next 27 years it became the undeniable king of NASA’s shuttle program. (Credit: NASA)
via gizmodo

Physics in the News

Monday, July 14, 2014

Confirmed: Magnetic waves cannot accelerate solar wind(VIDEO)

via thewatchers

British researchers devise material so dark it looks like a black hole

British scientists have created a material which absorbs all but 0.035 per cent of light, a new world record, and is so dark the human eye struggles to discern what it is that it is seeing, giving the appearance of a black hole. (Credit: Surrey Nano Systems)
British scientists have created a material which absorbs all but 0.035 per cent of light, a new world record, and is so dark the human eye struggles to discern what it is that it is seeing, giving the appearance of a black hole. (Credit: Surrey Nano Systems)
via independent

Boron ‘buckyball’ discovered

Researchers have shown that clusters of 40 boron atoms form a molecular cage similar to the carbon buckyball. This is the first experimental evidence that such a boron cage structure exists. (Credit: Wang lab / Brown University)
Researchers have shown that clusters of 40 boron atoms form a molecular cage similar to the carbon buckyball. This is the first experimental evidence that such a boron cage structure exists. (Credit: Wang lab / Brown University)
via .phys.org

How To Measure A Sun-Like Star’s Age

Image Caption: Artist's conception of a hypothetical exoplanet orbiting a yellow, Sun-like star. Astronomers have measured the ages of 22 Sun-like stars using their spins, in a method called gyrochronology. Before now, only two Sun-like stars had measured spins and ages. (Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA))
Artist’s conception of a hypothetical exoplanet orbiting a yellow, Sun-like star. Astronomers have measured the ages of 22 Sun-like stars using their spins, in a method called gyrochronology. Before now, only two Sun-like stars had measured spins and ages. (Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA))
via redorbit

Keeping an eye on passing asteroids

Bathurst Observatory Research Facility manager Ray Pickard said work will begin on the Bathurst Asteroid Research Telescope next week. (Credit: ZENIO LAPKA)
Bathurst Observatory Research Facility manager Ray Pickard said work will begin on the Bathurst Asteroid Research Telescope next week. (Credit: ZENIO LAPKA)
via westernadvocate

D-Wave Systems Secures $30M (CAD) Funding to Accelerate Quantum Computing

What’s going on inside the D-Wave Two is still a matter of debate. (Credit D-Wave Systems)
What’s going on inside the D-Wave Two is still a matter of debate. (Credit D-Wave Systems)
via marketwatch

A light bending exercise… in space!

An air bubble was blown into the water droplet to create this effect. (Credit: Imgur)
On Board the International Space Station, ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers blows an air bubble into a water droplet to create this effect. (Credit: ESA/NASA)
via discover