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July 25, 2013. NASA's IRIS Telescope, designed to provide detailed studies of the sun's chromosphere, has initially provided scientists with unprecedented detail of the lowest parts of the sun's atmosphere, known as the interface region. It's first images have been released. NASA IRIS site, Nature News.
April 12, 2013. This week Nature News covers the investigation of silenced Canadian scientists, the addition of female EU scientists, a new editor for the well known scientific journal Science, and other science news. Nature News.
April 10, 2013. Data shows that Saturn's ionosphere is flooded by rainwater transferred from Saturn's rings. Nature (Letter)
April 10, 2013. "Germany hopes to generate at least 35% of its electricity from green sources by 2020; by 2050, the share is expected to surpass 80%." Nature News feature
April 3, 2013. Space Station experiment shows that "something in the Galaxy is spewing out many more positrons — the antimatter counterparts of electrons — than can be accounted for from known astrophysical sources". Nature News
March 2, 2013. For the first time since the Apollo program, astronauts will fly beyond Earth orbit sometime next year. See NASA News.
October 4, 2012. Technology continues to satisfy the needs of new businesses and may be affecting the current U.S. rate of employment. Additionally, since 1977 new businesses have been responsible for most of the employment in the U.S.A., but the rate of new start-up companies appears to be slowing. New York Times.
October 2, 2012. A planned winter crossing of Antarctica can can generate useful research data as an analogue for exploring aspects of the Mars environment. New York Times.
July 12, 2012. Discovery of Pluto's fifth moon. Astronomers announce the discovery of S/2012 P 1 -- the fifth moon of Pluto. It was identified with the Hubble Telescope. "The newfound moon and its kin may be remnants of an ancient smashup." -- Nature News
July 4, 2012. Two experiments at the Large Hadron Collider point to a new but highly anticipated boson and it behaves like the sought after Standard Model Higgs boson. Such a quick final outcome was unexpected because CERN has been in operation for only two years and operating at only half-power. According to CERN a "one sigma means the results could be random fluctuations in the data, 3 sigma counts as an observation and a 5-sigma result is a discovery." Also, a 5 sigma measurement means a 99.9999 certainty.
Hence, at CERN in Geneva the latest preliminary results were presented for the ATLAS and CMS experiments. Spokesperson Fabiola Gianotti said, "The results are preliminary but the 5 sigma signal at around 125 GeV we’re seeing is dramatic. This is indeed a new particle. We know it must be a boson and it’s the heaviest boson ever found. The implications are very significant and it is precisely for this reason that we must be extremely diligent in all of our studies and cross-checks." According to CERN positive identification of the new particle’s characteristics will take considerable time and data. CERN website, CERN press release, and New York Times article
July 9, 2012. Some implications of at last finding the Higgs Boson. Science section. The New York Times.
June 29, 2012. The European Union funds the Extreme Light Infrastructure in Eastern Europe, and "will be a hub for fundamental and applied research — laser and particle accelerator engineering, biology and medicine, X-ray and gamma-ray imaging — as well as a promoter of technology transfer." Nature Physics
June 29, 2012. Japan's operational nuclear reactors are set to go online despite large scale protests and warnings from scientists. Nature News
September 2011. An overview of Quantum chromodynamics (QCD)'\. MIT Physics Annual. 2001.
July 8, 2011. Calculations show that quarks existed independently during a fraction of second after the big bang (at 2 trillion Kelvin). Physics World. Derived from AAAS Science v. 332. p. 1525. and free PDF version.
May 26, 2011. Obstacles hinder the development and commercialization of novel carbon materials such as carbon nanotubes and graphene. Reported in Naturehere and Nature Newshere
May 25, 2011. To date the most accurate measurement of the shape of the electron reveals that it is almost a perfect sphere. This appears to be applicable to the study of anitmatter. Sciencedaily. Science News section.
May 19, 2011. The mechanics of the recent, magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan are covered by three research papers in the prestigious journal Science, along with the journal's News Focus section. These are avialble to the public free of charge at: AAAS Science magazine. The Tohoku-Oki Earthquake.
May 16, 2011. Intel to mass-produce unconventional 3D transistors. Nature News.
May 12, 2011. Utilizing unusual type of grain boundary in graphene. "American Physical Society ---Synopses"
March 21, 2011. China's science funding and science management system may be modified. --- Nature News.
March 15, 2011. NSF and other federal agencies to start cutting physics programmes, which results in laying off staff, and shutting research facilities. --- Nature News.
Recommendations for planning the procurment of energy critical elements for the U.S. --- American Physical Society.
Inverse Doppler effect observed at optical frequencies (for the first time). --- Physics world. March 10, 2011.
March 8, 2011 Simon van der Meer, a nobel laureate, passes at age 85. Physics World.
March 8, 2011 US scientists in budget limbo. "Researchers face anxious wait as negotiations continue in Congress over 2011 budget." Nature News.
Feb 11, 2011. Logical processing and programming are combined in a single structure, which may surpass the need to develop separate circuits. --- physics world.com. --- See also Spintronics.
February 3, 2011. Updates on practical spacecraft powered by solar sails. Nature News.
The research of physicist Nergis Mavalvala links quantum mechanics with gravitational waves. John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. October 3, 2010
June 23, 2010 - Simulations reveal hydrogen's transition from one state of matter to another at nearly 3100 degrees Fahrenheit and pressure that is more than 1 million earth atmospheres (think Jupiter). EurekaAlert
June 23, 2010 - Detecting the movements of single molecules without modifying them. EurekaAlert
June 13, 2010 -A JAXA probe, the Hayabusa, (artist's impression pictured) returns to Earth, completing a seven-year mission to sample the asteroid 25143 Itokawa.
June 1, 2010 - New pin sized biomedical sensor pioneered at NASA's GRC, originally for use in space, could measure blood pressure and heart rate resulting in direct societal impact by assisting a lot of people. NASA news
May 31, 2010 - Using sound to create light, with small losses and very high precision. (PTB)
May 21, 2010 - Update from JAXA - Venus probe. Solar array paddles deployed and sun acquisition confirmed, at 250,000 km above the Earth. JAXA Venus probe site
May 20, 2010 - Large amounts of wind and solar can be incorporated onto the power grid without extensive additional infrastructure. - National Renewable Energy Laboratory
May 7, 2010 - Japan's JAXA to launch probe ( Akatsuki mission) to solve the problem of planet Venus winds clocked at 60 times the planet's rotation, which is fast compared to earth winds at just 10% to 20% of the rotation speed.--Physics Today
April 23, 2010 - Three successful spacewalks occurred outside the International Space Station for a duration of more than six hours each in order to replace a depleted ammonia tank with a new one, along with other exterior work. STS-131
April 9, 2010 - For engineers who design flight control strategies, a breakthrough in understanding fruit fly's aerobatic abilities has applications for tiny robotic insects that could be used for both search-and-rescue and surveillance. Physical Review Focus
December 11, 2007 NASA'svoyager 2 probe's recent measurements prove that the solar system is asymmetrical. Several scientists suggest that this is caused by galactic magnetic fields. (CNN)
November 24, 2007 Speculation about space based solar power plants continues, and with oil prices rising, their use may become economical too. (New Scientist)
May 1, 2008 - A team of nanoscientists have grown twisted nanowires that look like pine trees by twisting the original wire from which the trees were grown. (Science, )
April 13, 2008 - John Wheeler died aged 96. "For me, he was the last Titan, the only physics superhero still standing." (Max Tegmark, New York Times)
December 11, 2007 - NASA'svoyager 2 probe's recent measurements prove that the solar system is asymmetrical. Several scientists suggest that this is caused by galactic magnetic fields. (CNN)
November 24, 2007 - Speculation about space based solar power plants continues, and with oil prices rising, they might be economical too. (New Scientist)
November 22, 2007 Johannes Kofler and Časlav Brukner of the University of Vienna and the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information have shown that the effects of Quantum superpositions of large objects such as Schrödinger's cat can be detected. (Nature News)