Astronomy and Physics News
The Standard Model, which has given the most complete explana- tion up to now of the universe, has gaps, and is unable to explain phenomena like dark matter or gravitational interaction between particles. Physicists are therefore seeking a more fundamental theo- ry that they call "New Physics", but up to now there has been no direct proof of its existence, only indirect observation of dark mat- ter, as deduced, among other things, from the movement of the galaxies.
A team of physicists formed by the professor of Physics at Uni- versitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) Joaquim Matias, Javier Virto, postdoctoral researcher at the same university, and Sebastien
Descotes Genon, from the Centre National de la Recher- che Scientifique (CNRS) / Université Paris-Sud, has pre- dicted that New Physics would implie the existence of devia- tions in the probability of a very specific decay of a parti- cle, the B meson. Detecting these small deviations through an experiment would be the first direct proof of the exist- ence of this fundamental theo- ry.
On 19 July of this year, at the EPS 2013 international confer- ence on particle physics in Stockholm, scientists at the LHCb detector, one of the large experiments being con- ducted by the CERN's LHC accelerator, ..Read more..
First experimental signs of a New Physics beyond the Standard Model
Nearly a century after the world's greatest physicist, Albert Einstein, first predicted the existence of gravitational waves, a global net- work of gravitational wave ob- servatories has moved a step clos- er to detecting the faint radiation that could lead to important new discoveries in our universe.
David Blair is a Winthrop Profes- sor of Physics at The University of Western Australia and Director of the Australian International Gravi- tational Research Centre at Gingin
- 87km north of Perth. He leads the WA component of a huge interna- tional team that has announced a demonstration of a new measure- ment technique called 'quantum squeezing' that allows gravitational wave detectors to increase their sensitivity.
"This is the first time the quantum measurement barrier has been bro- ken in a full scale gravitational wave detector," Professor Blair said. "This is like breaking the sound barrier:
some people said it would be impos-
sible. Breaking that barrier proved that supersonic flight was possible and today we know that it is not a barrier at all.
"This demonstration opens up new possibilities for more and more sen- sitive gravitational wave detectors."
Gravity waves are ripples in space generated by extreme cosmic events such as colliding stars, black holes, and supernova explosions, which carry vast amounts of energy at the speed of light. Read more…..
Closing in on Einstein's window to the universe
Department of Physics—United Arab Emirates University
Aug 03, 2013 Volume 3, Issue 31
First experimental signs of a New Physics beyond the Standard 1 Closing in on Einstein's window to
the universe 1
'Soft' approach leads to revolution-
ary energy storage 2
How does hydrogen metallize? 2
Calibrators from deep space tune high-tech earthbound physics exper- 2 Ultrathin saw for cutting silicon is made of carbon nanotubes 3 Micro-optical method thwarts
counterfeiting 3
Water Likely Flowed In This Parched Martian Region 3
Blue Milky Way 4
Tiny, brightly shining silicon crystals could be safe for deep-tissue 4 Inside this issue:
Weekly news from around the world compiled by Dr. Ilias Fernini
This is Joaquim Matias (left) and Javier Virto at the Universi- tat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Credit: UAB
Monash University researchers have brought next generation energy storage closer with an engineering first - a gra- phene-based device that is compact, yet lasts as long as a conventional battery.
Published today in Science, a research team led by Professor Dan Li of the Department of Materials Engineering has developed a completely new strategy to engineer graphene-based supercapaci- tors (SC), making them viable for wide- spread use in renewable energy storage, portable electronics and electric vehicles.
SCs are generally made of highly porous carbon impregnated with a liquid elec- trolyte to transport the electrical charge.
Known for their almost indefinite lifespan and the ability to re-charge in seconds, the drawback of existing SCs is their low ener- gy-storage-to-volume ratio - known as energy density. Low energy density of five to eight Watt-hours per litre, means SCs are unfeasibly large or must be re-charged frequently.
Professor Li's team has created an SC with energy density of 60 Watt-hours per litre - comparable to lead-acid batteries and around 12 times higher than commercially available SCs."It has long been a challenge to make SCs smaller, lighter and compact to meet the increasingly demanding needs
actually composed of tiny "packets," or quanta, of light called photons. Most structures built of wood or metal block the light's rays, but photons can stream through transparent materials and pene- trate our skin to tan or burn us.
Also speeding through nearly every- thing are trillions of mysterious particles commonly known as "cosmic rays."
These supercharged subatomic particles originate from deep space—probably from supernovae explosions and possi- bly outside the Milky Way galaxy. Some Hold out your hand: Look closely. If
you're outside on a sunny day, you might see dust motes and pollen dance in the air, perhaps landing on your skin, and bright rays of sunlight peek between your fingers. To the naked eye, your skin provides a barri- er between your body and these exte- rior elements. The light refracts around your palm, not through it.
But microscopically, the air is filled with particles that have the ability to traverse solid matter. Sunlight is
travel at nearly the speed of light and can easily pass through almost everything you see: your hand, the building behind you, the Earth's crust—and even the massive detectors of giant phys- ics experiments like the Relativ- istic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Read more...
'Soft' approach leads to revolutionary energy storage
P a g e 2 A s t ro n o m y an d P h y s ics N ew s V o lu m e 3 , I s s u e 3 1
containment of hydrogen at high pressures and the competition be- tween its many similar structures both play a part in the relative lack of knowledge.
At high pressures, hydrogen is pre- dicted to transform to a metal, which means it conducts electricity. One of the prime goals of high pressure re- search, going back to the 1930s, has been to achieve a metallic state in hydrogen. There have been recent claims of hydrogen becoming metallic at room temperature, but they are
of many commercial uses," Professor Li said.
Graphene, which is formed when graphite is broken down into layers one atom thick, is very strong, chemically stable and an excel- lent conductor of electricity.
To make their uniquely compact electrode, Professor Li's team exploited an adaptive graphene gel film they had developed previ- ously. They used liquid electrolytes - general- ly the conductor in traditional SCs - to con- trol the spacing between graphene sheets on the sub-nanometre scale. In this way the liquid electrolyte played …. Read more….
Calibrators from deep space tune high-tech earthbound physics experiments
How does hydrogen metallize?
Hydrogen is deceptively simple.
It has only a single electron per atom, but it powers the sun and forms the majority of the ob- served universe. As such, it is naturally exposed to the entire range of pressures and tempera- tures available in the whole cos- mos. But researchers are still struggling to understand even basic aspects of its various forms under high-pressure conditions.
Experimental difficulties con- tribute to the lack of knowledge about hydrogen's forms. The
controversial.
New work from a team at Carnegie's Geophysical Laboratory makes signifi- cant additions to our understanding of this vital element's high-pressure be- havior. Their work is published in two papers by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Physical Review B.
New theoretical calculations from Carnegie's Ronald Cohen, Ivan Naumov and Russell Hemley indicate that under high pressure, hydrogen takes on a series of ...Read more...
Ultrathin saw for cutting silicon is made of carbon nanotubes
You can’t saw without producing sawdust—and that can be expen- sive if, for example, the “dust”
comes from wafer manufacturing in the photovoltaic and semicon- ductor industries, where relatively high kerf loss has been accepted as an unavoidable, if highly regretta- ble, fact of life. But now scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg together with colleagues from the Australian Common- wealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation CSIRO have developed a saw wire that is set to effect dramatic reductions in kerf loss: in place of diamond- impregnated steel wires, the re-
searchers use ultrathin and ex- tremely stable threads made of carbon nanotubes coated with diamond.
The potential of coated carbon nanotubes has long been under- stood: possible applications in- clude its use as a hard and tough composite material or as a compo- nent of highly sensitive sensors and thermoelectric generators.
However, the new material is ex- tremely difficult to synthesize.
Diamonds only grow under ex- treme conditions—at temperatures of around 900 C in an atmosphere containing hydrocarbons. Grow- ing diamonds on nanotubes is a
tricky proposition, because carbon tends to
form graph- ite. In order to catalyse the for- mation of the diamond phase, it’s necessary to use reactive hydrogen to prohibit the
deposition of graphite. How- ever, this process also damag- es the carbon nanotubes.
Read more…..
contribution. By combining two complex techniques, they have developed a new authentication system able to create images virtually impossible to repro- duce. Their invention has been published today in Light, a new magazine associated with the Nature Publishing Group and dedicated to research in the field of optics.
Two EPFL research teams, led by professors Roger D. Hersch The fight against forgeries is far
from over. Even though there has been a wide diversification of protective measures against coun- terfeits, technological advances in scanning and printing methods simplify the manufacture of sever- al kinds of forgeries such as: bank- notes, passports, electronic items, watches, drugs, etc. In this race for the protection of property, Re- searchers at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, are also making their
ancient crater-strewn fields,” ESA stated.
The unnamed region, which is just a few degrees south of the Martian equator, partially caught scientists’
attention because of that crater you see in the top left of the im- age.
“Numerous landslides have oc- curred within this crater, perhaps facilitated by the presence of water weakening the crater walls,” ESA stated. “Grooves etched into the crater’s inner walls mark the paths of tumbling rocks, while larger piles of material have slumped en Don’t let the dry appearance of
the Martian desert region near Tagus Valles fool you. Some pic- tures snapped by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express shows there was plenty of water in that area of the Red Planet in the past. The pictures show yet anoth- er example of how water once shaped the planet, as scientists try to figure out when and how it disappeared.
“This region is one of many that exposes evidence of the Red Planet’s active past, and shows that the marks of water are en- graved in even the most unlikely
masse to litter the crater floor.”
Scientists saw evidence of me- sas (flat-topped blocks) and yardangs, which were both features that were built from sediments that a regional flood once deposited there. The lighter bits have eroded away, but you can still see the lefto- vers.
There also is evidence of vol- canic activity, as there was ash scattered around the area.
Read more…..
P a g e 3 A s t ro n o m y an d P h y s ics N ew s V o lu m e 3 , I s s u e 3 1
Micro-optical method thwarts counterfeiting
and Jürgen Brügger, have been able to combine their respective special- ties: the moiré pattern technique together with microlithography, a circuit manufacturing technique by engraving at a micrometer scale.
They were able to obtain a dynamic and small image that offers an interesting alternative to holo- grams, which at present are rela- tively easy to reproduce or modify.
Read more….
Water Likely Flowed In This Parched Martian Region
New ultra-thin saw wire for cutting silicon wafers:
diamond on top of carbon nanotubes. Image:
Fraunhofer IWM
The region near Tagus Valles on Mars. Credit:
ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
College of Science - United Arab Emirates University POB 17551
Al-Ain
United Arab Emirates
http://fos.uaeu.ac.ae/department/physics
University at Buffalo research assistant professor who has since accepted a new position as an assistant professor of bio- medical engineering at San Jose State University. "Silicon nanocrystals can be the solution to that because they don't contain materials like cadmium that are found in other quantum dots, and are generally considered to be nontoxic."
The study was a collaboration between UB, Chinese PLA General Hospital in China, San Jose State University, Nan- yang Technological University in Singa- pore and Korea University in South Ko- rea. It's part of a larger body of research that many of the team members have been conducting to investigate the effect of various nanoparticles in animal mod- els.
The researchers tested the silicon quan- tum dots in rhesus macaques and mice, injecting each animal with 200 milligrams Tiny silicon crystals caused no health
problems in monkeys three months after large doses were injected, marking a step forward in the quest to bring such materials into clinics as biomedical imaging agents, according to a new study.
The findings, published online July 10 in the journal ACS Nano, suggest that the silicon nanocrystals, known as quantum dots, may be a safe tool for diagnostic imaging in humans. The nanocrystals absorb and emit light in the near-infrared part of the spectrum, a quality that makes them ideal for see- ing deeper into tissue than traditional fluorescence-based techniques.
"Quantum dots, or nanocrystals, are very, very promising for biomedical imaging applications, but everyone's worried about the toxicity and what will happen to them if they degrade," said co-lead author Folarin Erogbogbo, a
of the particles per kilogram of the animal's weight. Read more……..
Tiny, brightly shining silicon crystals could be safe for deep-tissue imaging
Phone: 00-971-3-7136336 E-mail: [email protected]
Physics Department
Fishing Boats Meet the Milky Way on the Isle of Wight (south of England) on May 16, 2013. Credit and copyright: Chad Powell/Chad Powell Design and
Photography.
We’ve shared featured many images of the Milky Way in our featured photos from astrophotographers, but this might be one of the most vibrant I’ve seen!
The blue of the sky and sea is incredible and almost pulsates with its stunning azure color. Photographer Chad Powell explained on Flickr: “Where I live on the Isle of Wight (south of England) is known to have minimal light pollution but I only ever shot the Milky Way from my back garden. I decided to finally trek it down to my local beach. The Milky Way was so bright in the sky, it was breathtaking! The lights on the left are from fishing boats tens of miles out to
sea.” It is simply beautiful, especially if you are a blue-o-file like I am!
Bright light emission from silicon quantum dots in a cuvette. The image is from a camera that captures the near-infrared light that the quan- tum dots emit. The light emission shown is a psuedo color, as near-infrared light does not fall in the visible spectrum. Credit: Folarin Erog- bogbo
