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Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for week 36:
Variations in fine-structure constant suggest laws of physics not the same everywhere
(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the most controversial questions in cosmology is why the fundamental constants of nature seem fine-tuned for life. One of these fundamental constants is the fine-structure constant, or alpha, which is the coupling constant for the electromagnetic force and equal to about 1/137.0359. If alpha were just 4% bigger or smaller than it is, stars wouldn't be able to make carbon and oxygen, which would have made it impossible for life as we know it to exist. Now, results from a new study show that alpha seems to have varied a tiny bit in different directions of the universe billions of years ago, being slightly smaller in the northern hemisphere and slightly larger in the southern hemisphere. One intriguing possible implication is that the fine-structure constant is continuously varying in space, and seems fine-tuned for life in our neighborhood of the universe.
Evidence of second fast north-south pole flip found
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Earth's magnetic poles flip around every 200,000 years or so, with north becoming south and vice versa. Normally, the process takes 4-5,000 years and it ought to be impossible for the flip to be much faster, if models of the Earth's core are correct, but now for the second time evidence has been found of a flip that appears to have taken only a few years.
Tractor beams come to life
Tractor beams, energy rays that can move objects, are a science fiction mainstay. But now they are becoming a reality -- at least for moving very tiny objects.
Origin of magnetic fields may lie in special relativity's spacetime distortions
(PhysOrg.com) -- Magnetic fields play an important role on scales ranging from the sub-atomic to the cosmic, from particle spins to galaxy clusters. Although scientists know how to create and manipulate magnetic fields, as well as use them for a variety of applications from computers to credit cards, they still don't have a universal theory of how magnetic fields initially originated in astrophysical settings. In a new study, two scientists have proposed a new primary generation mechanism for the magnetic field that is based on the spacetime distortions caused by special relativity.
New super strong alloy discovered
(PhysOrg.com) -- International team of researchers has discovered a new super-strength light alloy and had their key findings published in Nature Communications.
Scientists watch evolution in action
(PhysOrg.com) -- The yellow-bellied three-toed skink (Saiphos equalis) is one of only three reptiles known to have different methods of reproduction in different places. In the coastal areas of New South Wales (NSW), near Sydney, Australia, the skink lays eggs, while in the northern highlands of NSW, it tends to favor giving birth to live young. Scientists say we are witnessing evolution in action, with the skink half-way in its transformation from an egg-layer to a bearer of live young.
Physicists investigate fate of five-dimensional black strings
(PhysOrg.com) -- While black holes in four-dimensional space-time are stable and can persist for a long time, their higher-dimensional analogues are usually unstable. One such theoretical analogue is a five-dimensional black string, which is unstable to perturbations and tends to decay into different forms. But like all unstable "black objects," it's difficult to determine what the end state of the perturbed system might be. Using a new computer code, physicists have been able to simulate the evolution of five-dimensional black strings well beyond earlier studies, leading them to predict that the strings eventually turn into five-dimensional black holes.
The brain speaks: Scientists decode words from brain signals
In an early step toward letting severely paralyzed people speak with their thoughts, University of Utah researchers translated brain signals into words using two grids of 16 microelectrodes implanted beneath the skull but atop the brain.
Researchers show that the big bang was followed by chaos
(PhysOrg.com) -- Seven years ago Northwestern University physicist Adilson E. Motter conjectured that the expansion of the universe at the time of the big bang was highly chaotic. Now he and a colleague have proven it using rigorous mathematical arguments.
Scientists examine possibility of a phonon laser, or 'phaser'
(PhysOrg.com) -- While the optical laser celebrated its 50th anniversary earlier this year, some scientists have been working on a new type of coherent beam amplifier for sound rather than light. Scientists theorize that phonons, which are the smallest discrete unit of vibrational energy, can be amplified by a phonon laser to generate a highly coherent beam of sound (particularly, high-frequency ultrasound), similar to how an optical laser generates a highly coherent beam of light. However, phonon laser research is still a relatively new area. In a new study, scientists have for the first time demonstrated the possibility that phonons can be collectively excited in an ultra-cold atomic gas in a way that is similar to how an optical laser excites photons, prompting the scientists to call the proposed device a "phaser."
Lasers keep mini helicopter hovering for hours
(PhysOrg.com) -- Seattle research and development company LaserMotive has succeeded in keeping a model helicopter hovering for six hours, powered only by the energy of a laser.
Egyptian papyrus found in ancient Irish bog
Irish scientists have found fragments of Egyptian papyrus in the leather cover of an ancient book of psalms that was unearthed from a peat bog, Ireland's National Museum said on Monday.
Cockroach brains could be rich stores of new antibiotics
(PhysOrg.com) -- Cockroaches could be more of a health benefit than a health hazard according to scientists from The University of Nottingham.
Ripples in the cosmic background
(PhysOrg.com) -- The universe was created 13.73 billion years ago in a blaze of light -- the big bang. We also think that, about 380,000 years later, after matter (mostly hydrogen atoms) had cooled enough for neutral atoms to form, light was able to travel through space relatively freely. We see that light today as the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). The light appears extremely uniform in brightness across the sky. Astronomers have discovered, however, that the radiation has very faint ripples and bumps in it, at a level of only about one part in one hundred thousand.
A well-known effect in breakfast cereal helps physicists understand the universe
Have you ever noticed how the last bits of cereal in the bowl always seem to cling to one another, making it easy to spoon up the remaining stragglers? Physicists have -- and they've given it a name: the "Cheerios effect".
Wikipedia, if it were run by academic experts, would look like this
(PhysOrg.com) -- Students, here's an Internet site you can footnote. The entries in the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy are written by leading experts and vetted by others before they appear. From quantum mechanics to "Human/Non-Human Chimeras," these articles, based on serious research, attract 700,000 visits per week.
Supernova shrapnel found in meteorite
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have identified the microscopic shrapnel of a nearby star that exploded just before or during the birth of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago.
Are some governments taking 'peak oil' seriously?
(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the arguments that some bring up in defense of alternative energy is that of "peak oil." The idea behind peak oil is that, as a fossil fuel in limited supply, eventually we will reach a point where oil production hits its maximum capability -- and then begins to decline. Because there aren't endless supplies of oil, and because it is a finite resource, the idea is that we will reach a tipping point at which it becomes impossible to continue increasing oil production. Some even contend that we're already there.
Soldiers' helmets could control brain activity with ultrasound
(PhysOrg.com) -- One of DARPA's latest pursuits of cutting-edge research involves a neurotechnology lab at Arizona State University that specializes in ultrasonic brain stimulation. By implementing the technology in soldiers' helmets, DARPA hopes to provide advantages to US troops by enhancing cognitive abilities; improving long-term alertness; and reducing stress, anxiety, and pain.
Drug holds promise to halt debilitating condition of diabetes
A drug developed at the University of Kansas has the potential to stop a debilitating condition of diabetes that often leads to pain in the extremities and even amputations, KU researchers have found.
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