Dear Reader ,
Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for week 13:
Quantum explanation for how we smell gets new support
(PhysOrg.com) -- Since 1996, when biophysicist Luca Turin first suggested that quantum mechanics may help explain how we smell various odors, the idea has met with controversy. In the past 15 years, some studies have found evidence supporting the theory, while other studies have found problems with it. Now Turin - who is currently at MIT and the Fleming Biomedical Sciences Research Centre in Vari, Greece - along with his colleagues, has published a study that provides further evidence for the vibration theory of smell, and may make the theory a bit less controversial.
14 quantum bits: Physicists go beyond the limits of what is currently possible in quantum computation
(PhysOrg.com) -- Quantum physicists from the University of Innsbruck (Austria) have set another world record: They have achieved controlled entanglement of 14 quantum bits (qubits) and, thus, realized the largest quantum register that has ever been produced. With this experiment the scientists have not only come closer to the realization of a quantum computer but they also show surprising results for the quantum mechanical phenomenon of entanglement.
Group sets plans for largest radio telescope ever
(PhysOrg.com) -- Proving that a lot of little things can go a long way, a group of astronomers have revealed plans to build and install a radio telescope array out of thousands of small inexpensive dishes, spread out over thousands of miles of remote territory.
Virus-eating virus identified in Antarctic lake
(PhysOrg.com) -- Deep within the waters of Antarctica's Organic Lake an Australian research team, led by microbiologist Ricardo Cavicchioli from the University of New South Wales, have discovered a new virophage, or virus eater. Their findings were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences.
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a robot bird (w/ video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- The great thing about robots is that they come in all shapes and sizes. Of course, that is also one of the creepiest things about robots too. You never know what is going to be a robot these days. There are people shaped robots, there are robots that are designed to explore the depths of space. That bird that you see on the building. It could be a robot too.
Vestas Announces New 7 megawatt offshore wind turbine
(PhysOrg.com) -- Vestas Chief Executive Officer Ditlev Engel announced in London their new V164 wind turbine, designed specifically for offshore wind power. Optimized for conditions in the North Sea, Vestas surprised everyone with their announcement of the new seven megawatt turbine, as the announcement was only expected to be of a six megawatt turbine.
Khan Academy aims to reinvent education through video (w/ video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- The problems with basic education, both in the US and other countries, are complex, but one website may have the ability to improve education on a global scale. The Khan Academy, whose mission is to "provide a free world-class education to anyone, anywhere," currently has 2,200 video tutorials on subjects ranging from math to science to history. Not only could the free educational videos help individual students learn better, but the concept could also reform schools by redefining the teacher’s role and laying the foundations for a global classroom.
New fundamental limitation restricts position accuracy of quantum objects
(PhysOrg.com) -- Although the uncertainty principle is probably the most well-known example of a fundamental limitation of measurement precision in quantum mechanics, it is not the only one. In fact, every physical system is characterized by a number of variables that do not change their values as the system evolves over time; such variables are called conserved quantities and they are said to obey a conservation law. The fact that some quantities cannot change their values suggests that there might be restrictions on the possible ways in which a measurement device can interact with a quantum object and extract information from it.
First practical nanogenerator produces electricity with pinch of the fingers
After six years of intensive effort, scientists are reporting development of the first commercially viable nanogenerator, a flexible chip that can use body movements — a finger pinch now en route to a pulse beat in the future — to generate electricity. Speaking here today at the 241st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, they described boosting the device's power output by thousands times and its voltage by 150 times to finally move it out of the lab and toward everyday life.
Search for advanced materials aided by discovery of hidden symmetries in nature
A new way of understanding the structure of proteins, polymers, minerals, and engineered materials will be published in the May 2011 issue of the journal Nature Materials. The discovery by two Penn State University researchers is a new type of symmetry in the structure of materials, which the researchers say greatly expands the possibilities for discovering or designing materials with desired properties. The research is expected to have broad relevance in many development efforts involving physical, chemical, biological, or engineering disciplines including, for example, the search for advanced ferroelectric ferromagnet materials for next-generation ultrasound devices and computers. The paper describing the research will be posted early online by the journal on 3 April 2011, prior to its publication in the journal's May 2011 print edition.
SIM-Drive Corp announces new 'in-wheel' electric car
(PhysOrg.com) -- SIM-Drive Corporation, a Japanese consortium based in Kawasaki-shi and comprised of 34 companies and municipalities, has announced that it has developed a functioning electric car based on in-wheel electric motor technology.
More possible branches to the domain of life
(PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to the current domain of life, we are familiar with the three branches: bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. However, Jonathan Eisen of UC Davis and his team have published possible evidence in PLOS One that shows the possibility of a fourth branch.
Taming the flame: Electrical wave 'blaster' could provide new way to extinguish fires
A curtain of flame halts firefighters trying to rescue a family inside a burning home. One with a special backpack steps to the front, points a wand at the flame, and shoots a beam of electricity that opens a path through the flame for the others to pass and lead the family to safety.
NASA releases picture of Mercury's surface (Update)
NASA on Tuesday released the first picture taken of Mercury's surface by the US space agency's orbiting Messenger craft.
Kepler spacecraft gives astronomers a look inside red giant stars
NASA's Kepler Mission is giving astronomers such a clear view of changes in star brightness that they can now see clues about what's happening inside red giant stars.
Airplane contrails worse than CO2 emissions for global warming: study
(PhysOrg.com) -- In a recent study published in Nature Climate Change, Dr. Ulrike Burkhardt and Dr. Bernd Karcher from the Institute for Atmospheric Physics at the German Aerospace Centre show that the contrails created by airplanes are contributing more to global warming that all the CO2 that has been caused by the entire 108 years of airplane flight.
New laser technology prepares to revolutionize communications
As fiber optic technology continues to advance, it faces challenges from both its physical properties and its use of infrastructure. One emerging high-speed solution being developed at Stevens Institute of Technology uses lasers to transmit data through readily available open space, with the potential of expanding past the limitation of fibers into a system known as optical free space communications. Dr. Rainer Martini has overcome a number of free space challenges to develop a high-speed communications technology that is not limited by a physical conductor. With an optical system that is stable enough, satellites may one day convert to laser technology, resulting in a more mobile military and super-sensitive scanners, as well as faster Internet for the masses.
Dark statistics
The hypothetical dark flow seen in the movement of galaxy clusters requires that we can reliably identify a clear statistical correlation in the motion of distant objects which are, in any case, flowing outwards with the expansion of the universe and may also have their own individual (or peculiar) motion arising from gravitational interactions.
The incredible shrinking circuit
(PhysOrg.com) -- Just when it seemed that microchips couldn't get any tinier, a technique developed by researchers here at the University of Cambridge Engineering Department could lead to chips which are not only smaller, but can support electrical current densities five times greater than the current technology.
Entanglement can help in classical communication
(PhysOrg.com) -- When most of us think of entanglement, our minds jump immediately to quantum communication. "Entanglement has become very well known and useful in quantum communication," Robert Prevedel tells PhysOrg.com. Prevedel, a scientist at the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, believes that entanglement can be used in classical communication as well.
This email is a free service of PhysOrg.com
You received this email because you subscribed to our list.
If you no longer want to receive this email use the link below to unsubscribe.
http://www.physorg.com/profile/nwletter/
You are subscribed as jmabs1@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment