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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for week 29:
Earliest spiral galaxy ever seen: a shocking discovery
(Phys.org) -- Astronomers have witnessed for the first time a spiral galaxy in the early universe, billions of years before many other spiral galaxies formed. In findings reported July 19 in the journal Nature, the astronomers said they discovered it while using the Hubble Space Telescope to take pictures of about 300 very distant galaxies in the early universe and to study their properties. This distant spiral galaxy is being observed as it existed roughly three billion years after the Big Bang, and light from this part of the universe has been traveling to Earth for about 10.7 billion years.
Five potential habitable exoplanets now
(Phys.org) -- New data suggest the confirmation of the exoplanet Gliese 581g and the best candidate so far of a potential habitable exoplanet. The nearby star Gliese 581 is well known for having four planets with the outermost planet, Gliese 581d, already suspected habitable. This will be the first time evidence for any two potential habitable exoplanets orbiting the same star. Gliese 581g will be included, together with Gliese 667Cc, Kepler-22b, HD85512, and Gliese 581d, in the Habitable Exoplanets Catalog of the PHL @ UPR Arecibo as the best five objects of interest for Earth-like exoplanets.
Researchers devise a way to a create graphene transistor
(Phys.org) -- Researchers in Germany appear to have found a way to create a monolithic (integrated) graphene transistor, using a lithographic process applied to silicon carbide, a breakthrough that could lead to computers based on graphene chips, rather than those that use silicon. This is significant because researchers are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel regarding the degree to which silicon can be used to make smaller and smaller chips. Using graphene wouldn’t necessarily allow for smaller chips, but because it conducts electricity faster, it would allow for faster chips without having to downsize. The German researchers working with another group from Sweden, describe the new process in their paper published in the journal Nature Communications.
Innovation promises to cut massive power use at big data companies in a flash
Big data needs big power. The server farms that undergird the Internet run on a vast tide of electricity. Even companies that have invested in upgrades to minimize their eco-footprint use tremendous amounts: The New York Times estimates that Google, for example, uses enough electricity in its data centers to power about 200,000 homes.
Scientists analyze potential of using lasers to make rain
(Phys.org) -- Although pointing high-energy lasers at the sky to cause pouring rain is currently a high-tech dream, the motivation behind controlling the weather has existed since the days of our ancient ancestors. Throughout human history, many civilizations developed magical or religious methods in an attempt to increase or decrease precipitation. In light of this history, current techniques that shoot laser beams or launch chemicals into the sky for the same purpose seem to be just the latest manifestation of this goal.
'Deflector Shields' protect the Lunar Surface
(Phys.org) -- Scientists from RAL Space at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory have solved a lunar mystery and their results might lead the way to determining if the same mechanism could be artificially manipulated to create safe havens for future space explorers. Their work focussed on the origin of the enigmatic "lunar swirls" - swirling patches of relatively pale lunar soil, some measuring several tens of km across, which have been an unresolved mystery - until now.
Researchers produce first complete computer model of an organism
(Phys.org) -- In a breakthrough effort for computational biology, the world's first complete computer model of an organism has been completed, Stanford researchers reported in the journal Cell.
A wrinkle in space-time: Math shows how shockwaves could crinkle space
Mathematicians at UC Davis have come up with a new way to crinkle up the fabric of space-time -- at least in theory.
Study finds heat is source of 'Pioneer anomaly'
(Phys.org) -- The unexpected slowing of NASA’s Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft – the so-called “Pioneer Anomaly” – turns out to be due to the slight, but detectable effect of heat pushing back on the spacecraft, according to a recent paper. The heat emanates from electrical current flowing through instruments and the thermoelectric power supply. The results were published on June 12 in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Physicists review progress in understanding the 'primordial soup'
(Phys.org) -- A review article appearing in the July 20, 2012, issue of the journal Science describes groundbreaking discoveries that have emerged from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, synergies with the heavy-ion program at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe, and the compelling questions that will drive this research forward on both sides of the Atlantic. With details that help enlighten our understanding of the hot nuclear matter that permeated the early universe, the article is a prelude to the latest findings scientists from both facilities will present at the next gathering of physicists dedicated to this research — Quark Matter 2012, August 12-18 in Washington, D.C.
Heliophysics nugget: Riding the plasma wave
Throughout the universe more than 99 percent of matter looks nothing like what's on Earth. Instead of materials we can touch and see, instead of motions we intuitively expect like a ball rolling down a hill, or a cup that sits still on a table, most of the universe is governed by rules that react more obviously to such things as magnetic force or electrical charge. It would be as if your cup was magnetized, perhaps attracted to a metal ceiling above, and instead of resting, it floats up, hovering somewhere in the air, balanced between the upward force and the pull of gravity below.
Unexpectedly slow motions below the Sun's surface
(Phys.org) -- The interior motions of the Sun are much slower than predicted. Rather than moving at the speed of a jet plane (as previously understood) the plasma flows at a walking pace. The result of this new study, whose lead author is from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, will be published in an upcoming issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The scientists use observations of solar oscillations from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to see into the Sun's interior. As Laurent Gizon and Aaron C. Birch from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research comment in the same issue of PNAS, these new observations demonstrate the unique capabilities of helioseismology with SDO to probe the mysteries of the deep solar interior.
Concerning CERN: Cliff Burgess on the discovery of the Higgs boson
(Phys.org) -- If you’re a little confused by the news that scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN, may have found the Higgs boson, you’re probably not alone. Theoretical particle physics isn’t the easiest topic to understand.
Scientists create highly transparent solar cells for windows that generate electricity
(Phys.org) -- UCLA researchers have developed a new transparent solar cell that is an advance toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside. Their study appears in the journal ACS Nano.
Quantum entanglement with notification
(Phys.org) -- German scientists have demonstrated a method of heralding entanglement between distant stationary quantum systems without destroying this particular state. The experimental set-up paves the way towards quantum communication over large distances.
Why is Earth so dry?
(Phys.org) -- With large swaths of oceans, rivers that snake for hundreds of miles, and behemoth glaciers near the north and south poles, Earth doesn't seem to have a water shortage. And yet, less than one percent of our planet's mass is locked up in water, and even that may have been delivered by comets and asteroids after Earth's initial formation.
XENON100 sets record limits for dark matter
Scientists from the XENON collaboration announced a new result from their search for dark matter. The analysis of data taken with the XENON100 detector during 13 months of operation at the Gran Sasso Laboratory (Italy) provided no evidence for the existence of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), the leading dark matter candidates. Two events being observed are statistically consistent with one expected event from background radiation. Compared to their previous 2011 result the world-leading sensitivity has again been improved by a factor of 3.5. This constrains models of new physics with WIMP candidates even further and it helps to target future WIMP searches. A paper with the results is going to be submitted to Physical Review Letters and on the arXiv.
600-year-old linen bras found in Austrian castle
(AP) — A revolutionary discovery is rewriting the history of underwear: Some 600 years ago, women wore bras.
Chemists discover cannabis 'pharma factory'
University of Saskatchewan researchers have discovered the chemical pathway that Cannabis sativa uses to create bioactive compounds called cannabinoids, paving the way for the development of marijuana varieties to produce pharmaceuticals or cannabinoid-free industrial hemp. The research appears online in the July 16 early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Physicists almost double light efficiency in LC projectors
Researchers from North Carolina State University and ImagineOptix Corporation have developed new technology to convert unpolarized light into polarized light, which makes projectors that use liquid crystal (LC) technology almost twice as energy efficient. The new technology has resulted in smaller, lower cost and more efficient projectors, meaning longer battery life and significantly lower levels of heat.
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