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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for week 28:
5D optical memory in glass could record the last evidence of civilization
Using nanostructured glass, scientists at the University of Southampton have, for the first time, experimentally demonstrated the recording and retrieval processes of five dimensional digital data by femtosecond laser writing. The storage allows unprecedented parameters including 360 TB/disc data capacity, thermal stability up to 1000�C and practically unlimited lifetime.
Russians to deploy floating nuclear power plant
(Phys.org) �The general director of one of Russia's largest shipbuilders, Aleksandr Voznesensky, has announced to reporters that a floating nuclear power plant is currently under construction at one of Russia's ship yards. He added that it will likely be ready for use by 2016. The Russians are calling it a "floating power" station, abbreviated to PEB. The vessel has been given the name Akademik Lomonosov.
Neanderthals shared speech and language with modern humans, study suggests
Fast-accumulating data seem to indicate that our close cousins, the Neanderthals, were much more similar to us than imagined even a decade ago. But did they have anything like modern speech and language? And if so, what are the implications for understanding present-day linguistic diversity? The MPI for Psycholinguistics researchers Dan Dediu and Stephen C. Levinson argue in their paper in Frontiers in Language Sciences that modern language and speech can be traced back to the last common ancestor we shared with the Neandertals roughly half a million years ago.
Interplanetary precision laser could reach to Mars and beyond
(Phys.org) �Currently, precision laser ranging is limited to the Earth-Moon distance. These systems are based on passive laser ranging, so that the signal deteriorates as 1/R4 over distance R. In a new study, physicists have designed a system that has a range thousands of times this distance due to the fact that it is based on active laser ranging, where the signal deteriorates as only 1/R2. The new system also has the potential to achieve sub-millimeter accuracy, yielding an overall performance improvement that is more than three orders of magnitude better than today's state-of-the-art space ranging systems.
An unlikely competitor for diamond as the best thermal conductor
An unlikely material, cubic boron arsenide, could deliver an extraordinarily high thermal conductivity � on par with the industry standard set by costly diamond � researchers report in the current issue of the journal Physical Review Letters.
New phenomenon could lead to novel types of lasers and sensors
There are several ways to "trap" a beam of light�usually with mirrors, other reflective surfaces, or high-tech materials such as photonic crystals. But now researchers at MIT have discovered a new method to trap light that could find a wide variety of applications.
Human-powered helicopter wins Sikorsky prize
A Canadian-built helicopter that is powered by a human riding a bicycle has become the first winner of a decades-old $250,000 engineering prize, the US awarder said Friday.
New theory uncovers cancer's deep evolutionary roots
A new way to look at cancer�by tracing its deep evolutionary roots to the dawn of multicellularity more than a billion years ago�has been proposed by Paul Davies of Arizona State University's Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science in collaboration with Charles Lineweaver of the Australian National University. If their theory is correct, it promises to transform the approach to cancer therapy, and to link the origin of cancer to the origin of life and the developmental processes of embryos.
Straight up: SpaceX's Grasshopper rocket gains height and precision (w/ Video)
(Phys.org) �California-based spacecraft company SpaceX has released a video of the June 14 test of its Grasshopper rocket. The company said it soared over 1,000 feet during its latest trial run in June and it made a remarkably precise landing. In detail, the rocket flew 325 m, or 1066 feet, after liftoff in McGregor Texas, a rocket development facility. This breaks its previous record height of 840 feet.
Researchers perform first direct measurement of Van der Waals force
(Phys.org) �Researchers working at the French National Center for Scientific Research have for the first time, directly measured the Van der Waals force between two atoms. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the team describes how they used lasers to hold two atoms steady and a third laser to measure the Van der Waals force between them.
Link between quantum physics and game theory found
(Phys.org) �A deep link between two seemingly unconnected areas of modern science has been discovered by researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Geneva.
Astronomers witness birth of Milky Way's most massive star
(Phys.org) �Scientists have observed in unprecedented detail the birth of a massive star within a dark cloud core about 10,000 light years from Earth.
True colour of exoplanet measured for the first time
(Phys.org) �Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have, for the first time, determined the true colour of a planet orbiting another star. If seen up close this planet, known as HD 189733b, would be a deep azure blue, reminiscent of Earth's colour as seen from space.
Glimpse into the future of acidic oceans shows ecosystems transformed
Ocean acidification may create an impact similar to extinction on marine ecosystems, according to a study released today by the University of California, Davis.
Physicists build quantum refrigerator based on four quantum dots
(Phys.org) �With the goal of understanding the relation between thermodynamics and quantum mechanics, physicists have recently been investigating the fundamental limits of the smallest possible quantum refrigerator. As a refrigerator, the device must be able to transfer heat from one reservoir to another. In a new study, physicists have proposed a quantum refrigerator consisting of just four quantum dots, each in contact with a thermal reservoir. They theoretically show that this system can extract heat from the coldest reservoir and cool the nearby quantum dot, making it one of the smallest quantum refrigerators proposed to date.
Stronger, more frequent tropical cyclones ahead, research says
The world typically sees about 90 tropical cyclones a year, but that number could increase dramatically in the next century due to global warming, a US scientist said Monday.
Research pair find 5.9 year cycle of oscillations in length of day
(Phys.org) �A pair of researchers, Richard Holme of the University of Liverpool in the U.K. and Olivier de Viron of the University of Paris, in France has found that the length of Earth's days follows a cyclic oscillation pattern every 5.9 years. As the two describe in their paper published in the journal Nature, the variations in day length were discovered as part of a study examining day-length over the past 50 years.
US drone lands on carrier deck in historic flight
A bat-winged drone touched down smoothly on the deck of a US aircraft carrier, marking a historic milestone for robotic flight.
Two papers investigate the thermodynamics of quantum systems
(Phys.org) �As one of the pillars of the natural sciences, thermodynamics plays an important role in all processes that involve heat, energy, and work. While the principles of thermodynamics can predict the amount of work done in classical systems, for quantum systems there is instead a distribution of many possible values of work. Two new papers published in Physical Review Letters have proposed theoretical schemes that would significantly ease the measurement of the statistics of work done by quantum systems.
People with depression tend to pursue generalised goals
(Medical Xpress)�Researchers from the University of Liverpool have found that people with depression have more generalised personal goals than non-depressed people.
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