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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for week 25:
Nanoporous graphene could outperform best commercial water desalination techniques
(Phys.org) -- Although oceans and seas contain about 97% of Earth’s water, currently only a fraction of a percent of the world’s potable water supply comes from desalinated salt water. In order to increase our use of salt water, desalination techniques must become more energy-efficient and less expensive to be sustainable. In a new study, two materials scientists from MIT have shown in simulations that nanoporous graphene can filter salt from water at a rate that is 2-3 orders of magnitude faster than today’s best commercial desalination technology, reverse osmosis (RO). The researchers predict that graphene’s superior water permeability could lead to desalination techniques that require less energy and use smaller modules than RO technology, at a cost that will depend on future improvements in graphene fabrication methods.
High gas prices may be explained by self-organized cartel behavior
(Phys.org) -- Rapid increases and unpredictable fluctuations in gas prices annoy many drivers, especially since it may seem that oil companies are secretly conspiring to keep prices high by forming a cartel in an effort to increase their profits. But a new study shows that cartel-like price dynamics of certain commodities, such as gasoline, can emerge spontaneously in a strategic model without any collusion among the sellers. The finding doesn’t necessarily mean that companies don’t intentionally form cartels, but the possibility of self-organized cartel formation could have implications for market regulations.
BaBar experiment data hint at cracks in the Standard Model
(Phys.org) -- Recently analyzed data from the BaBar experiment may suggest possible flaws in the Standard Model of particle physics, the reigning description of how the universe works on subatomic scales. The data from BaBar, a high-energy physics experiment based at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, show that a particular type of particle decay called "B to D-star-tau-nu" happens more often than the Standard Model says it should.
Voyager 1 at the final frontier
For nearly 35 years, NASA’s Voyager 1 probe has been hurtling toward the edge of the solar system, flying through the dark void on a mission unlike anything attempted before. One day, mission controllers hope, Voyager 1 will leave the solar system behind and enter the realm of the stars—interstellar space.
Researchers amplify variations in video, making the invisible visible
At this summer's Siggraph — the premier computer-graphics conference — researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) will present new software that amplifies variations in successive frames of video that are imperceptible to the naked eye. So, for instance, the software makes it possible to actually "see" someone's pulse, as the skin reddens and pales with the flow of blood, and it can exaggerate tiny motions, making visible the vibrations of individual guitar strings or the breathing of a swaddled infant in a neonatal intensive care unit.
Engineers build 50 gigapixel camera
By synchronizing 98 tiny cameras in a single device, electrical engineers from Duke University and the University of Arizona have developed a prototype camera that can create images with unprecedented detail.
CERN to give update on search for Higgs boson
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research said Friday it may announce next month whether tests with its atom-smasher have found the elusive "God particle".
Research finds Stonehenge was monument marking unification of Britain
After 10 years of archaeological investigations, researchers have concluded that Stonehenge was built as a monument to unify the peoples of Britain, after a long period of conflict and regional difference between eastern and western Britain.
Report: US to get seas rising by 2030 (Update)
The West Coast will see an ocean several inches (centimeters higher in coming decades, with most of California expected to get sea levels a half foot higher by 2030, according a report released Friday.
Iron-based high-temp superconductors show unexpected electronic asymmetry
Japanese and U.S. physicists are offering new details this week in the journal Nature regarding intriguing similarities between the quirky electronic properties of a new iron-based high-temperature superconductor (HTS) and its copper-based cousins.
Renewables can fill 80 percent electricity demand in U.S. in 2050
(Phys.org) -- In the United States, renewable energy sources could supply 80 percent of electricity demand in 2050 just by using technologies commercially available today. That is the word from a new report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Renewable Electricity Futures Study (RE Futures). The report offers a detailed focus on the extent to which U.S. electricity needs can be supplied by renewable energy sources, including biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, and wind.
Copper fields: Quantum criticality in high-temperature cuprate superconductors
(Phys.org) -- Superconductivity is a complex phenomenon that is considerably more intricate than many casual observers realize. This caveat applies equally to the subset of this research known as high-temperature superconductivity – which, it should be noted, is described as such only in relation to the near absolute zero temperature range at which conventional superconductors are found, and furthermore is not to be confused with the loftier goal of room-temperature superconductivity. That said, certain aspects of electronic properties in high-temperature copper oxide, or cuprate, superconductors imply that the absence of conventional metallic Fermi liquid behavior – the standard model of electrons in metals – and the presence of unconventional superconductivity are closely related. While such a partnership often occurs proximate to what is known as a quantum critical point (a special class of continuous phase transition that takes place at the absolute z! ero of temperature in a material where the phase transition temperature has been driven to zero by the application of a pressure, field or through doping), the role of quantum criticality in the cuprates has remained elusive. Recently, however, researchers at the Center for Nanophysics and Advanced Materials and Department of Physics, University of Maryland, have studied the anomalous properties of the cuprate material La2-xCexCuO4, or LCCO, concluding that quantum criticality plays a significant role in shaping the anomalous properties of these superconductive materials.
Arctic climate more vulnerable than thought, maybe linked to Antarctic ice-sheet behavior
First analyses of the longest sediment core ever collected on land in the terrestrial Arctic, published this week in Science, provide documentation that intense warm intervals, warmer than scientists thought possible, occurred there over the past 2.8 million years.
Daedalus catches cyber-attacks realtime
(Phys.org) -- Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) has developed a national cyber-attack alert system that can render network attacks as visible in realtime. The system, announced earlier this month and showcased at Interop Tokyo 2012, is called Daedalus, standing for Direct Alert Environment for Darknet and Livenet Unified Security. The system views computers for any suspicious activity and if it spots an attack it can visualize its progression as it moves through the network. It sees how data flows through the network and looks for inconsistencies.
On the origin of music by means of natural selection
Do away with the DJ and scrap the composer. A computer program powered by Darwinian natural selection and the musical tastes of 7,000 website users may be on the way to creating a perfect pop tune, according to new research published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Nearby star cluster, long forgotten, now discovered to be useful in studies of Sun and search for planets like Earth
(Phys.org) -- A loose group of stars that was known for over 180 years but never before studied in detail has been revealed to be an important new tool in the quest to understand the evolution of stars like the Sun, and in the search for planets like Earth. "We have discovered that a previously unappreciated open star cluster, which is a little younger than our Sun, holds great promise for use as a standard gauge in fundamental stellar astrophysics," said Jason T. Wright, an assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University, who conceived and initiated the research.
Team introduces breakthrough in understanding of high-temperature superconductivity
Researchers from the University of Miami (UM) are unveiling a novel theory for high-temperature superconductivity. The team hopes the new finding gives insight into the process, and brings the scientific community closer to achieving superconductivity at higher temperatures than currently possible. This is a breakthrough that could transform our world.
Scientists discover how key enzyme involved in aging, cancer assembles
(Phys.org) -- UCLA biochemists have mapped the structure of a key protein–RNA complex that is required for the assembly of telomerase, an enzyme important in both cancer and aging.
Planetrise: Astronomers spy two planets in tight quarters as they orbit a distant star
A research team led by astronomers at the University of Washington and Harvard University has discovered a bigger version of Earth locked in an orbital tug-of-war with a much larger, Neptune-sized planet as they orbit very close to each other around the same star about 1,200 light years from Earth.
Researchers find evidence of 'quantum critical point' in high temperature superconductivity material
(Phys.org) -- In the seemingly never ending search for a superconductor that can operate at or near room temperature, researchers have discovered a lot of things about superconductors in general. One of these is that there appears to be two classes of them - those materials that only take on their superconductive properties when exposed to an environment just a few degrees above absolute zero, and those that do the same at somewhat higher temperatures. Those in the latter group are said to have high critical-temperature superconductivity (Tc). Unfortunately, researchers have made little progress in understanding how such materials are able to do what they do. Now, new research by a team of Japanese, British and American researchers has found that at least one of these Tc materials likely has a quantum critical point (QCP), which if true, would go a long way towards explaining why some materials are able to become superconductors at higher temperatures than others. They have published a paper detailing their findings in the journal Science.
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