Dear Reader ,
Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for week 14:
Rocket powered by nuclear fusion could send humans to Mars
Human travel to Mars has long been the unachievable dangling carrot for space programs. Now, astronauts could be a step closer to our nearest planetary neighbor through a unique manipulation of nuclear fusion, the same energy that powers the sun and stars.
Scientists report hint of dark matter in first results from $2 billion cosmic ray detector (Update 4)
It is one of the cosmos' most mysterious unsolved cases: dark matter. It is supposedly what holds the universe together. We can't see it, but scientists are pretty sure it's out there.
Breakthrough in hydrogen fuel production could revolutionize alternative energy market
A team of Virginia Tech researchers has discovered a way to extract large quantities of hydrogen from any plant, a breakthrough that has the potential to bring a low-cost, environmentally friendly fuel source to the world.
Thrusters powered by ionic wind may be efficient alternative to conventional atmospheric propulsion technologies
When a current passes between two electrodes�one thinner than the other�it creates a wind in the air between. If enough voltage is applied, the resulting wind can produce a thrust without the help of motors or fuel.
Origins of life? Discovery could help explain how first organisms emerged on Earth
(Phys.org) �A structural biologist at the Florida State University College of Medicine has made discoveries that could lead scientists a step closer to understanding how life first emerged on Earth billions of years ago.
All-optical magnetic switching promises terahertz-speed hard drive and RAM memory
(Phys.org) �Researchers at the Ames Laboratory, Iowa State University, and the University of Crete in Greece have found a new way to switch magnetism that is at least 1000 times faster than currently used in magnetic memory technologies. Magnetic switching is used to encode information in hard drives, magnetic random access memory and other computing devices. The discovery, reported in the April 4 issue of Nature, potentially opens the door to terahertz (1012 hertz) and faster memory speeds.
Black hole wakes up and has a light snack
(Phys.org) �Astronomers have watched as a black hole woke up from a decades-long slumber to feed on a low-mass object � either a brown dwarf or a giant planet � that strayed too close. A similar feeding event, albeit on a gas cloud, will soon happen at the black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way Galaxy.
Researchers team up with architects to create bladeless wind electricity generator
(Phys.org) �Faculty members at Delft University in the Netherlands have teamed up with architectural firm Mecanoo to develop a new way to generate electricity using wind energy. The result is the Electrostatic WInd-energy CONvertor, (EWICON)�a windmill with no moving mechanical parts. Its creators say that it makes no noise, won't break down or cast a shadow and it won't cause bird deaths�all problems associated with traditional wind turbines.
Astronomers anticipate 100 billion Earth-like planets
(Phys.org) �Researchers at The University of Auckland have proposed a new method for finding Earth-like planets and they anticipate that the number will be in the order of 100 billion.
Breakthrough cancer-killing treatment has no side-effects, study finds
(Medical Xpress)�Cancer painfully ends more than 500,000 lives in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The scientific crusade against cancer recently achieved a victory under the leadership of University of Missouri Curators' Professor M. Frederick Hawthorne. Hawthorne's team has developed a new form of radiation therapy that successfully put cancer into remission in mice. This innovative treatment produced none of the harmful side-effects of conventional chemo and radiation cancer therapies. Clinical trials in humans could begin soon after Hawthorne secures funding.
Quarks' spins dictate their location in the proton
A successful measurement of the distribution of quarks that make up protons conducted at DOE's Jefferson Lab has found that a quark's spin can predict its general location inside the proton. Quarks with spin pointed in the up direction will congregate in the left half of the proton, while down-spinning quarks hang out on the right. The research also confirms that scientists are on track to the first-ever three-dimensional inside view of the proton.
Upgrade of LHC underway paving way for new discoveries
(Phys.org) �The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been shut down so that it can be upgraded, a process that is expected to take at least two years. Researchers on the project hope the upgrade will allow the facility to reach its full potential which was reduced following an accident that occurred shortly after the collider begin operating back in 2008.
Ants follow Fermat's principle of least time
(Phys.org) �Ants have long been known to choose the shortest of several routes to a food source, but what happens when the shortest route is not the fastest? This situation can occur, for example, when ants are forced to travel on two different surfaces, where they can walk faster on one surface than on the other. In a new study, scientists have found that ants behave the same way as light does when traveling through different media: both paths obey Fermat's principle of least time, taking the fastest route rather than the most direct one. Besides revealing insight into ant communities, the findings could offer inspiration to researchers working on solving complex problems in robotics, logistics, and information technology.
Senator says NASA to lasso asteroid, bring it closer (Update)
NASA is planning for a robotic spaceship to lasso a small asteroid and park it near the moon for astronauts to explore, a top U.S. senator disclosed Friday.
Power behind primordial soup discovered
(Phys.org) �Researchers at the University of Leeds may have solved a key puzzle about how objects from space could have kindled life on Earth.
3-D printer builds synthetic tissues
A custom-built programmable 3D printer can create materials with several of the properties of living tissues, Oxford University scientists have demonstrated.
Desert nomads marvel at water purifying device
Omar Razzouki gazes intently at the wooden box, marvelling at what might be the solution to the perennial water woes that he and other nomads like him across the Sahara desert face daily.
Another step toward understanding of high-temperature superconductivity
(Phys.org) �Superconductors can radically change energy management as we know it, but most are commercially unusable because they only work close to absolute zero. A research group at EPFL has now published an innovative approach that may help us understand and use superconductivity at more realistic temperatures.
Research points to abrupt and widespread climate shift in the Sahara 5,000 years ago
As recently as 5,000 years ago, the Sahara�today a vast desert in northern Africa, spanning more than 3.5 million square miles�was a verdant landscape, with sprawling vegetation and numerous lakes. Ancient cave paintings in the region depict hippos in watering holes, and roving herds of elephants and giraffes�a vibrant contrast with today's barren, inhospitable terrain.
Discovery of 1,800-year-old 'Rosetta Stone' for tropical ice cores
Two annually dated ice cores drawn from the tropical Peruvian Andes reveal Earth's tropical climate history in unprecedented detail�year by year, for nearly 1,800 years.
This email is a free service of Phys.org
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://phys.org/profile/nwletter/
You are subscribed as jmabs1@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment