Physics news

How to Spot an Influential Paper Based on its Citations

Physics / General Physics

Jul 04, 2009 | 4 / 5 (9) | 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- At first it may seem that the number of citations received by a published scientific paper is directly related to that paper's quality of content. The higher the quality, the more people read ...

Physicists Demonstrate Quantum Memory with Matter Qubits

Physics / General Physics

Jul 03, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (17) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, scientists have successfully operated a quantum gate between two remote particles of matter, marking an important step toward the development of a quantum computer. In ...

Researchers unite to distribute quantum keys

Physics / General Physics

Jul 02, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 2

Researchers from across Europe have united to build the largest quantum key distribution network ever built. The efforts of 41 research and industrial organisations were realised as secure, quantum encrypted information ...

The sound of light: Innovative technology shatters the barriers of modern light microscopy

Physics / Optics & Photonics

Jun 30, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (11) | 1

In the past, even modern technologies have failed to produce high-resolution fluorescence images from this depth because of the strong scattering of light. In the Nature Photonics journal, the Munich researchers describe how th ...

New insights, and a new angle, on high-temperature superconductivity

Physics / Superconductivity

Jun 29, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (13) | 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- A Princeton-led research team has revealed surprising information about how electron behavior influences the conduction of electricity in a class of high-temperature superconductors. An increased ...

Fermilab's CDF observes Omega-sub-b baryon

Physics / General Physics

Jun 29, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (17) | 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- At a recent physics seminar at the Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Fermilab physicist Pat Lukens of the CDF experiment announced the observation of a new particle, ...

NuTeV Anomaly Helps Shed Light on Physics of the Nucleus

Physics / General Physics

Jun 29, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (6) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new calculation clarifies the complicated relationship between protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus and offers a fascinating resolution of the famous NuTeV Anomaly.

Straighten up and fly right: Moths benefit more from flexible wings than rigid (w/ Videos)

Physics / General Physics

Jun 29, 2009 | 4 / 5 (1) | 2

Most scientists who create models trying to understand the mechanics and aerodynamics of insect flight have assumed that insect wings are relatively rigid as they flap.

Laser-created temporal lens could lead to movies of molecular processes

Physics / General Physics

Jun 29, 2009 | 5 / 5 (2) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Finding a way to observe and record the behavior of matter at the molecular level has long been a holy grail among physicists. That ability could open the door to a wide range of applications ...

Scientists create first electronic quantum processor

Physics / General Physics

Jun 28, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (53) | 40

A team led by Yale University researchers has created the first rudimentary solid-state quantum processor, taking another step toward the ultimate dream of building a quantum computer.

Could Maxwell's Demon Exist in Nanoscale Systems?

Physics / General Physics

Jun 24, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (18) | 29

(PhysOrg.com) -- Maxwell’s demon may be making a comeback. Physicists know that the demon, an imaginary creature that decreases the entropy of a system, cannot exist in macroscopic systems due to the energy ...

Scientists discover giant Rydberg atom molecules

Physics / Condensed Matter

Jun 24, 2009 | 4.4 / 5 (12) | 4

A group of University of Oklahoma researchers led by Dr. James P. Shaffer, Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, have discovered giant Rydberg molecules with a bond as large as a red blood cell. Determining ...

First acoustic metamaterial 'superlens' created

Physics / General Physics

Jun 24, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (12) | 6

A team of researchers at the University of Illinois has created the world's first acoustic "superlens," an innovation that could have practical implications for high-resolution ultrasound imaging, non-destructive ...

A new approach to engineering for extreme environments (w/ Video)

Physics / Condensed Matter

Jun 24, 2009 | 4.7 / 5 (3) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Composite materials such as fiberglass, which take on a mix of properties of their constituent compounds, have been around for decades. Now, an MIT materials scientist is taking composites ...

Lasers can lengthen quantum bit memory by 1,000 times

Physics / General Physics

Jun 24, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (10) | 1

Physicists have found a way to drastically prolong the shelf life of quantum bits, the 0s and 1s of quantum computers.

Streaming sand grains help define essence of a liquid (w/ Video)

Physics / General Physics

Jun 24, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

University of Chicago researchers recently showed that dry granular materials such as sands, seeds and grains have properties similar to liquid, forming water-like droplets when poured from a given source. ...

Backtracking on DNA

Physics / General Physics

Jun 23, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (8) | 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Accuracy is essential for life, so in converting the information stored in DNA into a form in which it can be used, a high level of precision is required. Dr Tanniemola Liverpool from the ...

New method to detect quantum mechanical effects in ordinary objects

Physics / General Physics

Jun 22, 2009 | 4.6 / 5 (20) | 4

At the quantum level, the atoms that make up matter and the photons that make up light behave in a number of seemingly bizarre ways. Particles can exist in "superposition," in more than one state at the same ...