Turning heat to electricity... efficiently
Nov 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In everything from computer processor chips to car engines to electric powerplants, the need to get rid of excess heat creates a major source of inefficiency. But new research points the way ...
Stars Fueled by Dark Matter Could Hold Secrets to the Universe
Nov 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The first stars in the universe may have been very different from the stars we see today, yet they may hold clues to understanding some of the mysterious features of the universe. These "dark ...
A line on string theory
Nov 12, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (44) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A Harvard theoretical physicist has discussed with scientists at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland the possibility that they may discover a theorized "stau" particle, with a lifetime ...
High-performance plasmas may make reliable, efficient fusion power a reality
Nov 02, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (40) |
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In the quest to produce nuclear fusion energy, researchers from the DIII-D National Fusion Facility have recently confirmed long-standing theoretical predictions that performance, efficiency and reliability ...
Gamma-ray photon race ends in dead heat; Einstein wins this round
Oct 28, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (34) |
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Racing across the universe for the last 7.3 billion years, two gamma-ray photons arrived at NASA's orbiting Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope within nine-tenths of a second of one another. The dead-heat finish ...
Second Law of Thermodynamics May Explain Economic Evolution
Nov 02, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (34) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Terms such as the "invisible hand," laissez-faire policy, and free-market principles suggest that economic growth and decline in capitalist societies seem to be somehow self-regulated. Now, ...
Solving big problems with new quantum algorithm
Nov 09, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (32) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In a recently published paper, Aram Harrow at the University of Bristol and colleagues from MIT in the United States have discovered a quantum algorithm that solves large problems much faster ...
Particles are back in the LHC
Oct 26, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (30) |
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During the last weekend (23-25 October) particles have once again entered the LHC after the one-year break that followed the incident of September 2008.
PhD student solves decade-long mystery of magnetism
Oct 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A PhD student from the London Centre for Nanotechnology has won a prize for solving a decade-long mystery central to understanding modern magnetic systems.
Study Shows Time Traveling May Not Increase Computational Power
Oct 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For more than 50 years, physicists have been intrigued by the concept of closed time-like curves (CTCs). Because a CTC returns to its starting point, it raises the possibility of traveling backward in time. ...
Superstring theory useful for experimental physics
Oct 30, 2009 |
3.9 / 5 (26) |
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Superstring theory aims to explain the laws of physics from extremely small strings in various states. Theoretical superstring theory is therefore normally not considered to be particularly relevant for practical ...
Laser-plasma accelerators ride on Einstein's shoulders
Nov 02, 2009 |
5 / 5 (20) |
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Using Einstein's theory of special relativity to speedup computer simulations, scientists have designed laser-plasma accelerators with energies of 10 billion electron volts (GeV) and beyond. These systems, ...
Scientists demonstrate 'universal' programmable quantum processor
Nov 15, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (21) |
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Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have demonstrated the first "universal" programmable quantum information processor able to run any program allowed by quantum mechanics -- th ...
Mantis shrimps could show us the way to a better DVD
Oct 25, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (18) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The remarkable eyes of a marine crustacean could inspire the next generation of DVD and CD players, according to a new study from the University of Bristol published today in Nature Photonics.
Quantum gas microscope offers glimpse of quirky ultracold atoms
Nov 04, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (19) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists at Harvard University have created a quantum gas microscope that can be used to observe single atoms at temperatures so low the particles follow the rules of quantum mechanics, ...
