http://www.physorg.com/physics-news/physics/ en-us PhysOrg Team PhysOrg.com provides the latest news on physics, materials, nanotech, science and technology. The concept of confinement is one of the central ideas in modern physics. The most famous example is that of quarks which bind together to form protons and neutrons. Now Prof. Bella Lake from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (Germany) together with an international team of scientists report for the first time an experimental realization and a proof of confinement phenomenon observed in a condensed matter system. http://www.physorg.com/news178724926.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-29T13:49:37-07:00 (PhysOrg.com) -- A group in The Netherlands has achieved a first: injection of spin-polarized electrons in silicon at room temperature. This has previously been observed only at extremely low temperatures, and the achievement brings spintronic devices using silicon as a semiconductor a step closer. http://www.physorg.com/news178526124.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-27T06:36:59-07:00 (PhysOrg.com) -- European space agencies and an aerospace giant are developing a new re-entry heat shield that will use superconductor magnets to generate a magnetic field strong enough to deflect the superhot plasma formed during re-entry of returning spacecraft. They plan to test the new technology by attaching a test module to a missile and using a Russian submarine to fire it into space. http://www.physorg.com/news178442290.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-26T07:50:01-07:00 MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) and other drug-resistant bacteria could face annihilation as low-temperature plasma prototype devices have been developed to offer safe, quick, easy and unfailing bactericidal cocktails. http://www.physorg.com/news178438994.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-26T06:24:08-07:00 Researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a unique new computer model called the Virtual StreamLab, designed to help restore real streams to a healthier state. The Virtual StreamLab, which demonstrates the physics of natural water flows at an unprecedented level of detail and realism, was unveiled for the first time this week at the 2009 American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting in Minneapolis, one of the largest conferences in fluid dynamics with more than 1,500 attendees from around the world. http://www.physorg.com/news178315462.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-24T20:20:02-07:00 (PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists from the Japanese-led multi-national T2K neutrino collaboration announced today that over the weekend they detected the first events generated by their newly built neutrino beam at the J-PARC accelerator laboratory in Tokai, Japan. http://www.physorg.com/news178300806.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-24T16:01:48-07:00 A team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego and Stanford University has developed a way to simulate blood flow on the computer to optimize surgical designs. It is the basis of a new tool that may help surgeons plan for a life-saving operation called the "Fontan" surgery, which is performed on babies born with severe congenital heart defects. http://www.physorg.com/news178264903.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-24T06:20:01-07:00 When people speak, sing, or shout, they produce sound by pushing air over their vocal folds -- bits of muscle and tissue that manipulate the air flow and vibrate within it. When someone has polyps or some other problem with their vocal folds, the airflow can be altered, affecting the sound production. http://www.physorg.com/news178223597.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-23T18:50:01-07:00 Having a tough time recalling a phone number someone spoke a few minutes ago or forgetting items from a mental grocery list is not a sign of mental decline; in fact, it's natural. http://www.physorg.com/news178220995.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-23T17:51:01-07:00 Two circulating beams on Monday produced the first particle collisions in the world's biggest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), three days after its restart, scientists announced. http://www.physorg.com/news178212182.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-23T15:23:26-07:00 A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a new modeling methodology for determining the capacity and assessing the risks of leakage of potential underground carbon-dioxide reservoirs. http://www.physorg.com/news178208871.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-23T14:40:02-07:00 A bit of imagination on the part of a measuring instrument wouldn't be a bad thing. It could help to add data from areas where the instrument is unable to measure. However, it must do so constructively. In order to infer missing data in an astronomical measurement with more than just imagination, physicists at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics have formulated a theory of spatial perception called information field theory. http://www.physorg.com/news178209326.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-23T14:36:47-07:00 (AP) -- The world's largest atom smasher made another leap forward Monday by circulating beams of protons in opposite directions at the same time in the $10 billion machine after more than a year of repairs, organizers said. http://www.physorg.com/news178198886.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-23T11:42:04-07:00 Understanding mixing in the ocean is of fundamental importance to modeling climate change or predicting the effects of an El Niņo on our weather. Modern ocean models primarily incorporate the effects of winds and tides. However, they do not generally take into account the mixing generated by swimming animals. http://www.physorg.com/news178119743.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-22T15:30:04-07:00 A butterfly's proboscis looks like a straw -- long, slender, and used for sipping -- but it works more like a paper towel, according to Konstantin Kornev of Clemson University. He hopes to borrow the tricks of this piece of insect anatomy to make small probes that can sample the fluid inside of cells. http://www.physorg.com/news178121677.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-22T14:40:26-07:00 A group of researchers at the City College of New York is developing a new way to generate power for planes and automobiles based on materials known as piezoelectrics, which convert the kinetic energy of motion into electricity. They will present their concept later this month at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society's (APS) Division of Fluid Dynamics will take place from November 22-24 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. http://www.physorg.com/news178114279.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-22T12:12:30-07:00 If a nuclear weapon were detonated in a metropolitan area, how large would the affected area be? Where should first responders first go? According to physicist Fernando Grinstein, we have some initial understanding to address these questions, but fundamental issues remain unresolved. http://www.physorg.com/news178114183.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-22T12:10:15-07:00 (AP) -- Scientists are preparing the world's largest atom smasher to explore the depths of matter after successfully restarting the $10 billion machine following more than a year of repairs. http://www.physorg.com/news178024871.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-21T11:21:52-07:00 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the NSLS and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) have demonstrated a technique that could be used to significantly improve the quantity and quality of light produced from a free-electron laser (FEL) - a source that provides pulses of light that can be 1,000 times shorter than those at conventional storage ring light sources. http://www.physorg.com/news177952043.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-20T15:24:58-07:00 The world's biggest atom-smasher, shut down after its inauguration in September 2008 amid technical faults, restarted on Friday, a spokesman for the European Organisation for Nuclear Research said. http://www.physorg.com/news177951527.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-20T15:00:46-07:00 (PhysOrg.com) -- A multi-trillion-watt laser at the University of Rochester has simulated a stellar jet -- an outpouring of matter from a fledgling star -- with unprecedented realism. http://www.physorg.com/news177949235.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-20T14:27:46-07:00 The world's biggest atom-smasher, which was shut down soon after its inauguration amid technical faults, is set to restart this weekend, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research said on Friday. http://www.physorg.com/news177921856.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-20T06:46:14-07:00 (PhysOrg.com) -- The investment in nuclear power has been growing around the world over the last few years, being viewed as a means for countries to control their energy security, avoid the price fluctuations of other energy sources, and reduce their carbon dioxide emissions, but concerns are now being raised. http://www.physorg.com/news177839133.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-19T09:50:06-07:00 A recent experiment at the DOE's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has found that a proton's nearest neighbors in the nucleus of the atom may modify the proton's internal structure. http://www.physorg.com/news177787801.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-18T17:31:37-07:00 Like surfers on monster waves, electrons can ride waves of plasma to very high energies in a very short distance. Scientists have proven that plasma acceleration works. Now they're developing it as a way to dramatically shrink the size and cost of particle accelerators for science, medicine, industry, and myriad other uses. http://www.physorg.com/news177786729.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-18T17:13:04-07:00 (PhysOrg.com) -- Stimulus funding will enhance Cornell's e-print arXiv of scientific papers to help users identify a work's main concepts, see research reports in context and easily find related work. http://www.physorg.com/news177780308.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-18T15:50:02-07:00 Like other users of microfluidic systems, National Institute of Standards and Technology researcher Javier Atencia was faced with an annoying engineering problem: how to simply, reliably and most of all, tightly, connect his tiny devices to the external pumps and reservoirs delivering liquids into the system. While pondering this one day, he randomly picked up two magnets and began playing with them. As the magnets pulled apart and then snapped back together, Atencia realized that he had his solution. http://www.physorg.com/news177761689.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-18T11:00:02-07:00 (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 to a technology that might make it possible to harvest much of that wasted heat and turn it into usable electricity. http://www.physorg.com/news177761180.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-18T10:07:11-07:00 The European Organization for Nuclear Research says it expects to restart the world's largest atom smasher by this weekend after more than a year of repairs. http://www.physorg.com/news177700443.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-17T17:14:20-07:00 A team of physicists has, for the first time, seen convincing experimental evidence for directed percolation, a phenomenon that turns up in computer models of the ways diseases spread through a population or how water soaks through loose soil. Their observation strengthens the case for directed percolation's relevance to real systems, and lends new vigor to long-standing theories about how it works. Their experiment is reported in Physical Review E and highlighted with a Viewpoint in the November 16 issue of Physics. http://www.physorg.com/news177685136.html Physics - General Physics 2009-11-17T13:10:02-07:00