Physics in the News

Monday, August 4, 2014

Elon Musk calls Artificial Intelligence ‘potentially more dangerous than nukes’

Above: Tesla CEO Elon Musk. (Credit: SXSW Livestream) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk. (Credit: SXSW Livestream)

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NASA wants to build gas stations in space

NASA hopes to add precious years of functional life to satellites and expand options for operators who face unexpected emergencies, tougher economic demand and aging fleets. (Credit: Bob Granath, Kt-Imaging)

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Milky Way galaxy is just half as massive as Andromeda

Andromeda is twice as massive as the Milky Way. Scientists say that Andromeda has twice the mass, made of dark matter, than the Milky Way. (Credit: Phil Plait) — Andromeda is twice as massive as the Milky Way. Scientists say that Andromeda has twice the mass, made of dark matter, than the Milky Way.
(Credit: Phil Plait)

New rule restricting foreign instruments on NASA space probes stirs debate

(Credit: NASA)

General Relativity – Embedding light at the heart of cosmology

Einstein was the first person to propose that ‘empty space’, which does not contain matter or radiation, is not actually empty and in fact has a residual energy. This empty space is also capable of creating more space from itself. (Credit: benmoat/Shutterstock)

Tiny flying robots are being built to pollinate crops instead of real bees

The RoboBee demonstrates a successful flight next to a quarter for scale. (Credit: Harvard University)

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Europe’s Rosetta probe reaches climax of its comet-chasing mission

The Rosetta spacecraft is scheduled to rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Wednesday. If all goes according to plan, Rosetta will become the first probe ever to orbit a comet — and, in November, the first to drop a lander onto the surface of one of these icy wanderers. (Credit: ESA)

Absence of Russia instrument onboard NASA Mars Rover not related to politics

Photo of the Mars surface, Made with HiRise Camera. (Credit: NASA JPL/University of Arizona)

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The holographic augmented reality future has arrived (Again)

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Physics in the News

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Best evidence yet for coronal heating theory

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of what the sun looked like on April 23, 2013, at 1:30 p.m. EDT when the EUNIS mission launched. EUNIS focused on an active region of the sun, seen as bright loops in the upper right in this picture. (Credit: NASA/SDO) — NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of what the sun looked like on April 23, 2013, at 1:30 p.m. EDT when the EUNIS mission launched. EUNIS focused on an active region of the sun, seen as bright loops in the upper right in this picture. (Credit: NASA/SDO)

Robot Olympics planned for 2020 powered by Japan’s ‘Robot Revolution’

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Moon closer to Mars, moving toward Saturn

Animation of Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring / Mars encounter. (Credit: Near-Earth Object (NEO) office and NASA JPL)

Scientists separate a particle from its properties

he study, carried out at the Institute Laue-Langevin (ILL) and published in Nature Communications, showed that in an interferometer a neutron's magnetic moment could be measured independently of the neutron itself, thereby marking the first experimental observation of a new quantum paradox known as the 'Cheshire Cat'. Pictured are Yuji Hasegawa, Tobias Denkmayr, Stephan Sponar, Hartmut Lemmel, and Hermann Geppert. (Credit: Vienna University of Technology.) — The study, carried out at the Institute Laue-Langevin (ILL) and published in Nature Communications, showed that in an interferometer a neutron’s magnetic moment could be measured independently of the neutron itself, thereby marking the first experimental observation of a new quantum paradox known as the ‘Cheshire Cat’. Pictured are Yuji Hasegawa, Tobias Denkmayr, Stephan Sponar, Hartmut Lemmel, and Hermann Geppert. (Credit: Vienna University of Technology.)

Companion planet could keep alien Earths warm in old age

An artist’s concept of a rocky world orbiting a red dwarf star. (Credit: NASA/D. Aguilar/Harvard-Smithsonian center for Astrophysics)

via universetoday

Exclusive: NASA’s Hubble finds ‘magnifying lens’ galaxy

In this image from the Hubble Space Telescope, a giant elliptical galaxy 9.6 billion light-years away appears as a red patch. The bluish dot and tadpole-shaped smear are the distorted and magnified shapes of a more distant spiral galaxy 10.7 billion light-years away. (Credit: NASA, ESA, K.-V. Tran (Texas A&M University), and K. Wong) — In this image from the Hubble Space Telescope, a giant elliptical galaxy 9.6 billion light-years away appears as a red patch. The bluish dot and tadpole-shaped smear are the distorted and magnified shapes of a more distant spiral galaxy 10.7 billion light-years away.
(Credit: NASA, ESA, K.-V. Tran (Texas A&M University), and K. Wong)

Scientists in Scotland have created a working tractor beam

(Credit: iStock/360/Getty) — The Dundee tractor beam is not entirely dissimilar from those in “Star Wars” and “Star Trek,” in that it draws an object toward it without making physical contact. The device works by taking advantage of an acoustic wave’s natural push effect, called radiation pressure. (Photons also exert radiation pressure, which is part of the reason comet tails always point away from the sun.) What the Dundee team was able to demonstrate was an example of negative radiation pressure, otherwise known as pull. (Credit: iStock/360/Getty)

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Giant asteroids reshaped Earth 4 billion years ago

The team says that during this 500 million year period the planet likely experienced three to seven impacts by objects more than 300 miles wide. There were also as many as four impacts by titanic space rocks more than 600 miles across. If there had been any life on the Earth, a 600 mile wide monster asteroid probably would have wiped it out. Surprisingly, these impacts are compatible with the existence of liquid water on the surface as early as 4.3 billion years ago. — The team says that during this 500 million year period the planet likely experienced three to seven impacts by objects more than 300 miles wide. There were also as many as four impacts by titanic space rocks more than 600 miles across. If there had been any life on the Earth, a 600 mile wide monster asteroid probably would have wiped it out. Surprisingly, these impacts are compatible with the existence of liquid water on the surface as early as 4.3 billion years ago. (D. A. Aguilar, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

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Will DARPA’s new space shuttle crush the SpaceX Grasshopper?

DARPA's hypothetical "space plane." (Credit: DARPA) — DARPA’s hypothetical “space plane.” (Credit: DARPA)

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European spacecraft to attempt historic comet rendezvous this week

The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft saw the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimernko from a distance of 1,210 miles (1,950 kilometers). Image taken July 29, 2014. (Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA) — The European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft saw the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimernko from a distance of 1,210 miles (1,950 kilometers). Image taken July 29, 2014.
(Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA)

Physics in the News

Friday, August 1, 2014

Physics-defying space drive confirmed by NASA, may revolutionize spaceflight

NASA has conducted experiments on a revolutionary space drive that seems to defy the laws of conservation of momentum and confirmed that it works. (Credit: EmDrive 3D render by Elvis Popovic)

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Why we’re five years overdue for a damaging solar super-storm (VIDEO)

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SpaceX launches 3D-printed engine chamber for crewed spaceflight (VIDEO)

New holographic waveguide augments reality (VIDEO)

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Weird supernova may blow away star explosion theories

This image from NASA's Swift space telescope, taken on Jan. 22, 2014, shows the supernova SN 2014J as seen in three different exposures by the space observatory. Scientists suspect the weird supernova's progenitor star may have had a helium belt. (Credit: NASA/Swift/P. Brown, TAMU) — This image from NASA’s Swift space telescope, taken on Jan. 22, 2014, shows the supernova SN 2014J as seen in three different exposures by the space observatory. Scientists suspect the weird supernova’s progenitor star may have had a helium belt.
(Credit: NASA/Swift/P. Brown, TAMU)

It’s not a drone: It’s a Creative Adaptation

Reed Beverstock (right) pilots the physics department quadcopter while Daniel Duane (center) monitors the video feed on a computer tablet while Professor of Physics Bill Cooke looks on. They’re using the device to create video tutorials as part of a Creative Adaptation initiative. (Credit: Joseph McClain)

Study finds physical link to strange electronic behavior

Inelastic neutron scattering experiments revealed a temporary, collective anisotropic order prior to the onset of magnetism in a temperature interval where anisotropic resistance had previously been measured. (Credit: Tanyia Johnson/Rice University)

The talented Mr Levinson

Mark Levinson : He's got a Physics Phd in particle theory and has been a key crew-member for the likes of David Fincher and Anthony Minghella. As his new documentary Particle Fever prepares to screen to sell out audiences. (Credit: Mark Levinson) — Mark Levinson : He’s got a Physics Phd in particle theory and has been a key crew-member for the likes of David Fincher and Anthony Minghella. As his new documentary Particle Fever prepares to screen to sell out audiences. (Credit: Mark Levinson)

In 2013, Rutgers astronomer Rachel Somerville received the Dannie Heineman Prize in Astrophysics from the American Astronomical Society and the American Institute of Physics. The prize recognizes exceptional work by mid-career astronomers, citing her for providing fundamental insights into galaxy formation and evolution using modeling, simulations, and observations.

via thejerseytomatopress

Physics in the News

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Weirdly wonky binary star system discovered

Artist’s impression of the discs around the young stars HK Tauri A and B (Credit: R. Hurt (NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC)

NASA’s asteroid mission takes a beating

This Document is a Parody (Credit: Richard Binzel)

The tiniest propeller ever can sneak between cells

The nanoprop is able to easily pass between polymer chains, like those present in bodily fluids. (Credit:

Incredible GIF shows early Earth being pummeled by asteroids

The GIF below shows the impacts the model suggests happened. They go forward in time from red to blue (4.5 billion years ago to 3.5 billion years ago). (Credit: Simone Marchi)

via businessinsider

Scientists have recreated the core of Jupiter on Earth

The GIF below shows the impacts the model suggests happened. They go forward in time from red to blue (4.5 billion years ago to 3.5 billion years ago). (Credit: Collins et al)

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50-foot-wide Muon g-2 electromagnet installed at Fermilab

The 50-foot-wide Muon g-2 electromagnet at rest inside the Fermilab building that will house the experiment. The magnet was moved into the new building on Wednesday, July 30, 2014. The magnet will allow scientists to precisely probe the properties of subatomic particles called muons. (Credit: Fermilab.)

The Gaia Satellite will map one billion of the Milky Way’s stars (VIDEO)

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Scientists explain mystery of our ‘lemon Moon’

A new accurate map of the Moon has shown that it bulges slightly at one side and is flattened at the top and bottom - but how did it get this way? (Credit: NASA) — A new accurate map of the Moon has shown that it bulges slightly at one side and is flattened at the top and bottom – but how did it get this way? (Credit: NASA)

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Physics in the News

Wednesday July 30, 2014

Mystery of the ‘Cheshire Cat’ of quantum physics solved: Scientists manage to separate a particle from its spin

Scientists have observed for the first time a weird quantum phenomenon known as the 'Cheshire Cat' effect (illustration shown). The 'cat' in question was a subatomic neutron particle, and the ghostly 'grin' the particle’s magnetic moment, which describes the strength of its coupling to an external magnetic field. (Credit: Vienna U) — Scientists have observed for the first time a weird quantum phenomenon known as the ‘Cheshire Cat’ effect (illustration shown). The ‘cat’ in question was a subatomic neutron particle, and the ghostly ‘grin’ the particle’s magnetic moment, which describes the strength of its coupling to an external magnetic field. (Credit: Vienna U)

via livescience

Astronomers puzzle over new breed of massive stars

Illustration of Wolf-Rayet star R136a1, the most massive star known. (Credit: Wikipedia)

Can you touch your nose?

(Credit: IFL)

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Why Russia was studying space lizard sex In the first place

NASA is studying the effects of radiation on sperm. Freeze-dried mouse sperm are spending one, 12, and 24 months on the ISS before being used to fertilize mouse eggs back home. (Credit: Wei Ming/Shutterstock)

101 geysers identified on Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus

This graphic shows a 3-D model of 98 geysers whose source locations and tilts were found in a Cassini imaging survey of Enceladus' south polar terrain by the method of triangulation. While some jets are strongly tilted, it is clear the jets on average lie in four distinct "planes" that are normal to the surface at their source location. (Credit: NASA) — This graphic shows a 3-D model of 98 geysers whose source locations and tilts were found in a Cassini imaging survey of Enceladus’ south polar terrain by the method of triangulation. While some jets are strongly tilted, it is clear the jets on average lie in four distinct “planes” that are normal to the surface at their source location. (Credit: NASA)

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Electrical storm’ of thoughts deep within a zebrafish’s brain as 80,000 neurons fire off (VIDEO)

Exoskeleton gives super strength, latest facial recognition software beats the human eye

Man-made ‘breathing’ leaf is an oxygen factory for space travel

This man-made leaf could help us breathe in space. (Credit: Julian Melchiorri/Dezeen/MINI)

via cnet

Vintage NASA Probe Out of Gas, But Still Alive, Private Team Says

An artist's depiction of NASA's International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 spacecraft as it flies through space. The volunteer ISEE-3 Reboot Project, which hoped to move the probe closer to Earth, now says the spacecraft is out of gas. (Credit: NASA) — An artist’s depiction of NASA’s International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 spacecraft as it flies through space. The volunteer ISEE-3 Reboot Project, which hoped to move the probe closer to Earth, now says the spacecraft is out of gas. (Credit: NASA)