Keyword: physics
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Just two weeks ago, the European Space Agency announced the discovery of a new black hole, the heaviest on the Milky Way, 33 times bigger than the Sun and 2,000 light years from Earth. Tel Aviv University’s Prof. Tsevi Mazeh, who was recently awarded the Israel Prize in physics, is among those responsible for the European Gaia spacecraft’s discovery. But if you ask him how excited he was that week, in which he both learned of his Israel prize award and his research on the new black was published, he’ll swiftly answer “The Israel prize wins bigtime.” “I cried a...
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A novel warp drive concept that can function without any need for hypothesized exotic or negative forms of energy has been unveiled in a groundbreaking new study by leading propulsion researchers. Dubbed the “Constant-Velocity Subluminal Warp Drive,” the concept, developed by physicists with the Advanced Propulsion Laboratory at the New York-based think tank Applied Physics and from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, offers a theoretical new means of propulsion for space travel that conforms to general relativity, allowing it to operate at constant subluminal speeds with no need for unphysical forms of matter outlined in past concepts. According to...
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X-ray image of GRB221009A (Credit: NASA/Swift) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Observations by the James Webb Space Telescope are offering new clues about the nature of a massive supernova associated with GRB 221009A, the brightest gamma-ray burst astronomers have ever recorded. The new research confirms the presence of a supernova linked to this highly energetic source of gamma rays and reveals its comparatively low production of radioactive nickel, findings that challenge our currently accepted models involving these powerful events. Astronomers hope the new findings made possible by NASA’s premier space science observatory will also help to offer unique new views into the processes that...
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WEST (Credit: CEA-IRFM). A new record in fusion has been achieved using a device internally clad in tungsten, a development that could set the pace for helping make fusion energy viable at the commercial scale. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facility, reports that the device was able to sustain hot fusion plasma nearing temperatures of 50 million degrees Celsius for a record-breaking six minutes. Relying on 1.15 gigajoules of power, the latest achievement saw a 15% increase in energy, as well as twice the density of previous experiments. The new milestone was set using...
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The Coriolis effect describes the pattern of deflection taken by objects not firmly connected to the ground as they travel long distances around the Earth.
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Scientists have taken a significant step in understanding these whirling quasiparticles and putting them to work in future semiconductor technologies. Researchers reported that they have imaged the exciton’s electron and hole for the first time, revealing how excitons may be trapped in dense, stable arrays. According to the scientists, the findings have significant implications for the development of various future technologies as well as the quest to better understand excitons. The findings were published on March 8th, 2022, in the journal Nature by researchers from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, and the Okinawa Institute for...
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In 1957, the astrophysicist Herman Bondi wrote a paper in which he considered the possible existence of a negative mass in Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity. A negative mass would repel a positive mass away from it. Given that, a pair of positive and negative masses could accelerate together up to the speed of light. The negative mass would push away the positive mass which in turn would pull the negative mass for the ride. The runaway pair would accelerate indefinitely, without any need for fuel or a propulsion system. Energy conservation would not be violated because the sum of...
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Discovering a machine that could somehow produce thrust without releasing propellant would be a game-changer for human space travel. There’s just one problem—such a device would defy the laws of physics.
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There are many myths about energy and the economy. In this post I explore the situation surrounding some of these myths.My analysis strongly suggests that the transition to a new Green Economy is not progressing as well as hoped.Green energy planners have missed the point that our physics-based economy favors low-cost producers.In fact, the US and EU may not be far from an economic downturn because subsidized green approaches are not truly low-cost.[1] The Chinese people have long believed that the safest place to store savings is in empty condominium apartments, but this approach is no longer working.The focus on...
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You never really know what you might find hiding in your own backyard, especially if those things are particularly adept at escaping detection. Just 1,924 light-years from the Solar System, in the constellation of Aquila, astronomers have just discovered a black hole. And it's not just any black hole. Named Gaia BH3, or BH3, the object is the most massive stellar-mass black hole we've ever spotted in the Milky Way, clocking in at a hefty 33 times the mass of the Sun. It's the second-closest black hole we've found to our home-world, and it's just hanging out, quietly in space,...
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Caltech and JPL scientists suggest the fingerprints of early photochemistry provide a solution to the long-standing mystery. Mars is blanketed by a thin, mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere—one that is far too thin to prevent large amounts of water on the surface of the planet from subliming or evaporating. But many researchers have suggested that the planet was once shrouded in an atmosphere many times thicker than Earth's. For decades that left the question, "Where did all the carbon go?" Now a team of scientists from Caltech and JPL thinks they have a possible answer. The researchers suggest that 3.8 billion...
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(Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have developed a new strategy in the quest to harness fusion to produce electricity: combining two existing methods of managing plasma to allow greater overall flexibility. The PPPL team’s new dual approach brings together electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) methods with resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP), marking the first time a simulation showing how they can be used together could facilitate greater control of plasma during fusion reactions. In simple terms, fusion produces energy by replicating the natural processes occurring on the surface of...
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Research scientists from Linköping University (LiU) in Sweden say they have created the first two-dimensional single-atom layer of gold using a technique perfected by Japanese smiths over 100 years ago. Dubbed “goldene” in reference to the popular single-atom carbon material graphene that essentially kicked off the 2D materials revolution, the breakthrough material could possess a large number of exotic properties like those found in other single-atom 2D materials. The researchers behind the first-ever accomplishment also say they believe goldene could also offer several immediate applications. These include new methods for harvesting energy, catalysis for hydrogen generation, carbon conversion, water purification,...
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International Thinktank Applied Physics (AP) has released its “Warp Factory” simulator and toolkit to help scientists and engineers move closer to building a real-world Star Trek-style warp drive. Having already established itself in the nascent field of warp mechanics with the previous release of its “physical warp drive” design in 2021, AP is now offering its expertise to the broader community to advance the development of existing and future warp drive concepts. The Public Benefit Corporation is also putting its money where its mouth is by offering warp field theorists a chance at $500,000 worth of grant money, a commitment...
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(Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology) Levitation is the kind of superpower many researchers would love to get their hands on. While there are a number of ways to fight the forces of gravity, few are suitable for the kinds of ultrasensitive devices that would benefit from floating untethered in a vacuum. Led by a team from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) in Japan, a team of researchers have found a way to shield thin wafers of graphite as they hover freely above a grid of magnets, making them far less susceptible to currents that interfere with...
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Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of the so-called "God particle" that helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang, has died at age 94, the University of Edinburgh said Tuesday. The university, where Higgs was emeritus professor, said he died Monday following a short illness. Higgs predicted the existence of a new particle, which came to be known as the Higgs boson, in 1964. He theorized that there must be a sub-atomic particle of certain dimension that would explain how other particles—and therefore all the stars and planets in the universe—acquired mass. Without something like...
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Explanation: What's happening to the big black hole in the center of our galaxy? It is sucking in matter from a swirling disk -- a disk that is magnetized, it has now been confirmed. Specifically, the black hole's accretion disk has recently been seen to emit polarized light, radiation frequently associated with a magnetized source. Pictured here is a close-up of Sgr A*, our Galaxy's central black hole, taken by radio telescopes around the world participating in the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration. Superposed are illustrative curved lines indicating polarized light likely emitted from swirling magnetized gas that will soon...
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There are striking analogies between the interpersonal relationships of humans and the gravitational interaction of physical bodies in space. Consider a two-body system. In both realms, the systems can have stable configurations, leading to long-lived marriages or stellar binaries. But when a third body interacts strongly with these systems, a non-hierarchical three-body system often displays chaos with one of the members ejected and the other two remaining bound. This brings up analogies with interpersonal relationships when a third body is added to a non-hierarchical two-body system. The chaotic gravitational dynamics in a system of three stars inspired the storyline for...
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Scientists in South Korea have announced a new world record for the length of time they sustained temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius — seven times hotter than the sun’s core — during a nuclear fusion experiment, in what they say is an important step forward for this futuristic energy technology.
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Scientists say they have created a new method of testing materials that allows predictions to be made about their ductility, which could lead to the production of virtually “unbreakable” metals for use with components in a variety of applications. Drawing from quantum mechanics principles, the new method allows for significant improvements by enhancing predictions about metals’ ability to be drawn out into thinner shapes while maintaining their strength. According to researchers involved with the discovery, the new method has proven very effective for metals used in high-temperature applications and could help industries like aerospace and other fields perform tests of...
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