Researchers discover that a mechanical cue is at the origin of cell death decision

In many species including humans, the cells responsible for reproduction, the germ cells, are often highly interconnected and share their cytoplasm. In the hermaphrodite nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, up to 500 germ cells are connected to each other in the gonad, the tissue that produces eggs and sperm. These cells are arranged around a central cytoplasmic "corridor" and exchange cytoplasmic material fostering cell growth, and ultimately produce oocytes ready to be fertilized.

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Phonon catalysis could lead to a new field

Batteries and fuel cells often rely on a process known as ion diffusion to function. In ion diffusion, ionized atoms move through solid materials, similar to the process of water being absorbed by rice when cooked. Just like cooking rice, ion diffusion is incredibly temperature-dependent and requires high temperatures to happen fast.

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New take on machine learning helps us 'scale up' phase transitions

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have enhanced "super-resolution" machine learning techniques to study phase transitions. They identified key features of how large arrays of interacting particles behave at different temperatures by simulating tiny arrays before using a convolutional neural network to generate a good estimate of what a larger array would look like using correlation configurations. The massive saving in computational cost may realize unique ways of understanding how materials behave.

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Spacetime crystals proposed by placing space and time on an equal footing

A Penn State scientist studying crystal structures has developed a new mathematical formula that may solve a decades-old problem in understanding spacetime, the fabric of the universe proposed in Einstein's theories of relativity.

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Quark-gluon plasma flows like water, according to new study

What does quark-gluon plasma—the hot soup of elementary particles formed a few microseconds after the Big Bang—have in common with tap water? Scientists say it's the way it flows.

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Controlling magnetization by surface acoustic waves

Using the circular vibration of surface acoustic waves, a collaborative research group have successfully controlled the magnetization of a ferromagnetic thin film.

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Forging new paths in particle physics

Everything we see around us is made up of elementary particles, the building blocks of matter. We know that protons and neutrons are made up of particles called quarks and that electrons are important building blocks for atoms. Thanks to the work of dedicated physicists, we also know that there exist force-carrying particles called bosons, three of which are photons, gluons and the recently discovered Higgs boson.

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Stephen Hawking's office and archive to be preserved in UK

Papers and a diverse range of personal items belonging to the late British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking have been acquired by Cambridge University and a UK museum group.

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Study of promising photovoltaic material leads to discovery of a new state of matter

Researchers at McGill University have gained new insight into the workings of perovskites, a semiconductor material that shows great promise for making high-efficiency, low-cost solar cells and a range of other optical and electronic devices.

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Most precise measurements of cosmic ray proton and helium spectra above TeV

The Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) collaboration reported the precise measurement of the energy spectrum of cosmic ray helium nuclei from 70 GeV to 80 TeV energies on May 18, 2021.

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Probing deeper into origins of cosmic rays

Cosmic rays are high-energy atomic particles continually bombarding Earth's surface at nearly the speed of light. Our planet's magnetic field shields the surface from most of the radiation generated by these particles. Still, cosmic rays can cause electronic malfunctions and are the leading concern in planning for space missions.

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Generating electricity from heat using a spin Seebeck device

Thermoelectric (TE) conversion offers carbon-free power generation from geothermal, waste, body or solar heat, and shows promise to be the next-generation energy conversion technology. At the core of such TE conversion, there lies an all solid-state thermoelectric device which enables energy conversion without the emission of noise, vibrations, or pollutants. To this, a POSTECH research team proposed a way to design the next-generation thermoelectric device that exhibits remarkably simple manufacturing process and structure compared to the conventional ones, while displaying improved energy conversion efficiency using the spin Seebeck effect (SSE).

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Evidence found of superfluidity in extremely cold 2D gas of fermions

A team of researchers working at the Institut für Laserphysik, Universität Hamburg, has found evidence of superfluidity in an extremely cold 2D gas of fermions. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their work with a 2D Fermi gas and what they learned from it.

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Handwritten example of famous Einstein equation gets $1.2M

A letter written by Albert Einstein in which he writes out his famous E = mc2 equation has sold at auction for more than $1.2 million, about three times more than it was expected to get, Boston-based RR Auction said Friday.

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Deeper insight into Higgs boson production using W bosons

Discovering the Higgs boson in 2012 was only the start. Physicists immediately began measuring its properties, an investigation that is still ongoing as they try to unravel if the Higgs mechanism is realized in nature as predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics. Earlier this spring, researchers at CERN's ATLAS Experiment announced they had measured the Higgs boson in its decays to W bosons. W bosons are particularly interesting in this context, as the properties of their self-interaction (vector boson scattering) gave credibility to the mechanism that predicted the Higgs boson.

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Chirality memory effect of ferromagnetic domain walls

Using magnets, a collaborative group have furthered our understanding of chirality.

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Researchers see atoms at record resolution

In 2018, Cornell researchers built a high-powered detector that, in combination with an algorithm-driven process called ptychography, set a world record by tripling the resolution of a state-of-the-art electron microscope.

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New detector finds gamma rays from surprising cosmic sources

Astrophysicist Cao Zhen opens a steel hatch on a windswept Tibetan Plateau and climbs down a ladder into inky darkness. His flashlight picks out a boat floating on a pool of purified water above thousands of glittering orbs the size of beachballs.

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Researchers flip the motion of electrons on ultrafast time scales without slowing them down

To change the direction of motion of a massive object, such as a car, it has to be slowed down and brought to a complete standstill first. Even the tiniest charge carriers in the universe, the electrons, follow this rule. For future ultrafast electronic components, however, it would be helpful to circumvent the electron's inertia. Photons, the quanta of light, show how this could work. Photons do not carry mass and can thus move at the highest possible velocity, the speed of light. For a change of direction, they do not need to slow down; when they are reflected from a mirror, for instance, they abruptly change their direction without a stopover. Such behavior is highly desirable for future electronics because the direction of currents could be switched infinitely swiftly and the clock rate of processors could be massively increased. Yet, photons do not carry electric charge, which is a prerequisite for electronic devices.

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We know the cost of free choice and locality—in physics and elsewhere

Do we have free choice or are our decisions predetermined? Is physical reality local, or does what we do here and now have an immediate influence on events elsewhere? The answers to these questions are sought by physicists in the Bell inequalities. It turns out that free choice and local realism can be skilfully measured and compared. The results obtained reveal surprising relationships of a fundamental and universal nature, going far beyond quantum mechanics itself.

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An inconstant Hubble constant? Research suggests fix to cosmological cornerstone

More than 90 years ago, astronomer Edwin Hubble observed the first hint of the rate at which the universe expands, called the Hubble constant.

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Neutrons piece together 40-year puzzle behind iron-iodide's mysterious magnetism

Advanced materials with more novel properties are almost always developed by adding more elements to the list of ingredients. But quantum research suggests some simpler materials might already have advanced properties that scientists just couldn't see, until now.

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Nuclear terrorism could be intercepted by neutron-gamma detector that pinpoints source

Scanning technology aimed at detecting small amounts of nuclear materials was unveiled by scientists in Sweden today, with the hope of preventing acts of nuclear terrorism.

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A procedure to directly measure the strength of Landau damping

Landau damping, a phenomenon originally predicted by Lev Landau in 1946, is essential to ensure the collective beam stability in particle accelerators. By precisely measuring the strength of Landau damping, physicists can predict the stability of beams in high-energy colliders.

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Detector technology yields unprecedented 3D images, heralding far larger application to study neutrinos

An experiment to capture unprecedented 3D images of the trajectories of charged particles has been demonstrated using cosmic rays as they strike and travel through a cryostat filled with a ton of liquid argon. The results confirm the capabilities of a novel detector technology for particle physics developed by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) in collaboration with several university and industrial partners.

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Current trend reversed: Scientists investigate the Seebeck effect in electric current

When a piece of conducting material is heated up at one of its ends, a voltage difference can build up across the sample, which in turn can be converted into a current. This is the so-called Seebeck effect, the cornerstone of thermoelectric effects. In particular, the effect provides a route to creating work out of a temperature difference. Such thermoelectric engines do not have any movable part and are therefore convenient power sources in various applications, including propelling NASA's Mars rover Perseverance. The Seebeck effect is interesting for fundamental physics, too, as the magnitude and sign of the induced thermoelectric current is characteristic of the material and indicates how entropy and charge currents are coupled. Writing in Physical Review X, the group of Prof. Tilman Esslinger at the Department of Physics of ETH Zurich now reports on the controlled reversal of such a current by changing the interaction strength among the constituents of a quantum simulator made of extremely cold atoms trapped in shaped laser fields. The capability to induce such a reversal means that the system can be turned from a thermoelectric engine into a cooler.

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Long-lost letter from Einstein discusses link between physics and biology—70 years before evidence emerges

Since the dawn of the electronic age, it has never been easier for researchers to engage with the general public—gaining access to precious resources otherwise unavailable.

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New evidence for electron's dual nature found in a quantum spin liquid

A new discovery led by Princeton University could upend our understanding of how electrons behave under extreme conditions in quantum materials. The finding provides experimental evidence that this familiar building block of matter behaves as if it is made of two particles: one particle that gives the electron its negative charge and another that supplies its magnet-like property, known as spin.

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Why precision luminosity measurements matter

The ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have performed luminosity measurements with spectacular precision. A recent physics briefing from CMS complements earlier ATLAS results and shows that by combining multiple methods, both experiments have reached a precision better than 2%. For physics analyses—such as searches for new particles, rare processes or measurements of the properties of known particles—it is not only important for accelerators to increase luminosity, but also for physicists to understand it with the best possible precision.

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CDEX listens to the sound of cosmology from a laboratory deep underground

Much compelling evidence from astroparticle physics and cosmology indicate that the major matter component in the Universe is dark matter, accounting for about 85% with the remaining 15% ordinary matter. Nevertheless, people still know little about dark matter, including its mass and other properties. Many models predict dark matter particles could couple with ordinary particles at the weak interaction level, so it is possible to capture the signal of dark matter particles with direct detection experiment.

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Previously unknown letter reveals Einstein's thinking on bees, birds and physics

The 1949 letter by the physicist and Nobel laureate discusses bees, birds and whether new physics principles could come from studying animal senses.

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X-ray ptychography performed for first time at small-scale laboratory

In recent years, X-ray ptychography has revolutionized nanoscale phase contrast imaging at large-scale synchrotron sources. The technique produces quantitative phase images with the highest possible spatial resolutions (10's nm) – going well beyond the conventional limitations of the available X-ray optics—and has wide reaching applications across the physical and life sciences. A paper published in Physical Review Letters on 12 May 2021, reveals that an international collaboration of scientists has demonstrated for the first time how the technique of high-resolution phase contrast diffraction imaging can be performed with small-scale laboratory sources.

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Physicists extract proton mass radius from experimental data

Researchers have recently extracted the proton mass radius from experimental data. A research group at the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) presented an analysis of the proton mass radius in Physical Review D on May 11. The proton mass radius is determined to be 0.67 ± 0.03 femtometers, which is obviously smaller than the charge radius of the proton.

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How to thermally cloak an object

Can you feel the heat? To a thermal camera, which measures infrared radiation, the heat that we can feel is visible, like the heat of a traveler in an airport with a fever or the cold of a leaky window or door in the winter.

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Researchers use optical data to reveal the basic structure of spacetime in rotating frames

One of the most basic structural aspects of relativistic spacetime is the description of how time and distances are altered by motion. The theory of special relativity describes a spacetime framework for linear constant motion in which time dilates and lengths contract in response to motion. This framework is described by the Lorentz transformation, which encompasses mathematical formulas that describe how time and distance are altered between moving reference frames. The Lorentz transformation also describes how a stationary observer views time in the moving frame to be offset with distance. The offsetting of time with distance between reference frames generates differential simultaneity, in which events that are simultaneous for one observer will not be simultaneous for a second observer moving relative to the first observer.

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Researchers develop magnetic thin film for spin-thermoelectric energy conversion

A team of researchers, affiliated with UNIST has recently introduced a new class of magnetic materials for spin caloritronics. Published in the February 2021 issue of Nature Communications, the demonstrated STE applications of a new class of magnets will pave the way for versatile recycling of ubiquitous waste heat. This breakthrough has been led by Professor Jung-Woo Yoo and his research team in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UNIST.

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Low-temperature physics gives insight into turbulence

A novel technique for studying vortices in quantum fluids has been developed by Lancaster physicists.

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Simulating sneezes and coughs to show how COVID-19 spreads

Two groups of researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have published papers on the droplets of liquid sprayed by coughs or sneezes and how far they can travel under different conditions.

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Understanding the thermodynamic cost of timekeeping

Clocks are essential building blocks of modern technology, from computers to GPS receivers. They are also essentially engines, irreversibly consuming resources in order to generate accurate ticks. But what resources have to be expended to achieve a desired accuracy? In our latest study, published in Physical Review X, we answer this question by measuring, for the first time, the entropy generated by a minimal clock.

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Research: The new English Premier League soccer ball more stable, drags more

Scientists from the Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences at the University of Tsukuba used aerodynamics experiments to empirically test the flight properties of a new four-panel soccer ball adopted by the English Premier League this year. Based on projectile and wind-tunnel data, they computed the drag and side forces and found that the new ball was marginally more stable than previous versions but may not fly as far. This work may help improve the design of future sports equipment.

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FASER is born: New experiment will study particles that interact with dark matter

The newest experiment at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is now in place at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. FASER, or Forward Search Experiment, was approved by CERN's research board in March 2019. Now installed in the LHC tunnel, this experiment, which seeks to understand particles that scientists believe may interact with dark matter, is undergoing tests before data collection commences next year.

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Physicists find a novel way to switch antiferromagnetism on and off

When you save an image to your smartphone, those data are written onto tiny transistors that are electrically switched on or off in a pattern of "bits" to represent and encode that image. Most transistors today are made from silicon, an element that scientists have managed to switch at ever-smaller scales, enabling billions of bits, and therefore large libraries of images and other files, to be packed onto a single memory chip.

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Random close packing or jamming of spheres in a container

Scientists at the theoretical institutes, Chinese Academy of Science and Cybermedia Center at Osaka University performed extensive computer simulations to generate and examine random packing of spheres. They show that the "jamming" transition, in which a free-flowing material becomes stuck, occurs with universal features despite the diversity of their details. This work may shed light on the physics of amorphous materials and optimization problems in computer science which are intimately related to the mathematics of sphere packings.

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Researchers propose repurposing tabletop sensors to search for dark matter

Scientists are certain that dark matter exists. Yet, after more than 50 years of searching, they still have no direct evidence for the mysterious substance.

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Rapid rovers, speedy sands: Fast-tracking terrain interaction modeling

Granular materials, such as sand and gravel, are an interesting class of materials. They can display solid, liquid, and gas-like properties, depending on the scenario. But things can get complicated in cases of high-speed vehicle locomotion, which cause these materials to enter a "triple-phase" nature, acting like all three fundamental phases of matter at the same time.

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Searching for the supersymmetric bottom quark (and its friends)

When it comes to quarks, those of the third generation (the top and bottom) are certainly the most fascinating and intriguing. Metaphorically, we would classify their social life as quite secluded, as they do not mix much with their relatives of the first and second generation. However, as the proper aristocrats of the particle physics world, they enjoy privileged and intense interactions with the Higgs field; it is the intensity of this interaction that eventually determines things like the quantum stability of our universe. Their social life may also have a dark side, as they could be involved in interactions with dark matter.

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First detailed look at how charge transfer distorts a molecule's structure

When light hits certain molecules, it dislodges electrons that then move from one location to another, creating areas of positive and negative charge. This "charge transfer" is highly important in many areas of chemistry, in biological processes like photosynthesis and in technologies like semiconductor devices and solar cells.

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Circadian rhythm research could turn early birds into night owls

How body clocks work could lead to science that can turn an early bird into a night owl or vice versa as well as other advances, like helping crops grow all year long.

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Cellphone converts into powerful chemical detector

Scientists from Texas A&M have developed an extension to an ordinary cellphone that turns it into an instrument capable of detecting chemicals, drugs, biological molecules, and pathogens. The advance is reported in Reviews of Scientific Instruments.

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Physicists reveal how motion can be generated by frustration

When two people want different things, frustration is inevitable. But these non-reciprocal interactions can also occur not just between people, but in the natural world.

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1D model helps clarify implosion performance at NIF

In inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), a spherical shell of deuterium-tritium fuel is imploded in an attempt to reach the conditions needed for fusion, self-heating and eventual ignition. Since theory and simulations indicate that ignition efficacy in one-dimension (1D) improves with increasing imploded fuel convergence ratio, it is useful to understand the sensitivity of the scale-invariant fuel convergence on all measurable or inferable 1D parameters.

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