Scientists release new map of all the matter in the universe

Sometimes to know what the matter is, you have to find it first.

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Predicting human group sizes with physics

Only by knowing the average number of friends each person has, scientists at Complexity Science Hub (CSH) were able to predict the group sizes of people in a computer game. For this purpose, they modeled the formation of social groups on an example from physics, namely the self-organization of particles with spin.

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Modulating magnetism in a Weyl semi-metal using current-assisted domain wall motion

Spintronic devices are emerging technologies that exploit the intrinsic spin of electrons to store and process data. These technologies have the potential to outperform conventional electronics both in terms of speed and energy-efficiency.

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Scientists observe 'quasiparticles' in classical systems for the first time

Starting with the emergence of quantum mechanics, the world of physics has been divided between classical and quantum physics. Classical physics deals with the motions of objects we typically see every day in the macroscopic world, while quantum physics explains the exotic behaviors of elementary particles in the microscopic world.

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Transistors repurposed as microchip 'clock' address supply chain weakness

Microchip fab plants in the United States can cram billions of data processing transistors onto a tiny silicon chip, but a critical device, in essence a "clock," to time the operation of those transistors must be made separately—creating a weak point in chip security and the supply line. A new approach uses commercial chip fab materials and techniques to fabricate specialized transistors that serve as the building block of this timing device, addressing the weak point and enabling new functionality through enhanced integration.

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Study demonstrates a new method to search for meV dark photons

Approximately 85% of the mass of our galaxy is comprised by dark matter, matter that does not emit, absorb or reflect light and thus cannot be directly observed. While several studies have hinted at or theorized about its composition, it remains one of the greatest unresolved physics problems.

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Excavation of massive underground caverns for Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment halfway complete

Deep below the surface in South Dakota, construction crews have been working tirelessly to carve out a network of caverns and tunnels that one day will house a huge neutrino experiment. Their efforts are paying off: With almost 400,000 tons of rock extracted from the earth, the excavation is now half complete.

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A new approach to solving the mystery of dark energy

What is behind dark energy—and what connects it to the cosmological constant introduced by Albert Einstein? Two physicists from the University of Luxembourg point the way to answering these open questions of physics.

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Transforming chaos into manufacturable forms with 3D printing

The further out in time, the more unreliable a weather forecast. That's because small variations in initial weather conditions can completely change the entire system, making it unpredictable. Put another way, in the "butterfly effect," an insect can flap its wings and create a microscopic change in initial conditions that leads to a hurricane halfway around the world.

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Researchers derive a unified topological speed limit for the evolution of physical states

Physical systems evolve at a particular speed, which depends on various factors including the system's so-called topological structure (i.e., spatial properties that are preserved over time despite any physical changes that occur). Existing methods for determining the speed at which physical systems change over time, however, do not account for these structural properties.

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How a 3-centimeter glass sphere could help scientists understand space weather

Solar flares and other types of space weather can wreak havoc with spaceflight and with telecommunications and other types of satellites orbiting Earth. But to date, scientists' ability to research ways to overcome that challenge has been severely limited. That's because experiments they conduct in laboratories here on Earth are affected by gravity in ways that are quite different from conditions in space.

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Ripples in fabric of universe may reveal start of time

Scientists have advanced in discovering how to use ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves to peer back to the beginning of everything we know. The researchers say they can better understand the state of the cosmos shortly after the Big Bang by learning how these ripples in the fabric of the universe flow through planets and the gas between the galaxies.

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Physicists demonstrate that coating bubbles with protein results in a highly stable contrast agent for medical use

Inspired by the bubbles bacteria create inside their cells, researchers developed a similar system by coating tiny gas vesicles with protein. The resulting bubbles are safe, highly stable, and function as contrast agent in medical applications. They could be used to diagnose, for example, cardiological issues, blood flow, and liver lesions.

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Researchers demonstrate co-propagation of quantum and classical signals

In a new study, researchers from Orange and Toshiba Europe show that a quantum data channel and classical optical signals can both propagate in the same fiber for several tens of kilometers with a low error rate. The new approach could reduce the cost of implementing quantum key distribution (QKD) for secure data transmission by allowing QKD to be used in already deployed networks.

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Active matter theory explains fire-ant group behavior

Ants are social insects and the Solenopsis invicta species—known as the fire ant—is no exception. The social interactions of this invasive insect, which comes from South America, are framed within the context of the theory of active matter, which would explain the ants' group behavior as a reaction to the intrinsic mechanisms in the system. This is one of the conclusions of the article published in the journal Science Advances by researchers Alberto Fernández-Nieves and Caleb Anderson, from the Faculty of Physics of the UB, and Guillermo Goldsztein, from the Georgia Institute of Technology (United States).

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Data reveal a surprising preference in particle spin alignment

Given the choice of three different "spin" orientations, certain particles emerging from collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), an atom smasher at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, appear to have a preference. As described in a paper just published in Nature by RHIC's STAR collaboration, the results reveal a preference in global spin alignment of particles called phi mesons. Conventional mechanisms—such as the magnetic field strength or the swirliness of the matter generated in the particle collisions—cannot explain the data. But a new model that includes local fluctuations in the nuclear strong force can.

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Nobel-winning Swiss physicist Muller dies at 95

Swiss physicist Karl Alex Muller, who won the Nobel Physics Prize in 1987 along with his German colleague Georg Bednorz for their discovery of the first high-temperature superconductor, has died.

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How to shelter from a nuclear explosion

There is no good place to be when a nuclear bomb goes off. Anything too close is instantly vaporized, and radiation can pose a serious health threat even at a distance. In between, there is another danger: the blast wave generated by the explosion, which can produce airspeeds strong enough to lift people into the air and cause serious injury.

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Measuring electrons from magnetically driven reconnection using lasers and aluminum foil

A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in China, working at the Shanghai National Laboratory of High-Power Laser Physics, has conducted measurements of accelerating electrons from a magnetically driven reconnection using lasers and aluminum foil. In their paper published in the journal Nature Physics, the group describes how their work could help better understand solar flares.

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Leonardo da Vinci's paradox on the periodic motion of bubbles cracked

Prof. Miguel Ángel Herrada, from the University of Seville, and Prof. Jens G. Eggers, from the University of Bristol, have discovered a mechanism to explain the unstable movement of bubbles rising in water. According to the researchers, the results, which are published in the journal PNAS, may be useful to understand the motion of particles whose behavior is intermediate between a solid and a gas.

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Deflecting lightning with a laser lightning rod

Forest fires, power cuts and damaged infrastructure…lightning fascinates and destroys in equal measure, causing as many as 24,000 deaths a year worldwide not to mention widespread destruction. Even today, the lightning rod invented by Benjamin Franklin is the best form of protection. And yet, these rods do not always provide optimal protection for sensitive sites.

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A tool to detect higher-order phenomena in real-world data

EPFL researchers have developed a novel approach to network analysis that allows them to reveal and interpret, for the first time, interactions among multiple variables in data from neuroscience, economics, and epidemiology.

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Nuclear reactor experiment rules out one dark matter hope

It was an anomaly detected in the storm of a nuclear reactor so puzzling that physicists hoped it would shine a light on dark matter, one of the universe's greatest mysteries.

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Laser-controlled synthetic microswimmers show swarm intelligence can be caused by physical mechanisms

Seemingly spontaneously coordinated swarm behavior exhibited by large groups of animals is a fascinating and striking collective phenomenon. Experiments conducted by researchers at Leipzig University on laser-controlled synthetic microswimmers now show that supposed swarm intelligence can sometimes also be the result of simple and generic physical mechanisms.

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How a rotating universe makes time travel possible

It turns out that time travel into the past is actually relatively easy. All you need to do is make the universe rotate.

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Visualizing a complex electron wavefunction using high-resolution attosecond technology

The early 20th century saw the advent of quantum mechanics to describe the properties of small particles, such as electrons or atoms. Schrödinger's equation in quantum mechanics can successfully predict the electronic structure of atoms or molecules. However, the "duality" of matter, referring to the dual "particle" and "wave" nature of electrons, remained a controversial issue. Physicists use a complex wavefunction to represent the wave nature of an electron.

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Physicists find that organelles grow in random bursts

Eukaryotic cells—the ones that make up most life as we know it, including all animals, plants and fungi—are highly structured objects.

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International fusion energy project faces delays, says chief

An international project in nuclear fusion may face "years" of delays, its boss has told AFP, weeks after scientists in the United States announced a breakthrough in their own quest for the coveted goal.

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Physicists confirm effective wave growth theory in space

A team from Nagoya University in Japan has observed, for the first time, the energy transferring from resonant electrons to whistler-mode waves in space. Their findings offer direct evidence of previously theorized efficient growth, as predicted by the non-linear growth theory of waves. This should improve our understanding of not only space plasma physics but also space weather, a phenomenon that affects satellites.

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New type of entanglement lets scientists 'see' inside nuclei

Nuclear physicists have found a new way to use the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC)—a particle collider at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory—to see the shape and details inside atomic nuclei. The method relies on particles of light that surround gold ions as they speed around the collider and a new type of quantum entanglement that's never been seen before.

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Skimming stones? Try a heavier, curvier rock, scientists say

Want to make an impression the next time you're trying to skim a stone off water? Ignore the usual thin, flat candidates and try a fatter, curvier rock to get the biggest possible bounce, scientists said Wednesday.

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Scientists develop a cool new method of refrigeration

Adding salt to a road before a winter storm changes when ice will form. Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have applied this basic concept to develop a new method of heating and cooling. The technique, which they have named "ionocaloric cooling," is described in a paper published Dec. 23 in the journal Science.

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