Philippe Matthews Show Guru Advice, Author Reviews, Tech Reviews, Entertainment News

(PhysOrg.com) -- What does a proton look like? The common answer to this question is that protons are much too small to scatter light, and since light is necessary for us to see things, protons do not “look” like anything. But in a new study, physicists have gathered sufficient evidence to show that, at least at very high energies, the proton is a black disk – sort of an elongated hockey puck.

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new X-ray movie technique using extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulses from Artemis (link opens in a new window), one of the world's most advanced lasers, could help unravel the mysteries of phenomena such as magnetism or high-temperature superconductivity. The results are published in the latest edition of Physical Review Letters.

A sort of Holy Grail for physicists and information scientists is the quantum computer. Such a computer, operating on the highly complex principles of quantum mechanics, would be capable of performing specific calculations with capabilities far beyond even the most advanced modern supercomputers. It could be used for breaking computer security codes as well as for incredibly detailed, data-heavy simulations of quantum systems.

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a step toward taking the most advanced atomic clocks on the road, physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have designed and demonstrated a super-stable laser operating in a cramped, vibrating location—a minivan.