(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists at UCLA set out to design a better transistor and ended up discovering a new way to think about the structure of space.
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Berkeley researchers find enhanced and controllable magnetization in unique bismuth ferrite films.
Read More »Simulating tomorrow’s accelerators at near the speed of light
(PhysOrg.com) -- As conventional accelerators like CERN's Large Hadron Collider grow ever more vast and expensive, the best hope for the high-energy machines of the future may lie in "tabletop" accelerators like BELLA (the Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator), now being built by the LOASIS program at the U.S. Department of Energys Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)
Read More »Physicists investigate lower dimensions of the universe
(PhysOrg.com) -- Several speculative theories in physics involve extra dimensions beyond our well-known four (which are broken down into three dimensions of space and one of time). Some theories have suggested 5, 10, 26, or more, with the extra spatial dimensions "hiding" within our observable three dimensions. One thing that all of these extra dimensions have in common is that none has ever been experimentally detected; they are all mathematical predictions.
Read More »An icy gaze into the Big Bang
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists of the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Innsbruck, Austria, have reached a milestone in the exploration of quantum gas mixtures. In an international first, the research group led by Rudolf Grimm and Florian Schreck has succeeded in producing controlled strong interactions between two fermionic elements - lithium-6 and potassium-40.
Read More »Tiny ‘on-chip detectors’ count individual photons
A team of researchers has integrated tiny detectors capable of counting individual photons on computer chips. These detectors, called "single-photon avalanche diodes (SPAD)," act like mini Geiger counters, producing a "tick" each time a photon is detected.
Read More »Physicists move closer to efficient single-photon sources
A team of physicists in the United Kingdom has taken a giant step toward realizing efficient single-photon sources, which are expected to enable much-coveted completely secure optical communications, also known as "quantum cryptography." The team presents its findings in Applied Physics Letters, a journal published by the American Institute of Physics.
Read More »Breaking the mucus barrier unveils cancer cell secrets
Measuring the mechanical strength of cancer cell mucus layers provides clues about better ways to treat cancer, and also suggests why some cancer cells are more resistant to drugs than others, according to Kai-tak Wan, associate professor of engineering at Northeastern University, Boston, Mass.
Read More »Large Hadron Collider could be world’s first time machine
If the latest theory of Tom Weiler and Chui Man Ho is right, the Large Hadron Collider the world's largest atom smasher that started regular operation last year could be the first machine capable causing matter to travel backwards in time.
Read More »Tying the knot with computer-generated holograms: Winding optical path moves matter
In the latest twist on optical knots, New York University physicists have discovered a new method to create extended and knotted optical traps in three dimensions.
Read More »Silicon spin transistors heat up and spins last longer
(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Utah researchers built "spintronic" transistors and used them to align the magnetic "spins" of electrons for a record period of time in silicon chips at room temperature. The study is a step toward computers, phones and other spintronic devices that are faster and use less energy than their electronic counterparts.
Read More »Trapping a rainbow: Researchers slow broadband light waves with nanoplasmonic structures
A team of electrical engineers and chemists at Lehigh University have experimentally verified the "rainbow" trapping effect, demonstrating that plasmonic structures can slow down light waves over a broad range of wavelengths.
Read More »Mini disks for data storage: Slanted edges favor tiny magnetic vortices
Slanted exterior edges on tiny magnetic disks could lead to a breakthrough in data processing. Materials researchers of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Germany, were able to create magnetic vortices with a diameter of only one third of a thousandth of a millimeter - structures which were impossible in the past.
Read More »Book illuminates life, legacy of physicist Feynman
From childhood sweetheart to quantum electrodynamics, the life and scientific contributions of the legendary Richard Feynman, a physicist of mythic hero status, are given a new and stimulating perspective in a book by Arizona State University professor Lawrence M. Krauss.
Read More »Using quantum methods to read classical memories offers surprising advantages
(PhysOrg.com) -- Currently, the data stored in classical digital memories such as CDs, DVDs, and barcodes is read by classical light. But as a new study shows, using quantum light to read these classical memories can bring surprising advantages. Quantum light can read digital data using very few photons, an ability that could lead to faster digital readers and optical memories with larger storage capacities than before.
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