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Archive for the ‘particle physics’ category: Page 358

Jan 15, 2019

CERN Unveils Design for 62-Mile-Round Atom Smasher More Powerful Than the Large Hadron Collider

Posted by in categories: futurism, particle physics

A scientific collaboration has released a concept design for the Large Hadron Collider’s successor, an enormous new experiment that would sit inside a hundred-kilometer (62-mile) tunnel.

The design concept plans for two Future Circular Colliders, the first which would begin operation perhaps in 2040. The ambitious experiments would hunt for new particles with collision energies 10 times higher than those created by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The concept design is the first big milestone achieved by the scientific collaboration.

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Jan 12, 2019

Why Physicists Are Hunting the Strangest of the Ghost Particles

Posted by in category: particle physics

These tiny subatomic particles, showering down from the depths of space, continue to surprise (and annoy) physicists chasing them.

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Jan 10, 2019

3D Atomic Quantum Chips and Advance to Eventual Large Scale Quantum Tech

Posted by in categories: computing, particle physics, quantum physics

Australia’s New South Wales scientists have adapted single atom technology to build 3D silicon quantum chips – with precise interlayer alignment and highly accurate measurement of spin states. The 3D architecture is considered a major step in the development of a blueprint to build a large-scale quantum computer.

They aligned the different layers in their 3D device with nanometer precision – and showed they could read out qubit states with what’s called ‘single shot’, i.e. within one single measurement, with very high fidelity.

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Jan 10, 2019

There’s a glitch at the edge of the universe that could remake physics

Posted by in categories: biological, chemistry, particle physics

One mysterious number determines how physics, chemistry and biology work. But controversial experimental hints suggest it’s not one number at all.

By Michael Brooks

IT IS a well-kept secret, but we know the answer to life, the universe and everything. It’s not 42 – it’s 1/137.

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Jan 8, 2019

Your Brain Isn’t a Computer — It’s a Quantum Field

Posted by in categories: computing, neuroscience, particle physics, quantum physics

While our choices and beliefs don’t often make sense or fit a pattern on a macro level, at a “quantum” level, they can be predicted with surprising accuracy.


The irrationality of how we think has long plagued psychology. When someone asks us how we are, we usually respond with “fine” or “good.” But if someone followed up about a specific event — “How did you feel about the big meeting with your boss today?” — suddenly, we refine our “good” or “fine” responses on a spectrum from awful to excellent.

In less than a few sentences, we can contradict ourselves: We’re “good” but feel awful about how the meeting went. How then could we be “good” overall? Bias, experience, knowledge, and context all consciously and unconsciously form a confluence that drives every decision we make and emotion we express. Human behavior is not easy to anticipate, and probability theory often fails in its predictions of it.

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Jan 8, 2019

A weird type of zirconium soaks up neutrons like a sponge

Posted by in category: particle physics

When radiochemist Jennifer Shusterman and her colleagues got the first results of their experiment, no one expected what they saw: Atoms of a weird version of the element #zirconium had enthusiastically absorbed neutrons.


Zirconium-88 captures neutrons with extreme efficiency, and scientists don’t yet know why.

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Jan 8, 2019

‘Flipped’ metal oxide cage can sort CO2 from CO

Posted by in categories: particle physics, space, sustainability

How do you separate carbon dioxide from carbon monoxide? One way, showcased by a new study from Kanazawa University, is to use a bowl of vanadium. More precisely, a hollow, spherical cluster of vanadate molecules can discriminate between CO and CO2, allowing potential uses in CO2 storage and capture.

At the molecular scale, small objects can fit inside larger ones, just like in the everyday world. The resulting arrangements, known as host-guest interactions, are stabilized by non-covalent forces like electrostatics and hydrogen bonds. Each host will happily take in certain molecules, while shutting out others, depending on the size of its entrance and how much interior space it can offer the guest.

Anion Structures of CH2Cl2(Guest)-Inserted V12 and Guest-Free V12

Anion structures of CH2 Cl2 (guest)-inserted V12 (left) and guest-free V12 are shown. Orange and red square pyramids represent VO 5 units with their bases directed to the center of the bowl, and the inverted VO 5 unit. Green and black spheres represent Cl and C, respectively. Hydrogen atoms of CH2 Cl2 are omitted for clarity. (Image: Kanazawa University)

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Jan 7, 2019

Toward unhackable communication: Single particles of light could bring the ‘quantum internet’

Posted by in categories: government, internet, particle physics, quantum physics

Hacker attacks on everything from social media accounts to government files could be largely prevented by the advent of quantum communication, which would use particles of light called “photons” to secure information rather than a crackable code.


Using light to send information is a game of probability: Transmitting one bit of information can take multiple attempts. The more photons a light source can generate per second, the faster the rate of successful information transmission.

“A source might generate a lot of photons per second, but only a few of them may actually be used to transmit information, which strongly limits the speed of quantum communication,” Bogdanov said.

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Jan 7, 2019

Novel fiber-optic device lays foundation for quantum-enhanced measurements

Posted by in categories: particle physics, quantum physics

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed and tested a new #Interferometer


January 3, 2019 — By analyzing a pattern formed by the intersection of two beams of light, researchers can capture elusive details regarding the behavior of mysterious phenomena such as gravitational waves. Creating and precisely measuring these interference patterns would not be possible without instruments called interferometers.

For over three decades, scientists have attempted to improve the sensitivity of interferometers to better detect how the number of photons—particles that make up visible light and other forms of electromagnetic energy—leads to changes in light phases. Attempts to achieve this goal are often hampered by optical loss and noise, both of which can decrease the accuracy of interferometer measurements.

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Jan 7, 2019

Powerful X-ray beams unlock secrets of nanoscale crystal formation

Posted by in categories: nanotechnology, particle physics

High-energy X-ray beams and a clever experimental setup allowed researchers to watch a high-pressure, high-temperature chemical reaction to determine for the first time what controls formation of two different nanoscale crystalline structures in the metal cobalt. The technique allowed continuous study of cobalt nanoparticles as they grew from clusters including tens of atoms to crystals as large as five nanometers.

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