The superfluid Universe.
Quantum effects are not just subatomic: they can be expressed across galaxies, and solve the puzzle of dark matter.
Category: particle physics – Page 796
Less jitter, more bits: new material for detecting photons captures more quantum information
Transport Quantum bits via superconducting nanowires. Definite step forward in information transmittal capabilities.
Although 74 picoseconds may not sound like much — a picosecond is a trillionth of a second — it is a big deal in the quantum world, where light particles, or photons, can carry valuable information. In this case it means that much less “jitter,” or uncertainty in the arrival time of a photon. Less jitter means that photons can be spaced more closely together but still be correctly detected. This enables communications at a higher bit rate, with more information transmitted in the same period.
Every little bit helps when trying to receive faint signals reliably. It helped, for example, in NIST’s recent quantum teleportation record and difficult tests of physics theories. In such experiments, researchers want to decode as much information as possible from the quantum properties of billions of photons, or determine if “entangled” photons have properties that are linked before — or only after — being measured.
NIST has made many advances in photon detector designs. In the latest work, described in Optics Express, NIST researchers used an electron beam to pattern nanowires into a thin film made of a heat-tolerant ceramic superconductor, molybdenum silicide. The tiny boost in energy that occurs when a single photon hits is enough to make the nanowires briefly lose their superconducting capability and become normal conductors, signaling the event.
New Kind of Dark Matter Could Form ‘Dark Atoms’
Physicists have proposed a new kind of dark matter that might consist of dark protons and dark electrons that could form dark atoms, and build up dark matter disks around galaxies.
New acoustic-tweezer design allows for 3D bioprinting
Illustration of a particle (red sphere) trapped by the 3D trapping node created by two superimposed, orthogonal (at right angles), standing surface acoustic waves and induced acoustic streaming (credit: Carnegie Mellon University)
A team of researchers at three universities has developed a way to use “acoustic tweezers” (which use ultrasonic surface acoustic waves, or SAWs, to trap and manipulate micrometer-scale particles and biological cells — see “Acoustic tweezers manipulate cellular-scale objects with ultrasound “) to non-invasively pick up and move single cells in three mutually orthogonal axes of motion (three dimensions).
The new 3D acoustic tweezers can pick up single cells or entire cell assemblies and deliver them to desired locations to create 2D and 3D cell patterns, or print the cells into complex shapes — a promising new method for “3D bioprinting” in biological tissues, the researchers say in an open-access paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Nanotechnology in Manufacturing: The Future is Now (Part 1)
The burgeoning field of nanotechnology promises an indefinite range of capabilities in medicine, optics, communications, and other facets of applied science and engineering. On that front, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Atoms 2 Products program (A2P) is funding 10 companies, universities, and institutions to develop mass-manufacturing techniques and technologies for functional products made up of nanoscale constituents. The project demonstrates a mere slice of the contributions in the mass movement to make nanotechnology a part of our everyday lives.
The following gallery highlights the work of five DARPA-funded projects in the program. The slides describe an atomic calligraphy technique for 2D atomic printing, a manufacturing method for producing high-frequency “Nanolitz” wires, the construction of pop-up sensors for laparoscopy, and a conjunct effort to use micro-robotics to build the assemblers of nanodevices.
Biotechnology, synthetic biology keys to humans colonizing other planets
Over the last 12,000 years or so, human civilization has noticeably reshaped the Earth’s surface. But changes on our own planet will likely pale in comparison when humans settle on other celestial bodies. While many of the changes on Earth over the centuries have been related to food production, by way of agriculture, changes on other worlds will result, not only from the need for on-site production of food, but also for all other consumables, including air.
As vital as synthetic biology will be to the early piloted missions to Mars and voyages of exploration, it will become indispensable to establish a long-term human presence off-Earth, namely colonization. That’s because we’ve evolved over billions of years to thrive specifically in the environments provides by our home planet.
Our physiology is well-suited to Earth’s gravity and its oxygen-rich atmosphere. We also depend on Earth’s magnetic field to shield us from intense space radiation in the form of charged particles. In comparison, Mars currently has no magnetic field to trap particle radiation and an atmosphere that is so thin that any shielding against other types of space radiation is negligible compared with the protection that Earth’s atmosphere affords. At the Martian surface, atmospheric pressure never gets above 7 millibars. That’s like Earth at an altitude of about 27,000 m (89,000 ft), which is almost the edge of space. And it’s not like the moon is a better option for us since it has no atmosphere at all.
Solving hard quantum problems: Everything is connected
Researchers succeeded in calculating effects in ultra-cold atom clouds which can only be explained in terms of the quantum correlations between many atoms. Such atom clouds are known as Bose-Einstein condensates and are an active field of research.
Nuclear Fusion’s “Heat Loss” Problem May Have Been Solved
Scientists claim to have made yet another step towards the ultimate goal of achieving nuclear fusion, by partially solving an outstanding problem in the field: heat loss.
The research was led by scientists at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, in collaboration with the University of California at San Diego, General Atomics, and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
To make nuclear fusion work, atoms of deuterium need to be “stuck together” to form helium in a super-heated plasma at around 100 million degrees Celsius. Keeping the temperature this high is difficult, though, because turbulence stirs up the plasma, causing heat to dissipate – hence, heat loss.
Physicists Have Discovered Evidence Of A Gluino Particle, The Cousin Of The Higgs Boson
Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN have found evidence of a new particle called the gluino, which might be integral to the nature of our universe. (Photo : Mark Hillary | Flickr)
A team of scientists currently working at the Large Hadron Collier at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced that it has possibly discovered the existence of a particle integral to nature in a statement on Tuesday, Dec. 15, and again on Dec.16.
The two teams working in concert, named Atlas and CMS, presented their findings on the particle from the Large Hadron Collider’s second run (LHC Run 2). The results were based on what the scientists observed during the particle collisions. The previously-hypothesized particle, named the gluino, is theoretically the supersymmetric partner of the gluon (or glue particle, which is comprised entirely of nuclear force). This would mean that the gluino could be pair-produced by colliders like the LHC, and would more or less be described as a heavier version of the Higgs boson, a particle that essentially helps us understand why other particles contain mass and was identified at the LHC at CERN in 2012.
New worlds: Tapping particles of light
Interesting; no more rotten fruit. Researchers may actually found a new way to preserve perishable foods. Can you imagine the cost savings to consumers, plus being able to supply more people with fresh fruits and vegetables. World Bank and Health Organizations should be interested in this as well.
It does make me wonder how the research on life extension, etc. can learn from the findings of this experiment.
Researchers have managed to “pluck” a single photon – one particle of light – out of a pulse of light.”