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Feb 21, 2023

Researchers at CERN break “The Speed of Light”

Posted by in category: particle physics

Scientists said they recorded particles travelling faster than light – a finding that could overturn one of Einstein’s fundamental laws of the universe. Antonio Ereditato, spokesman for the international group of researchers, saidthat measurements taken over three years showed neutrinos pumped from CERN near Geneva to Gran Sasso in Italy had arrived 60 nanoseconds quicker than light would have done.

Feb 21, 2023

How the “black hole” optical illusion messes with your mind

Posted by in categories: cosmology, neuroscience

Researchers have created a new optical illusion that makes your brain try to predict the future — namely, entering a dark tunnel.

Feb 21, 2023

How False Positives Impact the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

Posted by in category: alien life

Double Jeopardy with False Positives? And how this Relates to the Search for Extraterrestrial Life.

Posted on Big Think, direct weblink at:


Posted on Big Think.

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Feb 21, 2023

Putin not backing down on Ukraine, insists West is at fault

Posted by in categories: geopolitics, military, nuclear weapons, treaties

Quote:

Putin also said that Russia would suspend its participation in a treaty aimed at keeping a lid on nuclear weapons expansion. The so-called New START Treaty was signed by Russia and the U.S. in 2010. It caps the number of long-range nuclear warheads they can deploy and limits the use of missiles that can carry atomic weapons.

Putin said Tuesday in a major address that Russia was not fully withdrawing from the treaty yet. He said Russia must stand ready to resume nuclear weapons tests if the US does so.

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Feb 21, 2023

6 Companies Developing Superconducting Qubits

Posted by in category: quantum physics

Out of numerous companies that have created quantum technology, these 6 are particularly known for their work in superconducting qubits.

Feb 21, 2023

Hackers Start Selling Data Center Logins for Some of World’s Largest Corporations

Posted by in category: computing

Such credentials in the wrong hands could be dangerous, experts say, potentially allowing physical access to data centers. The affected data center operators say the stolen information didn’t pose risks for customer IT systems.

Feb 21, 2023

Pass the NaCl: Scientists create new types of salt crystals that could exist on Europa

Posted by in categories: alien life, chemistry

A prime target in the search for extraterrestrial life is Europa, a moon of Jupiter that’s covered with a sheet of salty ice. But what kind of salt is there? Researchers say they’ve created a new kind of salt crystal that could fill the bill, and perhaps raise hopes for finding life under the ice.

This salt crystal is both exotic and common: It’s actually table salt — also known as sodium chloride, with the chemical formula NaCl — but bound up with water molecules to form a hydrate that doesn’t exist naturally on Earth.

Feb 21, 2023

Researchers at Purdue unlock light-matter interactions on sub-nanometer scales, leading to ‘picophotonics’

Posted by in categories: materials, quantum physics

Researchers at Purdue University have discovered new waves with picometer-scale spatial variations of electromagnetic fields which can propagate in semiconductors like silicon. The research team, led by Dr. Zubin Jacob, Elmore Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Department of Physics and Astronomy (courtesy) published their findings in APS Physics Review Applied in a paper titled, “Picophotonics: Anomalous Atomistic Waves in Silicon.”

“The word microscopic has its origins in the length scale of a micron which is a million times smaller than a meter. Our work is for light matter interaction within the picoscopic regime which is far smaller, where the discrete arrangement of atomic lattices changes light’s properties in surprising ways.” says Jacob.

These intriguing findings demonstrate that natural media host a variety of rich light-matter interaction phenomena at the atomistic level. The use of picophotonic waves in semiconducting materials may lead researchers to design new, functional optical devices, allowing for applications in quantum technologies.

Feb 21, 2023

Prolonged microgravity induces reversible and persistent changes on human cerebral connectivity

Posted by in category: neuroscience

Rs-fMRI is used to investigate human brain connectivity changes induced by prolonged microgravity in cosmonauts before and after spaceflight, with both persistent and reversible location specific changes in connectivity being observed.

Feb 21, 2023

Study shows that distinct pyramidal cell types drive different patterns of cortical activity during decision-making

Posted by in categories: genetics, neuroscience

The outer layer of the brain, known as the cortex, is made of different types of neurons. Neuroscience studies suggest that these different neuron types have distinct functions, yet for a long time this was difficult to ascertain, due to the inability to examine and manipulate them in the brains of living beings.

In recent years, opened new possibilities for studying cells and their functions. Using some of these techniques, researchers at Forschungszentrum Jülich, RWTH Aachen University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and other institutes in the United States closely examined the functions of different pyramidal cells, which are commonly found in the human cortex.

Their findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, suggest that distinct types of pyramidal cells drive patterns of cortical activity associated with different functions. The team’s study builds on some of their previous works focusing on in the cortex.