Atomic clocks are the most accurate timekeeping instruments we have. A new study proposes a way to use the instruments’ mind-blowing level of precision to detect the tiniest of energy fluctuations, potentially giving scientists a way to observe some types of dark matter.
Dark matter continues to prove elusive: though we haven’t observed it directly, we can see its effects on the Universe. Frustratingly, there is nothing in our current models of physics to explain what we see.
Here, researchers from the University of Sussex and the National Physical Laboratory in the UK have suggested using atomic clocks to detect certain low-mass particles theorized to potentially make up this mysterious material.
Getting glue to stick in dry conditions is relatively easy, but having it maintain a bond underwater is much more difficult. That said, a new bio-based glue not only works underwater, it actually gets stronger when immersed.
The nontoxic adhesive is being developed by Assoc. Prof. Gudrun Schmidt and colleagues at Indiana’s Purdue University. It’s made mainly of zein – which is a protein extracted from corn – and tannic acid, which is obtained from galls in oak tree bark.
When the glue is sandwiched between two objects which are subsequently placed underwater, a thin skin initially forms on it. That skin can be broken simply by piercing it with a finger or something similarly pokey. The surrounding water is then able to get into the glue, increasing its bond strength. Maximum bonding takes place at a water temperature of about 30 ºC (86 ºF).
Scientists have decoded the Y chromosome in full for the first time. | With the help of advanced algorithms and DNA sequencing techniques, scientists have decoded the Y chromosome in full for the first time.
From zero to 100 km/h in less than a second: a racing car built by students has broken the world record for electric vehicle acceleration, a Swiss university said Tuesday.
Students from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences designed and built the “Mythen” vehicle that achieved the feat, ETHZ said in a statement.
“Now, Guinness World Records has confirmed that Mythen broke the previous world acceleration record for electric vehicles,” it said.
DishBrain reveals how human neurons work together to process information. New research shows that when neurons are given information about the changing world around them (task-related sensory input) it changes how they behave, putting them on edge so that tiny inputs can then set off ‘avalanches’.
A small team of engineers at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, working with a colleague from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany, has found a way to create tiny artificial cilia that work at the microscale. Their study is reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Cilia are tiny appendages that microscopic organisms use to move through a fluid. Prior research has shown that they are efficient—some paramecia are able to move at a rate of 10 times their own length per second. Prior research has also shown that cilia also move fluid. In the human lung, they work to clear away mucus.
Because of their usefulness, scientists have been studying cilia looking for a way to replicate them for use in desired applications. Such efforts have until now been stymied by the problem of creating working cilia at the microscale. In this new effort, the researchers have overcome such problems and created the first artificial microscale working cilia.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — U.S. chief space operations Gen. Chance Saltzman on Sept. 12 announced the Space Force will experiment with a new command structure where a unit is responsible for all aspects of a mission area, including training, procurement and operations.
Two integrated units will be established, each run by a Space Force colonel — one for space electronic warfare; and the other for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellites.
This is a departure from the current structure where responsibilities for procurement, maintenance, sustainment and operations are fragmented under separate chains of command, Saltzman said in a keynote speech at the Air & Space Forces Association’s annual conference.
PARIS – Elon Musk’s SpaceX is no longer absorbing the cost of the Starlink antennas that it sells with its satellite internet service, a company executive said on Wednesday, a key step to the company improving its profitability.
“We were subsidizing terminals but we’ve been iterating on our terminal production so much that we’re no longer subsidizing terminals, which is a good place to be,” Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceX vice president of Starlink and commercial sales, said during a panel at the World Satellite Business Week conference.
SpaceX sells consumer Starlink antennas, also known as user terminals, for $599 each. For more demanding Starlink customers – such as mobile, maritime, or aviation users – SpaceX sells antennas with its service in a range from $2,500 to $150,000 each.
Defying conventional wisdom, scientists have discovered a novel coupling mechanism involving leaky mode, previously considered unsuitable for high-density integration in photonic circuits.
This surprising discovery paves the way for dense photonic integration, transforming the potential and scalability of photonic chips in areas such as optical computing quantum communication, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), optical metrology, and biochemical sensing.
In a recent Light Science & Application publication, Sangsik Kim, associate professor of electrical engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and his students at Texas Tech University demonstrated that an anisotropic leaky wave can achieve zero crosstalk between closely spaced identical waveguides using subwavelength grating (SWG) metamaterials.