Menu

Blog

Page 3

Oct 7, 2024

Invisibility cloaks? Wave Scattering Simulation Unlocks Potential for Advanced Metamaterials

Posted by in categories: materials, particle physics

New software simulates complex wave scattering for metamaterial design. Could invisibility cloaks become a reality? New research brings this science fiction concept a step closer, with a breakthrough software package that simulates how waves interact with complex materials.

A new software package developed by researchers at Macquarie University can accurately model the way waves — sound, water or light — are scattered when they meet complex configurations of particles.

This will vastly improve the ability to rapidly design metamaterials — exciting artificial materials used to amplify, block or deflect waves.

Oct 7, 2024

It’s Just an Anomaly: New Study Challenges Decades-Old Theory of Rapid Evolution

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, evolution, existential risks

For decades, researchers have noticed that the pace of evolution tends to speed up over shorter time frames, such as five million years compared to fifty million years. This general trend indicates that “younger” groups of organisms, in evolutionary terms, tend to exhibit higher rates of speciation, extinction, and body size evolution, among other differences from older groups.

Evolutionary processes appear to operate at different time scales, perhaps necessitating the need for a new theory linking microevolution and macroevolution. The larger question has tantalized scientists: why?

There are plausible explanations. A new species may inhabit a new island chain, allowing for more variation as it spreads into new niches. An asteroid may hit the earth, increasing extinction rates. Perhaps species evolve to an “optimal” trait value and then plateau.

Oct 7, 2024

Aging slowdown could be surprise benefit of existing medication, research shows

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension

A drug used to prevent organ rejection in kidney transplant patients is being touted for potentially slowing down aging. Experts comment on the potential benefits and the need for more research.

Oct 7, 2024

Evidence of Antineutrinos from Distant Reactors Using Pure Water at SNO+

Posted by in categories: nuclear energy, particle physics

Researchers have captured the signal of neutrinos from a nuclear reactor using a water-filled neutrino detector, a first for such a device.

Oct 7, 2024

WATCH LIVE: The winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics is … | PBS News

Posted by in category: physics

The recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics will be announced Tuesday, Oct. 8.

The winner will be announced no earlier than 5:30 a.m. EDT. Watch the event live in the player above.

Three researchers won the honor last year for making advances in the field of studying electrons. The prize went to French-Swedish physicist Anne L’Huillier, French scientist Pierre Agostini and Hungarian-born Ferenc Krausz, who used attosecond-long flashes of light to illuminate molecules and provide brief glimpses of how fast-moving electrons travel.

Oct 7, 2024

Simple Shift could make Low Earth Orbit Satellites High Capacity

Posted by in category: satellites

Researchers have invented a technique that enables low Earth orbit satellite antennas to manage signals for multiple users at once, slashing costs and simplifying designs for communication satellites.

Low-orbit satellites could soon offer millions of people worldwide access to high-speed communications, but the satellites’ potential has been stymied by a technological limitation – their antenna arrays can only manage one user at a time.

The one-to-one ratio means that companies must launch either constellations of many satellites, or large individual satellites with many arrays, to provide wide coverage. Both options are expensive, technically complex, and could lead to overcrowded orbits.

Oct 7, 2024

Tiny Black Holes Could Lurk Inside Asteroids, Moons, or Even Planets Like Ours

Posted by in category: cosmology

Here’s what to look for.

Oct 7, 2024

Astronauts Reveal Dazzling Red Sprites: Stunning Phenomena Captured From Space Station [Video]

Posted by in categories: climatology, space

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/153422/sprites-camera-action.

An astronaut on the International Space Station captured a red sprite over North America, a rare atmospheric phenomenon associated with powerful lightning.

Continue reading “Astronauts Reveal Dazzling Red Sprites: Stunning Phenomena Captured From Space Station [Video]” »

Oct 7, 2024

Transforming seaweeds into raw materials for aviation fuel and pharmaceuticals

Posted by in categories: chemistry, energy, engineering, transportation

A new technology has been developed to convert common seaweeds such as Kkosiraegi, which are often used in cooking, into high-quality sources for both bio-aviation fuels and energy storage devices. The results were published in the Chemical Engineering Journal.

Oct 7, 2024

Large radio bubble detected in galaxy NGC 4217

Posted by in category: space

An international team of astronomers has performed radio observations of a star-forming galaxy known as NGC 4217. The observational campaign detected a large radio bubble in the galaxy’s halo. The finding was reported in a paper published September 23 on the pre-print server arXiv.

Page 3 of 11,80712345678Last