Portal:Physics/News/Archive

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This is an archive of entries that have appeared on Portal:Physics/News.

2014

2013

• August 6, 2013. At the end of July,
  President Obama announced his intention to nominate France A. Córdova to be the Director of the National Science Foundation. Please see: ScienceInsider. Also, she "Explains Why She Said Yes
  " during an interview with ScienceInsider.

• August 6, 2013. The Turkish government clashes with scholars, students, and the Turkish Science Academy. - ScienceInsider and Chemistry World

• August 5, 2013. Latest CERN news from the CERN press office. CERN is "the world's largest particle physics laboratory" --Wikipedia, CERN.

• August 4, 2013. The "2013 Europhysics conference on
  High Energy Physics is a biennial conference, since 1971. The conferences in this series usually attracts 600-700 participants and is one of the worlds largest conferences in its field". Please see: The 2013 European Physical Society Conference on High Energy Physics
  .

• August 4, 2013. Stringent CERN tests further validate the Standard Model of Particle physics. Discovery magazine online, CERN press summary.

• August 1, 2013. Research on
  conductor materials for technologies such as flexible electronics and related technologies.Nature Letters

• July 31, 2013. The political will emerges for a revival of science in Pakistan. Nature News.

• July 30, 2013. 'Laboratory Astrophysics’ began to officially emerge from
  scientific discipline in late 2012. Nature News

• July 25, 2013. NASA's IRIS Telescope, designed to provide detailed studies of the sun's chromosphere, has initially provided scientists with unprecedented detail of the lowest parts of the sun's atmosphere, known as the interface region. It's first images have been released. NASA IRIS site, Nature News.

• April 12, 2013. This week Nature News covers the investigation of silenced Canadian scientists, the addition of female EU scientists, a new editor for the well known scientific journal Science, and other science news. Nature News.

• April 12, 2013. Real-time detection of
  influenza A virus using semiconductor nanophotonics. Light Sci Appl Research Summary
  . Nature Publishing Group.

• April 10, 2013. Data shows that Saturn's ionosphere is flooded by rainwater transferred from Saturn's rings. Nature (Letter)

• April 10, 2013. "Germany hopes to generate at least 35% of its electricity from green sources by 2020; by 2050, the share is expected to surpass 80%." Nature News feature

• April 3, 2013. Space Station experiment shows that "something in the Galaxy is spewing out many more
  astrophysical sources". Nature News

• March 2, 2013. For the first time since the Apollo program, astronauts will fly beyond Earth orbit sometime next year. See NASA News.

• March 2, 2013. All about NASA's Mars Science Laboratory with the newest rover. See the Latest News from NASA.

• February 28, 2013. A third
  Van Allen Belt has been discovered by NASA probes. See Nature News and NASA News
  for details.

• February 27, 2013. "A tireless advocate for science" - Norman Augustine. Nature News.

2012

• October 6, 2012. Technology seedlings (investment dollars) from agencies such as the
  entrepreneurial startups in the private sector. New York Times
  .

• October 4, 2012.
  start-up companies appears to be slowing. New York Times
  .

• October 3, 2012.
  Caltech and Caltech's temporary acting President from 1977-1978. New York Times

• October 2, 2012. A planned winter crossing of Antarctica can can generate useful research data as an analogue for exploring aspects of the Mars environment. New York Times.

• July 12, 2012. Discovery of Pluto's fifth moon. Astronomers announce the discovery of
  Hubble Telescope. "The newfound moon and its kin may be remnants of an ancient smashup." -- Nature News

• July 4, 2012. Two experiments at the Large Hadron Collider point to a new but highly anticipated boson and it behaves like the sought after Standard Model Higgs boson. Such a quick final outcome was unexpected because CERN has been in operation for only two years and operating at only half-power. According to CERN a "one sigma means the results could be random fluctuations in the data, 3 sigma counts as an observation and a 5-sigma result is a discovery." Also, a 5 sigma measurement means a 99.9999 certainty.

Hence, at

125 GeV we’re seeing is dramatic. This is indeed a new particle. We know it must be a boson and it’s the heaviest boson ever found. The implications are very significant and it is precisely for this reason that we must be extremely diligent in all of our studies and cross-checks." According to CERN positive identification of the new particle’s characteristics will take considerable time and data. CERN website, CERN press release, and New York Times article

• July 19, 2012. Effective writing is important for
  medical careers. Science Careers Blog
  . AAAS Science.

• July 9, 2012. Some implications of at last finding the Higgs Boson. Science section. The New York Times.

• June 29, 2012. The European Union funds the Extreme Light Infrastructure in Eastern Europe, and "will be a hub for fundamental and applied research — laser and particle accelerator engineering, biology and medicine, X-ray and gamma-ray imaging — as well as a promoter of technology transfer." Nature Physics

• June 29, 2012. Japan's operational nuclear reactors are set to go online despite large scale protests and warnings from scientists. Nature News

• April 7, 2012. Physicist crash
  electrons to find a heavy or dark photon and clues to help describe dark matter. Nature News

• April 6, 2012. "Scientists must find ways to improve academic efficiency if they are to keep their independence." Nature News

• April 5, 2012. "Explosive magnetic activity" on
  magnetic storms. Nature News

• April 2, 2012. Suprluminal neutrino experiment errors are discussed and project leaders step down. Nature News

• March 16, 2012. The
  apparent superluminal neutrino speeds. Nature News
  .

• January 11, 2012. The
  Worldwide LHC Computing Grid processes ATLAS data by sending chunks of data to universities and labs all around the world. ATLAS experiment blog
  .

• January 10, 2012.
  space-time. Nature News
  .

• January 04, 2012. The
  Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey presents its initial findings after completing half its survey pertaining to the influence of dark energy. Nature News
  .

• January 04, 2012. U.S. federal support for science favors prestigious basic research over science applied to the public's well being. Nature News.

2011

• November 30, 2011. €80-billion European Commission plan for research raises the level of funding in some areas. Nature News.
• November 29, 2011. Funding problems for fusion-energy test reactor and the
  Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme. Nature News
  .
• September 26, 2011. Fermilab
  high energy physics experiment to cease on September 30^th because of CERN and funding constraints. Fermilab will transition to "investigation of rare interactions involving known particles
  ". Nature News.
• September 24, 2011. Texas desires to close low performing physics programs. Nature News.
• September 23, 2011. Important exoplanet's existence questioned. Nature News. See also: Fomalhaut b
• September 23, 2011. Neutrinos seem to be moving faster than light. Nature News.
• September 21, 2011. "Basic research funded by the Pentagon is facing an uncertain future", and Beyond the bomb Nature News.
• September 19, 2011. New exoplanets announced at conference. Nature News.
• September 2011. Autonomous Military Robotics: Risk, Ethics, and Design. Lin, Patrick ; Bekey, George ; Abney, Keith. (2008).
  California Polytechnic State University
  .
• September, 2011. Brief biography. F. E. low

  Coming of Age as a Physicist in Post-War America. MIT Physics Annual. 2001.

• September 2011. Murray Gell-Mann in the early 1960's and the Quark Model by George Zweig. Caltech. 2010.
• September 2011. An overview of Quantum chromodynamics (QCD)'\. MIT Physics Annual. 2001.

• July 8, 2011. Calculations show that quarks existed independently during a fraction of second after the big bang (at 2 trillion Kelvin). Physics World. Derived from AAAS Science v. 332. p. 1525. and free PDF version.

  Also see Wikipedia article Quark–gluon plasma.

• July 7, 2011. Neptune completes first 165 year orbit since discovery and the precise length of its day is determined. Nature News.
• July 2, 2011 Nanoscale mechanical tests give accurate values of strengths for testing nuclear materials.
• June 8, 2011. Soyuz TMA-02M (mission insignia pictured) is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying a three-person crew to the International Space Station.

• June 8, 2011. An
  ununhexium
• June 2, 2011. NIST updates recommended values of physical constants to the 2010 CODATA recommended values. Fundamental Physical Constants from NIST NIST - Version history of the fundamental constants database
• May 26, 2011. Obstacles hinder the development and commercialization of novel carbon materials such as
  carbon nanotubes and graphene. Reported in Nature here and Nature News here
• May 25, 2011. To date the most accurate measurement of the shape of the electron reveals that it is almost a perfect sphere. This appears to be applicable to the study of
  anitmatter
  . Sciencedaily. Science News section.
• May 21, 2011. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) is a particle physics experiment that is mounted on the International Space Station. It was carried to the space station by the Space Shuttle Endeavour on May 16, 2011, and installed on May 19, 2011. Johnson Space Center, NASA, AMS-02 home page.
• May 19, 2011. The mechanics of the recent, magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan are covered by three research papers in the prestigious journal Science, along with the journal's News Focus section. These are avialble to the public free of charge at: AAAS Science magazine. The Tohoku-Oki Earthquake.
• May 16, 2011. Intel to mass-produce unconventional 3D transistors. Nature News.
• May 16, 2011. Update on White House deadline for scientific integrity policies. Nature News.
• May 16, 2011. Applying
  nonequilibrium statistical physics for predicting climate change
  . American Physical Society ---Trends
• May 12, 2011. Utilizing unusual type of grain boundary in graphene. "American Physical Society ---Synopses"
• March 21, 2011. China's science funding and science management system may be modified. --- Nature News.
• March 15, 2011. NSF and other federal agencies to start cutting physics programmes, which results in laying off staff, and shutting research facilities. --- Nature News.

• Recommendations for planning the procurment of energy critical elements for the U.S. --- American Physical Society.
• Inverse Doppler effect observed at optical frequencies (for the first time). --- Physics world. March 10, 2011.
• March 8, 2011 Simon van der Meer, a nobel laureate, passes at age 85. Physics World.

• March 17, 2011. Successful insertion of the Messenger probe into orbit around the planet Mercury. --- NASA Mission News. *Tevatron is scheduled to shut down in September 2011. --- New York Times. 2011.
• March 8, 2011 US scientists in budget limbo. "Researchers face anxious wait as negotiations continue in Congress over 2011 budget." Nature News.
• Feb 11, 2011. Logical processing and programming are combined in a single structure, which may surpass the need to develop separate circuits. --- physics world.com. --- See also Spintronics.
• February 3, 2011. Updates on practical spacecraft powered by solar sails. Nature News.
• February 3, 2011. Amidst political turmoil, the mid-east
  SESAME) needs an extra US $35 million. ---Nature News
  .
• February 01, 2011. A
  superfluid. Nature News

• Scientists confer to redefine the
  SI units). Nature News
  . January 28, 2011.

• The Large Hadron Collider search for the Higgs boson is extended for one more year, before being shut-off for upgrades. Nature news Dec 10, 2010
• New research indicates that the Universe does not cycle for eternity. Nature news. Dec 10, 2010.
• Exoplanets reveal new questions for planet formation theories---Nature news. 8 Dec, 2010.
• New information on dark energy---Physics World. Nov 25, 2010.
• Bose–Einstein condensate created from photons (light). Physics World 24 Nov, 2010
• Unobserved
  fission reactors may be detectable with neutrinos. Physics World
  . 24 Nov, 2010
• ESA
  ESA probes will now operate until at least 2014. Physics World
  . 23 Nov, 2010
• Plasmonic sensor detects viruses, making earlier detection possible. Physics World 22 Nov, 2010
• Penrose claims to have glimpsed universe before Big Bang. Physics World. 19 Nov, 2010
• New theories posulate that
  black holes. See: Cosmic blasts hint at inner magnetars. Nature News. Nov. 3, 2010; and Magnestars
  . Scientific American. 2003.
• Science in the city. Nature news. Oct. 20, 2010.
• UK science avoids deep spending cuts. Nature News. Oct. 20, 2010.
• UK's plan for science funding may be faulty, and affect international competitiveness. Nature News. Oct. 27, 2010.
• "Top 75 science producing clusters in the world from 2006 to 2008 generated some 57% of the research; 3.9 million papers." Nature News. Oct. 20, 2010.
• holographic interferometer to measure inherent spacetime noise. PhysOrg.com, and Symmetry Magazine
  October 28, 2010.
• The research of physicist Nergis Mavalvala links quantum mechanics with gravitational waves. John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. October 3, 2010
• Andre Geim jointly with Konstantin Novoselov were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work on graphene. October 5, 2010
• Carl Wieman, 2001 Nobel physicist, chosen for White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Science Insider. AAAS. October 2010.
• June 23, 2010 - Magnetic levitation becomes an inexpensive sensor for analyzing food, water, and other beverages. EurekaAlert
• Extracting information from a non-random collection of symbols. Physorg.com news. September 27, 2010.
• The
  stars, and the interstellar medium surround the earth with radio noise
  . September 2010
• June 23, 2010 - Simulations reveal
  earth atmospheres (think Jupiter). EurekaAlert
• June 23, 2010 - Detecting the movements of single molecules without modifying them. EurekaAlert
• June 13, 2010 -A JAXA probe, the Hayabusa, (artist's impression pictured) returns to Earth, completing a seven-year mission to sample the asteroid 25143 Itokawa.

• June 1, 2010 - New pin sized
  biomedical sensor pioneered at NASA's GRC, originally for use in space, could measure blood pressure and heart rate resulting in direct societal impact by assisting a lot of people. NASA news
• May 31, 2010 - Using sound to create light, with small losses and very high precision. (PTB)
• May 21, 2010 - Update from
  Venus probe. Solar array paddles deployed and sun acquisition confirmed, at 250,000 km above the Earth. JAXA Venus probe site
• May 20, 2010 - Large amounts of wind and solar can be incorporated onto the power grid without extensive additional infrastructure. - National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• May 14, 2010 - Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on its final scheduled mission, delivering the Rassvet module to the International Space Station.

More physics news is available from

Current Events portal

• May 7, 2010 - Japan's
  Akatsuki mission) to solve the problem of planet Venus winds clocked at 60 times the planet's rotation, which is fast compared to earth winds at just 10% to 20% of the rotation speed.--Physics Today
• Quantum entanglement might enable migrating birds to "see" the Earth's magnetic field as if it were a pattern of colors. --Popular Science
• April 23, 2010 - Three successful
  spacewalks occurred outside the International Space Station for a duration of more than six hours each in order to replace a depleted ammonia tank with a new one, along with other exterior work. STS-131
• April 10, 2010 - A new element,
  protons has been discovered ("detected") by a joint Russia–US collaboration at Dubna, Moscow Oblast, Russia. - (see also: Physics World
  )
• April 9, 2010 - For
  flight control strategies, a breakthrough in understanding fruit fly's aerobatic abilities has applications for tiny robotic insects that could be used for both search-and-rescue and surveillance. Physical Review Focus
• April 2, 2010 - Nanotechnology enhances ceramics so that they do not crack when cooled rapidly from high temperatures.---Physical Review Focus
• March 22, 2010 -
  x-rays, with applications ranging across physics, chemistry, and biology.---Physical Review Focus