Lifeboat Foundation

Scientists have measured the magnetic moment of the muon to unprecedented precision, more than doubling the previous record.

Physicists from the Muon g-2 Collaboration cycled muons, known as “heavy electrons,” in a particle storage ring at Fermilab in the United States to nearly the speed of light. Applying a magnetic field about 30,000 times stronger than Earth’s, the muons precessed like tops around their spin axis due to their own magnetic moment.

As they circled a 7.1-meter diameter storage ring, the muon’s magnetic moment, influenced by virtual particles in the vacuum, interacted with the external magnetic field. By comparing this precession frequency with the cycling frequency around the ring, the collaboration was able to determine the muon’s “anomalous magnetic moment” to a precision of 0.2 parts per million.

A new study led by researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities is providing new insights into how next-generation electronics, including memory components in computers, break down or degrade over time. Understanding the reasons for degradation could help improve efficiency of data storage solutions.

Studies of gravity variations at Mars have revealed dense, large-scale structures hidden beneath the sediment layers of a lost ocean. The analysis, which combines models and data from multiple missions, also shows that active processes in the Martian mantle may be giving a boost to the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons. The findings have been presented this week at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) in Berlin by Bart Root of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft).

Irrespective of their personal, professional and social circumstances, different individuals can experience varying levels of life satisfaction, fulfillment and happiness. This general measure of life satisfaction, broadly referred to as “well-being,” has been the key focus of numerous psychological studies.

Better understanding the many factors contributing to well-being could help to devise personalized and targeted interventions aimed at improving people’s levels of fulfillment. While many past studies have tried to delineate these factors, few have done so leveraging the advanced machine learning models available today.

Machine learning models are designed to analyze large amounts of data, unveiling hidden patterns and making accurate predictions. Using these tools to analyze data collected in previous studies in neuroscience and psychology could help to shed light on the environmental and genetic factors influencing well-being.

Scientists use atomic clocks to measure the “second,” the smallest standard unit of time, with great precision. These clocks use natural oscillations of electrons in atoms, similar to how pendulums work in old grandfather clocks. The quest for an even more precise timekeeper led to the discovery of nuclear clocks, which use the transitions of atomic nuclei instead of electrons to keep time.

An international team of physicists has found that it is possible to generate spin currents directly using certain kinds of ultrashort laser pulses. In their study, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group used a linearly polarized laser pulse and a circularly polarized probe laser to create the spin currents.

An international team of researchers has found a surprisingly simple relationship between the rates of energy and information transmission across an interface connecting two quantum field theories. Their work was published in Physical Review Letters on August 30.

In the realm of lighting and temperature measurement, advancements in material science are paving the way for significant improvements in technology and safety. Traditional methods, which combine yellow phosphors with blue chips in LEDs, have limitations such as inadequate red light components that affect color rendering and potential hazards from blue light exposure.

Something to look forward to: Improved ray tracing performance is one of the key benefits of Sony’s newly unveiled PlayStation 5 Pro console. Prior to its debut, rumors had long suggested that the mid-generation refresh would incorporate ray tracing technology based on AMD’s upcoming RDNA 4 GPU architecture. Recent comments from PlayStation designer Mark Cerny have all but confirmed these theories.

In a detailed interview with CNET following the reveal of Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro console, designer Mark Cerny confirmed rumors that the device’s ray tracing capabilities are built on an architecture not yet available in AMD’s PC graphics cards. While Cerny didn’t explicitly name RDNA 4, no other viable candidates are known.

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