Work to get the Sierra Space spaceplane ready for its first flight are ongoing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a lot of work still lies ahead.
Jim Baggott reviews Escape from Shadow Physics: the Quest to End the Dark Ages of Quantum Theory by Adam Forrest Kay.
Using a laser to raise the energy state of an atom ’s nucleus, known as excitation, can lead to the development of the most precise atomic clocks. This process has been challenging because the electrons surrounding the nucleus are highly reactive to light, necessitating more light to affect the nucleus. UCLA physicists have overcome this by bonding the electrons with fluorine in a transparent crystal, allowing them to excite the neutrons in a thorium atom’s nucleus using a moderate amount of laser light. This achievement paves the way for significantly more accurate measurements of time, gravity, and other fields, far surpassing the current accuracy levels provided by atomic electrons.
For almost half a century, physicists have envisioned the possibilities that could arise from elevating the energy state of an atom’s nucleus with a laser. This breakthrough would enable the replacement of current atomic clocks with a nuclear clock, the most accurate timekeeping device ever conceived. Such precision would revolutionize fields like deep space navigation and communication.
It would also allow scientists to measure precisely whether the fundamental constants of nature are, in fact, really constant or merely appear to be because we have not yet measured them precisely enough.
Hi, it’s Rainier Harris in New York. Ever struggled to hire a handyman? Try finding one willing to repair your roof while wearing a 300 pound suit, clinging to a rope about 250 miles above the Earth. But first …
This simulation created by researchers in the Netherlands might help us know more about mysterious black holes.
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Can machine learning be used to advance exoplanet science, and can this be done by non-scientists, as well? This is what Ariel Data Challenge 2024 hopes to address as participants from around the world will compete to develop machine learning algorithms designed to analyze data from space telescopes with the goal of gaining greater insight into exoplanet atmospheres. This competition will be featured at the NeurIPS 2024 machine learning conference and holds the potential to not only advance the field of exoplanets but also enable non-scientists to conduct pioneering research, as well.
“By supporting this challenge, we aim to find new ways of using AI and machine learning to develop our understanding of the universe,” said Dr. Caroline Harper, who is the Head of Space Science at the UK Space Agency. “Exoplanets are likely to be more numerous in our galaxy than the stars themselves and the techniques developed through this prestigious competition could help open new windows for us to learn about the composition of their atmospheres, and even their weather.”
Along with the UK Space Agency, other institutions supporting this challenge include the STFC DiRAC HPC Facility, European Space Agency (ESA), and STFC RAL Space. The competition is named after the ESA’s Ariel Space Mission, which is currently scheduled for launch in 2029 with the goal of using the transit method for identifying more than 1,000 exoplanets.
Pain management is an important component of caring for adults with cerebral palsy. However, it’s the least understood comorbidity in the adult cerebral palsy population.
A study led by Mark Peterson, Ph.D., M.S., FACSM, a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at University of Michigan Health, found that adults living with cerebral palsy had a very high occurrence of pain, with 90% having a pain history and 74% having multiple diagnoses of pain coming from different origins such as the lower back, irritable bowels, joint arthritis and chronic headaches.
The research is published in the journal JAMA Neurology.
Heat and pressure can deteriorate the properties of piezoelectric materials that make state-of-the-art ultrasound and sonar technologies possible – and fixing that damage has historically required disassembling devices and exposing the materials to even higher temperatures. Now researchers have developed a technique to restore those properties at room temperature, making it easier to repair these devices – and paving the way for new ultrasound technologies.
Piezoelectric materials have many applications, including sonar technologies and devices that generate and sense ultrasound waves. But for these devices to efficiently generate sonar or ultrasound waves, the material needs to be “poled.”
That’s because the piezoelectric materials used for sonar and ultrasound applications are mostly ferroelectric. And like all ferroelectric materials, they exhibit a phenomenon called spontaneous polarization. That means they contain pairs of positively and negatively charged ions called dipoles. When a ferroelectric material is poled, that means all of its dipoles have been pulled into alignment with an external electric field. In other words, the dipoles are all oriented in the same direction, which makes their piezoelectric properties more pronounced.
Researchers at Penn State are working on advanced electronics using something called kink states, which are special pathways for electrons in materials. These paths could help create networks for quantum information, which is essential for the next generation of electronics. Credit: SciTechDaily.com.
Researchers at Penn State are developing advanced quantum electronics using kink states, which are unique electron pathways in semiconducting materials.
These states could potentially form the backbone of a quantum interconnect network, crucial for transmitting quantum information efficiently. The team has made significant advancements in controlling these states through innovative material combinations and device designs, enhancing the potential for scalable quantum electronics.
