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POPSFirst extra-galactic planet spotted in Andromeda The advantage of microlensing is that it works best for more distant objects so it's ideal for planet hunting in other galaxies. In theory, it should be possible to see Earth-sized objects in this way. The disadvantage is that microlensing is a relatively rapid, one-off event that lasts a few days at most. That makes observations difficult to verify. And today a new analysis from Ingrosso and co shows that this companion has a mass about 6 times that of Jupiter. That's heading into brown dwarf territory but it's also well within planetary territory too.
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POPSNew Mechanism For Superconductivity? If superconductors could be designed to operate at temperatures closer to room temperature, the results would be revolutionary. Traditional theories of superconductivity hold that electrons within certain nonmagnetic materials can pair up when jostled together by atomic vibrations known as phonons. In other words, phonons provide the “glue” that makes superconductivity possible. Park and his colleagues now describe a different type of “glue” giving rise to superconducting behavior. A new mechanism for the electron-pairing glue that gives rise to superconductivity could allow researchers to design new materials that exhibit superconducting materials at higher temperatures, perhaps even opening the door to the “Holy Grail” of superconducting materials—one that works at room temperature.
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POPSEinstein's Relativity Theory Proven
So far so good, but here's where things get odd. Gluons have absolutely no mass, while the total mass of the quarks only represents 5% of the mass of the protons and neutrons. So, an explanation for the missing 95% of the mass had to be found. The experts discovered that the missing percentage of the mass derives from the energy resulting from the interactions and movements of the quarks and gluons. This basically states that mass and energy are equivalent, just like Einstein's theory indicated, and, even more: mass can be transmuted into energy and vice versa. Extrapolating on the basis of this equation, it can be calculated how much energy is obtained while converting specific amounts of mass. Sadly, this was also used as a ground for building the atomic bomb. "Until now, this has been a hypothesis," shared the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France in a press release, cited by Discovery. "It has now been corroborated for the first time."
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POPSWhy nature can't be reduced to mathematical laws If so, then even perfect knowledge of the physics at one level would be inadequate for understanding organisation at higher levels. This conjecture has been debated ever since. Now Mile Gu at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues, claim that it may be possible to prove Anderson's idea. They studied a basic mathematical model called the Ising model, which is often used to study how magnetism arises in iron and other materials from the collective organisation of their atoms. Using the model, the team focused on whether the pattern that the atoms adopt under various scenarios, such as a state of lowest energy, could be calculated from knowledge of those forces. They found that in some scenarios, the pattern of atoms could not be calculated from knowledge of the forces - even given unlimited computing power. In mathematical terms, the system is considered "formally undecidable".
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POPSRoom temperature superconductivity: One step closer to the Holy Grail of physics The researchers have discovered where the charge 'hole' carriers that play a significant role in the superconductivity originate within the electronic structure of copper-oxide superconductors. These findings are particularly important for the next step of deciphering the glue that binds the holes together and determining what enables them to superconduct.
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POPSPioneering Physicist John Wheeler Dies at 96 a real genius, if i am not mistaken he was Hugh Everett III's professor of physics, also he is the one the suggested the 'delayed choice' experiment that showed the experimenter can choose, AFTER THE FACT, whether the photon was in both places or just one.
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POPSBefore the Big Bang - the Big Bounce Now, however, Dr Bojowald and fellow physicists are exploring territory unknown even to Einstein - the time before the Big Bang - using his new theory, called Loop Quantum Cosmology. An analysis of this, one of a series of newly-emerging theories which combine Einstein's theory of gravity (general relativity) with that of the subatomic world (quantum theory), "is supposed to provide a non-singular framework in which one could address the question of what was there before the Big Bang," he says.
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POPSBrain Waves Pattern Themselves After Rhythms Of Nature Although the bulk of his work involves deriving equations, Cowan's findings mesh well with laboratory data generated on the cerebral cortex and electroencephalograms. His latest findings show that the same mathematical tools physicists use to describe the behavior of subatomic particles and the dynamics of liquids and solids can now be applied to understanding how the brain generates its various rhythms.
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POPSFinding the Shapes of Alternative Spatial Dimensions String theory proposes that particles, described in the Standard Model as point-like entities, are in fact more like vibrating strings of energy. The different frequencies at which they vibrate through the fabric of space-time gives them their unique physical properties. Gary Shiu, professor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, proposes a model in which the shape of the extra spacial dimensions determines the properties of the universe, much in the same way the shape of a musical instrument determines its sound, meaning that string theory predicts that the particle masses and the forces exerted in the universe are in direct relation to the vibrating frequency of the string which, in turn, is given by the shape of the spatial dimensions.
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