ScienceMania

Date:May 25, 2017 Source:National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Summary:A research team has developed the first switch that turns on and off a quantum behavior called the Berry phase. The discovery promises to provide new insight into the fundamentals of quantum theory and may lead to new quantum electronic devices.Share:       FULL STORY These images show the orbital paths of electrons trapped within a circular region within graphene. In the classical orbit (top image), an electron that travels in a complete circuit has the same physical state as when it started on the path. However, when an applied magnetic field reaches a critical value, (bottom image), an electron completing a circuit has a different physical state its original one. The change is called a Berry phase and the magnetic field acts as a switch to turn on the Berry phase. The result is that the electron is raised to a higher energy level. When a ballerina pirouettes, twirli...

Date:June 15, 2017 Source:Green Bank Observatory Summary:Astronomers have created the largest image ever of the dense band of star-forming gas that weaves its way through the northern portion of the Orion Nebula.       FULL STORY A ribbon of ammonia -- a tracer of star-forming gas -- in the Orion Nebula as seen with the GBT (orange). Background image in blue is a WISE telescope infrared image showing the dust in the region . A team of astronomers has unveiled a striking new image of the Orion Molecular Cloud (OMC) -- a bustling stellar nursery teeming with bright, young stars and dazzling regions of hot, glowing gas. The researchers used the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia to study a 50 light-year long filament of star-forming gas that is wending its way through the northern portion of the OMC known as Orion A. The GBT rendered this image by detecting the faint radio signals naturally emitted by m...

Using mathematics in a novel way in neuroscience, scientists demonstrate that the brain operates on many dimensions, not just the 3 dimensions that we are accustomed to Date:June 12, 2017 Source:Frontiers Summary:Using a sophisticated type of mathematics in a way that it has never been used before in neuroscience, a scientists have uncovered a universe of multi-dimensional geometrical structures and spaces within the networks of the brain. This research has significant implications for our understanding of the brain.Share:       FULL STORY The image attempts to illustrate something that cannot be imaged -- a universe of multi-dimensional structures and spaces. On the left is a digital copy of a part of the neocortex, the most evolved part of the brain. On the right are shapes of different sizes and geometries in an attempt to represent structures ranging from 1 dimension to 7 dimensions and beyond. The "black-hole" in the middle is used to symbolize a com...

Date:June 9, 2017 Source:Carnegie Institution for Science Summary:Carbon is an element of seemingly infinite possibilities. This is because the configuration of its electrons allows for numerous self-bonding combinations that give rise to a range of materials with varying properties. A team of scientists has developed a form of ultrastrong, lightweight carbon that is also elastic and electrically conductive. A material with such a unique combination of properties could serve a wide variety of applications from aerospace engineering to military armor.       FULL STORY A team including several Carnegie scientists has developed a form of ultrastrong, lightweight carbon that is also elastic and electrically conductive. A material with such a unique combination of properties could serve a wide variety of applications from aerospace engineering to military armor. Carbon is an element of seemingly infinite possibilities. This is because the configuration of...

Century-old relativity experiment used to measure a white dwarf's mass Date:June 7, 2017 Source:Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Summary: Astronomers have used the sharp vision of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to repeat a century-old test of Einstein’s general theory of relativity. The team measured the mass of white dwarf Stein 2051 B, the burned-out remnant of a normal star, by seeing how much it deflects the light from a background star. The gravitational microlensing method data provide a solid estimate of the white dwarf’s mass and yield insights into theories of the structure and composition of the burned-out star.    FULL STORY This illustration reveals how the gravity of a white dwarf star warps space and bends the light of a distant star behind it. White dwarfs are the burned-out remnants of normal stars. The Hubble Space Telescope captured images of the dead star, called Stein 2051 B, as it passed in front of a background star. Dur...

Intriguing oscillatory back-and-forth motion of a quantum particle Date:June 1, 2017 Source:University of Innsbruck Summary:In the quantum world, our intuition for moving objects is strongly challenged and may sometimes even completely fail. Experimental physicists have now found a quantum particle which shows an intriguing oscillatory back-and-forth motion in a one-dimensional atomic gas.       FULL STORY Innsbruck physicists have observed an intriguing oscillatory back-and-forth motion of a quantum particle in a one-dimensional atomic gas . A ripe apple falling from a tree has inspired Sir Isaac Newton to formulate a theory that describes the motion of objects subject to a force. Newton's equations of motion tell us that a moving body keeps on moving on a straight line unless any disturbing force may change its path. The impact of Newton's laws is ubiquitous in our everyday experience, ranging from a skydiver falling in the earth's gravitational...

Date:June 5, 2017 Source:Polytechnique Montréal Summary:Scientists have known for centuries that light is composed of waves. The fact that light can also behave as a liquid, rippling and spiraling around obstacles like the current of a river, is a much more recent finding that is still a subject of active research.       FULL STORY The flow of polaritons encounters an obstacle in the supersonic (top) and superfluid (bottom) regime. Scientists have known for centuries that light is composed of waves. The fact that light can also behave as a liquid, rippling and spiraling around obstacles like the current of a river, is a much more recent finding that is still a subject of active research. The "liquid" properties of light emerge under special circumstances, when the photons that form the light wave are able to interact with each other. Researchers from CNR NANOTEC of Lecce in Italy, in collaboration with Polytechnique Montreal in Canada have shown tha...

Date:June 5, 2017 Source:Ohio State University Summary:A newly discovered Jupiter-like world is so hot that it’s stretching the definition of the word “planet.” FULL STORY Astronomers at The Ohio State University and Vanderbilt University have discovered a planet that is so hot, its temperature rivals most stars. A newly discovered Jupiter-like world is so hot that it's stretching the definition of the word "planet." With a day-side temperature of 4,600 Kelvin (more than 7,800 degrees Fahrenheit), planet KELT-9b is hotter than most stars, and only 1,200 Kelvin (about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than our own sun. In this week's issue of the journal  Nature  and at a presentation at the American Astronomical Society spring meeting, an international research team led by astronomers at The Ohio State University and Vanderbilt University describes a planet with some very unusual features. For instance, it's a gas giant 2.8 times more massive...