Artificial intelligence beats humans at crossword solving and assesses the health of ‘singing’ coral reefs

27 May 2022 Michael Banks

Sounds good: a healthy coral reef in Sulawesi, Indonesia. (Courtesy: Tim Lamont)

Many people around the world enjoy doing crosswords, taking a few moments out of their day to test their knowledge and wordplay by answering clues to find words that complete the crossword grid. Crosswords are a puzzle that humans particularly excel at, so much so that we can outperform machines — or so we thought.

 

Microcavity could make a platform for quantum sensing

28 May 2022 Isabelle Dumé

Nanoparticles trapped between mirrors might be a promising platform for quantum sensors. Courtesy: IQOQI Innsbruck

The motional fluctuations of nanoparticles trapped between mirrors in optical cavities could form the basis for a new type of high-precision quantum sensor, according to calculations by researchers at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Innsbruck in Austria and ETH Zurich in Switzerland. The team’s theoretical work shows that the dynamical instabilities of a quantum system can be exploited as a resource rather than being considered as a problem to be avoided, as is usually the case.

 

Ultrathin nanowires could be a boon for error-resistant quantum computing

27 May 2022 Isabelle Dumé

Ultrathin semiconductor-superconductor hybrid nanowires could form the basis of a stable and error-resistant quantum computers (Courtesy: iStock/Devrimb)

Researchers have fabricated ultrathin semiconductor-superconductor hybrid nanowires measuring less than 20 nm across. Such wires are thinner than those grown previously and are predicted to host phenomena known as Majorana zero modes – the core ingredient of so-called topological quantum bits (qubits), which could form the basis of a stable and error-resistant quantum computer.

 

Summertime on Neptune is cooler than expected

15 May 2022 Isabelle Dumé

Observed changes in Neptune’s thermal-infrared brightness, a measure of temperature in Neptune’s atmosphere. Credit: Michael Roman/NASA/JPL/Voyager-ISS/Justin Cowart

The atmosphere of the planet Neptune has undergone significant and “frankly unexpected” changes to its atmospheric temperature over the past two decades, say scientists at the University of Leicester, UK. The team drew this conclusion by analysing images from multiple observatories, including the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, Gemini Southern Observatory in Chile and the Subaru, Gemini North and Keck Observatories in Hawaii.

Home/Εργαστήριο Γνώσεων/Τα Πιο Επικίνδυνα & Τα Πιο Ωφέλιμα Πράγματα Για Τις ΑρθρώσειςΤα Πιο Επικίνδυνα & Τα Πιο Ωφέλιμα Πράγματα Για Τις ΑρθρώσειςAvatarΑκαδημία Υγείας26/05/2022 Το ξέρατε ότι υπάρχουν ορισμένες βιταμίνες, οι οποίες βοηθούν στην παραγωγή αρθρικού υγρού και κολλαγόνου; Η επαρκής παραγωγή του αρθρικού υγρού και κολλαγόνου προσφέρουν στην άρθρωση ευλυγισία, συμβάλουν στην αποκατάσταση των χόνδρων, απομακρύνουν τον πόνο, προλαμβάνουν την φλεγμονή. Από την άλλη όμως υπάρχουν ορισμένα πράγματα, τα οποία μπορεί να προκαλέσουν την ανάπτυξη παθήσεων στις αρθρώσεις. Οι ειδικοί υγείας επιβεβαιώνουν ότι η υγεία των αρθρώσεων συμβάλλει άμεσα στην ποιότητα ζωής του ανθρώπου. Αυτό συμβαίνει επειδή όταν υπάρχει πρόβλημα στις αρθρώσεις ο πόνος και η δυσφορία είναι συνεχόμενη, σε αντίθεση παράδειγμα με κάποιο άλλο όργανο, το οποίο μπορεί να πονέσει για κάποιες ώρες και έπειτα να ηρεμήσει. Δυστυχώς, ένα μεγάλο ποσοστό των ανθρώπων στις μέρες μας, αντιμετωπίζει προβλήματα με τις αρθρώσεις. Με βάση στατιστικής, οι ενοχλήσεις στις αρθρώσεις δεν εκδηλώνονται μόνο σε μεγάλες ηλικίες, αλλά και σε πολύ νεότερες. Με τα χρόνια όλοι οι άνθρωποι λίγο πολύ, αρχίζουν να νιώθουν διάφορες ενοχλήσεις, τις οποίες πολλές φορές αγνοούν. Το παράδοξο είναι, ότι οι περισσότεροι αρχίζουν να νοιάζονται και να φροντίζουν τις αρθρώσεις τους όταν παρουσιαστεί κάποιος πόνος. Η η φυσιολογική φθορά των αρθρώσεων είναι αναπόφευκτη, ωστόσο υπάρχουν και πράγματα τα οποία μπορεί να εκδηλώσουν πρόωρα προβλήματα στις αρθρώσεις. Σε αυτό το άρθρο θα δούμε πράγματα τα οποία επιδρούν αρνητικά στην υγεία των αρθρώσεων. Επίσης θα αναφέρουμε τις καλύτερες βιταμίνες για αρθρώσεις, τις οποίες μπορείτε να λάβετε μέσω των τροφών. Ο ΡΟΛΟΣ ΤΩΝ ΑΡΘΡΩΣΕΩΝ Ο ρόλος των αρθρώσεων είναι η σύνδεση και η στήριξη των οστών. Το αρθρικό υγρό δρα ως λιπαντικό το οποίο αποτρέπει την τριβή των οστών. Μία από τις πιο κοινές αιτίες του πόνου στις αρθρώσεις είναι η αρθρίτιδα. Να ξέρετε ότι οι δύο κύριες μορφές αρθρίτιδας είναι η οστεοαρθρίτιδα και η ρευματοειδής αρθρίτιδα.

 

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Τα Πιο Επικίνδυνα & Τα Πιο Ωφέλιμα Πράγματα Για Τις Αρθρώσεις

Ακαδημία Υγείας26/05/2022

Το ξέρατε ότι υπάρχουν ορισμένες βιταμίνες, οι οποίες βοηθούν στην παραγωγή αρθρικού υγρού και κολλαγόνου; Η επαρκής παραγωγή του αρθρικού υγρού και κολλαγόνου προσφέρουν στην άρθρωση ευλυγισία, συμβάλουν στην αποκατάσταση των χόνδρων, απομακρύνουν τον πόνο, προλαμβάνουν την φλεγμονή. Από την άλλη όμως υπάρχουν ορισμένα πράγματα, τα οποία μπορεί να προκαλέσουν την ανάπτυξη παθήσεων στις αρθρώσεις.

 

Thermophotovoltaic cells top 40 percent efficiency

21 May 2022 Isabelle Dumé

A thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell mounted on a heat sink designed to measure the TPV cell efficiency. (Courtesy: A LaPotin)

The first thermophotovoltaic cells with an efficiency of more than 40% – higher than any existing solid-state heat engine, and exceeding even the average efficiency of turbine-based power generation – have been fabricated by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The cells, which are two-junction devices made from III-V semiconducting materials with electronic bandgaps between 1.0 and 1.4 eV, use back surface reflectors to divert unusable sub-bandgap radiation back to the source, and are optimized for heat sources at temperatures of 1900–2400°C. According to their developers, the cells could be integrated into renewable energy systems for low-cost thermal grid storage.

 

High-power lasers promise new defence strategy

16 May 2022 Sponsored by QinetiQ

Physicists at QinetiQ are developing systems that combine and control high-energy laser beams to provide a powerful and cost-effective countermeasure against drones and other uncrewed objects

Directed energy: pointing a high-power laser beam at a remote target offers a more flexible defence mechanism against small uncrewed objects, while cable-free energy transfer could open up future applications such as on-the go charging for electric vehicles (Courtesy: QinetiQ)

Around the world interest is growing in using high-power laser beams to disable airborne invaders such as drones and other uncrewed objects. These so-called directed-energy systems have the potential to damage or destroy small aerial devices at a fraction of the cost of launching conventional defence missiles or munitions.

 

Graphene ‘drums’ pick up vibrations from individual bacteria

24 May 2022 Isabelle Dumé

Artist's impression of a graphene drum detecting nanomotion of a single bacterium. (Courtesy: Irek Roslon, TU Delft)

Ultrathin carbon sheets known as “graphene drums” can pick up vibrations created by the nanoscale movements of individual bacteria, giving researchers a sensitive new way of probing their behaviour. As well as advancing our understanding of the mechanobiology of bacterial cells, the technique might be used to screen the effectiveness of antibiotics in a rapid and simple way, say the researchers at TU Delft in the Netherlands who developed it.

 

Nanoscale Möbius strips made from carbon, quantum tipple supports STEM outreach

20 May 2022 Hamish Johnston

New twist: researchers in Japan have created a Möbius strip from carbon atoms. (Courtesy: Issey Takahashi)

In 2017, Kenichiro Itami and colleagues made the first carbon nanobelts, which can be as little as three atoms thick. Based at Nagoya University in Japan, Itami’s team has managed to tweak the topology of their nanobelts to create Möbius carbon nanobelts (see figure). Making the nanobelts was not an easy task and took 14 chemical reaction steps. They confirmed the Möbius structure using a chiral separation technique and circular dichroism spectroscopy.

 

Quantum teleportation expands beyond neighbouring nodes

25 May 2022

Teleportation in progress Researchers at QuTech in the Netherlands with their quantum teleportation experiment. (Courtesy: QuTech)

Physicists in the Netherlands have shown for the first time that quantum information can be reliably teleported between network nodes that are not directly connected to each other. According to the researchers, who created the world’s first three-node quantum network at QuTech (a collaboration between the Delft University of Technology and TNO) in 2021, the latest work marks a further step towards a scalable quantum Internet.

 

Portable MRI diagnoses stroke at the patient bedside

25 May 2022

Bedside neuroimaging: Low-field portable MRI scanners enable rapid, point-of-care brain imaging. The open and safe design of the Swoop system enables family members to stay with the patient during a scan. (Courtesy: Hyperfine)

Portable MRI (pMRI), a new type of very low-field MRI scanner that does not require dedicated shielding, can effectively diagnose stroke and detect blood clots in the brain as small as 4 mm in size. In a study of 50 patients with ischaemic stroke treated at Yale New Haven Hospital, intracranial imaging with pMRI detected ischaemic infarcts in 90% of patients. The prospective study, described in Science Advances, is the first to demonstrate that the 0.064 T Swoop portable MRI system can be used to definitively diagnose and assess stroke at a patient’s bedside.

 

Fifth force could explain puzzling orbits of dwarf galaxies

24 May 2022

Andromeda This image of the galaxy was taken with a small telescope and includes two dwarf galaxies. (Courtesy: David (Deddy) Dayag/CC BY-SA 4.0)

New physics, in the form of a “fifth force”, could be responsible for the odd and unexplained arrangement of dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way and other large galaxies – according to new research done it the UK. The new force could also shed light on the nature of dark matter, a mysterious substance that accounts for about 85% of the matter in the universe.

 

Nanoparticle ‘tracers’ reveal quantized vortices in superfluid helium

24 May 2022 Isabelle Dumé

Silicon nanoparticles stabilized along the quantized vortex cores. (Courtesy: Y Minowa)

Semiconducting nanoparticles can become trapped along structures called quantized vortices in superfluid helium-4, allowing them to act as “tracers” in studies of vortex dynamics. This finding, from researchers at Osaka University and Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan, could improve our understanding of quantum fluids and materials, including superconductors, while also shedding more light on turbulence.

 

Quantum sieve could make deuterium much cheaper

16 May 2022

Selective process Deuterium molecules (shown in grey) can change the structures of the DUT-8 pores and pass through the material. The orange molecules of normal hydrogen cannot pass through. (Courtesy: Volodymyr Bon/TU Dresden)

A recently discovered metal organic framework can act as a “quantum sieve”, with pores that selectively open for deuterium molecules at the right temperatures and pressures. The material was created in Germany by a team led by Stefan Kaskel and Thomas Heine at the Dresden University of Technology, and Michael Hirscher at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart. Its development could reduce the considerable cost of isolating deuterium, which is an isotope of hydrogen that has several practical uses.

 

Πως Να Καθαρίζετε Το Έντερο Από Τις Τοξίνες, Κάθε Μέρα; | Ακαδημία Υγείας

ΕΛΛΗΝΑΣ ΜΑΘΗΤΗΣ Α ΛΥΚΕΙΟΥ ΚΑΤΑΣΚΕΥΑΣΕ ΜΌΝΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΑΣΧΟΛΟΎΜΕΝΟΣ ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΡΟΜ΄ΠΌΤΙΚΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΗΛΙΚΙΑ ΤΩΝ 11 ΧΡΟΝΩΝ, ΡΟΜΠΟΤΙΚΌ ΒΡΑΧΊΟΝΑ ΚΑΙ ΤΡΙΣΔΙΑΣΤΑΤΟ ΕΚΤΥΠΩΤΗ

 Ο ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗΣ ΧΑΤΖΗΣ ΜΑΘΗΤΗΣ Α ΛΥΚΕΙΟΥ ΚΑΤΑΣΚΕΥΑΣΕ ΡΟΜΠΟΤΙΚΟ ΒΡΑΧΊΟΝΑ ΜΕ ΑΙΣΘΗΤΗΡΕΣ, ΑΣΧΟΛΟΥΜΕΝΟΣ ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΡΟΜΠΟΤΙΚΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΗΛΙΚΊΑ ΤΩΝ 11 ΧΡΟΝΏΝ. ΕΠΙΣΗΣ ΚΑΤΑΣΚΕΥΑΣ ΤΡΙΣΔΙΑΣΤΑΤΟ ΕΚΤΥΠΩΤΗ ΚΑΙ ΕΝΑ ΡΟΜΠΟΤ ΠΟΥ ΜΙΛΑ ΑΠΤΑΙΣΤΑ ΤΗΝ ΑΓΓΛΙΚΉ. BRAVO ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗ !!!!!

 

Χοληστερίνη: Οι Top-10 τροφές που καθαρίζουν τις αρτηρίες από την χοληστερόλη

 

ΑΥΤΕΣ 10 ΥΠΕΡΤΡΟΦΕΣ Καθαρίζουν Τα Έντερα & Μειώνουν Τον Ρίσκο Παθήσεων!

 

Decoy nanoparticles soak up SARS-CoV-2

18 May 2022

Potential new treatment: Decoy nanoparticles bind to and trap the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as well as its mutant variants. (Courtesy: Northwestern University)

The ACE2 protein is the cellular door through which SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, enters cells. What if we could trick SARS-CoV-2 into binding to decoy cells that render the virus inactive?

 

A glimpse into the future of radiation therapy

23 May 2022 Tami Freeman

Make your choice: Will 2030 see automation and robotics replacing humans in the radiation therapy pathway? Or will FLASH, hypofractionation, personalization or cloud computing be the next big radiotherapy innovation? (Courtesy: iStock/PhonlamaiPhoto)

Which innovations will have the greatest impact in radiotherapy by 2030? That was the question posed in the closing session of last week’s ESTRO 2022 congress; and five experts stepped up to respond.

As often seen in debate-style ESTRO sessions, competition was intense and gimmicks were plentiful, with all talk titles based on movies and a definite sci-fi twist.

 

Innovation in optical interferometry: the secret of success in nanopositioning QA

17 May 2022 Sponsored by Queensgate, a brand of Prior Scientific

Nanopositioning specialist Queensgate and the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) have forged a productive collaboration yielding a good-practice implementation model for Queensgate’s in-house test and measurement programme

Traceable metrology: Queensgate is tapping NPL’s cutting-edge capabilities in optical interferometry to underpin its in-house QA programme. Above: a Queensgate nanopositioning stage is deployed in tandem with NPL interferometers and the NPL metrological AFM. (Courtesy: NPL)

Traceable optical metrology for end-to-end quality assurance (QA) across product design, development and manufacturing provides the raison d’être for a long-running R&D collaboration between Queensgate, a UK manufacturer of high-precision nanopositioning products, and scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s National Metrology Institute.

 

Cancer-killing bacteria evade the immune system

23 May 2022 Abayomi Opadele

Cloaking system: Engineered bacteria evade the immune system using a genetically encoded encapsulation system. This approach was used to enhance delivery of therapeutic bacteria for cancer therapy. (Courtesy: Ella Marushchenko, Alex Tokarev, Danino Lab/Columbia Engineering)

Bacterial therapies, in which living bacteria are used to deliver drugs or other payloads to kill cancerous cells, could provide an alternative treatment for a wide range of cancers. When bacteria infiltrate the human body, the immune system triggers a fighting mechanism against the foreign substance, with the aftermath of such events dependent on the potency of the bacterium. However, some probiotic bacteria, such as Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN), easily resist the immune system’s lines of defense.

 

‘Micronovae’ explosions on white dwarfs caused by localized accretion

18 May 2022

Tiny explosion: artist’s impression of a white dwarf accreting material at its poles, where localized thermonuclear explosions are occurring. (Courtesy: ESO/M Kornmesser/L Calçada)

The mystery of why small explosive bursts occur on some accreting white dwarf stars appears to have been solved by a team of astronomers led by Simone Scaringi at the UK’s Durham University. The team examined bursts of light from three white dwarf systems and noticed that their evolution was similar to X-ray bursts that occur on the surfaces of some neutron stars. The team suggests that these “micronovae” on white dwarfs are caused by matter falling onto the poles of the stars – and that this could be a common phenomenon.

 

Concerning primordial black holes

18 May 2022

Taken from the May 2022 issue of Physics World. Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app.

Born at the dawn of time, primordial black holes may lurk throughout the universe – should they exist. But what if one struck the Earth or even, perhaps, a human being? Ian Randall discovers whether there is legitimate cause for concern or if such a scenario is a mere science fiction

(Courtesy: ESO/M Kornmesser)

It’s just gone 12:45 p.m. on 30 November 1954 when a lazy Alabama afternoon is suddenly arrested by a fireball noisily rending the air, burning so bright it’s visible from two neighboring states as it streaks through the sky above Sylacauga. Breaking into fragments, one grapefruit-sized part of the rock slams messily through the roof of a farmhouse, ricochets off a large console radio, and slams into the side of a young woman as she takes a nap on her couch.

 

The implantable device delivers personalized photodynamic therapy

10 May 2022

Personalizing PDT: The small optoelectronic device is designed to individualize light dosing and provide more effective photodynamic therapy. (Courtesy: Justin Baetge/Texas A&M Engineering)

Researchers in the US, UK and South Korea have designed a wireless, implantable optoelectronic device that can effectively deliver photodynamic therapy (PDT) to cancer cells. Led by Sung Il Park at Texas A&M University, the team showed how their device could be used to reliably treat tumors in any part of the body, using precisely targeted illumination.

 

Focused ultrasound: a potential treatment for type 2 diabetes?

12 May 2022

GE researchers (left to right): Victoria Cotero, a senior scientist in biosciences, senior electrical engineer Jeffrey Ashe and senior biomedical engineer Christopher Puleo, with a prototype of the ultrasound modulation device at GE’s research campus in Niskayuna, NY. (Courtesy: General Electric)

Ultrasound neuromodulation can prevent the onset of hyperglycemia or reverse type 2 diabetes in laboratory mice, rats, and pigs, according to new research published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

 

An electromagnetic cavity could enhance high-temperature superconductors

20 Apr 2022 Isabelle Dumé

Cavity-magnon interaction. Courtesy: J Curtis

Researchers at Harvard University in the US have put forward a possible new way to enhance superconductivity in cuprate materials. The approach, which involves embedding the materials in an electromagnetic cavity, could pave the way toward realizing room-temperature superconductivity, which the researchers call “a holy grail of modern condensed matter and material science”.

 

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin: the woman who found hydrogen in the stars

08 Mar 2022

Taken from the March 2022 issue of Physics World, where it appeared under the headline "The woman who found hydrogen in the stars". Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app.

Sidney Perkowitz delves into the work and life of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, from her stellar astronomical findings to a career-long struggle with bias against women in the early 20th century

(Courtesy: Astronomical Society of the Pacific, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Physics Today Collection)

Hydrogen, the simplest atom, is a basic building block of the universe. We know that it existed soon after the universe was born and that it still appears as a large part of the interstellar medium in which stars form. It is also the nuclear fuel that keeps stars radiating immense amounts of energy as they evolve over eons to create the chemical elements.

 

The legacy of Liverpool’s forgotten synchrocyclotron

11 May 2022

Taken from the May 2022 issue of Physics World. Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app.

The University of Liverpool’s synchrocyclotron helped define physics in the 20th century, yet little trace of it remains. Rob Lea looks into the history of this lost machine

This was once the future The synchrocyclotron’s massive magnet being delivered to Mount Pleasant in Liverpool in 1951. In the background, windows are taped and boarded showing that the city was still suffering the effects of bomb damage from the Second World War. (Courtesy: The Victoria Gallery & Museum: University of Liverpool)

The Metropolitan Catholic Cathedral at the peak of Mount Pleasant in Liverpool, UK, represents a unique and unmistakable landmark in the city’s skyline. But unbeknown to many passing or visiting the wigwam-shaped building, beneath the steps and next to the crypt there was once a particle accelerator that played an important role in the evolution of experimental physics.

 

Energy can move from a colder region to a hotter one – but the second law of thermodynamics is safe

05 May 2022 Isabelle Dumé

The system supporting cross-currents. Courtesy: MA Martin-Delgado

Can energy move from a colder to a hotter region in a material without violating the second law of thermodynamics? Yes, according to physicists from Trinity College Dublin and the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, who discovered that a quantum effect sometimes forces current to flow around the edges of a sample in a way that opposes the normal direction of heat flow.

 

Scientists unveil Josephson diode

04 May 2022

An artist’s impression of a superconducting chip. (Courtesy: TU Delft)

An international group of physicists has demonstrated that a very thin layer of quantum-mechanical material sandwiched between two pieces of superconductor can conduct electricity with or without resistance depending on the direction of the voltage applied. The new “Josephson diode” operates in the absence of a magnetic field and could, the team says, lead to a new generation of faster, more energy-efficient electronics.

 

A simple superconducting circuit emits multiple photons

09 May 2022

The source Optical microscope image showing the Josephson junction (main picture and inset) connected to the resonator coil. (Courtesy: Ménard et al/Physical Review X)

An on-chip circuit that can produce up to six microwave photons simultaneously has been created by researchers in France and Germany. Gerhold Ménard and Ambroise Peugeot at the University of Paris-Saclay and colleagues built their device by connecting a Josephson junction to a microwave resonator. While the team did not establish that the photons are entangled, previous research suggests that the device could be a source of multiple entangled photons.

 

First-ever image of the black hole ‘shadow’ at the heart of the Milky Way revealed by the Event Horizon Telescope

12 May 2022

First glimpse: astronomers have managed to take an image of the surroundings of Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way (courtesy: EHT collaboration)

Astronomers working on the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) have captured the first image of the “shadow” – and glowing surroundings – of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The achievement is another huge success for the EHT project, which in 2019 released a similar image of the black hole in the core of the galaxy Messier-87.

 

Why we need to tackle renewable energy’s storage problem

26 Apr 2022

Taken from the April 2022 issue of Physics World where it appeared under the headline "The problem with renewables". Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app.

Peter Edwards, Peter Dobson and Gari Owen say that net-zero targets can only be met if renewable energy can be stored cost-effectively

Storage shortfall InterGen’s battery facility currently being built on the Thames Estuary will be the UK’s largest, with 1 GWh capacity. The UK needs 5 TWh of storage to support renewable-energy targets. (Courtesy: InterGen)

On 16 September 1910 the Canadian inventor Reginald A Fessenden, who is best known for his work on radio technology, published an article in the journal The Electrician about energy storage. “The problem of the commercial utilization, for the production of power, of the energy of solar radiation, the wind, and other intermittent natural sources is a double one,” he wrote. “The energy of the sources must first be charged so as to be suitable in form, it must next be stored so as to be available in time.”

 

Miniature heart replica could help optimize cardiac disease treatments

05 May 2022

A living cardiac pump: Christos Michas examines the miniPUMP in the lab. The scaffold that gives structure to the heart cells, without exerting any active force on them, can be seen through the tissue. (Courtesy: Jackie Ricciardi for Boston University Photography)

By combining a metamaterial cylinder with artificially grown heart tissue, researchers in the US have developed the miniPUMP – an on-chip device that closely mimics the function of a ventricular chamber. Using an advanced laser writing technique, a team led by Christos Michas at Boston University ensured that the miniPUMP could expand and contract in a cycle reminiscent of the beating human heart.

 

JET’s record result and the quest for fusion energy

04 Apr 2022 James Dacey

One of the longest-running physics jokes is that, despite numerous promising breakthroughs, practical nuclear fusion will forever be 30 years away. Earlier this year, there was an exciting result in the UK that suggests that – sooner or later – fusion scientists will have the last laugh. The Joint European Torus (JET) nuclear-fusion experiment based in Oxfordshire, UK, more than doubled the amount of sustained fusion energy produced in a single “shot” – smashing a previous record that JET has held since 1997.

Seeing the Earth through alien eyes: an extraterrestrial view of our planet

 

• ASTRONOMY AND SPACE
 
• FEATURE

Seeing the Earth through alien eyes: an extraterrestrial view of our planet

(Courtesy: Sebastian Kaulitzki/Science Photo Library)

04 May 2022

Taken from the May 2022 issue of Physics World, where it appeared under the headline "The Earth through alien eyes". Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app.

 

Quantum complexity could solve a wormhole paradox

03 May 2022 Campbell McLauchlan

Boundary issue: Finding the dual quantity to wormhole volume under the holographic principle is a key outstanding problem in quantum gravity. (Courtesy: AllenMcC., CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Physicists in Germany and the US have proved that the quantum complexity of random circuits grows linearly for extremely long times. The result has implications for the so-called “wormhole growth paradox” in theories of quantum gravity thanks to a proposed link between complexity and the volume of wormholes – hypothesized shortcuts connecting far-separated regions of space in Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

 

China’s premier particle collider set for major upgrade

02 May 2022

Taken from the May 2022 issue of Physics World where it appeared under the headline "China collider set for major upgrade". Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app.

Scientists in China have begun a transformation of the Beijing Electron Positron Collider that could pave the way for a future Higgs factory. Ling Xin finds out more

Worldwide reach The Beijing Spectrometer at the Beijing Electron Positron Collider is a collaboration of over 500 members from 74 research institutions in 15 countries. (Courtesy: IHEP)

China’s premier particle-physics lab in Beijing is undergoing major work that will boost its capability to search for more exotic particles. When complete in 2024, the upgrade to the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPC) – dubbed BEPCII-U – will triple the current collision rate and extend the maximum collision energy to 5.6 GeV. The enhanced collider will also help develop plans for a next-generation collider, which if built would make China a world leader in high-energy physics research.

Margaret Harris, online editor, Physics World

It’s been a good few weeks for research on “greening” our energy supply, with new reports emerging of energy-efficient transistors, nanoparticle-based sensors that detect hydrogen leaks, and even the apparent contradiction of a solar cell that keeps working after sunset. In the longer term, it’s also possible that new configurations of high-temperature superconductors could enable these materials to conduct electricity without resistance at even higher temperatures, broadening their applications and reducing energy usage in certain areas. Keep up with these and other developments on our website.

Margaret Harris, online editor, Physics World

Researchers exploit astronomy technology for biomedical imaging

26 Apr 2022 Tami Freeman

In vivo imaging: A reconstructed image clearly separates three radionuclides: 111In in lymph nodes below the jaw (red), 125I in the thyroid (green) and 99mTc in lymph node below the ear (blue). Scale bar: 1 mm. The diagram shows where the radionuclides accumulate in the mouse. (Credit: Yagishita et al./Kavli IPMU)

In vivo imaging plays an essential role within medicine, pharmaceutics and biology. Imaging with fluorescent tracers is one promising approach, as multiple tracer types are available to simultaneously visualize the distribution of numerous molecules. Biological tissues, however, will scatter and attenuate visible light, making image reconstruction and quantitative measurements of fluorescent dyes difficult.

 

Super-resolution microscopy reveals coronavirus-replicating machinery

28 Apr 2022 Isabelle Dumé

Comparison of confocal (inset) and super-resolution (full pane) images of a coronavirus-infected cell. (Courtesy: Jiarui Wang, Moerner Laboratory)

The virus-replicating machinery of the SARS-Cov-2 virus and the ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules it produces as it replicates are located in physically distinct areas of an infected cell. This observation, made by researchers at Stanford University in the US using a new multicolour super-resolution microscopy imaging technique, provides fresh insights into the life cycle of coronaviruses and could aid the development of new therapeutics to fight them.

 

Solar cell keeps going after sunset

27 Apr 2022 Isabelle Dumé

The device generates electricity at night from the temperature difference between the solar cell and its surroundings. (Courtesy: Sid Assawaworrarit)

A new type of photovoltaic cell continues working after sunset thanks to an additional generator that harvests electricity from the temperature difference between the cell and its surroundings. The combined device can generate 50 mW or more of power per square metre at night while providing additional power during the day, and its developers say that it could provide a continuous source of renewable energy for people without access to the electrical grid.