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UrduLife on Earth manages to exist in the Mariana Trench and deep below the ocean floor, where extreme conditions create large effects on the behavior of biological molecules. At the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, a facility dedicated to high-pressure biological X-ray scattering is available for use to explore those deep ocean molecules. Richard Gillilan will describe the main capabilities of BioSAXS and call for scientific use of the facility at the 70th Annual Meeting of the American Crystallographic Association.
Tag: Physics
Physicists Find Misaligned Carbon Sheets Yield Unparalleled Properties
A material composed of two one-atom-thick layers of carbon has grabbed the attention of physicists worldwide for its intriguing — and potentially exploitable — conductive properties.
Another Win for the Standard Model: New Study Defies Decades-Old ‘Discrepancy’ With High-Precision Measurement
A new study dives into a decades-old discrepancy from a Standard Model of particle physics pillar known as “lepton flavor universality,” and provides strong evidence to resolve it.
AIP Welcomes Nominations for 2020 Tate Medal for International Leadership
The American Institute of Physics is accepting nominations for the 2020 John Torrence Tate Medal for International Leadership in Physics. The deadline to apply is Oct. 1, 2020. The Tate medal was established in 1959 and is awarded every two years to non-U.S. citizens for their leadership, research contributions and service to the international physics community. The award consists of a certificate of recognition, a bronze medal and a $10,000 prize.
Black Phosphorus Future in 3D Analysis, Molecular Fingerprinting
Many compact systems using mid-infrared technology continue to face compatibility issues when integrating with conventional electronics. Black phosphorus has garnered attention for overcoming these challenges thanks to a wide variety of uses in photonic circuits. Research published in Applied Physics Reviews highlights the material’s potential for emerging devices ranging from medical imaging to environment monitoring, assessing progress in different components of the chips, from light detection to laser emission.
International Year of Sound Events Explore Acoustics from Sounds of the Sacred to Oceanography
The Acoustical Society of America continues to host virtual events in August as part of the International Year of Sound. The ASA Student Council will host Virtual Student Summer Talks for science students to present their research on topics ranging from acoustical oceanography to speech communication and David Carreon Bradley will discuss how sounds in religious spaces are essential to the worship experience. All events are open to the public, and admission is free.
Scientists Team Up to Create Spongy Droplets that Mimic Cellular Organelles
Taking a bottom-up approach to synthetic biology, UC San Diego chemists and physicists show that lipid sponge droplets can be programmed to internally concentrate specific proteins, host and accelerate biochemical transformations and control enzymatic reactions.
The spin on baseball: WVU experts break down the physics of America’s favorite pastime
With MLB up to bat for opening day (July 23), two West Virginia University astrophysicists are hurling a fastball of science at us to better understand the game. WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy faculty D.J. Pisano, chair and professor,…
SLAC’s upgraded X-ray laser facility produces first light
The LCLS-II upgrade project will increase the X-ray laser’s power by thousands of times, producing a million pulses per second compared to 120 per second today. Now, the first phase of the upgrade has come into operation, producing an X-ray beam for the first time using newly installed undulators. The full upgrade is due to be completed within the next two years.
Buffalo State College Physics Professor Seeks New Path to Cool
A Buffalo State physics professor is researching ways to make refrigeration and air conditioning environmentally friendly.
AIP to Fund Programs Combating Racial Injustice, Inequities in Physics, Physical Sciences
The American Institute of Physics has established a $200,000 fund to support efforts by its 10 member societies and an AIP affiliated society, the National Society of Black Physicists, for actions that are a direct response to racial injustice. The AIP 2020-2021 Diversity Action Fund will have a special focus on society actions for Black students in the physical sciences, as well as programs focused on minority communities.
Pandemic Puts Physical Sciences at ‘Tipping Point’ Between Perilous, Vibrant Futures
Commissioned by the AIP board of directors, “Peril and Promise: Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Physical Sciences,” outlines several areas where the scientific community has been tested by the pandemic and examines what the future could look like for the workforce, infrastructure and conduct of research. Calling it “a tipping point,” the panel challenges leaders in government, academia, the private sector and other areas who depend on the physical sciences to craft specific recommendations to address the pandemic’s impacts.
Researchers Observe Branched Flow of Light for the First Time
A team of researchers from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology has observed branched flow of light for the very first time. The beautiful phenomenon allows for new and exciting research opportunities in the fields of Optics and Optofluidics.
Six Argonne researchers receive DOE Early Career Research Program awards
Argonne scientists Michael Bishof, Maria Chan, Marco Govini, Alessandro Lovato, Bogdan Nicolae and Stefan Wild have received funding for their research as part of DOE’s Early Career Research Program.
Academic Achievement isn’t the Reason There are More Men than Women Majoring in Physics, Engineering and Computer Science
While some STEM majors have a one-to-one male-to-female ratio, physics, engineering and computer science (PECS) majors consistently have some of the largest gender imbalances among U.S. college majors – with about four men to every woman in the major. In a new study published today in the peer-reviewed research journal, Science, NYU researchers find that this disparity is not caused by higher math or science achievement among men. On the contrary, the scholars found that men with very low high-school GPAs in math and science and very low SAT math scores were choosing these math-intensive majors just as often as women with much higher math and science achievement.
Roll over, Aristotle, nature doesn’t always hate a vacuum
The study, published in Nature Chemistry, provides new insights on how to modify the stickiness of these molecular building blocks, allowing engineers to build materials, like gels, from the bottom-up.
QS rankings makes MIPT best Russian tech university
The latest edition of the QS World University Rankings places MIPT at No. 281 globally, up 21 positions from last year’s results. The Institute has the highest standing of all Russian technical universities featured in the league table.
Virginia Tech research provides new explanation for neutrino anomalies in Antarctica
A new research paper co-authored by a Virginia Tech assistant professor of physics provides a new explanation for two recent strange events that occurred in Antarctica – high-energy neutrinos appearing to come up out of the Earth on their own accord and head skyward.
Biohybrid Model Uses Organic Lungs, Synthetic Muscles to Re-Create Respiration Mechanics
Discussed in APL Bioengineering, researchers created a high-fidelity respiratory simulator that accurately represents the interplay between the abdomen, diaphragm, lungs and pleural space, the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the thorax and lungs. The model, using swine lungs, soft robotic materials and artificial muscles, allows precise tuning of pressure in each part of the system, so specific disease conditions can be tested. It also proved extremely useful for testing ventilator-only respiration by removing the elastomeric diaphragm.
Targeting SARS-CoV-2 Enzyme with Inhibitors
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, many researchers are studying epidemiological models to predict its propagation. However, a mathematician and expert in complex systems decided to focus on finding targets within SARS-CoV-2 for new drugs to attack. In the journal Chaos, he discusses the dramatic increase in the sensitivity of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 to small disturbances, which made him suspect there is a role for inhibitors to play in killing the virus.
Survival of Coronavirus in Different Cities, on Different Surfaces
One of the many questions researchers have about the COVID-19 virus is how long it remains alive after someone infected coughs or sneezes. In Physics of Fluids, researchers examine the drying time of respiratory droplets from COVID-19-infected subjects on various surfaces in six cities around the world. Using a model well established in the field of interface science, the drying time calculations showed ambient temperature, type of surface and relative humidity play critical roles.
Significant carbon dioxide could be released by shifting con nental plate in Eastern Africa
Shifting continental plates in Eastern Africa has the potential to release significant amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to new research by an international team of scientists including the University of Alberta’s Claire Currie, a professor in the Department of Physics.
Solving the mysteries of water and air underground
The mysterious capillary fringe has huge effects on the soil, and new research tells us how it works.
New research deepens understanding of Earth’s interaction with the solar wind
A team of scientists at PPPL and Princeton University has reproduced a process that occurs in space to deepen understanding of what happens when the Earth encounters the solar wind.
Promising New Method for Producing Tiny Liquid Capsules
Microcapsules for the storage and delivery of substances are tiny versions of the type of capsule used for fish oil or other liquid supplements. A new method for synthesizing microcapsules, reported in AIP Advances, creates microcapsules with a liquid core that are ideal for the storage and delivery of oil-based materials in skin care products. They also show promise in some applications as tiny bioreactors. In this new method, a surfactant-free microfluidics process is used.
AIP’s Society of Physics Students Transforms Summer Internships into Virtual Experiences
AIP will be continuing its Society of Physics Students Summer Internship program for 2020 in a virtual setting, having restructured it to accommodate the current state of the world but still provide a comprehensive and complete experience for this year’s interns. Sixteen undergraduates were selected and have accepted positions in the summer program, and they will be placed with organizations that will utilize their knowledge, experience and energy to advance meaningful assignments relevant to the organizations and the advancement of physics and astronomy more generally.
Next-Gen Laser Facilities Look to Usher in New Era of Relativistic Plasmas Research
Chirped pulse amplification increases the strength of laser pulses in many of today’s highest-powered research lasers, and as next-generation laser facilities look to push beam power, physicists expect a new era for studying plasmas. Researchers have released a study in Physics of Plasmas taking stock of what upcoming high-power laser capabilities are poised to teach us about relativistic plasmas subjected to strong-field quantum electrodynamics processes and introducing the physics of relativistic plasma in supercritical fields.
Scientific Groups Seek Change, Cooperation in Response to Immigration Executive Order
Thirty-six scientific associations and societies are calling on President Trump to reconsider an executive order that suspends the entry of immigrants into the United States. The order seeks to limit the number of foreign workers available in the U.S. job market and makes no exceptions for researchers and students in STEM who are not involved in coronavirus research. The letter points out the critical role of immigrant researchers and students from around the world for the U.S. in retaining our advantage as “the premier destination for the world’s best and brightest minds.”
Quantum leap: Bristol’s photon discovery is a major step toward large-scale quantum technologies
A team of physicists at the University of Bristol has developed the first integrated photon source with the potential to deliver large-scale quantum photonics.
UCI physicists exploring use of Blu-ray disc lasers to kill COVID-19, other viruses
Irvine, Calif., May 19, 2020 – A new weapon in the arsenal against the coronavirus may be sitting in your home entertainment console. A team led by physicist Chris Barty of the University of California, Irvine is researching the use of diodes from Blu-ray digital video disc devices as deep-ultraviolet laser photon sources to rapidly disinfect surfaces and the indoor air that swirls around us.
Image Analysis Technique Provides Better Understanding of Heart Cell Defects
Many patients with heart disease face limited treatment options. Fortunately, stem cell biology has enabled researchers to produce large numbers of cardiomyocytes, which may be used in advanced drug screens and cell-based therapies. However, current image analysis techniques don’t allow researchers to analyze heterogeneous, multidirectional, striated myofibrils typical of immature cells. In the Journal of Applied Physics, researchers showcase an algorithm that combines gradient methods with fast Fourier transforms to quantify myofibril structures in heart cells with considerable accuracy.
AIP Celebrates International Day of Light
Saturday, May 16, is a day to see how light influences our lives with the International Day of Light. The celebration is a global initiative that provides an annual focal point for the continued appreciation of light and the role it plays in science, the economy, culture and art, education, and sustainable development, and in fields as diverse as medicine, communications and energy.
Rupak Mahapatra: Then and Now
Rupak Mahapatra is a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University.
Nanofiber Membranes Transformed Into 3D Scaffolds
Researchers combined gas foaming and 3D molding technologies to quickly transform electrospun membranes into complex 3D shapes for biomedical applications. The new approach demonstrates significant improvements in speed and quality compared with other methods, and is the first successful demonstration of formation of 3D neural tissue constructs with an ordered structure through differentiation of human neural progenitor/stem cells on these transformed 3D nanofiber scaffolds. They discuss their work in this week’s Applied Physics Reviews.
Heising-Simons Foundation Grant Helps AIP Transform TEAM-UP Report into Action Plan
The American Institute of Physics is pleased to announce that a $200,000 grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation will fund workshops to help reach the goal of doubling the number of African American physics and astronomy undergraduate degree recipients by the year 2030. AIP’s hosting these workshops is an important next step in implementing evidence-based recommendations from AIP’s expert report produced by The National Task Force to Elevate African American Representation in Undergraduate Physics & Astronomy, also known as TEAM-UP.
Physicists Go Out on a Limb to Advance AI Computing
Research findings published in Nature Communications outline how a national team of researchers supported by the DOE’s Office of Science opens up a new dimension of safe hardware for AI and neuromorphic computing.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Awards & Appointments
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) announces the following awards and appointments.
Rutgers’ Greg Moore Elected to National Academy of Sciences
Rutgers Professor Gregory W. Moore, a renowned physicist who seeks a unified understanding of the basic forces and fundamental particles in the universe, has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. Moore, Board of Governors Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, joins 119 other new academy members and 26 international members this year who were recognized for their distinguished and ongoing achievements in original research.
Upcoming Trimble Lecture with Elizabeth Kessler Highlights the Impacts of Hubble Imagery on May 7
The American Institute of Physics, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the launch of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is delighted to host a virtual presentation by Stanford University’s Elizabeth Kessler in an upcoming Lyne Starling Trimble Science Heritage Public Lecture. The lecture series is presented by AIP and features science historians and writers who study the role of science and technology in modern society and culture. “Hubble Space Telescope Images and the Astronomical Sublime” will be hosted virtually, Thursday, May 7 at 3:30 p.m. Eastern (U.S.).
Broadband Enhancement Relies on Precise Tilt
If a photon source could be placed on a single chip and made to produce photons at a high rate, this could enable high-speed quantum communication or information processing. In Applied Physics Reviews, a simple on-chip photon source using a hyperbolic metamaterial is proposed, and investigators carried out calculations to show that a prototype arranged in a precise way can overcome problems of low efficiency and allow for high repetition rates for on-chip photon sources.
Study: Could Dark Matter Be Hiding in Existing Data?
A new study, led by researchers at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley, suggests new paths for catching the signals of dark matter particles that have their energy absorbed by atomic nuclei.
Major upgrades of particle detectors and electronics prepare CERN experiment to stream a data tsunami
For an experiment that will generate big data at unprecedented rates, physicists led design, development, mass production and delivery of an upgrade of novel particle detectors and state-of-the art electronics.
Simulating Borehole Ballooning Helps Ensure Safe Drilling of Deep-Water Oil, Gas
A device which simulates borehole ballooning, a detrimental side effect of deep-water drilling operations, is expected to ensure safe and efficient operations. If not prevented, borehole ballooning can lead to irreversible damage and serious drilling accidents, which can result in reservoir pollution and huge economic loss. In Review of Scientific Instruments, researchers present a device that can simulate this dangerous phenomenon in the hopes of preventing it.
Emerging Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Devices Based on Silicon Carbide May Revolutionize Power Electronics
Silicon plays a central role within the semiconductor industry for microelectronic and nanoelectronic devices, and silicon wafers of high purity single-crystalline material can be obtained via a combination of liquid growth methods. In Applied Physics Reviews, researchers describe the atomic mechanisms governing extended defect kinetics in cubic silicon carbide, which has a diamondlike zincblende crystal structure that manifests stacking and anti-phase instabilities. The study pinpoints the atomistic mechanisms responsible for extended defect generation and evolution.
Upcoming Trimble Lecture Highlights Hubble’s 30th with Jennifer Wiseman of NASA on April 29
The American Institute of Physics is delighted to host a virtual lecture by Hubble Space Telescope senior project scientist Jennifer Wiseman in an upcoming Lyne Starling Trimble Science Heritage public lecture to celebrate Hubble’s 30th anniversary. The lecture series is hosted by AIP and highlights experts who study the role of science and technology throughout human history and modern society. “The Hubble Space Telescope: 30 Years of Discovery and Awe” will be hosted virtually, April 29 at 3:30 p.m. EDT.
Computer simulations explore potential COVID-19 therapeutics
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago recently published a study in the journal ACS Nano that details findings from computer simulations seeking to identify inhibitors, which eventually could assist chemists to develop new medicines to combat the coronavirus.
Ultrasound-Assisted Molecule Delivery Looks to Preserve Blood for Years
Blood can typically be stored for only six weeks after donation, but a potential solution attempts to dry blood by using a sugar-based preservative. New work in ultrasound technology looks to provide a path to inserting these sugars into human red blood cells, allowing the molecule trehalose to enter the cells and prevent their degradation when dried for preservation. The researchers discuss their work in this week’s Biomicrofluidics.
New discovery helps close the gap towards optically-controlled quantum computation
Scientists have discovered a light-induced switching mechanism in a Dirac semimetal. The mechanism establishes a new way to control the topological material, driven by back-and-forth motion of atoms and electrons, which will enable topological transistor and quantum computation using light waves.
Milky Way could be catapulting stars into its outer halo, UCI astronomers say
Irvine, Calif., April 20, 2020 – Though mighty, the Milky Way and galaxies of similar mass are not without scars chronicling turbulent histories. University of California, Irvine astronomers and others have shown that clusters of supernovas can cause the birth of scattered, eccentrically orbiting suns in outer stellar halos, upending commonly held notions of how star systems have formed and evolved over billions of years.
Mitch Allmond: Shaping a better fundamental understanding of matter
Profiled is Mitch Allmond of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who conducts experiments and uses theoretical models to advance our understanding of the structure of atomic nuclei.