Category: Sparks ‘n’ thunderbolts
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How antineutrino monitoring could prevent nuclear proliferation
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has been ratified by more countries than any other arms limitation or disarmament treaty (187 at the last count). Its goal is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology. The task of monitoring compliance of the treaty is the job of the International Atomic Energy Authority and one…
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First observation of antibonding in artificial molecules
When electrons are confined in a flat space, they interact in much the same way as electrons in ordinary atoms by forming into pairs of various energy levels. They can even be made to emit light when they jump from one level to the next, just like electrons in the orbitals in real atoms. These…
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The hunt for superheavy elements
The heaviest elements are a shy, retiring bunch. No sooner are they created than they disappear in a puff of smoke. The heaviest, ununoctium, has an atomic number of 118 and an atomic weight of 294. The Russians made a single atom of the stuff back in 2002 only to discover that it hung around…
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Read it and beep
Reading text is a simple enough task for humans. But unless it’s cleaned up and served on a plate computers just can’t do it. At least they couldn’t until Mireille Boutin and pals from Purdue University took a shot at the problem. These guys have built an impressive algorithm that looks for and finds text…
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Why silos burst
Believe it or not, grain silos are interesting structures. They’ve been known to explode without warning, which is hard to explain since they are filled with, well, grain. But grain turns out to be kinda interesting too. In recent years, researchers have begun to get a handle on some of the strange and counterintuitive ways…
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Mapping the radioactive heat beneath our feet
Geochemical bods tell us that the Earth is heated from within by the decay of various isotopes, mainly uranium, thorium and potassium. Knowing the distribution of these elements is crucial for understanding the Earth’s inner dynamics. Geochemists have penty of ideas about how the Earth’s interior may work but no way of taking measurements to…
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Black holes may convert dark matter into cosmic rays
Active galactic nuclei are the brightest objects in the universe and among the most puzzlin’. Astrobods think they are supermassive black holes that spew out huge amounts light over some or all of the electromagnetic spectrum. Now a coupla Ruskies are saying that active galactic nuclei are capable of converting dark matter into high energy…
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A wishlist of experiments to do in space
What should we do in space? NASA has bet the farm on the International Space Station, a giant orbiting Lego set where astronauts can play Mommies and Daddies, practice sharing and become zero-g toilet trained. Almost everyone else wants to do something useful. So a bunch of chief eggheads from the world of physics have…
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When gamma rays strike
On 6 January earlier this year, one of the strongest thunderstorms in livin’ memory a-crashed and a-roared its way across the Sea of Japan, rattlin the daylights outta the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant on the coast. This power plant is fitted with one of the most advanced radiation detectors on the planet and durin’ the…
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Invasion of the jivin’ nano-shrooms
Convertin’ a constant force into an oscillatin’ one is a useful trick. Ya’ll seen em: gravity-powered pendulums and wind-powered turbines for example, them both set machines a-spinin and a-swingin by exploitin’ a constant force. Them machines might work sweetly at macroscopic scales but ain’t nobody cracked it on the nanoscale even though nanobods are a-chompin…