Month: August 2007
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Huntin’ for quantum gravity
On the tiniest scale, spacetime ain’t flat at all but a-bubblin and a-fizzin with virtual particles leapin in ‘n outta existence. Quantum gravity, say them cosmologists, is a kinda foam. Ain’t nobody observed quantum gravity. But this week, them astrogawpers say they might have seen some indirect evidence while a-starin and a-gogglin at Markarian 501,…
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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…
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How to get ahead in evolutionary computing
Ya’ll know that connectedness is an important feature of small world networks. And that various busy bodies have worked out the best connected film stars, scientists, toilet attendents etc by analysing the network of links between these people in their various professions. Very clever and, at one time, even kinda intrestin’. Now Juan “Don” Merelo…
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Quantum RAM
If yer gonna build a quantum computer, yer gonna need some quantum memory to store qubits. Enter quantum random access memory–which like most quantum things is just like plain old vanilla RAM except all a-ghostly and a-spooky. Brrrrr. Here’s how RAM works. Each memory cell is connected to a circuit tree in which the branches…
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The physics of poverty
Why are poor countries unable to make themselves richer by exporting to developed countries? What keeps ’em in this poverty trap? Economists ain’t got a clue, otherwise they’d a told us, right? But this week a group of physicists have unveiled some ideas with the kinda insight that might just turn this field on its…
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Dim outlook for solar flare forecasting
Yep, looks like sunshine. Them weather boys have spent a lotta time a-countin and a-calculatin to let ya’ll know when to head for the beaches. Let’s give em their due: weather forecastin is better than it was and we got so much data that it’s a full time job a-pumpin it into them weather computers.…
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The first quark nova
Them stargazers have been a-gapin’ and a-gawpin’ at a champagne supernova called SN2006g. A long, long time ago in galaxy far, far away (NGC 1260 in the constellation of Perseus) this mutha blew up big time: the blast was huge, offerin up 100 times more a-rumblin and a-tremblin than anything them astrogawpers have seen before.…
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The sound of neutrinos
Them neutrinos are shy critters. Given half a chance, they’ll pass on by without ya’ll ever knowin they bin there. But when it comes to water, they lurv a lil splashin and a-playin. With a microphone, ya’ll can even hear ’em. Yep, that’s right. On the rare occasions they do interact with matter, they generate…
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Nano-electromechanical devices
Ya’ll heard of MEMs (micro-electromechanical devices), right? So it was never gonna be long before we got the lowdown on NEMS nano-electromechanical devices. They’re a-comin atcha. The problem is that to make anything move on the nano scale, ya gotta yank it with an electric field and that means having a metallic conducting layer in…
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The dark matter problem
It ain’t right, this dark matter business. The problem is these galaxies that astronomers are a-peepin and a-starin at: they’re just rotatin too quick for Newton’s beloved gravity to hold em together. So something has to be a-stickin and a-holdin them tight. Ya’ll bin told that dark matter provides the extra gravitational oomph to stop…