Diamond defect images magnetic domain walls – Physics World
Using a point-like defect in diamond attached to a scanning atomic force microscope (AFM), they were able to map out the energy “landscape” for a domain wall and could even make the ...
D-Wave and predecessors: From simulated to quantum annealing
Recently, it was suggested by several research groups that a network of superconducting, D-Wave type qubits, could realize a quantum adiabatic computer and efficiently solve optimiza...
Crab and other crustacean shells may help prevent and treat inflammatory disease
Microparticles in crab, shrimp and lobster shells have anti-inflammatory mechanisims that could lead to the development of novel preventive and therapeutic strategies for Inflammator...
COSMOS supercomputing research facility becomes an Intel Parallel Computing Centre
As an IPCC, the COSMOS research facility will receive enhanced Intel support from its applications and engineering teams, as well as early access to future Intel Xeon Phi and other I...
Best of Last Week – Superconducting secrets solved, simulating time travel and possible breakthrough in treating autism
Map of superconducting copper oxide structure. Credit: Nicolle R Fuller (Phys.org) —It’s been a big week for solving mysteries—first up, a breakthrough has been made in identifying ...
Amazing Pop-Up Solar Power Station Delivers Energy Anywhere it’s Needed
Ecosphere Technologies’ latest product combines several of our very favorite things in one easy-to-transport package: shipping containers, off-the-grid solar power, and clean drinkin...
University scientists unraveling nature of Higgs boson
MANHATTAN, Kansas — New physics research involving Kansas State University faculty members has helped shed light on how our universe works. A recently published study in the journal ...
Understanding the ocean’s role in Greenland glacier melt
Sermilik Fjord, into which Helheim Glaciers drains, in August 2011. Credit: Nicholas Beaird (Phys.org) —The Greenland Ice Sheet is a 1.7 million-square-kilometer, 2-mile thick layer...
Swiftly moving gas streamer eclipses supermassive black hole
The researchers detected a clumpy gas stream flowing quickly outward and blocking 90 percent of the X-rays emitted by the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. There a...
Ferroelectric switching seen in biological tissues
This is an illustration of the molecular structure of tropoelastin, the smallest unit of the protein elastin. These findings are the first that clearly track this phenomenon, called ...
Farm to table oversight, new technologies improving spice safety
New and improved manufacturing technologies, as well as a greater focus on the individual steps of the production process, are helping to enhance spice safety in the U.S. and through...
Skulls Uncovered from ‘Pit of Bones’ Shed Light on Neanderthal and Human Evolution
Researchers are learning a bit more about the evolution of Neanderthals. The findings shed a bit more light on the history of Neanderthal evolution. The Middle Pleistocene, which occ...
Scientists Discover Dying Sun-Like Stars Hold Molecule Vital for Creating Water
These stars cast off their outer layers of dust and gas into space, creating intricate patterns known as planetary nebulas. When a star finally becomes a planetary nebula, intense ra...
Satellite Data Gives Scientists New Look at Underground Water Sources
Groundwater is important to our freshwater systems. That’s why scientists decided to see if there was another way to monitor water levels. This allowed them to compile water-level me...
Salamanders May Hold the Secret to Limb Regeneration in Humans
This remarkable feat of regeneration allows these amphibians to better survive and escape predators. Now, scientists have taken a closer look at the secrets of regrowing body parts i...
Rare white whale spotted off Sydney
Tourists on the deck of a whale watching vessel off the coast near Sydney on June 8, 2010 An extremely rare white humpback whale has been spotted off the coast of Sydney in an event...
Qubits team up to detect errors – Physics World
Therefore, to preserve quantum states long enough to perform useful algorithms, scientists need to join physical qubits into information-processing units called “logical qubits” that...
Play an Instrument? Musical Training Improves Brain Function
Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital discovered, with the help of functional MRI brain imaging, that playing an instrument early in life supports brain growth and function. All ...
Now Extinct Passenger Pigeons may Flock to the Future with Help of DNA Technology
According to researchers from the non-profit organization, Revive and Restore, with the help of advanced DNA technology, we could be seeing a passenger pigeon in the not so distant f...
NASA Spots Supermassive Black Hole Ejecting Stream of Super Fast Gas
Scientists have made a surprising discovery when it comes to a supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy, NGC 5548. They’ve found that this black hole is emitting a stream o...
Mysterious ‘Magic Island’ appears on Saturn’s moon Titan
Titan’s methane cycle is strikingly similar to Earth’s hydrologic cycle and the only other one known to include stable bodies of surface liquids, such as this north polar sea Ligeia ...
Mud Crabs Can Hear: Crustacean Behavior Impacted by Predatory Fish Noise
Now, scientists have discovered that crustaceans, such as crabs, also hear and rely on sound to tell them about a predatory fish’s approach. This is possibly because they move on and...
Mapping winds and dune evolution on the Red Planet
This is a subset of NASA HiRISE image ESP_011909 taken of a dune in Proctor Crater on Mars, showing various directions of ripples on the surface of a Martian dune (image is approxima...
Invasive Trap-Jaw Ants Spread in the Southeast
Now, this species is spreading into new territory in the southeastern U.S., and may have actually started to evolve into a separate species. Trap-jaw ant species are in the genus Ond...
Great white shark numbers are surging, study says
This undated photo provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows a great white shark encountered off the coast of Massachusetts. The scientists report the sha...