Read article: Taming light with cold atoms
Taming light with cold atoms
The ability to stop light in its tracks by passing it through a cloud of ultracold atoms could lead to new techniques for optical storage
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Read article: Taming light with cold atoms
Read article: The quest for the Northern Lights
The quest for the Northern Lights
The Northern Lights is a well researched biographical tale of the Norwegian physicist and genius Kristian Birkeland, whose life was spent exclusively in pursuit of the scientific goal of understanding solar-terrestrial relationships. The author, Lucy Jago, has turned his life into a highly compelling story that keeps the reader interested, and also learning, as the […]
Read article: Ultrafast cameras streak ahead
Ultrafast cameras streak ahead
According to the old adage, “a picture paints a thousand words”. And in many scientific disciplines ultrahigh-speed imaging is the only reliable way to visualize the countless physical and mechanical processes that occur on microsecond timescales. Such processes include ballistics, the propagation of cracks in materials, flame fronts in combustion research, the generation of shock […]
A new twist for magnetic moments
First discovered in experiments on ions in the early 1920s, the understanding of magnetic moments played a central role in theoretical physics during the 20th century. In the case of free electrons, comparisons between theory and experiments of ever-increasing accuracy continue to provide one of the most significant tests of the theory of quantum electrodynamics. […]
Ultrapure silicon surprises
Cystal impurities in silicon can now be controlled to the level of one part in a billion, while major faults in the crystalline structure can be avoided. As techniques to control its growth have developed, the applications of silicon have been pushed in new directions. In addition, there is a constant drive to improve light […]
Read article: Six of the best for gravitational lens
Six of the best for gravitational lens
A distant galaxy is imaged six times by the strong gravity of a galactic cluster
Bigger buckyballs bolster superconductivity
Physicists double the temperature at which carbon-60 can superconduct
Quantum entanglement gets a laser-like lift
Entangled photons are amplified for the first time
Fragment of ancient asteroid falls to Earth
A carbon-rich meteorite may be the first fragment ever found of a primitive class of asteroids
Lasers energise fusion research
A new way of kick-starting fusion could allow scientists to harness the powerful energy source
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