The team studied the radioactive decay of germanium 76, which cannot occur by normal beta decay in which one electron and one antineutrino would be emitted. The nucleus can, however, undergo double beta decay, which is extremely rare. This “neutrinoless” mode is only possible if the neutrino has mass and is its own antiparticle. The […]
The HFBR had become trapped in a economic and political battle between the Department of Energy and the US congress, with the latter refusing to release funds to restart the reactor. Moreover, it was costing $23 m per year to keep the reactor in standby mode. The high cost of restarting the reactor, and the […]
Eckermann and Preusse analysed data from the cryogenic infrared spectrometer and telescope for the atmosphere (CRISTA), which was flown on the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1994. They discovered that the gravity waves caused by the flow of air over mountains can exist as high as 45 km, which is well into stratosphere (Science 286 1534). […]
According to calculations by Marcy and colleagues, the planet has 63 percent of the mass of Jupiter and orbits the star every 3.5 days. On Thursday, the next time the star is eclipsed, more telescopes will be turned towards the star to confirm the findings. By combining data from both sets of observations, planet was […]
This is only the third time Hubble has been shut down since its launch in 1990. Three weeks of scientific data will be lost. During the repair mission, astronauts will replace all six gyroscopes, a fine guidance sensor, a transmitter, a spare solid-state recorder and a device that prevents batteries overheating. The crew will also […]
For over a century milk has been pasteurised by heating it to 65 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes and then rapidly cooling it to below 10 degrees Celsius for storage. The new technique relies on energetic electrons from a linear accelerator. When the electron beam hits the E. coli, it deactivates the microbe’s DNA. “The […]
The germanium sample was bombarded with powerful laser pulses to excite the electrons and cause thermal melting. In this process, unlike normal melting, the metallic crystal goes from a cold solid to a hot liquid state and never passes through the classical equilibrium stage of a hot solid. “The short laser pulse neutralises the glue […]
During the 1990s the UN and ESA organized a series of workshops to promote the development of small telescopes in countries such as Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Colombia and Jordan. Over 800 astronomers have attended these workshops. And although the workshops have not led to any new telescopes in Africa, they have resulted in a […]
Charles Townes has written a biography – but it is not clear if it is his own or that of the laser. The laser is now such a feature of our everyday life that the remarkable story of its birth needs to be told, and Townes does so in a clear and personal way – […]
In mid-December 1900 Max Planck presented a series of papers to the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin that were, eventually, to revolutionize not only physics as a discipline, but our entire conceptions of the constitution of matter and energy. It would be fair to say that the century that followed was the century of […]
