The Nobel Foundation chooses Nobel prize winners with the utmost secrecy. But in 1974 it agreed to allow historians access to any of its archives over fifty year old. Since then Crawford has documented how the earliest awards were chosen. She found that scientists who were nominated for an award, but failed to receive one, […]
When light hits an object, diffraction causes the beam to spread over an area that depends on the aperture of the lens. The phase filters make this area smaller but also cause a reduction in the beam brightness (see image). Sales wondered what could be the smallest possible focal spot a beam could be subjected […]
At a cost of ECU 150 m Mars Express is already the cheapest space mission ever proposed for the red planet. However, scientists on the committee are worried that if costs on Mars Express escalate, then other missions – such as PLANCK, a cosmology mission, and FIRST, an infrared telescope – will be threatened. The […]
Astronomers have been puzzling over the expansion rate of the Universe and its mass for decades. If the mass of the Universe is large enough, the expansion will eventually decrease and the Universe will then collapse in on itself. However, if the density of matter in the Universe is less than a certain critical density, […]
If you want to learn about atomic clocks or the sophisticated construction of an atomic timescale, then Jo Ellen Barnett’s book is not the right place. However, if you are fascinated about discovering the impact that improved time measurements have had on our daily lives and on our understanding of the world, then this is […]
Fundamental breakthroughs in physics are continuing to yield new medical technologies for identifying and treating a range of diseases
Here are two related problems. First, the number of applicants to UK university courses in the physical sciences has fallen by 26% over the last three years. Second, there is an increasing tide of opinion – not only among opinion-formers, but also among those who set research priorities – that the future of physics in […]
Recent developments in the use of high magnetic fields and pulsed NMR techniques have made it possible to probe the structure of organic compounds as complex as proteins. Imaging machines based on the NMR principle have also been developed, and now provide a powerful and non-invasive tool for diagnosing a variety of medical conditions. However, […]
Read article: Nonlinearity in the heart
Nonlinear wave dynamics can help to explain what happens to the heart during an irregularity of the heartbeat known as a cardiac arrhythmia
Physicists tend to shy away from philosophy (and religion, although there are some exceptions). Any dealings with philosophy – other than those concerning quantum theory – tend to be superficial allusions to Karl Popper’s notion of falsification or to the “paradigm shifts” championed by Thomas Kuhn in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions . […]
