New age of precision cosmology
An eight-year effort to measure the Hubble constant has yielded a result
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Author archive
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Light feels the heat and slows down
The researchers also showed that the rubidium gas, which they say is a “relatively easily created medium”, exhibits extremely efficient nonlinear interactions. Materials with such properties could be used for fundamental research, such as high-precision spectroscopy, or for applications such as the compression of optical information. In electromagnetically induced transparency a “pump” laser is used […]
Century old mystery solved
Invar has a face-centred cubic structure and is composed of about 65% iron and 35% nickel. In addition to its anomalously low thermal expansion, the alloy also has unusual elastic, thermal and magnetic properties. Most metals expand when they are heated because the amplitudes of the atomic vibrations inside the metal increase with temperature. It […]
New views of the Moon
In July 1969 Neil Armstrong took man's first steps on another world, yet 30 years on, the Moon still holds many mysteries that we are only just beginning to unravel
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The new space age
When astronomers train their telescopes on the heavens, they are not always looking for the most distant objects in the sky. Indeed there is much to be learnt from focusing a telescope closer to home. The amount of variety in the solar system alone is staggering, although recent observations of planets around other stars suggest […]
The public enters the nuclear debate
What does the public think of radioactive waste?
First Teller professor appointed in the US
The department has close links with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, also in California, which Teller played a key role in establishing in the early 1950s. The applied science department at Davis was created when Teller realized that Livermore scientists had no experience of translating basic research to practical applications. Although Teller, who turned 91 […]
Mobile-phone satellites could lead to their own downfall
Space agencies have become increasingly concerned about space debris after both the Russian Mir Space Station and the US Space Shuttle were damaged by flecks of paint travelling at over 13 kilometres per second. And last year a French spy satellite became the first satellite to be completely knocked out of operation by space debris. […]
EU releases research report
The report also highlights the fact that 27% of the members of the panels that advise the EU on research are women. It does not, however, mention last year’s report on mismanagement and fraud in the EU’s research programmes. The report was highly critical of Edith Cresson, the commissioner for research, and led to the […]
Synchrotron up for grabs
“The meeting was extraordinarily successful in helping to bring people together,” says Siegbert Rather, director for physical sciences at the United Nations Educa-tional, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which organized the event. “There was a resounding ‘yes’ to take the project forward.” Some 70 participants attended the meeting, including delegates representing governments from the Middle […]
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