What are the limits of science? Will the pursuit of knowledge lead to a never-ending source of intellectual (and perhaps even monetary) riches? Or are scientists misleading the public on this score, in an attempt to gain even greater support, power and influence? It seems that we physicists are more and more frequently being forced […]
We’ve all had the following experience. You meet someone at a party, and they ask you what you do. You tell them you are a physicist. Quickly, they change the topic. But if you ask them if they are interested in black holes, warp drives or time travel, then they are fascinated. Most people think […]
Delacôte suggests there are several lessons that can be applied to science popularisation in general: the emphasis must be on a ‘active experience’; the best techniques work for all age groups; the most rewarding experiences result from the integration of museum displays with school courses; and the best exhibits are produced when artists and scientists […]
Antonio Rodota, ESA’s director general, has been campaigning to increase the amount of industrial involvement in the space agency. However it has been clear for many months that there would be substantial overlap between some ESA research programmes – satellite telecommunications, Earth observation and navigation systems – and those planned by the EU. The deal […]
Gamma-ray bursts appear to be related to the deaths of massive stars. Amelino-Camelia and colleagues claim that if the difference in the arrival times of photons with different energies can be measured, they will be able to test various theories of quantum gravity. This is because some of the theories treat the vacuum as a […]
It is also brilliant theatre. The three characters – Bohr, Heisenberg and Bohr’s wife Margrethe – are on stage nearly all of the time. Notionally, they are in the Bohrs’ house, with three chairs as their only props. But they grip us continually with words, tones, gestures, movement and lights. The professional magic of the […]
The barriers found on fault lines are usually regions in which a strong pinning force reduces the movement of the plates. However geologists cannot define the position of these barriers around the fault lines. Rundle et al . use a ‘stochastic Griffith theory’ to statistically calculate the distribution of barriers, and thus predict if it […]
It is also brilliant theatre. The three characters – Bohr, Heisenberg and Bohr’s wife Margrethe – are on stage nearly all of the time. Notionally, they are in the Bohrs’ house, with three chairs as their only props. But they grip us continually with words, tones, gestures, movement and lights. The professional magic of the […]
Under the CTBT, a network of seismic stations around the world is being set up to monitor the treaty and automatically send information to an International Data Centre (IDC) in Vienna, Austria. A prototype centre in Virginia (PIDC) currently receives information from existing stations. So far only 64% of the primary seismic stations, and 27% […]
Their technique works by using a process called two-colour holography. One wavelength of light records information on the crystal and another is used to read the data. Their method fires two light sources at the same time at the target. The researchers doped a lithium niobate crystal with iron and manganese to create two different […]
