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, […]
Doctors need to measure blood conductivity to calculate the internal pump volume of the heart and the blood circulation rate. However, when patients receive additional fluids – for example, water, drips or drugs during surgery – the conductivity can fluctuate. The new system is able to measure these changing conductance levels in real time. The […]
Attempts to scale down current laser designs have been made before, but the devices were not efficient enough for real applications. Now a group of researchers from Darmstadt University of Technology, the University of Frankfurt and IMM in Mainz have found a zeolite that can trap the dye molecules with the correct alignment and orientation […]
Hawking was one of ten famous names asked by the National Portrait Galley to pick photographs that defined the 20th century. He was the only scientist in a group that included the film producer David Puttnam, the fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, and David Bowie. “I have concentrated on scientists and women, the important members of […]
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, […]
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 […]
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
Nonlinear wave dynamics can help to explain what happens to the heart during an irregularity of the heartbeat known as a cardiac arrhythmia
Read article: Nonlinearity in the heart
