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 […]
The researchers cooled the manganese oxide compound (Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3) to below 200 K in a zero magnetic field. At this temperature the electrons drop into a low energy state, which minimizes their natural repulsion. The material is usually an insulator, but previous experiments indicated that it can be transformed to a conductor by using X-rays, visible […]
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 […]
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% […]
The move surprised observers. Most people expected Elizabeth Moler, Peña’s deputy, to get the position because of her experience in a number of important issues. Over the next few months the DOE plans to increase competition in the US electricity market; increase shipments of nuclear weapon grade material from Russia to the US; and finally […]
Carbon nanotubes – which can be thought of as a rolled-up graphite sheet – were discovered in 1991. One way to produce large quantities of nanotubes is to place two water-cooled carbon electrodes 1mm apart in a vacuum chamber filled with an inert gas such as argon. A high-current arc between the electrodes creates nanotubes […]
The Doomsday Clock was set up in 1947 by atomic scientists concerned at the growing nuclear tensions between the US and Soviet Union. Initially the clock read seven minutes to midnight, and moved to two minutes to midnight after the first hydrogen bombs were tested. Until yesterday the time on the clock was 14 minutes […]
Researchers are investigating new ways to make computer chips in an effort to increase processing speed. It is likely that these new methods, such as chemical fabrication and assembly, will produce large numbers of defective chips. Rather than throw these chips away, James Heath of UCLA and colleagues at Hewlett-Packard are investigating how to build […]
The 2.5 m Sloan telescope is based at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico. The telescope has an unusually wide field of view and one of the most advanced digital cameras ever built. The camera consists of 30 charge-coupled devices (CCDs), each containing four million picture elements. One night’s observing will produce up to 200 […]
The hacker or hackers managed to gain password access to SLAC by intercepting the username and password of a registered user accessing data inside SLAC’s firewall. The random behaviour of the hackers inside the SLAC network suggests that they were trying to gain access to other government and university servers rather than access SLAC data. […]
