Over the last decade, scientists learnt that thunderstorms are capable of generating brief but powerful bursts of gamma-rays calledterrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). These flashes of gamma-rays are so bright they can blind instruments many hundreds of kilometers away in outer space. Because they can originate at the same altitudes at which commercial aircraft fly, scientists […]
Berkeley scientists say they have discovered a way to tell time by measuring matter waves, the oscillations of matter whose frequency is 10 billion times higher than that of visible light. Intriguingly, team member Holger Müller says the technique can also be reversed to use time to measure mass. The technique takes advantage of the […]
In 2003, British philosopher Nick Bostrom (pictured) published a probabilistic analysis examining the possibility that we might all be living in a computer simulation. His conclusion – that we quite likely are living in a computer simulation – might soon be put to the test with experiments proposed by University of Washington physicists. In Bostrom’s […]
A cornerstone of physics may require a rethink if the results from a series of new ion trap (pictured) experiments at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are confirmed. The results, reported in Physical Review Letters, indicate that predictions based on the fundamental theory of electromagnetism may not accurately account for the behavior […]
By performing supercomputer simulations of the Universe, researchers have shown that the causal network representing the large-scale structure of space and time is a graph that shows remarkable similarity to other complex networks such as the Internet, as well as social and biological networks. A paper describing the simulations in the journal Nature’s Scientific Reports […]
The use of magnetic fields to control electrons is a founding principle of electronics and all the consumer electronic devices in use today. When an electron approaches a magnetic field, it meets resistance and opts to follow the path of least effort, travelling in circular motion around the field. Now, Stanford researchers say they have […]
Physicists have devised an experiment that could reveal the precise workings of Einstein’s “spooky action at a distance.” The results, say the scientists, would show that either faster-than-light communication is possible, or, that the Universe is fundamentally nonlocal, in the sense that every bit of the Universe is connected to every other bit. The proposal […]
No explanation of how ball lightning occurs has been universally accepted by science, but an Australian researcher thinks eye-witness accounts from airline pilots may offer an important clue. Previous theories have cited microwave radiation from thunderclouds, oxidising aerosols, nuclear energy, dark matter, antimatter, and even black holes as possible causes, but scientist John Lowke dismisses […]
One of the fundamental tenets of quantum mechanics, Werner Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, is being challenged by University of Toronto researchers who say that Heisenberg may be incorrect. Their work, involving the use of the “weak measurement technique,” is detailed in the journal Physical Review of Letters. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle states that it is impossible to […]
Physicists at Harvard have created an ultrathin, flat lens that focuses light without imparting the distortions that occur with conventional lenses. At a mere 60 nanometers thick, the flat lens is essentially two-dimensional, yet its focusing power, according to the researchers, approaches the ultimate physical limit set by the laws of diffraction. The new lens […]
