Imposing minimal capital levels for banks in an effort to stabilize the banking sector will not prevent insolvency and may lead to even greater financial chaos, say the creators of a new theoretical framework for bank stability. According to physicists Joo da Cruz and Pedro Lind from Lisbon University, Portugal, current regulatory measures could instead […]
CERN physicists say they have enough statistical evidence to claim discovery of a new fundamental particle – a boson that may, pending further investigation, prove to be the so-called “god” particle responsible for the elusive Higgs field that gives other particles mass. Yesterday’s announcement (pictured) represents confirmation of the tantalizing preliminary data revealed late last […]
For the first time, Griffith University (Australia) scientists have managed to photograph the shadow of an atom using only visible light and an extremely powerful optical microscope. Traditionally, images at such magnifications were the preserve of electron microscopes and other exotic imaging systems. “We wanted to investigate how few atoms are required to cast a […]
While much media attention has been paid to the development of an invisibility “cloak” that works with electromagnetic waves such as light, mathematicians from the University of Manchester have been looking at cloaking other wave-types, specifically, the damaging elastic waves generated by earthquakes. While their work, reported in Proceedings of the Royal Society A, is […]
The Higgs boson, the elusive so-called “God particle” that gives other particles mass, is still proving to be elusive, with the release yesterday of nebulous findings from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that physicists say “hint” at the elemental particle’s existence. Finding the predicted Higgs particle would complete the standard model of particle physics that […]
Electromagnetism, measured by the so-called fine-structure constant, is one of the four fundamental forces of nature and it underpins Einstein’s general theory of relativity. The constant, denoted by the symbol alpha, should be the same across the cosmos, but an Australian physicist’s observations of distant galaxies indicate that it may in fact be variable. The […]
The physics community is abuzz about a paper to be published on arxiv.org today that indicates neutrinos can travel faster than the speed of light. If true, the results will open up new physics in which Einstein’s relativity doesn’t hold true. The new results stem from the OPERAexperiments run jointly by the CERN particle research […]
Based on a simple assembly of granular crystals that transmit sound vibrations, Caltech researchers have created the first tunable acoustic diode that allows sound to travel only in one direction. “We exploited a physical mechanism that causes a sharp transition between transmitting and non-transmitting states of the diode,” explained Chiara Daraio, lead author of the […]
Experimental observations of sub-atomic particles known as Kaons and B Mesons have revealed significant differences in how their matter and anti-matter versions decay. This “Charge Parity violation” is an awkward anomaly for physicists but a new theory suggests that the rotation of our galaxy may explain the discrepancy. When CP violation has been observed in […]
By shooting a beam of neutrinos through a small slice of the Earth under Japan, physicists say they’ve caught the particles changing their stripes in intriguing new ways. The experiment – known as T2K – uses the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), located on the east coast, to shoot a beam of muon neutrinos […]
