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Showing posts with the label particles

When Particles Move

Landslides are a striking example of erosion. When the bonds holding soil and rock particles together are overcome by a force — often in the form of water — sufficient to pull the rock and soil apart, that same force breaks the bonds with the other rock and soil holding them in place. Another type of erosion involves the use of small air jets to remove dust from the surface. When the turbulent forces of air are strong enough to break the bonds that hold individual dust particles, or grains, together and cause them to stick to the surface, that’s also erosion. In the pharmaceutical industry, cohesion/erosion dynamics are critical for successfully processing powders to make pharmaceuticals. They also play a key role in another, somewhat distant example: landing spacecraft on the surface, such as the moon. As the spacecraft descends, its engine exhaust causes granular material on the surface to be eroded and transported. The displaced material forms a crater, which must be the corre

Neutrino Factory in Space: Elementary Particles From the Depths of Our Universe

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Embark on a Journey through the Universe: The Discovery of the Extragalactic Neutrino Factory. Credit: © Benjamin Amend For the first time, researchers have uncovered the origin of neutrinos, elementary particles that reach our planet from the depths of the universe. Highly energetic and difficult to detect, neutrinos travel billions of light years before reaching Earth. Although it is known that these elementary particles originate from the depths of our Universe, their exact origin remains a mystery. An international team of researchers, led by the University of Würzburg and the University of Geneva (UNIGE), sheds light on one aspect of the puzzle: neutrinos are thought to have been born in a blazar, the core of a galaxy filled with supermassive black holes. These results were published on July 14 in the journal Astrophysics Journal Letter . The atmosphere of our planet is constantly being bombarded by cosmic rays. It consists of electrically charged particles with very high ene

This Australian experimenter is looking for elusive particles that could help unlock the mysteries of dark matter

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Australian scientists are making strides to solve one of the universe’s greatest mysteries: the invisible nature of “dark matter”. The ORGAN Experiment, Australia’s first major dark matter detector, recently completed the search for a hypothetical particle called an axion — a popular candidate among theories trying to explain dark matter. ORGAN has placed new limits on the possible characteristics of axions and thus helped to narrow their search. But before we get ahead of ourselves… Let’s start with a story About 14 billion years ago, all the tiny bits of matter – the fundamental particles that would later become you, the planets and galaxies – were compressed into one very dense and hot region. Then the Big Bang happened and everything flew apart. Particles combine to form atoms, which eventually clump together into stars, which explode and create all kinds of exotic matter. After a few billion years came the Earth, which finally crawled on the little things called humans. Cool st

Researchers Show Direct Observation of Ice Particles Due to Earth's Rapid Warming

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The researchers described direct observations of the particle size of ice nucleation in the middle Arctic throughout the cycle of sea ice development and decline. According to their findings, these particles have distinct seasons, with lower concentrations in winter and spring and higher concentrations during summer melting local flora. The clouds that cover the Earth’s surface and the tiny aerosols in the air known as ice core particles that initiate the formation of ice in these clouds are important contributors to climate change. Climate is strongly influenced by this interaction of heat, cloud cover and ice nucleation. Earth is heating up faster (Photo: Alberto Restifo/Unsplash) But those important ice-forming aerosols, which can be mineral dust, microorganisms, or ocean spray, are almost never investigated in the Arctic, where they are most needed because their effects are little understood, and few scientists have traveled that far north, as per ScienceDaily. However, scientists

Researchers discover 'quantum flute' that can make light particles move together

University of Chicago physicists have discovered a “quantum flute” that, like the Pied Piper, can force light particles to move together in a way never seen before. Described in two studies published in Physical Review Letters and Nature Physics, the breakthrough could point the way to the realization of quantum memory or new forms of error correction in quantum computers, and to observe quantum phenomena that cannot be seen in nature. Laboratory Association Prof. David Schuster is working on quantum bits – the quantum equivalent of computer bits – that take advantage of the peculiar properties of particles at the atomic and sub-atomic level to do things that would otherwise be impossible. In this experiment, they worked with light particles, known as photons, in the microwave spectrum. Their system consists of long cavities built into a metal block, designed to trap photons at microwave frequencies. Cavities are created by drilling offset holes — like holes in a flute. “Just like i

Scientists discover 'quantum flute' that can make light particles move together

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A new “quantum flute” experiment by University of Chicago physicists could point the way to new quantum technologies. The holes create different wavelengths, similar to the ‘notes’ on a flute, that can be used to encode quantum information. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Schuster laboratorium laboratory University of Chicago physicists have discovered a “quantum flute” that, like the Pied Piper, can force light particles to move together in a way never seen before. Described in two studies published in Physical Review Letter and Natural Physics Such breakthroughs could point the way to realizing quantum memory or new forms of error correction in quantum computers, and observing quantum phenomena that cannot be seen in nature. Laboratory Association Prof. David Schuster is working on quantum bits—the quantum equivalent of computer bits—that take advantage of the peculiar properties of particles at the atomic and sub-atomic level to do