http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (Phys.org)—Paint these days is becoming much more than it used to be. Already researchers have developed photovoltaic paint, which can be used to make "paint-on solar cells" that capture the sun's energy and turn it into electricity. Now in a new study, researchers have created thermoelectric paint, which captures the waste heat from hot painted surfaces and converts it into electrical energy. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-thermoelectric-enables-walls-electricity.html General Physics Mon, 21 Nov 2016 09:30:01 EST news398928289 (Phys.org)—Scientists have fabricated a superlattice of single-atom magnets on graphene with a density of 115 terabits per square inch, suggesting that the configuration could lead to next-generation storage media. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-superlattice-single-atom-magnets-aims-ultimate.html General Physics Thu, 17 Nov 2016 07:35:24 EST news398578298 (Phys.org)—Currently, one of the strongest candidates for dark matter is weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPS, although so far this hypothetical particle has not yet been directly detected. Now in a new study, physicists have proposed that dark matter is not a WIMP, and further, it is not any particle that is so far known or theorized to exist. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-dark-hidden-sector.html General Physics Fri, 11 Nov 2016 09:30:01 EST news398059355 (Phys.org)—The change point problem is a concept in statistics that pops up in a wide variety of real-world situations, from stock markets to protein folding. The idea is to detect the exact point at which a sudden change has occurred, which could indicate, for example, the trigger of a financial crisis or a misfolded protein step. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-statistics-quantum-domain.html Quantum Physics Wed, 09 Nov 2016 09:30:01 EST news397881932 (Phys.org)—One of the most puzzling things about evolution is that, even after 4 billion years, it hasn't stopped. Instead of culminating in a single best adapted species, today the Earth contains an estimated 8.7 million different species, all of which will one day die out as a variety of new species takes their places. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-insight-life-evolve.html General Physics Tue, 08 Nov 2016 03:14:55 EST news397797282 (Phys.org)—Although quantum dots were discovered in the 1980s, so far there have been no widespread commercial applications of these nano-sized light-emitting semiconductor particles. The main problem is that quantum dots need to be deposited and patterned onto substrates, and currently there is no method that can do this both with a high resolution and on a large scale. http://phys.org/news/2016-11-scientists-bottleneck-fabricating-quantum-dot.html Nanophysics Wed, 02 Nov 2016 10:10:01 EST news397299456 (Phys.org)—Physicists have discovered a surprising consequence of a widely supported model of the early universe: according to the model, tiny cosmological perturbations produced shocks in the radiation fluid just a fraction of a second after the big bang. These shocks would have collided with each other to generate gravitational waves that are large enough to be detected by today's gravitational wave detectors. http://phys.org/news/2016-10-early-universe-today.html General Physics Thu, 27 Oct 2016 11:20:02 EST news396785278 (Phys.org)—In 1976, two Viking landers became the first US spacecraft from Earth to touch down on Mars. They took the first high-resolution images of the planet, surveyed the planet's geographical features, and analyzed the geological composition of the atmosphere and surface. Perhaps most intriguingly, they also performed experiments that searched for signs of microbial life in Martian soil. http://phys.org/news/2016-10-year-old-viking-life-mars.html Space Exploration Fri, 21 Oct 2016 09:30:01 EST news396238417 (Phys.org)—Over the past few decades, quantum effects have greatly improved many areas of information science, including computing, cryptography, and secure communication. More recently, research has suggested that quantum effects could offer similar advantages for the emerging field of quantum machine learning (a subfield of artificial intelligence), leading to more intelligent machines that learn quickly and efficiently by interacting with their environments. http://phys.org/news/2016-10-quantum-effects-artificial-intelligence.html Quantum Physics Mon, 17 Oct 2016 09:30:02 EST news395900428 (Phys.org)—Physicists have implemented the first experimental demonstration of everlasting quantum coherence—the phenomenon that occurs when a quantum system exists in a superposition of two or more states at once. Typically, quantum coherence lasts for only a fraction of a second before decoherence destroys the effect due to interactions between the quantum system and its surrounding environment. http://phys.org/news/2016-10-quantum-physicists-everlasting-coherence.html Quantum Physics Fri, 14 Oct 2016 12:00:01 EST news395663056 (Phys.org)—Researchers have developed a neuro-inspired analog computer that has the ability to train itself to become better at whatever tasks it performs. Experimental tests have shown that the new system, which is based on the artificial intelligence algorithm known as "reservoir computing," not only performs better at solving difficult computing tasks than experimental reservoir computers that do not use the new algorithm, but it can also tackle tasks that are so challenging that they are considered beyond the reach of traditional reservoir computing. http://phys.org/news/2016-10-self-learning-tackles-problems-previous.html General Physics Mon, 10 Oct 2016 09:30:01 EST news395293882 (Phys.org)—Researchers have theoretically demonstrated the lowest rate of heat transfer, or thermal conductivity, in any silicon-based material developed so far. http://phys.org/news/2016-10-thermoelectric-silicon-material-record-low-thermal.html Nanophysics Wed, 05 Oct 2016 09:30:01 EST news394864755 (Phys.org)—Researchers have used the pressure of light—also called optical forces or sometimes "tractor beams"—to create a new type of rewritable, dynamic 3D holographic material. Unlike other 3D holographic materials, the new material can be rapidly written and erased many times, and can also store information without using any external energy. The new material has potential applications in 3D holographic displays, large-scale volumetric data storage devices, biosensors, tunable lasers, optical lenses, and metamaterials. http://phys.org/news/2016-09-optical-rewritable-d-holographic-materials.html Optics & Photonics Fri, 30 Sep 2016 07:09:16 EST news394437886 (Phys.org)—Quantum measurements are often inherently unpredictable, yet the usual way in which quantum theory accounts for unpredictability has long been viewed as somewhat unsatisfactory. In a new study, University of Oxford physicist Chiara Marletto has developed an alternative way to account for the unpredictability observed in quantum measurements by using the recently proposed theory of superinformation—a theory that is inherently non-probabilistic. The new perspective may lead to new possibilities in the search for a successor to quantum theory. http://phys.org/news/2016-09-non-probabilistic-quantum-theory-unpredictable-results.html Quantum Physics Wed, 21 Sep 2016 10:30:01 EST news393650352 (Phys.org)—Scientists have created a water-based mixture that rapidly changes color when exposed to a variety of stimuli, such as a change in magnetic field, temperature, or pH. The scientists call the mixture "photonic water," and it can reflect any color of the visible spectrum, as well as parts of the ultraviolet and infrared regions. This color-modulation range is the widest that has ever been reported for any material, either solid or liquid. http://phys.org/news/2016-09-color-changing-rainbow.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 21 Sep 2016 09:30:01 EST news393649588 (Phys.org)—Typically when scientists make a measurement, they know exactly what kind of measurement they're making, and their purpose is to obtain a measurement outcome. But in an "unrecorded measurement," both the type of measurement and the measurement outcome are unknown. http://phys.org/news/2016-09-physicists-lost-quantum.html Quantum Physics Mon, 19 Sep 2016 09:40:02 EST news393494958 (Phys.org)—In 2014, the incorporation of two artificial letters of genetic code into the DNA of Escherichia coli gave the bacteria the distinction of becoming the world's first stable semisynthetic organism. http://phys.org/news/2016-09-unintended-consequences-world-semisynthetic.html Biotechnology Mon, 12 Sep 2016 09:30:06 EST news392872060 (Phys.org)—Are time crystals just a mathematical curiosity, or could they actually physically exist? Physicists have been debating this question since 2012, when Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek first proposed the idea of time crystals. He argued that these hypothetical objects can exhibit periodic motion, such as moving in a circular orbit, in their state of lowest energy, or their "ground state." Theoretically, objects in their ground states don't have enough energy to move at all. http://phys.org/news/2016-09-crystals.html General Physics Fri, 09 Sep 2016 10:10:02 EST news392633037 (Phys.org)—Although the Large Hadron Collider's enormous 13 TeV energy is more than sufficient to detect many particles that theorists have predicted to exist, no new particles have been discovered since the Higgs boson in 2012. While the absence of new particles is informative in itself, many physicists are still yearning for some hint of "new physics," or physics beyond the standard model. http://phys.org/news/2016-09-hypothetical-particle-major-problems-physics.html General Physics Thu, 08 Sep 2016 09:30:01 EST news392524168 (Phys.org)—Spider silk is well-known for its unusual combination of being both lightweight and extremely strong—in some cases, stronger than steel. Due to these properties, researchers have been developing spider-silk-inspired materials for potential applications such as durable yet lightweight clothing, bullet-proof vests, and parachutes. http://phys.org/news/2016-09-sound-proof-metamaterial-spider-webs.html Condensed Matter Wed, 07 Sep 2016 09:30:12 EST news392440600 (Phys.org)—Optoelectronic devices that combine electronics and photonics are incorporating two-dimensional (2D) materials for a range of applications. At the same time, cooperative phenomena – in which a system's individual components appear to act as a single entity rather than independently – have yet to be widely investigated, an important example being ferroelectricity (spontaneous electric polarization that can be reversed by an electric field) in the 2D limit. Recently, however, scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore have demonstrated room-temperature out-of-plane ferroelectricity (that is, orthogonal to the 2D material) in 2D CuInP2S6 (copper indium thiophosphate) with a ~320 K transition temperature, as well as switchable polarization in 4 nm CuInP2S6 flakes. The researchers state that their findings create the possibility of sensors, actuators, non-volatile memory devices, various van der Waals heterostructures (devices made from layers of dissimilar 2D crystals in which forces are based on molecular attraction or repulsion rather than covalent or ionic bonds), and other novel applications based on 2D ferroelectricity. http://phys.org/news/2016-09-cool-room-temperature-out-of-plane-ferroelectricity.html Condensed Matter Mon, 05 Sep 2016 09:30:02 EST news392266839 (Phys.org)—Quantum magnetism, in which – unlike magnetism in macroscopic-scale materials, where electron spin orientation is random – atomic spins self-organize into one-dimensional rows that can be simulated using cold atoms trapped along a physical structure that guides optical spectrum electromagnetic waves known as a photonic crystal waveguide. Recently, scientists at Purdue University, Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Germany, and California Institute of Technology, used this approach to devise a scheme for simulating quantum magnetism that provides full control of interactions between pairs of spins at arbitrary distances in 1D and 2D lattices, and moreover demonstrated the scheme's wide utility by generating several well-known spin models. The researchers state that their results allow the introduction of geometric phases into the spin system that could generate topological models with long-range spin–spin interactions. http://phys.org/news/2016-08-simulated-quantum-magnetism-interactions-arbitrary.html Quantum Physics Wed, 31 Aug 2016 09:30:01 EST news391843777 (Phys.org)—Scientists have developed a method for imprinting tiny yet complex 3-D structures on the tip of an optical fiber, whose 125-µm diameter is roughly the thickness of a human hair. The 3-D optical structures can manipulate the light's properties, such as its phase and wavefront, which enables a variety of integrated optics applications including laser machining, lab-on-a-fiber, and biomedical sensors. One of the biggest advantages of the new nanoimprinting method is that it is much less expensive than previous fabrication methods, opening the doors to more widespread use. http://phys.org/news/2016-08-tiny-d-nanoimprinted-optical-fiber.html Nanophysics Mon, 29 Aug 2016 09:30:02 EST news391659644 (Phys.org)—Physicists have proposed a way to braid three beams of light by guiding the beams along swirling, vortex-shaped defects in the optical medium through which the beams travel. The braided light would have an unusual "non-Abelian" nature, meaning that its phase would depend on the exact order in which the defects are wound around each other. http://phys.org/news/2016-08-physicists-method-braiding.html Optics & Photonics Mon, 22 Aug 2016 09:30:01 EST news391071302 Physicists have proposed a method for entangling hundreds of atoms, and then entangling a dozen or so groups of these hundreds of atoms, resulting in a quantum network of thousands of entangled atoms. Since small bundles of these entangled groups can function as atomic clocks, this design is the first detailed proposal for a quantum network of atomic clocks. http://phys.org/news/2016-08-method-entangle-thousands-atoms-clock.html General Physics Fri, 19 Aug 2016 08:00:02 EST news390795621 (Phys.org)—When you hear a sound, only some of the neurons in the auditory cortex of your brain are activated. This is because every auditory neuron is tuned to a certain range of sound, so that each neuron is more sensitive to particular types and levels of sound than others. In a new study, researchers have designed a neuromorphic ("brain-inspired") computing system that mimics this neural selectivity by using artificial level-tuned neurons that preferentially respond to specific types of stimuli. http://phys.org/news/2016-08-neuromorphic-mimics-important-brain-feature.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 18 Aug 2016 09:30:01 EST news390709394 When placed in an acoustic field, small objects experience a net force that can be used to levitate the objects in air. In a new study, researchers have experimentally demonstrated the acoustic levitation of a 50-mm (2-inch) solid polystyrene sphere using ultrasound—acoustic waves that are above the frequency of human hearing. http://phys.org/news/2016-08-acoustic-levitation-large-sphere.html General Physics Fri, 12 Aug 2016 11:00:03 EST news390215835 Researchers have developed a method for achieving an order-of-magnitude enhancement of the light emission from a class of two-dimensional (2D) materials called transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). The large light enhancement arises when the 2D material is placed on a photonic hypercrystal, which is an artificial optical material first proposed in 2014 by Evgenii E. Narimanov at Purdue University, who is one of the authors of the new study. http://phys.org/news/2016-08-photonic-hypercrystals-drastically-emission-2d.html Optics & Photonics Wed, 10 Aug 2016 11:50:02 EST news390019084 Piezoelectricity (aka the piezoelectric effect) occurs within certain materials – crystals (notably quartz), some ceramics, bone, DNA, and a number of proteins – when the application of mechanical stress or vibration generates electric charge or alternating current (AC) voltage, respectively. (Conversely, piezoelectric materials can vibrate when AC voltage is applied to them.) The piezoelectric effect has a significant range of uses, including sound production and detection, generation of high voltages and electronic frequencies, atomic resolution imaging technologies (e.g., scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopy), and actuators for highly accurate positioning of nanoscale objects – the last being crucial for fundamental research and industrial applications. That being said, subatomic scale positioning still presents a number of challenge. Recently, however, researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, and Duke University, Durham demonstrated vertical piezoelectricity at the atomic scale (three to five space lattices) using ultrathin cadmium sulfide (CdS) films. The researchers determined a vertical piezoelectric coefficient (d33) three times that of bulk CdS using in situ scanning Kelvin force microscopy and single and dual ac resonance tracking piezoelectric force microscopy, leading them to conclude that their findings have a number of critical roles in the design of next-generation sensors and microelectromechanical devices. http://phys.org/news/2016-08-picoscale-precision-ultrathin-piezoelectricity.html Nanophysics Wed, 10 Aug 2016 06:00:01 EST news390018978 (Phys.org)—Last February, scientists made the groundbreaking discovery of gravitational waves produced by two colliding black holes. Now researchers are expecting to detect similar gravitational wave signals in the near future from collisions involving neutron stars—for example, the merging of two neutron stars to form a black hole, or the merging of a neutron star and a black hole. http://phys.org/news/2016-08-physicists-gravitational-neutron-star-collisions.html General Physics Tue, 02 Aug 2016 08:30:02 EST news389333093