Over 6,000 languages are currently spoken worldwide, but a substantial minority—well over 5%—are in danger of dying out. It is perhaps surprising that this fraction is no higher, as most models have so far predicted that ...
Social Sciences
Apr 22, 2020
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When large earthquakes occur, seismologists are well aware that subsequent, smaller tremors are likely to take place afterwards in the surrounding geographical region. So far, however, few studies have explored how the similarity ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 12, 2020
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Widely studied in many different fields, 'nonlinear' systems can display excessively dramatic responses when the forces which cause them to vibrate are changed. Some of these systems are sensitive to changes in the very parameters ...
General Physics
Feb 25, 2020
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It is now technically possible to hold groups of atoms at temperatures that are only a few hundredths of a degree above absolute zero. This so-called 'ultracold gas' loaded in an optical lattice is an extremely powerful platform ...
Quantum Physics
Feb 05, 2020
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The name 'quantum dots' is given to particles of semiconducting materials that are so tiny—a few nanometres in diameter—that they no longer behave quite like ordinary, macroscopic matter. Thanks to their quantum-like ...
Condensed Matter
Jan 15, 2020
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30
Made up of 2-D sheets of carbon atoms arranged in honeycomb lattices, graphene has been intensively studied in recent years. As well as the material's diverse structural properties, physicists have paid particular attention ...
Nanophysics
Dec 13, 2019
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11
Too large to be classed as molecules, but too small to be bulk solids, atomic clusters can range in size from a few dozen to several hundred atoms. The structures can be used for a diverse range of applications, which requires ...
Condensed Matter
Oct 25, 2019
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11
As many people will remember from school science classes, bacteria growing on solid surfaces form colonies that can be easily visible to the naked eye. Each of these is a complex biological system in its own right; colonies ...
General Physics
Sep 20, 2019
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The conductivity of dual layers of graphene greatly depends on the states of carbon atoms at their edges; a property which could have important implications for information transmissions on quantum scales.
Nanophysics
Sep 11, 2019
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Spin-torque oscillators (STOs) are nanoscale devices that generate microwaves using changes in magnetic field direction, but those produced by any individual device are too weak for practical applications. Physicists have ...
General Physics
Aug 07, 2019
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