Small organic molecules, including the amino acids that form the 'building blocks' of proteins in living cells, fragment to form ions under the impact of high-energy radiation such as electron beams. A new study published ...
General Physics
Feb 5, 2020
0
3
When electrons collide with positrons, their antimatter counterparts, unstable pairs can form in which both types of particle orbit around each other. Named 'positronium,' physicists have now produced this intriguing structure ...
General Physics
Dec 23, 2019
0
63
By tracking the motions of cold atom clouds, astronomers can learn much about the physical processes which play out in the depths of space. To make these measurements, researchers currently use instruments named 'cold atom ...
General Physics
Dec 16, 2019
0
10
Antiparticles—subatomic particles that have exactly opposite properties to those that make up everyday matter—may seem like a concept out of science fiction, but they are real, and the study of matter-antimatter interactions ...
General Physics
Dec 13, 2019
0
69
The motions of plasmas may be notoriously difficult to model, but they can be better understood by analysing what happens when protons are scattered by atoms of hydrogen. In itself, this property is characterised by the size ...
Plasma Physics
Dec 9, 2019
0
313
When photons of light interact with particles of matter, a diverse variety of physical processes can unfold in ultrafast timescales. To explore them, physicists currently use 'two-colour pump-probe' experiments, in which ...
Optics & Photonics
Oct 25, 2019
0
7
Hadron beam therapy, which is often used to treat solid tumours, involves irradiating a tumour with a beam of high-energy charged particles, most often protons; these transfer their energy to the tumour cells, destroying ...
General Physics
Oct 10, 2019
0
8
A new study using mass spectrometry is helping piece together what happens when DNA that has been sensitized by the oncology drug 5-fluorouracil is subjected to the ionising radiation used in radiotherapy.
General Physics
Sep 3, 2019
0
9
The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing has reignited interest in space travel. However, almost any mission beyond the moon, whether manned or unmanned, will require the spacecraft to remain fully operational for ...
Space Exploration
Aug 20, 2019
0
24
Quantum mechanics is an extraordinarily successful way of understanding the physical world at extremely small scales. Through it, a handful of rules can be used to explain the majority of experimentally observable phenomena. ...
Quantum Physics
Aug 7, 2019
0
867
