Archive for the ‘Physics’ Category
A team of nuclear physicists has recently witnessed an atomic nucleus doing something never seen before: release two neutrons simultaneously. The experiment revealed a completely new type of nuclear decay, the process by which unstable atoms release energy and become more stable forms.
In this class never before nuclear decay, instead of emitting radiation by following the known patterns, the core simultaneously expelled two neutrons, in what constitutes a dineutron. Although physicists had predicted long ago the existence of this form of decay, it was the first experiment has been achieved witness an event dineutron release.
The team of Artemis Spyrou, of Michigan State University in East Lansing, USA, has been observed for the first time unambiguously the decay via the dineutron, and has been clearly identified in the beryllium-16. Read the rest of this entry »
When most of us think of an atom, conceived as tiny electrons spinning around a dense core and static composed of protons and neutrons, which are collectively known as nucleons.
But a new study reveals how different the reality about our simple perspective, showing that a quarter of the nucleons in a dense core have a speed of about 25 percent of the speed of light, or even a little more, which completely disrupts the traditional image of the atomic nucleus as static.
The team of the physicist John Arrington, Argonne National Laboratory, United States, used one of large magnetic spectrometers of the Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory, also in United States, to analyze the behavior of the nucleons in some light atoms, such as deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen), helium, beryllium and carbon. Read the rest of this entry »
New and more precise measurements of a particle called the W boson mass suggest that the Higgs boson (yet undiscovered) should be lighter than previously predicted.
The Higgs boson is a particle, for now only theoretical, which is sometimes called “the God particle” because, if verified that it exists and is achieved by examination, that could increase by a massive scientific knowledge about how it formed the universe, how it works and how the mass appeared.
Using detectors of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Illinois, physicist team of Ashutosh Kotwal of Duke University, in United States, has achieved the most accurate measurement to date of the W boson mass, a key parameter in the standard model, the theory that physicists use to explain the dynamics of subatomic particles. Read the rest of this entry »
It has been shown that the step of a beam of light through an optical fiber can be controlled with only a few photons of one beam.
The all-optical control is based on photonics, a technology concept in which the light beams replace the electrical currents in the circuits, thus providing a higher speed and lower power consumption. Same as a transistor on or off the passage of an electric current, photonic circuit need a way to get a control beam to another. One of the “holy grails” of photonics switching is by a single photon, which is controlled with only one photon passing a beam of light. Read the rest of this entry »
Gravitational waves arise in some very violent cosmic phenomena such as exploding stars in a supernova. Einstein predicted these oscillations in space-time one hundred years ago in his theory of special relativity. However, it is very difficult to detect.
Gravitational waves are barely discernible on the Earth and its surroundings. One reason is that the interaction between matter and space is very weak. Changes in the structure of space-time that occur in our cosmic environment as a result of movement of objects with relatively low mass, such as satellites or planets are below what is measurable. Read the rest of this entry »
Recently, in the facility of Los Alamos National Laboratory in U.S. has succeeded in establishing a new world record for magnetic field strength produced by an electromagnet without destruction of the feat. Scientists have made in a field of 97.4 tesla.
To get a perspective on what this means, recall that the Earth’s magnetic field is 0.0004 tesla, an electromagnet used for raising junk car in a cemetery is usually about 1 tesla, and a medical scan by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) generates a magnetic field that reaches 3 tesla.
The “tesla” unit is named after the famous Nikola Tesla, inventor and engineer who became famous at the beginning of the 20th century, and is a measure of the strength of a magnetic field. Read the rest of this entry »
A positive displacement of mud pump is one in which the plunger or piston displaces a given volume of fluid in each race. The basic principle of a mud pump is that a strong move of an equal volume of liquid. For example, an ice cube dropped into a glass filled with water, pour a volume of water outside the glass, equal to the immersed volume of the ice cube.
Each Mud Pump has a part that handles the fluid, commonly called the liquid end, which is:
- A solid move, called plunger or piston.
- A container containing the liquid, called the liquid cylinder.
- A suction valve that allows fluid retention in the suction liquid into the cylinder.
- A retaining valve that allows fluid flow from the cylinder into the discharge pipe.
- Packaging perfectly sealed joint between the piston and cylinder fluid and prevent fluid from leaking from the cylinder and the air enters the cylinder. Read the rest of this entry »
A cesium fountain clock, which keeps the official time tuned for governing the UK, is now regarded as the most accurate clock in the long run all the atomic clocks that are responsible for maintaining set the hour, minutes and seconds which is controlled by each zone in the world.
It has come to this conclusion after a reassessment of the accuracy of the clock, conducted by a team of physicists.
NPL-CsF2 the clock is part of an elite group of cesium fountain clocks, which hold the role of “guardians of the local time” in the U.S., Japan and several European nations. These standard values of time in each country are combined to obtain the average is called International Atomic Time and Coordinated Universal Time. These references of time are used internationally to critical processes such as global communications, satellite navigation, and time stamps for transactions computerized financial and stock market. Read the rest of this entry »
Richard Taylor, director of the Institute of Materials Science at the University of Oregon, has researched the phenomenon known in the circles appear in some fields, from the perspective of a scientist who seeks to unravel the trick of a conjurer.
As is well known, these circles, intricate patterns often covering large areas, are made anonymously. What some see as a stealth form of art, comparable in some ways to graffiti made in banned sites, but much more sophisticated, others see it as a supernatural phenomenon or a manifestation of a more advanced technology than that available in the Earth essentially makes landing or takeoff of flying saucers.
The truth is that these colorful circles become more complex as they progress through science and technology, Taylor highlights the interesting fact that this mixture of art and juggling is one of the shows that more are taking advantage of advances in physics, with the result that now circle patterns are generated most impressive and spectacular years ago, and yet manage to maintain their mystery about exactly how they are made, like a good trick for an expert illusionist is difficult to disentangle. Read the rest of this entry »
It has been observed violation of one of the oldest empirical laws of physics in an experiment conducted by scientists at the University of Bristol, UK.
The experiment of purple bronze, a metal can hold only one-dimensional electronic properties, indicates that this material is capable of violating the Wiedemann-Franz law.
In 1853, two German physicists, Gustav Wiedemann and Rudolf Franz studied the thermal conductivity (a measure of the ability of a system to transfer heat) of various elemental metals and found that the ratio of the electrical and thermal conductivity was about same for different metals at the same temperature.
However, the reason for this empirical observation was not clear until the discovery of the electron, and especially with the advent of quantum physics to the early twentieth century. Electrons have a spin and a burden. When moving through a metal resulting in a flow of electric charges in motion. In addition, the moving electrons also carry heat through the metal, but through both the charge and spin. So an electron in motion must transport heat and charge: that is why the ratio does not vary from metal to metal. Read the rest of this entry »