What if reality is just vibrating strings? 🤔 Discover how string theory could rewrite everything we know about the universe. Check out the new video on our Hindi channel 👇🏻
How Can Warp Drive Travel 100x Faster Than Light? 🤔
The Alcubierre Warp Drive, conceptualized by physicist Miguel Alcubierre, presents an intriguing approach to faster-than-light travel by manipulating spacetime.
We have explained Alcubierre drive with some crazy animations in a new video on our Hindi Channel — https://youtu.be/Wyk9aDbRvkE
The new clock was constructed by researchers at JILA, a joint institution of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder.
This clock, which enables accurate navigation in space and facilitates searches for new particles, represents a significant advance beyond traditional timekeeping. Its enhanced precision can uncover hidden underground mineral deposits and rigorously test fundamental theories such as general relativity.
For the architects of atomic clocks, the goal goes beyond simply building a better timepiece—it's about unraveling the secrets of the universe and paving the way for technologies that will impact future generations.
Unlike current microwave clocks that use microwaves to measure the second, this new wave of clocks employs visible light waves with a much higher frequency, enabling a more precise measurement of time.
Optical clocks are expected to significantly improve international timekeeping accuracy, potentially losing only one second every 30 billion years. However, achieving such high accuracy requires both high precision and the ability to measure extremely tiny fractions of a second.
The new JILA clock uses an "optical lattice" to trap and measure tens of thousands of individual atoms simultaneously. This large ensemble of atoms provides a tremendous advantage in precision, as the more atoms measured, the more data the clock has for yielding a precise measurement of the second.
"This clock is so precise that it can detect tiny effects predicted by theories such as general relativity, even at the microscopic scale," said NIST and JILA physicist Jun Ye. "It's pushing the boundaries of what's possible with timekeeping."
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have found a previously unseen structures and activity in Jupiter’s atmosphere above the Great Red Spot. These odd features seem to be caused by powerful atmospheric gravity waves.
The Great Red Spot is the largest storm in the solar system, twice as big as Earth, and is believed to have been raging for at least 300 years. The winds of the Great Red Spot rage at around 430 to 680 kilometers per hour, up to 3.5 times as fast as a tornado here on Earth.
Yet, despite the storm’s age, size, and power, scientists had actually suspected that the atmosphere of Jupiter above the Great Red Spot wasn’t all that interesting. However, these new observations delivered by the JWST’s Near InfraRed Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instrument, which observed the massive scarlet storm in July 2022, show that this assumption couldn’t have been more wrong.
“We thought this region, perhaps naively, would be really boring,” team leader Henrik Melin of the University of Leicester said in a statement. “It is, in fact, just as interesting as the northern lights, if not more so. Jupiter never ceases to surprise.”
Though incident sunlight is responsible for the majority of the light seen from Jupiter’s atmosphere, the team thinks there must be another that is giving rise to changes in the shape and structure of the upper Jovian atmosphere.
“One way in which you can change this structure is by gravity waves - similar to waves crashing on a beach, creating ripples in the sand,” Melin explained. “These waves are generated deep in the turbulent lower atmosphere, all around the Great Red Spot, and they can travel up in altitude, changing the structure and emissions of the upper atmosphere.”
These gravity waves are very different from gravitational waves. Gravity waves propagate through an atmosphere, as opposed to the fabric of spacetime as gravitational waves do.
These atmospheric gravity waves are also seen on Earth occasionally, but these Earthbound waves are much less intense and powerful than the same phenomenon occurring over Jupiter. Ref: journal Nature Astronomy; ESA
A group of physicists has achieved a significant milestone by creating a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) out of molecules, a state of matter that had only been achieved previously with atoms of a single element.
The team, led by Sebastian Will at Columbia University, received a U.S. National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development award to support their research, and their findings were published in the journal Nature.
BECs are a unique state of matter that is not quite gas, liquid, or solid. In this state, a group of particles cooled to near standstill merge into a single, larger entity with shared properties and behaviors dictated by the laws of quantum mechanics.
This achievement of creating a molecular BEC, made from sodium-cesium molecules, is particularly noteworthy as it remains stable for upwards of two seconds, allowing for longer experimental periods.
This breakthrough opens the door to testing longstanding theories in quantum phenomena, such as superconductivity and superfluidity, and holds the potential to outperform single-element BECs by creating longer-ranging interactions in quantum simulators.
This achievement paves the way for more complex models and an expanded understanding of the wave nature of matter.
One of the potential applications of molecular BECs is the exploration of new types of superfluidity, a state of matter that flows without experiencing any friction. Additionally, scientists hope to use the molecular BEC-based quantum simulator to guide the development of new quantum materials.
NASA has contracted SpaceX to dispose of the International Space Station for $843 million.
The ISS, which has been in orbit around Earth since 1998, is scheduled to reach the end of its operational life in 2030. Instead of allowing it to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere and crash unpredictably on the surface, NASA is seeking a safe and controlled reentry and splashdown for the structure.
Under the terms of the contract, SpaceX will develop and deliver a spacecraft known as the “U.S. Deorbit Vehicle” to bring the ISS back to Earth without posing a risk to populated areas. The 400,000 kg ISS, like many large structures, is too massive to completely burn up during reentry into Earth's atmosphere. The development and testing of the USDV is expected to take several years.
Currently, NASA, Canada’s CSA, Japan’s JAXA, and the European Space Agency have committed to operating the ISS through 2030, while Russia’s Roscosmos will utilize it until at least 2028.
Ultimately, the ISS will be directed to the Pacific Ocean area known as the “spacecraft cemetery.” This uninhabited area, located between New Zealand and South America, is home to over 263 spacecraft, including various capsules, cargo craft, and rockets used to reach the ISS.
Running the ISS costs NASA about $3.1 billion annually. Removing the ISS from low-Earth orbit is expected to encourage the private space industry to construct orbiting space stations that can be used by private and space agency astronauts on a pay-per-visit basis.
Several private space stations have been introduced in recent years, such as Orbital Reef and Axiom Space’s Axion Station. Orbital Reef, created by Blue Origin and Sierra Space with support from Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions, and Arizona State University, will orbit 500 kilometers out and is described as a “mixed-use business park” in space, allowing companies to “establish their own address on orbit.”
An under-construction observatory at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea has detected what could be the most energetic neutrino ever recorded.
Physicist João Coelho revealed the discovery at the Neutrino 2024 conference in Milan, Italy, describing it as a standout observation, “very far away from anything else.”
Neutrinos, often called “ghost particles,” are elusive subatomic entities that rarely interact with matter. They are produced by some of the most energetic events in the universe, such as supermassive black holes in distant galaxies.
The precise direction and time of the discovery remain undisclosed.
The Astroparticle Research with Cosmics in the Abyss (ARCA) observatory, a collaborative effort involving multiple countries, made the discovery. It is situated on the 3,500-meter-deep sea floor southeast of Sicily and has been collecting data since the mid-2010s. Currently, it operates with 28 strings of detectors, each beaded with 18 plexiglass spheres containing light detectors. ARCA intends to expand these strings to a total of 230 by 2028.
The majority of the light detected by ARCA comes from highly energetic cosmic-ray particles. These particles produce showers of electrically charged subatomic particles when they hit Earth’s atmosphere and travel through water for kilometers. The particle showers leave behind faint flashes of light which ARCA spots.
Additionally, the observatory detects light from neutrinos indirectly. Sometimes, when a neutrino hits a molecule of air, water, or rock, it creates a charged particle called a muon, which produces a shower of other charged particles.
Unlike cosmic rays which produce showers that come from the atmosphere, neutrinos create showers that can come from any direction as they can travel through Earth.
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have discovered a new series representation for the irrational number pi while investigating string theory to explain physical phenomena like the quantum scattering of high-energy particles. This new formula, closely resembling the 15th-century series for pi by Indian mathematician Sangamagrama Madhava, was discovered by Arnab Saha and Aninda Sinha and published in Physical Review Letters. Initially focused on high-energy physics and developing accurate models for particle interactions, their research unexpectedly led to this novel representation of pi.
Sinha’s group, working within the framework of string theory, aimed to simplify and optimize the modeling of high-energy particle interactions. By combining the Euler-Beta Function and the Feynman Diagram, they developed an efficient model explaining particle interactions, which also resulted in a new series representation of pi. This breakthrough allows for the rapid calculation of pi, which is crucial for understanding particle scattering.
Although theoretical, these findings might lead to practical applications in the future, similar to how Paul Dirac’s work on electron motion led to significant advancements. Sinha emphasizes the intrinsic value of theoretical work, noting that while immediate applications may not be apparent, such research provides immense satisfaction and potential for future discoveries.
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A cancer vaccine? For free? By 2025? Russia says they’ve cracked the code on a cancer vaccine, and it’ll be free by 2025!
I Analyzed Russia’s Cancer Vaccine, and Here’s What I Found 👇🏻
4 months ago | [YT] | 17
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This Star Changes Everything We Known About Our Universe 🤯🤯 New video on our Hindi channel -
9 months ago | [YT] | 16
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What if reality is just vibrating strings? 🤔
Discover how string theory could rewrite everything we know about the universe. Check out the new video on our Hindi channel 👇🏻
9 months ago | [YT] | 18
View 5 replies
The World Of Science
How Can Warp Drive Travel 100x Faster Than Light? 🤔
The Alcubierre Warp Drive, conceptualized by physicist Miguel Alcubierre, presents an intriguing approach to faster-than-light travel by manipulating spacetime.
We have explained Alcubierre drive with some crazy animations in a new video on our Hindi Channel — https://youtu.be/Wyk9aDbRvkE
10 months ago | [YT] | 42
View 1 reply
The World Of Science
The new clock was constructed by researchers at JILA, a joint institution of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder.
This clock, which enables accurate navigation in space and facilitates searches for new particles, represents a significant advance beyond traditional timekeeping. Its enhanced precision can uncover hidden underground mineral deposits and rigorously test fundamental theories such as general relativity.
For the architects of atomic clocks, the goal goes beyond simply building a better timepiece—it's about unraveling the secrets of the universe and paving the way for technologies that will impact future generations.
Unlike current microwave clocks that use microwaves to measure the second, this new wave of clocks employs visible light waves with a much higher frequency, enabling a more precise measurement of time.
Optical clocks are expected to significantly improve international timekeeping accuracy, potentially losing only one second every 30 billion years. However, achieving such high accuracy requires both high precision and the ability to measure extremely tiny fractions of a second.
The new JILA clock uses an "optical lattice" to trap and measure tens of thousands of individual atoms simultaneously. This large ensemble of atoms provides a tremendous advantage in precision, as the more atoms measured, the more data the clock has for yielding a precise measurement of the second.
"This clock is so precise that it can detect tiny effects predicted by theories such as general relativity, even at the microscopic scale," said NIST and JILA physicist Jun Ye. "It's pushing the boundaries of what's possible with timekeeping."
[Astronomy, Physics, Astrophysics, Space, Technology]
11 months ago | [YT] | 236
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The World Of Science
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have found a previously unseen structures and activity in Jupiter’s atmosphere above the Great Red Spot. These odd features seem to be caused by powerful atmospheric gravity waves.
The Great Red Spot is the largest storm in the solar system, twice as big as Earth, and is believed to have been raging for at least 300 years. The winds of the Great Red Spot rage at around 430 to 680 kilometers per hour, up to 3.5 times as fast as a tornado here on Earth.
Yet, despite the storm’s age, size, and power, scientists had actually suspected that the atmosphere of Jupiter above the Great Red Spot wasn’t all that interesting. However, these new observations delivered by the JWST’s Near InfraRed Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instrument, which observed the massive scarlet storm in July 2022, show that this assumption couldn’t have been more wrong.
“We thought this region, perhaps naively, would be really boring,” team leader Henrik Melin of the University of Leicester said in a statement. “It is, in fact, just as interesting as the northern lights, if not more so. Jupiter never ceases to surprise.”
Though incident sunlight is responsible for the majority of the light seen from Jupiter’s atmosphere, the team thinks there must be another that is giving rise to changes in the shape and structure of the upper Jovian atmosphere.
“One way in which you can change this structure is by gravity waves - similar to waves crashing on a beach, creating ripples in the sand,” Melin explained. “These waves are generated deep in the turbulent lower atmosphere, all around the Great Red Spot, and they can travel up in altitude, changing the structure and emissions of the upper atmosphere.”
These gravity waves are very different from gravitational waves. Gravity waves propagate through an atmosphere, as opposed to the fabric of spacetime as gravitational waves do.
These atmospheric gravity waves are also seen on Earth occasionally, but these Earthbound waves are much less intense and powerful than the same phenomenon occurring over Jupiter.
Ref: journal Nature Astronomy; ESA
[Science News, Space News, Astronomy]
11 months ago | [YT] | 97
View 8 replies
The World Of Science
A group of physicists has achieved a significant milestone by creating a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) out of molecules, a state of matter that had only been achieved previously with atoms of a single element.
The team, led by Sebastian Will at Columbia University, received a U.S. National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development award to support their research, and their findings were published in the journal Nature.
BECs are a unique state of matter that is not quite gas, liquid, or solid. In this state, a group of particles cooled to near standstill merge into a single, larger entity with shared properties and behaviors dictated by the laws of quantum mechanics.
This achievement of creating a molecular BEC, made from sodium-cesium molecules, is particularly noteworthy as it remains stable for upwards of two seconds, allowing for longer experimental periods.
This breakthrough opens the door to testing longstanding theories in quantum phenomena, such as superconductivity and superfluidity, and holds the potential to outperform single-element BECs by creating longer-ranging interactions in quantum simulators.
This achievement paves the way for more complex models and an expanded understanding of the wave nature of matter.
One of the potential applications of molecular BECs is the exploration of new types of superfluidity, a state of matter that flows without experiencing any friction. Additionally, scientists hope to use the molecular BEC-based quantum simulator to guide the development of new quantum materials.
[ Science, Science News, Quantum, Quantum Physics, Quantum Mechanics ]
11 months ago | [YT] | 270
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The World Of Science
NASA has contracted SpaceX to dispose of the International Space Station for $843 million.
The ISS, which has been in orbit around Earth since 1998, is scheduled to reach the end of its operational life in 2030. Instead of allowing it to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere and crash unpredictably on the surface, NASA is seeking a safe and controlled reentry and splashdown for the structure.
Under the terms of the contract, SpaceX will develop and deliver a spacecraft known as the “U.S. Deorbit Vehicle” to bring the ISS back to Earth without posing a risk to populated areas. The 400,000 kg ISS, like many large structures, is too massive to completely burn up during reentry into Earth's atmosphere. The development and testing of the USDV is expected to take several years.
Currently, NASA, Canada’s CSA, Japan’s JAXA, and the European Space Agency have committed to operating the ISS through 2030, while Russia’s Roscosmos will utilize it until at least 2028.
Ultimately, the ISS will be directed to the Pacific Ocean area known as the “spacecraft cemetery.” This uninhabited area, located between New Zealand and South America, is home to over 263 spacecraft, including various capsules, cargo craft, and rockets used to reach the ISS.
Running the ISS costs NASA about $3.1 billion annually. Removing the ISS from low-Earth orbit is expected to encourage the private space industry to construct orbiting space stations that can be used by private and space agency astronauts on a pay-per-visit basis.
Several private space stations have been introduced in recent years, such as Orbital Reef and Axiom Space’s Axion Station. Orbital Reef, created by Blue Origin and Sierra Space with support from Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions, and Arizona State University, will orbit 500 kilometers out and is described as a “mixed-use business park” in space, allowing companies to “establish their own address on orbit.”
11 months ago | [YT] | 98
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An under-construction observatory at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea has detected what could be the most energetic neutrino ever recorded.
Physicist João Coelho revealed the discovery at the Neutrino 2024 conference in Milan, Italy, describing it as a standout observation, “very far away from anything else.”
Neutrinos, often called “ghost particles,” are elusive subatomic entities that rarely interact with matter. They are produced by some of the most energetic events in the universe, such as supermassive black holes in distant galaxies.
The precise direction and time of the discovery remain undisclosed.
The Astroparticle Research with Cosmics in the Abyss (ARCA) observatory, a collaborative effort involving multiple countries, made the discovery. It is situated on the 3,500-meter-deep sea floor southeast of Sicily and has been collecting data since the mid-2010s. Currently, it operates with 28 strings of detectors, each beaded with 18 plexiglass spheres containing light detectors. ARCA intends to expand these strings to a total of 230 by 2028.
The majority of the light detected by ARCA comes from highly energetic cosmic-ray particles. These particles produce showers of electrically charged subatomic particles when they hit Earth’s atmosphere and travel through water for kilometers. The particle showers leave behind faint flashes of light which ARCA spots.
Additionally, the observatory detects light from neutrinos indirectly. Sometimes, when a neutrino hits a molecule of air, water, or rock, it creates a charged particle called a muon, which produces a shower of other charged particles.
Unlike cosmic rays which produce showers that come from the atmosphere, neutrinos create showers that can come from any direction as they can travel through Earth.
11 months ago | [YT] | 188
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The World Of Science
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have discovered a new series representation for the irrational number pi while investigating string theory to explain physical phenomena like the quantum scattering of high-energy particles. This new formula, closely resembling the 15th-century series for pi by Indian mathematician Sangamagrama Madhava, was discovered by Arnab Saha and Aninda Sinha and published in Physical Review Letters. Initially focused on high-energy physics and developing accurate models for particle interactions, their research unexpectedly led to this novel representation of pi.
Sinha’s group, working within the framework of string theory, aimed to simplify and optimize the modeling of high-energy particle interactions. By combining the Euler-Beta Function and the Feynman Diagram, they developed an efficient model explaining particle interactions, which also resulted in a new series representation of pi. This breakthrough allows for the rapid calculation of pi, which is crucial for understanding particle scattering.
Although theoretical, these findings might lead to practical applications in the future, similar to how Paul Dirac’s work on electron motion led to significant advancements. Sinha emphasizes the intrinsic value of theoretical work, noting that while immediate applications may not be apparent, such research provides immense satisfaction and potential for future discoveries.
Ref: doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.221601
#science #sciencenews #iisc
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