Category Physics

Photosystems (PS) I and II are large protein complexes that contain light-absorbing pigment molecules needed for photosynthesis. PS II captures energy from sunlight to extract electrons from water molecules, splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen ions (H+) and producing chemical energy in the form of ATP. PS I uses those electrons and H+ to reduce NADP+ (an electron-carrier molecule) to NADPH. The chemical energy contained in ATP and NADPH is then used in the light-independent reaction of photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide to sugars.
Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory

Photosynthesis in green plants converts solar energy to stored chemical energy by transforming atmospheric CO2 and water into sugar molecules that fuel plant growth...

The Muon g-2 electromagnet at Fermilab, ready to receive a beam of muon particles. The ring generates a remarkably uniform magnetic field with which scientists will study properties of the muon in a hunt for undiscovered particles and forces. Credit: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

The Muon g-2 experiment has begun its search for phantom particles with its world-famous and well-traveled electromagnet. On May 31, the 50-foot-wide superconducting electromagnet at the center of the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab saw its first beam of muon particles from Fermilab’s accelerators, kicking off a 3-year effort to measure just what happens to those particles when placed in a stunningly precise magnetic field. The answer could rewrite scientists’ picture of the universe and how it works.

“The Muon g-2 experim...

MELRAM cell and the electric scheme for the magnetic state identification.

A team from France and Russia has now developed a magnetoelectric random access memory (MELRAM) cell that has the potential to increase power efficiency, and decrease heat waste, by orders of magnitude for read operations at room temperature. The research could aid production of devices such as instant-on laptops, close-to-0-consumption flash drives, and data storage centers that require much less air conditioning.

Billions of transistors can now be etched onto single chips in a space the size of a dime, but at some point, increasing this number for even better performance using the same space will not be possible...