Category Physics

Solar Impulse 2 flies over San Francisco on Saturday, April 23, 2016. The solar-powered airplane, which is attempting to circumnavigate the globe to promote clean energy and the spirit of innovation, arrived from Hawaii after a three-day journey across the Pacific Ocean. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A solar-powered airplane landed in CA on Saturday, completing a risky, 3-day flight across the Pacific Ocean as part of its journey around the world. Pilot Bertrand Piccard landed the Solar Impulse 2 in Mountain View, in the Silicon Valley south of San Francisco, at 11:45 p.m. following a 62-hr, nonstop solo flight without fuel.

The landing came several hours after the Piccard performed a fly-by over the Golden Gate Bridge as spectators watched the narrow aircraft with extra wide wings from below...

Pulses of electrons (green, coming from the left) impinge on a micro-structured antenna which is powered by laser-generated terahertz radiation (red). The interaction compresses the duration of the electron pulses to a few femtoseconds. Graphics: Christian Hackenberger

With the aid of terahertz radiation, Munich physicists have developed a method for generating and controlling ultrashort electron pulses. With further improvements, this technique should be capable of capturing even electrons in motion. Seeing how atoms and electrons in a material respond to external stimuli can give scientists insight into unsolved problems in solid-state physics, such as the basis for high-temperature superconductivity and the many intriguing properties of other exotic materials.

Short pulses of electrons ...

Harmonic oscillator device is shown. Credit: LENS. Florence, Italy

Relativity and quantum mechanics: A non-local union? A theoretical study has analyzed a model that saves special relativity and reconciles it with granularity by introducing small-scale deviations from the principle of locality demonstrating that it can be experimentally tested with great precision.

Our experience of space-time is that of a continuous object, without gaps or discontinuities, just as it is described by classical physics. For some quantum gravity models however, the texture of space-time is “granular” at tiny scales (below the so-called Planck scale, 10-33 cm), as if it were a variable mesh of solids and voids (or a complex foam)...

ORNL researchers discovered that water in beryl displays some unique and unexpected characteristics. Credit: Jeff Scovil

Neutron scattering and computational modeling have revealed unique and unexpected behavior of water molecules under extreme confinement that is unmatched by any known gas, liquid or solid states. A new tunneling state of water molecules confined in hexagonal ultra-small channels – 5 angstrom across – of the mineral beryl. An angstrom is 1/10-billionth of a meter, and individual atoms are typically about 1 angstrom in diameter. The discovery demonstrates features of water under ultra confinement in rocks, soil and cell walls, which scientists predict will be of interest across many disciplines.

“At low temperatures, this tunneling water exhibits quantum motion through the...