Invention could make Particle Accelerators 10 times Smaller

Terahertz acclerator structure
SLAC scientists have invented a copper accelerator structure that could make future X-ray lasers and accelerators for radiation therapy more compact. It feeds terahertz radiation into a tiny cavity to boost particles to tremendous energies. This image shows one half of the structure with the cavity in the circled area. Inset: Scanning electron microscope image of a section of the cavity, which is 3.5 millimeters long and 280 microns wide at its narrowest point. (Chris Pearson/Emilio Nanni/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

It uses terahertz radiation to power a miniscule copper accelerator structure...

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Scientists Precisely Measure Total Amount of Matter in the Universe

The team determined that matter makes up about 31% of the total amount of matter and energy in the universe. Cosmologists believe about 20% of the total matter is made of regular — or “baryonic” matter — which includes stars, galaxies, atoms, and life, while about 80% is made of dark matter, whose mysterious nature is not yet known but may consist of some as-yet-undiscovered subatomic particle. (UCR/Mohamed Abdullah)

A top goal in cosmology is to precisely measure the total amount of matter in the universe, a daunting exercise for even the most mathematically proficient. A team led by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, has now done just that

Reporting in the Astrophysical Journal, the team determined that matter makes up 31% of the total amount of matter ...

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First Evidence that Air Pollution Particles and Metals are Reaching the Placenta

Black inclusions in placental cells resembling inhaled particulate matter

Pollution particles, including metals, have been found in the placentas of fifteen women in London, according to research led by Queen Mary University of London.

The study, funded by Barts Charity and published in the journal Science of The Total Environment, demonstrate that inhaled particulate matter from air pollution can move from the lungs to distant organs, and that it is taken up by certain cells in the human placenta, and potentially the fetus.

The researchers say that further research is needed to fully define the direct effect that pollution particles may have on the developing fetus.

Lead author Professor Jonathan Grigg from Queen Mary University of London said: “Our study for the first time shows that ...

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Controlling Ultrastrong Light-Matter Coupling at Room Temperature

Illustration
Researchers have shown that it is possible to create a controllable ultrastrong light-matter coupling at room temperature. The interaction is realised within a tiny system consisting of two gold mirrors separated by a small distance and plasmonic gold nanorods. The discovery is of importance for fundamental research and might pave the way for advances within, for example, light sources, nanomachinery, and quantum technology.​​​​​ ​Illustration: Denis Baranov

Physicists at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, together with colleagues in Russia and Poland, have managed to achieve ultrastrong coupling between light and matter at room temperature...

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