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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: physics

physics stories: 23 news summaries

1 - 20 of 23 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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Surfer Dude's Theory of Everything May School Science

Yurt-dweller rivets
the establishment

Nov 11, 09 8:09 AM CST
(Newser) - Science needs more people like Garrett Lisi, writes Roger Highfield at the Daily Telegraph . Lisi kitesurfs on Maui, lives in a yurt, snowboards at Tahoe—and has wowed physicists with his "theory of everything." The surfer dude scientist claims to have solved the biggest problem in physics by... More »

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physics • yurt • scientists • snowboarding • surfers • Garrett Lisi

'God Machine' Warming Up for 2nd Startup in Dec.

Large Hadron Collider is ready to roll after a year of repairs

Nov 3, 09 9:14 AM CST
(Newser) - The Large Hadron Collider is ready to start smashing particles together again, equipment, the laws of nature, and the Almighty permitting. The $9 billion particle accelerator has been fully repaired after a short circuit put it out of action for more than a year, and should be ready to roll... More »

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particle accelerator • physics • big bang • CERN • Large Hadron Collider • Higgs boson • God particle

Digital Pioneers Scoop Physics Nobel Prize

Trio's work on light paved way for Internet, digital cameras

Oct 6, 09 5:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded today to three scientists whose research into light paved the way for the digital age. Charles Kao received the prize for his work on the transmission of light through fiber-optic cables—the basis of modern communication networks. Bell Labs researchers Willard Boyle and... More »

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digital camera • digital photography • physics • light • Nobel Prize • fiber optic cables


 New Planet 
 Expected to 
 Crash and Burn 

It defies laws of physics

Aug 27, 09 10:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists in the UK have discovered a planet that defies the laws of physics, the Independent reports. WASP-18b, which is orbiting a star 1,000 light years from Earth, is so big and close to the sun that it should be pulled toward it. "The spin of the star... More »

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planet • star • sun • physics • exoplanet • Jupiter • orbit • University of St. Andrews • WASP-18b

Collider May Be Back Online by Late Fall—on Low

Physicists bail for US as troubles crop up at Swiss megaproject

Aug 4, 09 7:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - It took 15 years and $9 billion to build, but since its massively hyped debut in September, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland hasn't collided any particles at all. Physicists in Europe are certain the 17-mile machine will eventually produce revolutionary science, on everything from dark matter to... More »

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physics • CERN • Large Hadron Collider

 After 13 Years, 
 New Element Gets 
 Name: Copernicum 

Physicists dedicate element 112 to the father of the heliocentric solar system

Jul 16, 09 2:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - The scientists who discovered the newest element want to name it “Copernicum” to honor Nicolaus Copernicus, the astronomer who proposed the heliocentric theory of the solar system, the BBC reports. Element 112 was discovered in fusion experiments 13 years ago and added to the periodic table a few weeks... More »

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physics • Copernicus • periodic table • copernicum • element 112 • Sigurd Hoffman

 Going Up? 
 9.4M Balloons 
 Should Do It 

But different sources give widely varied estimates

Jun 5, 09 1:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - Pixar stuck 20,622 balloons on a house to achieve liftoff in its animated Up, which wouldn't come close to doing the trick in real life, writes Nina Shen Rastogi on Slate's Explainer blog. If the old Carl character were using typical party balloons, he'd need somewhere around 9.4... More »

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film • Pixar • Disney • physics • house • balloon • helium balloons

Discovery Revives Hopes for Cold Fusion

Researcher believes limitless energy source may be on horizon

Mar 24, 09 2:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - A new lab discovery holds promise that cold fusion could become a reality, according to a US Navy researcher. The chemist—whose report was greeted with skepticism in the scientific world—says her new process created highly energized neutrons in a reaction that could someday provide almost limitless amounts of... More »

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energy • physics • nuclear energy • cold fusion

'Big Bang' Machine Won't Start Until Fall

Repairs to giant
collider taking longer than expected

Feb 10, 09 3:30 PM CST
(Newser) - Scientists won’t restart the Large Hadron Collider until late September—a 6-week delay for the machine designed to replicate the Big Bang, Reuters reports. Repairs of last fall's electrical glitch are taking longer than expected. Particle collisions in the world’s biggest, most complex machine are now scheduled to... More »

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physics • Geneva • CERN • Large Hadron Collider

Scientists Teleport Data
on Tiny Scale

Send information between atoms a meter apart

Jan 24, 09 4:17 PM CST
(Newser) - It’s not quite worthy of the Starship Enterprise, but Maryland scientists have managed to teleport data on an atomic scale, LiveScience reports. The researchers transmitted information between atoms a meter apart without the data actually crossing that space—a development that could help create speedy quantum computers and highly... More »

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University of Maryland • science • physics • quantum mechanics • atom • scientific breakthroughs

 Physics Fuels Santa's Magic 

Nanotechnology, space-time distortions enable Christmas miracles

Dec 15, 08 4:15 PM CST
(Newser) - New research has shed light on the amazing ability of Santa Claus to deliver presents to children around the world in a single night, Reuters reports. Santa is able to distort the space-time continuum, says a North Carolina State expert: "He understands that you can stretch time, compress space... More »

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humor • physics • holiday • Christmas • gift • Santa Claus • nanotechnolgy

How Nerds
Can Save Network TV

Big Bang Theory succeeds where less brainy sitcoms fail

Dec 12, 08 11:44 AM CST
(Newser) - Why is a physics-quoting comedy one of network TV's only successful sitcoms? And with so many Americans turning to cable, the Internet, and reality programming, what does that mean for the future of prime time? The Wall Street Journal looks at The Big Bang Theory, an unlikely hit that actually... More »

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television • CBS • comedy • physics • TV ratings • sitcom • Chuck Lorre • The Big Bang Theory (sitcom) • Johnny Galecki • Roseanne (sitcom)

 Secret to Dark Matter 
 May Be Underground 

Scientists mine earth for substance that makes up 95% of universe

Nov 11, 08 2:43 PM CST
(Newser) - Minerals aren’t the only prize in a mine—scientists travel underground to search for elusive dark matter, the invisible substance that may make up 95% of the universe’s mass, the Wall Street Journal reports. Delicate equipment seeks to detect the stuff in the form of particles known as... More »

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physics • universe • dark matter • mine

Physics Nobel to 3 Who Studied World's Origin

Work on 'broken symmetry' paved way for hadron collider

Oct 7, 08 7:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Nobel Prize for physics was awarded today to three researchers whose work on "broken symmetry" has clarified the origins of the universe. Their theories—a cornerstone of the so-called Standard Model of physics—explain how the world came into being after the Big Bang; although huge amounts... More »

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science • physics • Nobel Prize • Large Hadron Collider • particle physics

'Big Bang' Machine
Switched On, We're Still Here

Feared planet-devouring black hole fortunately fails to materialize

Sep 10, 08 5:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Large Hadron Collider was switched on today and the world did not end, as some doomsayers predicted, Reuters reports. Scientists at CERN in Switzerland now plan to use the giant particle-smashing machine to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang and shed light on the origins of the universe.... More »

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particle accelerator • physics • Geneva • CERN • Large Hadron Collider

Mysteries of Glass Still Unbreakable

Scientists 'disagree violently' in debate over molecular makeup

Jul 29, 08 3:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - Although it’s all around us, scientists have fairly little idea why, exactly, glass behaves the way it does, the New York Times reports in an examination of the ongoing debate over the curious properties of the commonplace substance. The mystery hinges on why the molecular arrangement of glass is... More »

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physics • glass

 Particle Collider
 Prompts Doomsday Suit 

Device could spark fatal black hole, claimants say

Mar 30, 08 2:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - A particle smasher in Switzerland could suck up Earth and possibly the whole universe, a US lawsuit claims. The suit warns that the $8 billion Large Hadron Collider near Geneva could spark a matter-sucking black hole or a "strangelet" that turns our planet into "strange matter." But... More »

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particle accelerator • physics • black hole • Hawaii • CERN • Walter Wagner • Luis Sancho • Large Hadron Collider

Über-Precise Atomic Clocks Are Half-Past a Revolution

Smaller, cheaper, and mysterious

Dec 13, 07 11:38 AM CST
(Newser) - Forget the Swiss—the world's best clocks sit in a Colorado lab where a team of scientists is shaping them into über-precise gadgets with broad-reaching implications on medicine, navigation, and surveillance. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has built a clock the size of a grain of rice... More »

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physics • clock • National Institute of Standards and Technology • atomic clock • magnetic field

Black Hole Smashes Record

Astronomers puzzled by all-time heaviest 'small' black hole

Oct 31, 07 6:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - A newly discovered stellar-mass black hole shatters the weight record for holes formed from dying stars—and defies explanation by current theories. Faced with its mysterious heft,  astrophysicists can only conclude that stellar-mass black holes "can be much larger than we had realized," Space.com reports. More »

MORE ABOUT:
NASA • star • physics • black hole • universe • astrophysics

Hard Drive Guys Win Nobel Prize

Physics award goes to discoverers of 'giant magnetoresistance,' key to shrinking computers

Oct 9, 07 9:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - Proving physics isn’t just theoretical black-hole gazing, this year’s Nobel Prize went to a discovery that paved the way for radically shrinking the size of computers. Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg won for uncovering “giant magnetoresistance,” the phenomenon that big electrical resistance variances can be produced... More »

MORE ABOUT:
physics • nanotechnology • Nobel Prize

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