9 D Universe

Micron-sized dust particles in the atmosphere could trigger the formation of ice in certain types of clouds in the Northern Hemisphere. This is the finding of researchers in Switzerland and Germany, who used 35 years of satellite data to show that nanoscale defects on the surface of these aerosol particles [...]

Researchers in Germany have demonstrated the first cancer treatment using a radioactive carbon ion beam (11C), on a mouse with a bone tumour close to the spine. Performing particle therapy with radioactive ion beams enables simultaneous treatment and visualization of the beam within the body. Particle therapy using beams of protons [...]

Artificial intelligence (AI) is fast becoming the new “Marmite”. Like the salty spread that polarizes taste-buds, you either love AI or you hate it. To some, AI is miraculous, to others it’s threatening or scary. But one thing is for sure – AI is here to stay, so we had [...]

A research team has used both archival Hubble Space Telescope data and new observations to precisely measure the binary star system NGC3603-A1. One star weighs about 93 times the mass of our sun, while its companion tips the scales at roughly 70 solar masses. Together, they represent one of the [...]

It’s well documented that a frothy head on a beverage can stop the liquid from sloshing around and onto the floor – it’s one reason why when walking around with coffee, it swills around more than beer, for example. When it comes to beer, a clear sign of a good brew [...]

Nuclear scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in the US have produced and identified molecules containing nobelium for the first time. This element, which has an atomic number of 102, is the heaviest ever to be observed in a directly-identified molecule, and team leader Jennifer Pore says the [...]

The way in which new materials are designed is changing, with data becoming ever more important in the discovery and design process. Designing soft materials is a particularly tricky task that requires selection of different “building blocks” (monomers in polymeric materials, for example) and optimization of their arrangement in molecular [...]

A team led by Prof. Mao Jirong from the Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with international researchers, has recently published a study in The Astrophysical Journal confirming the presence of a standing shock in low-angular-momentum black hole accretion modes. [...]

My guest in this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast is the journalist Jason Palmer, who co-hosts “The Intelligence” podcast at The Economist. Palmer did a PhD in chemical physics at Imperial College London before turning his hand to science writing with stints at the BBC and New Scientist. He explains [...]

The longtime MIT professor shared a Nobel Prize for his role in developing the LIGO observatory and detecting gravitational waves. MIT Professor Emeritus Rainer Weiss ’55, PhD ’62, a renowned experimental physicist and Nobel laureate whose groundbreaking work confirmed a longstanding prediction about the nature of the universe, passed away on [...]

MIT Professor Emeritus Rainer Weiss ’55, PhD ’62, a renowned experimental physicist and Nobel laureate whose groundbreaking work confirmed a longstanding prediction about the nature of the universe, passed away on Aug. 25. He was 92.Weiss conceived of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) for detecting ripples in space-time known [...]