Physics – Page 2 – PossibleThreat Articles

World record acceleration: Zero to 7.8 billion electron volts in 8 inches

October 21, 2019 0 Comments Electricity, Energy and Resources, Energy Technology, Medical Technology, Optics, Physics, Quantum Physics, Spintronics

To understand the fundamental nature of our universe, scientists would like to build particle colliders that accelerate electrons and their antimatter counterparts (positrons) to extreme energies (up to tera electron volts, or TeV). With conventional technology, however, this requires a machine that is enormously big and expensive (think 20 miles long). To shrink the size and cost of these machines, the acceleration of the particles — how much energy they gain in a given distance — must be increased.

News Science

Taking new angle to enable more efficient, compact fusion power plants

October 21, 2019 0 Comments Chemistry, Consumer Electronics, Electricity, Energy Technology, Nuclear Energy, Physics, Quantum Physics, Thermodynamics

Researchers have demonstrated a new approach for injecting microwaves into a fusion plasma that doubles the efficiency of a critical technique that could have major implications for future fusion reactors. The results show that launching the microwaves into the plasma via a novel geometry delivers substantial improvements in the plasma current drive.

News Science

Taking a new tangent to control pesky waves in fusion plasmas

October 21, 2019 0 Comments Albert Einstein, Chemistry, Energy Technology, Nuclear Energy, Optics, Physics, Quantum Physics, Thermodynamics

Fusion combines light elements in the form of plasma — the hot, charged state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei — to generate massive amounts of energy. One of the ways that scientists help heat the plasma is by injecting beams of energetic particles into tokamaks to provide enough energy for plasma particles to overcome mutual repulsion and fuse together.

News Science

Fusion: Fuel injection helps reduce magnetic island instabilities

October 21, 2019 0 Comments Chemistry, Electricity, Electronics, Energy and Resources, Energy Technology, Medical Technology, Nuclear Energy, Physics

Fusion is a non-carbon-based process for energy production, where lighter atoms fuse into heavier ones. Fusion reactors operate by confining a 'soup' of charged particles, known as a plasma, within powerful magnetic fields. But these magnetic fields must contain the plasma long enough that it can be heated to extreme temperatures — hotter than the sun — where fusion reactions can occur.

News Science

Remarkable story of shock wave physics in post-World War II America

October 21, 2019 0 Comments Civil Engineering, Engineering, Engineering and Construction, Materials Science, Nuclear Energy, Physics, Quantum Physics, Weapons Technology

Physicists predicted the Hubble Space Telescope would see a rising vapor plume as the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet crashed into the far side of Jupiter in 1994. And sure enough, the plume produced by the impact matched their computational analysis.

News Science

A tiny cavity leads to a strong interaction between light and matter

October 21, 2019 0 Comments Computers and Internet, encryption, Graphene, Physics, Quantum Computers, Quantum Computing, Quantum Physics, Spintronics Research

Researchers have succeeded in creating an efficient quantum-mechanical light-matter interface using a microscopic cavity. Within this cavity, a single photon is emitted and absorbed up to 10 times by an artificial atom. This opens up new prospects for quantum technology.

News Science

Model system for distribution of more accurate time signals

October 21, 2019 0 Comments Computer Modeling, Computers and Internet, Engineering, Mathematical Modeling, Optics, Physics, Quantum Physics, Spintronics Research

Physicists have demonstrated the first next-generation 'time scale' — a system that incorporates data from multiple atomic clocks to produce a single highly accurate timekeeping signal for distribution. The new time scale outperforms the best existing hubs for disseminating official time worldwide and offers the possibility of providing more accurate time to millions of customers such as financial markets and computer and phone networks.

News Science

Researchers watch quantum knots untie

October 21, 2019 0 Comments Engineering, Engineering and Construction, Graphene, Physics, Quantum Computing, Quantum Physics, Spintronics, Telecommunications

A quantum gas can be tied into knots using magnetic fields. The same researchers who were the first to produce these knots have now studied how the knots behave over time. The surprising result is that the knots untie themselves over a short period of time, before turning into a vortex.

News Science

Atomic images reveal unusually many neighbors for some oxygen atoms

October 21, 2019 0 Comments Chemistry, Engineering and Construction, Graphene, Materials Science, Nanotechnology, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Spintronics

The identification of new chemical bonds is crucial for the design of new material structures. A team has found unexpected new configurations of oxygen and nitrogen in graphene.

News Science

Energy flow in the nano range

October 19, 2019 0 Comments Chemistry, Construction, Energy Technology, Graphene, Nuclear Energy, Optics, Petroleum, Physics

It is crucial for photovoltaics and other technical applications, how efficiently energy spreads in a small volume. With new methods, the path of energy in the nanometer range can now be followed precisely.