Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) occur when a massive star explodes (supernova) or when 2 neutron stars merge. If a GRB occurred in a star cluster we can trace its position and speed to deduce whether it coincides with past extinction events [the European Space Agency’s Gaia star-mapper (2013) will determine the position and speed of star clusters].
The author calculated that at least 1 GRB has occurred within striking distance of the Earth in the last billion years.
The Schumann cavity surrounds the Earth and exists between the surface and the bottom of the ionosphere (~80 km). Schumann resonances (SRs) are peaks in the extremely low frequency (ELF) portion of the Earth’s electromagnetic (EM) field. These resonances are excited by lightning discharges in the cavity.
This cavity resonates at about 7.83 Hz (fundamental) and experiences little attenuation. Other bodies in the Universe have their own SRs that require certain parameters to be satisfied:
1. A spherically-shaped body
2. Conducting lower and upper boundaries separated by an insulating medium
3. Source of excitation of EM waves in the ELF range
The most popular application of the SR would be that of wireless energy transmission (see Colorado Springs Experiment 1899). The idea revolves around the fact that there is an enormous amount of energy in this cavity that goes unused.
Q: What is the simplest way to observe the optical Doppler effect?
A: Go out and look at cars. The lights of the ones approaching you are white, while the lights of the ones moving away from you are red.
“If there was no such thing as night the Sun would have run out twice as fast.”
Black holes are where God is dividing by zero.
After eating his first meal on the Moon, the astronaut reported, “The food was good, but the place lacked atmosphere.”
Why did Captain Kirk go into the ladies toilet?
To boldly go where no man has been before!
By exciting nano-scaled silver with laser pulses that last for only femtoseconds (that’s 10^-15), a team of ressearchers at California Institute of Technology have been able to trace the energy individual electrons gain. The ability to map the electric fields around the structure, and the likely positions of the electrons, may translate to direct study of the interactions of particles, molecules, and even cells.
Researchers in Australia and Indiana have succeeded in developing conductive wires that are only about four atoms wide and one atom tall. The wires – strings of individual silicon atoms – don’t suffer the increased resistivity that traditional wires would if scaled down. These new wires, if implemented, may continue to prolong the shrinkage of microchips, in accordance with Moore’s Law.
If you love History of Condensed Matter Physics you will love this book! The Scientific “Love of My Life” contribution from P W Anderson (1977 Nobel Prize for his pivotal work and understanding electron localization in amorphous materials) is simply amazing
Edited by Leon N. Cooper & Dmitri Feldman(Brown University)
The BCS theory of superconductivity developed in 1957 by Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer has been remarkably successful in explaining the properties of superconductors. In addition, concepts from BCS have been incorporated into diverse fields of physics, from nuclear physics and dense quark matter to the current standard model. Practical applications include SQUIDs, magnetic resonance imaging, superconducting electronics and the transmission of electricity. This invaluable book is a compilation of both a historical account and a discussion of the current state of theory and experiment.
With contributions from many prominent scientists, it aims to introduce students and researchers to the origins, the impact and the current state of the BCS theory.
The choice has been made on the basis of multiple parameters, including the number of citations of the articles and number of citations divided by “age” of the article. Graphene is the 2010 Nobel-award winner material.
Quite encouragingly one of our articles [Nature Nano 3 (2008) 270-274] sits at no. 38 in this top list.
Never read Godel, Escher, Bach and need a push? Here’s your opportunity. I read it a million years ago as a grad student and really enjoyed it, think it probably perma-tweaked my mind.
