David Harris: Science news

Symmetry - March 2005 issue

Sat, 19 Mar 2005 05:40:01 GMT

And while I'm updating on latest issues of symmetry, there is another one out also. Some highlights:
- a spectacular gallery of some of the best photographs of particle physics labs
- a feature on why scientists want to go underground
- an entertaining essay on how bad physicists are at naming things
- inside a microchip used in particle detectors

You know you want a fix of particle physics...

Symmetry - world year of physics issue

Sat, 19 Mar 2005 05:35:17 GMT

I should have mentioned when it came out that we published a World Year of Physics special issue of symmetry. The cover has generated much interest with various places requesting permission to use it on posters, in magazines, and all over the place. It's not your usual science magazine cover and I was a little nervous about running with it but it has been wildly successful. We won't do that every time but we are going to stretch the boundaries of what you see in science magazines. (I should say hi to the great designers at Sandbox Studio who do the design work with us.)

Some of the highlights:
- a photo essay of Stephon Alexander (who is also a Quantum Diarist) (photos taken by my friend Teresa, and you can even see the back of my head in one of the shots)
- a wacky essay about a non-physicist visiting my workplace, SLAC (hi Allan, I'll come and visit you down in Costa Rica soon)
- a feature on the search for ultra-high energy cosmic rays in Argentina
- the strange Einstein paraphenalia you can find (not all of it is mine), including the only known verse to include the phrase "Einstein porn"
- E=mc^2 in 60 seconds
- a page of Einstein's handwritten manuscript including the earliest known mention of E=mc^2
- a look at Einstein's papers of one hundred years ago

But you're going to have to search through the issue to find the face off between Einstein and Godzilla...

When particle physicists blog - Quantum Diaries

Fri, 14 Jan 2005 00:29:40 GMT

Launched today is a new collaborative blog that will run for the duration of the World Year of Physics. It is called Quantum Diaries and has about 25 particle physicists from around the world blogging their lives, inside physics and out.

It is well worth checking out - there are some good writers in among the group and you get a taste for what it is like to be a physicists working and traveling internationally.

The bloggers contribute in English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and Japanese that I have noticed so far but English is dominant. (I like multi-language blogs even when I can't read all the languages!)

symmetry issue 2

Fri, 03 Dec 2004 03:57:26 GMT

Issue 2 of symmetry magazine is now online...

Check out the cover art - a reproduction of a fantastic painting based on quantum physics.

Features include the SESAME synchrotron in Jordan, 25 years of the theory of inflation.

All at www.symmetrymagazine.org

New physics magazine

Thu, 28 Oct 2004 19:28:44 GMT

Although you might think that this blog was deep in the throes of an existential crisis since July, you are only partly right. I have been buried in my new project - launching a new physics magazine that people are receiving the first print issue of today. The magazine is called symmetry and looks at the various dimensions of particle physics and how they relate to science, policy and culture.

You can read the entire contents of the magazine online or subscribe for print copies at www.symmetrymagazine.org

Some success in x-ray induced fusion

Fri, 02 Jul 2004 18:47:17 GMT

A paper published this week in Physical Review Letters reports some success in producing thermonuclear fusion in the z-pinch machine at Sandia National Laboratories. The z-pinch essentially squeezes deuterium capsules with x-rays so tightly that fusion begins.

| Abstract |

Finally, some action on bogus intercessory prayer study

Fri, 02 Jul 2004 18:36:23 GMT

After years of inaction, a controversial study on the effects of intercessory prayer(*) on pregnancy rates is being investigated by the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, which supposedly had the study peer-reviewed before publishing it in 2001. Columbia University is also running from the story, and has removed its press release about the study. The journal editors have been elusive, as have the authors of the paper, although perhaps one author is having trouble responding because he is in prison, having been convicted of mail fraud offences.

* Intercessory prayer is when somebody unknown to you prays for you without your knowledge, in the hope of having some effect. The prayer is usually just given a photograph of you, and no further information, except perhaps for the desired outcome of the prayer. In numerous well-controlled studies, it has been shown to have no effect.

Read more:
| Time magazine | What's New | Original paper | Original press release (c/o Internet Wayback Machine) |

Could laptops run on spinach?

Mon, 28 Jun 2004 22:28:44 GMT

This is a very cool example of creating technology based on what nature can already do best.

Could laptops run on spinach?. Solar cells turn over a new leaf. [Nature Science Update]

| PDF of full paper |

What should me make of "Atkins 'affects conception chances'"?

Mon, 28 Jun 2004 22:18:40 GMT

Are we really supposed to be able to draw any sensible conclusion from stories like these? The main thrust - that high-protein diets could reduce chances of conceiving - is seriously undermined by the revelation that the studies were done in herbivores. Without any indication of whether we can extrapolate to humans from this sort of study, does this story say anything at all?

Unfortunately, the problem here is just as much the fault of the scientists/journal as the media, because of how the story was obviously promoted.

Atkins 'affects conception chances'. Eating a high protein diet - such as Atkins - could reduce a woman's chances of conceiving, researchers say. [BBC News | Science/Nature | World Edition]

Scientists Now Need OK to Consult WHO

Fri, 25 Jun 2004 22:46:20 GMT

Now specific US government scientists can't even be selected to advise international bodies without approval - the government will choose who gets to give advice. I wonder whether or not those chosen will have opinions in line with what the administration wants rather than what the science says... silly question, isn't it - we already know the answer.

Scientists Now Need OK to Consult WHO (AP). AP - Government scientists must now be cleared by a Bush political appointee before they can lend their expertise to the World Health Organization, a change that a Democratic lawmaker said fits a pattern of politicizing science. [Yahoo! News - Science]

New light on dark energy

Thu, 24 Jun 2004 18:32:26 GMT

An interesting story at PhysicsWeb describes how it seems dark energy has been constant throughout time, consistent with Einstein's idea of a cosmological constant.

Cosmologists in the US have made the most accurate measurements ever of how dark energy varies with time -- and found that it remains perfectly constant. Yun Wang at the University of Oklahoma and Max Tegmark at the University of Pennsylvania performed numerical simulations on observational data from supernovae, the cosmic microwave background and galaxy clusters. The results, which agree with Einstein's predictions for a non-varying cosmological constant, lend further support to the existence of dark energy (Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 241302).

| Full paper |

The Claim: Too Much Sleep Is Bad for You

Wed, 23 Jun 2004 23:06:32 GMT

This piece is a great example of how to concisely explain the difference between correlation and causation.

The Claim: Too Much Sleep Is Bad for You. Averaging more than seven hours of sleep a night is associated with a shorter life span. By Anahad O'connor. [New York Times: Science]

Natural decaf

Wed, 23 Jun 2004 23:04:26 GMT

It's amazing what we find when we look hard enough. So many of the things we try to engineer already exist somewhere in nature.

Grow a decaffeinated cuppa. Brazilians discover bushes without the buzz. [Nature Science Update]

Extraterrestrial impact created in the lab

Tue, 22 Jun 2004 21:44:10 GMT

The latest results from a group doing fun work. I've interviewed them previously and always been fascinated by what you can achieve with "toy" experiments.

Extraterrestrial impact created in the lab. Scientists in the Netherlands have successfully recreated a small-scale meteoritic impact in the laboratory for the first time. The novel yet simple experiment, devised by Detlef Lohse and colleagues at the University of Twente, involves dropping a small steel ball onto the surface of a sand bed. The results could shed more light on the processes occurring during large-scale impacts on Earth and other planets in the solar system (arXiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0406368). [PhysicsWeb News]

| Preprint |

Kerry on science

Mon, 21 Jun 2004 18:28:39 GMT

Today's New York Times reports on comments by Senator John Kerry about science policy:

"We need a president who will once again embrace our tradition of looking toward the future and new discoveries with hope based on scientific facts, not fear," Kerry said in a campaign statement issued as he traveled to Denver. "It's about investing in the future of our country. I won't let ideology and fear stand in our way."

Tunes create context like language

Fri, 18 Jun 2004 21:58:03 GMT

This is a very interesting story that compares the statistical properties of written texts with those of different types of music. The argument put forth is that certain statistical patterns contribute to understanding by developing a structure via which later words/notes/etc. can be interpreted.

Tunes create context like language. Maths shows why tonal music is easy listening. [Nature Science Update]

Ben Franklin's magic squares redux

Fri, 18 Jun 2004 00:28:54 GMT

"When he wasn't experimenting with lightning or overthrowing the British Empire, Benjamin Franklin found time to fool around with mathematics, inventing a variant of the magic square called Franklin's squares. Now Maya Ahmed, a mathematics graduate student at UC Davis, has come up with a way to construct both Franklin's own squares and others of the same type. The methods could have applications in computer programming for business."

The full release

Fermilab's SELEX experiment finds puzzling new particle

Fri, 18 Jun 2004 00:24:58 GMT

"Scientists at the Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory will announce on Friday, June 18 the observation of an unexpected new member of a family of subatomic particles called "heavy-light" mesons. The new meson, a combination of a strange quark and a charm antiquark, is the heaviest ever observed in this family, and it behaves in surprising ways -- it apparently breaks the rules on decaying into other particles."

The full release

Introducing the ratfish

Thu, 17 Jun 2004 23:06:13 GMT

I love any sort of animal that has a name consisting of the juxaposition of two other animal names. It's pretty common among fish, because fish is a more generic descriptor than most species names (e.g. catfish, dogfish, sharkfish, cowfish, mousefish, frogfish, horsefish, etc.) Right at the moment, I can't think of any other conjunction of animal names not involving a fish. Leave examples in the comments below...

Brazil Scientists Discover Prehistoric Ratfish (Reuters). Reuters - Brazilian scientists have discovered a species of fish, related to sharks, that has been swimming the seas since dinosaurs walked the Earth, a researcher involved in the project said on Thursday. The fish, which is a kind of chimaera, or ratfish, is about 12 inches to 16 inches long, has large, wing-like fins, a whip-like tail and exposed nerves along its body that help it navigate in the deep, dark waters where it lives. [Yahoo! News - Science]

Octopodes have a preferred arm

Wed, 16 Jun 2004 21:25:55 GMT

Nature Science Update reports:

"Most octopuses have a favourite arm, zoologists have discovered. This is the first time they have been found to show any bias when choosing which of their eight limbs is right for the job."

It's atom teleportation, Jim, but not as you know it

Wed, 16 Jun 2004 21:10:48 GMT

Quantum teleportation with atoms has been demonstrated by two groups, reports today's Nature. Here is the news story from PhysicsWeb:

Teleportation breaks new ground. Physicists in Austria and the US have independently demonstrated quantum teleportation with atoms for the first time. Until now, teleportation had only ever been observed with photons. The results could represent a major step towards building a large-scale quantum computer. In quantum teleportation, the sender, normally called Alice, instantaneously transfers information about the quantum state of a particle to a receiver called Bob. [PhysicsWeb News]

Quantum Universe: The Revolution in 21st-century particle physics

Mon, 14 Jun 2004 19:31:21 GMT

I keep forgetting to mention the recently released "Quantum Universe" report. The hard copy landed on my desk the other day hot off the press and it looks great. More importantly the content is superb. The key issues facing particle physics have been distilled into a set of nine questions and the report looks at what will be needed to answer them.

For a taste of it, here are the nine questions:
1. Are there undiscovered principles of nature: new symmetries, new physical laws?
2. How can we solve the mystery of dark energy?
3. Are there extra dimensions of space?
4. Do all forces become one?
5. Why are there so many kinds of particles?
6. What is dark matter? How can we make it in the laboratory?
7. What are neutrinos telling us?
8. How did the universe come to be?
9. What happened to the antimatter?

The unreliability of memory

Mon, 14 Jun 2004 18:37:39 GMT

We have so much evidence that memory is unreliable that I am inclined to think eyewitness testimony should be barred from courtrooms. Another piece of evidence on the unreliability of memory has just been published in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. It shows that stress makes the situation even worse.

Read more at New Scientist

Skepticism over mathematical proof

Fri, 11 Jun 2004 23:49:30 GMT

I indicated my skepticism over a claimed proof of Riemann's hypothesis the other day but now New Scientist has a story with a little more detail.

New neutrino oscillation results

Fri, 11 Jun 2004 23:42:42 GMT

One of the big results in the past few years in particle physics is confirmation that neutrinos have mass and oscillate from one flavor to another. Some new data announced today give more detail on the process and were obtained at K2K in Japan, an experiment that shoots neutrinos through the earth from Tsukuba to a detector 250km away. This experiment will collect more data in the next year and further refine our understanding of the most elusive of the detected particles.