Science In Public
Science writers, communicators, media, training, and public relations
CSIRO researchers reported that metallic nanoparticles can be used as components of computers powered by light rather than electric currents.
The nanoparticles can control and manipulate the flow of light in photonic circuits in computers that should be much more powerful than their electronic counterparts.
The major protein in silkworm silk is being used by Peter Domachuk and his colleagues at the University of Sydney as a platform for sophisticated new health tests.
The protein, fibroin, is extremely strong and so bio-friendly that it allows long-term studies of the interactions of molecules which, until now, have been too sensitive to handle in the laboratory outside of cells. Fibroin is also transparent, and can be spun into structures that manipulate light.
Peter already has sensors for oxygen, and is planning a system that allows dozens of simultaneous blood tests.
Adding to chaos underground could help manage polluted water, according to CSIRO physicist Guy Metcalfe.
His team has been working on “chaotic advection”, which describes the motion of particles carried in a flow—from smoke drifting in the air, to the mixing of the milk into your morning coffee.
The same principle can be used to trap contaminated groundwater, and keep it continually rotating within a defined area, CSIRO researchers have calculated. Or it could be applied to encourage reactions between fluids and rocks that remove pollutants.
UK researcher Anthony Brown reported on the IceCube neutrino telescope under construction at the South Pole.
The first stages are up and running, looking for high energy neutrinos from a variety of astrophysical sources, including dark matter.
[Read more…] about A cubic kilometre of South Pole ice looking for dark matter
David Karoly will rebut the common arguments and misinformation that question the role of human activity, particularly increasing concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases, as the main cause of recently observed global warming.
He says, “Recent increases in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are due to human activity. The pattern and magnitude of observed global-scale temperature changes since the mid-20th century cannot be explained by natural climate variability. They are consistent with the response to increasing greenhouse gases and aerosols, and are not consistent with the responses to other factors. Hence, it is very likely that increasing greenhouse gases due to human activity are the main cause of the recent observed global-scale warming.” [Read more…] about Lies, damn lies and climate change sceptics: what has really caused recent global warming?
By Vivien Lee
Anyone can discover a neutron star in their own home, says the director of the Einstein@Home Project, Prof Bruce Allen. You don’t even have to be awake—your computer screensaver does it for you. In fact, it’s already been done.
In August, a couple in Iowa, USA and a man in Mainz, Germany made Einstein@Home’s first discovery, a speedy neutron star that spins 41 times a second compared with the typical once per second.
[Read more…] about Pursuing space research from the comfort of home
A $25-million Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre to explore the origins of the universe immediately after the Big Bang was previewed by the Director General of CERN in Switzerland, Prof Rolf-Dieter Heuer at the Australian Institute of Physics Congress in Melbourne in early December. [Read more…] about $25 million to help Australians use the Large Hadron Collider
Melbourne physicists are trying to detect the undetectable – by searching for signs of its demise.
Nicole Bell and her colleagues at the University of Melbourne are analysing data on neutrinos, gamma and cosmic rays for evidence of the decay or annihilation of dark matter.
This mysterious material is suspected to exist because of the gravitational tug it exerts on the visible universe. But it has not, as yet, been found.
By James Mitchell Crow
US researchers are beginning to understand how copper oxides can transmit electricity with no power loss at temperatures not far below -100˚C. Research which gives clues as to just how these superconductors work was presented at the Australian Institute of Physics Congress in Melbourne by Michael Norman from Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.
Norman said his co-workers had found pockets of electrons hidden within the superconducting materials. The discovery could help unravel the mechanism of operation of superconductors, he said, and point the way towards materials that superconduct at room temperature and above.
Norman is convinced such materials exist, it is just a question of finding them. “The record for high temperature superconductors has already increased by a factor of eight. To achieve room temperature superconductivity, we only need to improve by another factor of two.”
Discoveries in diagnosing diseases, finding new clues to detect climate change and the structural soundness of materials have all emerged from Australia’s nuclear research reactor. Adi Paterson, the director of ANSTO (the body that manages the reactor) spoke about the role that nuclear science will play in Australia’s future.
Some recent projects: ASTRO 3D, MindEar, Cortical Labs (Dishbrain), Illumina, ABC, World Mining Congress 2023.