Tag: computing

Space storms, Aussies at the LHC, home computers find pulsars and more…

Operations on 7 December, 2010

7 December 2010

Here’s today’s stories from the physics congress in Melbourne.
Space storms threat to power and phones
Are solar flares damaging our ozone layer?
The future of nuclear science
Superconductors reveal their secrets
Dark matter: detecting the invisible
Pulsar found with 250,000 home computers
Lies, damn lies and climate change sceptics: what has really caused recent global warming?
Australians to play with the Large Hadron Collider

Director General CERN announces $25M Australian centre on origins of universe

Operations on 7 December, 2010

Media Release

Tuesday 7 December 2010

Isssued by the University of Melbourne

The Director General of CERN, Switzerland, Professor Rolf-Dieter Heuer, has announced a new $25m Australian Research Council Centre to explore the origins of the universe after the big bang at the Australian Institute of Physics Congress today.

Led by the University of Melbourne, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Experimental Particle Physics at the Terascale will explore particle physics at terascale energies (a million million electron volts) through the ATLAS experiment, which is a giant particle detector attached to Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Read More about Director General CERN announces $25M Australian centre on origins of universe

A cubic kilometre ice telescope, silk for blood tests, stirring coffee and rocks…

Operations on 6 December, 2010

Stories today at the physics congress in Melbourne

A cubic kilometre of South Pole ice looking for dark matter
From the chaos of stirring coffee to stirring rocks and cleaning up polluted ground water
Silk microchips for instant blood tests
Diamond’s light touch
Enlightenment on a chip
A single electron reader for silicon quantum computing
Read More about A cubic kilometre ice telescope, silk for blood tests, stirring coffee and rocks…

Earthquake forecasts, tractor beams, sticky memories and more…Tim on radio

Operations on 15 September, 2010

This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about artificial skin; the optical illusions of bowerbirds; tractor beams; earthquakes; and more Read More about Earthquake forecasts, tractor beams, sticky memories and more…Tim on radio

Making nano-chips: Sydney centre opens today

Operations on 26 February, 2010

Bionic eyes, quantum computers and more efficient solar cells are among the many research projects set to benefit from a new facility due to be officially opened in Sydney on Friday.

The Diamond Age

Niall on 24 February, 2010

Move aside bronze, iron, silicon

We’re moving into the Diamond Age according to Professor David Awschalom from the University of California.

He and his team have already built experimental diamond chips by punching atom-sized flaws into the diamond’s molecular structure.

A million times faster

Niall on 23 February, 2010

A radical new kind of computer memory will be a million times faster than existing hard-drives, a leading expert in the field of nanotechnology announced today in Sydney.

It will use nanotechnology to manipulate data like cars on tiny racetracks.

Put the Lord of the Rings supercomputer on your desktop

Niall on 27 October, 2008

From today, thousands of Australian researchers have access to the power of the computing cluster that created the Lord of the Rings and King Kong.

By using a new service called Green Button, professional scientists and students will get instant access on their desktop to a cluster of 3,000 processors based in Wellington, New Zealand, to perform fast genetic analysis. Read More about Put the Lord of the Rings supercomputer on your desktop

Holey fibres shine the light on safety: 2008 Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year

Science in Public on 16 October, 2008

Tanya Monro

Optical fibres are the backbone of the internet, carrying vast amounts of data across cities, countries and oceans. Without them global communication would be more expensive and much slower.

Tanya Monro’s research has contributed to their performance. But she thinks that optical fibres can do much, much more for humanity. She’s dreaming of aircraft that know when they’re getting metal fatigue; water plants that react within seconds of cryptosporidium entering the water supply; tractors that know how much fertiliser every metre of the field needs; and wearable sensors that detect certain proteins or viruses.

Silicon back in the race for quantum computers

Niall on 7 August, 2008

The odds that a futuristic quantum computer will be built of silicon have received a boost, thanks to new technology recently invented by researchers in the Centre for Quantum Computer Technology (CQCT).