Taken from the July 2020 issue of Physics World. Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app. The Planck mission gave us the most precise value of the Hubble constant to date by measuring the cosmic microwave background. But studies made since using different methods provide different
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eROSITA has mapped more than one million sources of X-rays.Credit: Jeremy Sanders, Hermann Brunner, eSASS team (MPE); Eugene Churazov, Marat Gilfanov (IKI) The Universe seen in in X-ray vision The newest map of the sky charted in high-energy X-rays offers a glimpse of what the Universe would look like if seen with X-ray vision. Researchers
Samsung’s “Galaxy Unpacked” will take place on August 5, 2020. The South Korean electronics giant is expected to unveil a new device in its Note series of smartphones. Samsung Electronics Samsung is set to reveal its next major smartphone on August 5 — and media reports say the latest version of its high-end Galaxy Note
Updated 1:20 p.m. with Commercial Spaceflight Federation comment. WASHINGTON — A House appropriations bill released July 7 rejected the administration’s proposed major budget increase for NASA, instead offering the agency a flat budget for 2021 that takes particular aim at the agency’s efforts to develop lunar landers. The commerce, justice and science (CJS) appropriations bill,
Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway is finally pulling the trigger. The conglomerate is spending $4 billion to buy the natural gas transmission and storage assets of Dominion Energy. Including the assumption of debt, the deal totals almost $10 billion. It’s the first major purchase from Berkshire since the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent market collapse in March.
Summer has finally arrived in the northern reaches of Canada and Alaska, liberating hundreds of thousands of northern stream fish from their wintering habitats. Through the long winter, many have endured cramped, icy quarters with perilously low oxygen levels. Others have recently journeyed incredible distances from large rivers and lakes to small summer habitats upstream. Northern
Law enforcement, marketers, hospitals and other bodies apply artificial intelligence (AI) to decide on matters such as who is profiled as a criminal, who is likely to buy what product at what price, who gets medical treatment and who gets hired. These entities increasingly monitor and predict our behaviour, often motivated by power and profits.
Tesla’s 2014 acquisition of SolarCity turned the electric vehicle manufacturer into the undisputed largest player in residential solar, but that lead has steadily eroded as its major competitor, Sunrun, surged ahead with more aggressive plans. Now with the $3.2 billion dollar acquisition of the residential solar installation company, Vivint Solar, Sunrun looks to solidify its
WASHINGTON — NASA announced July 7 that it has completed two major reviews that stemmed from Boeing’s flawed commercial crew test flight last December as the agency and company prepare for a second test flight later this year. NASA said that an independent review team (IRT), jointly organized by NASA and Boeing to investigate the
Earth Day, when we remember the planet’s fragility and resilience, was when I finally understood that I had nothing left to give. It was April 2017. After two decades of striving in my career, I had risen to a role of great impact: a director on Apple’s Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives team. My boss,
Making waves: artist’s impression of gravitational waves being broadcast by a pair of black holes. (Courtesy: LIGO/T Pyle) Rather than the kilometre-length observatories of today, future gravitational-wave detectors could be just a few metres long. That is the goal of physicists in the UK and the Netherlands, who have put forward a design for a
A major global update based on data from more than 36,000 weather stations around the world confirms that, as the planet continues to warm, extreme weather events such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall are now more frequent, more intense, and longer. The research is based on a dataset known as HadEX and analyses 29 indices of weather
The US rover Perseverance will land in Mars’s Jezero Crater (circled in yellow).Credit: Emily Lakdawalla/ISRO/ISSDC Three times in the coming month or so, rockets will light their engines and set course for Mars. A trio of nations — the United States, China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — will be sending robotic emissaries to
Replenysh has been kicking since 2016, but up til now, the Orange County, California startup hasn’t done much press. That changes today, as the company announces that it has raised a $2 million seed round with the fairly lofty goal of transforming recycling in the U.S. A press release outlining Replenysh’s plans offers up plenty
Business is the foundation, of, well, business. For startups, finding a working business model and honing it through decision-making, smart hires, and relentless focus on the right metrics can be the difference between building a scalable company and collapsing into the next Luckin Coffee. Given how important business performance and finance is, it’s not uncommon
Maj. Gen. Chance Saltzman wil serve as acting staff director of the Office of the Chief of Space Operations. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force Pentagon headquarters will have a leaner staff structure than traditional military service headquarters and some senior staff posts will be assigned to civilians, according to a draft proposal. The Space
The city of Wellington, New Zealand, at night. Westend61 | Getty Images The New Zealand government unveiled plans for a program which aims to tackle greenhouse gas emissions in the building and construction sector, and potentially futureproofs the built environment against the impacts of climate change. Initially, the Building for Climate Change program will focus
Daniel Fong (left) and Soheil Ghiasi (right) with their novel foetal oximetry system. (Courtesy: University of California, Davis) Researchers in the US have designed and tested a novel oximetry system that offers a non-invasive approach for monitoring foetal blood-oxygen levels, an indicator of foetal wellbeing, during active labour. A more objective and accurate measure of
1. Cao, Y. et al. Correlated insulator behaviour at half-filling in magic-angle graphene superlattices. Nature 556, 80–84 (2018). ADS CAS Article Google Scholar 2. Cao, Y. et al. Unconventional superconductivity in magic-angle graphene superlattices. Nature 556, 43–50 (2018). ADS CAS Article Google Scholar 3. Kim, K. et al. Tunable moiré bands and strong correlations in
The classified “responsive space” program moved from contract to deployment in two years. WASHINGTON — L3Harris Technologies has launched the first satellite of a remote sensing constellation it is developing for the U.S. Air Force. In a July 6 news release, L3Harris said the constellation of small satellites will provide imagery to military operators on
A longtime friend told me he was Christian and couldn’t support Democrats because it violated his principles. Then I heard a news update that Republicans were trying to ax Obamacare. I think I’m an Independent. I’ve been spending more time contemplating the racial problems our country faces. I admire the friends and family that have
The crops and livelihood of people in East Africa are currently being devastated by a plague of locusts, which experts agree is connected to climate change. Years of record-breaking rainfall have been followed by the invasion of the voracious locusts, which started gaining ground in 2019. Weather conditions allowed them to breed multiple generations and
As COVID-19 batters the world and its economy, it’s time to rethink sustainable pathways for our planet. Rosy hopes that globalization and economic growth would bankroll waves of green investment and development are no longer realistic. It’s unlikely there will be enough money or attention to banish poverty and inequality, expand health care and overturn
Despite record-setting COVID-19 infections, American equities rose today. All major indices gained ground during regular trading, while tech stocks did even better. The Nasdaq Composite set new 52-week and all-time highs, touching 10,462.0 points before closing at 10,433.65, up 2.21% on the day. Similarly, a basket of SaaS and cloud companies that has risen and
NOAA forecasters predicting an active 2020 hurricane season are refining storm track and intensity forecasts thanks to data from multiple satellites, including the second Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC-2). Six COSMIC-2 satellites launched in June 2019 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket are gathering more than 4,000 daily radio occultation soundings.
The US Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday announced they will no longer allow the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under the Missouri river crossing on the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota, marking a huge win for Native Americans and protesters who had long opposed the construction. Helen H. Richardson | The Denver Post
Cryogenics is a core enabling technology at the European Spallation Source, a next-generation neutron-science facility under construction in Sweden. Joe McEntee talks to John G Weisend II, group leader for specialized technical services at ESS, about the secrets of success at ultralow temperatures Big science: an aerial view over the ESS construction site in Lund,
The future of the trucking industry is towards zero-emission, and history was made by California last Thursday when it became a pioneer in mandating truck makers to transition to zero-emissions. The CARB or California Air Resources Board approved the Advanced Clean Trucks, or ACT, Regulation, which mandates that 50 percent of all trucks in the
NASA has delayed the launch of its newest Mars rover yet again — to the end of July at the earliest — this time for a rocket issue. If the Perseverance rover isn’t on its way by mid-August, it will have to wait until 2022 when Earth and Mars are back in proper alignment, costing
Credit: Adapted from Getty The full impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on scientific careers might not be known for years, but hiring freezes and other signs of turmoil at universities have already shaken faith in academia as a career option. As universities try to adapt and survive in a pandemic world, a growing number of
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 20, 2020. Lucas Jackson | Reuters The four biggest tech companies are each worth more than $1 trillion, a landmark that was last reached before the Covid-19 pandemic struck the U.S. The landmark shows the resilience of the
WASHINGTON — Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy won the largest share of prime contracts the European Space Agency awarded July 1 for further development of six new Copernicus satellite missions. All told, Thales Alenia Space was awarded the lead development role for three of the six planned Earth-observation missions, a contract haul totaling
During the day I work in the energy sector supporting government and utilities design programs to perform outreach to and educate low-income and diverse communities. At night, I go back into my neighborhood, one thriving with diverse residents. Sitting on both sides of the table, I’d like to share what you need to pay attention
Diffusion tractography, which uses the movement of water molecules to identify tracts that connect different parts of the brain, can pinpoint the part of the thalamus to treat with focused ultrasound. (Courtesy: UT Southwestern Medical Center) Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern and the Mayo Clinic in the US have presented the latest developments
How a 2005 call for ‘skin in the game’ started a 15-year countdown to the first human orbital spaceflight from U.S. soil since 2011 Success, the saying goes, has a thousand fathers. Sure enough, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off May 30, placing a Crew Dragon with two NASA astronauts on board into orbit
Oil pumps at sunset, industrial oil pumps equipment. Pramote Polyamate Oil prices offered up a mixed market snapshot on Monday, with Brent crude edging higher, supported by tighter supplies, while U.S. benchmark WTI futures dropped on concern that a spike in coronavirus cases could curb oil demand in the United States. Brent crude rose 18 cents,
A pioneering new study looked into how much plastic garbage originating from countries in Europe – mainly the UK, EU, Norway, and Switzerland – contributes to ocean litter in Asia instead of actually being recycled. This new study was conducted by researchers from the University of Limerick and NUI Galway. It is the first time
Hundreds of tech-oriented startups worth a billion or more dollars had envisioned successful public offerings before the pandemic hit. But new tech listings slowed to nearly nothing this spring as companies have tried to adjust to the profound changes sweeping the world. Today, more and more companies are back to their previous plans, with Lemonade
The Air Force plans to announce the preferred location in January 2021. WASHINGTON — The Department of the Air Force has received nominations from 26 states that want to host U.S. Space Command headquarters, the service announced July 5. “We were pleased with the strong response the Air Force received from across the country,” Air
Join the audience for a live webinar at 8 a.m. BST on 30 July 2020 exploring how lasers make the difference in MRI in RT Want to take part in this webinar? There have been enormous improvements in MRI over the last 20 years. MR-only workflows and the invention of MR-guided linacs brought new perspectives into radiation therapy. Are lasers
A month of heavy rainfall has brought devastating havoc across 26 provinces, affecting 19 million residents. As of July 3, 106 people are confirmed dead or missing. Chongqing, the latest area to be hit by severe flooding in the country, experienced heavy rains since July 1. According to the Chinese state-run People’s Daily, 28 of its 38 counties
A rocket from small-satellite launch firm Rocket Lab failed to reach orbit minutes after a successful liftoff from New Zealand on Saturday, the company said, losing its payload of seven small satellites it had intended to carry to space. “An issue was experienced today during Rocket Lab’s launch that caused the loss of the vehicle,”
DevOps plus ‘work from anywhere’ is the real endgame for satellite operators The space industry as we know it was born in the glory days of the Space Age, the 1960s. The collaboration between astronauts on the surface of the moon and Mission Control engineers in Houston was the most “remote” work ever accomplished to
Indian oil petrol pump staff wearing and gloves as as a preventive measure against the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) near Jor Bagh on March 18, 2020 in New Delhi, India. Amal KS | Hindustan Times via Getty Images Analysts at Goldman Sachs expect global oil demand to return to pre-pandemic levels by 2022, citing a
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Taken from the July 2020 issue of Physics World. Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app. Lawmakers are seeking to change the remit of the National Science Foundation so that it focuses more on the commercialization of research, as Peter Gwynne reports Changes ahead The “Endless
The ‘pyjama stripe’ interference pattern denotes the presence of anyons in an electronic system.Credit: James Nakamura and Michael Manfra Physicists have reported what could be the first incontrovertible evidence of the existence of unusual particle-like objects called anyons, first proposed more than 40 years ago. Anyons are latest addition to a growing family of phenomena
Palantir, the sometimes controversial, but always secretive, big data and analytics provider that works with governments and other public and private organizations to power national security, health and a variety of other services, has reportedly been eyeing up a public listing this autumn. But in the meantime it’s also continuing to push ahead in the
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