news 2017

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) Neutrinos and antineutrinos, sometimes called ghost particles because difficult to detect, can transform from one type to another. The international T2K Collaboration announces a first indication that the dominance of matter over antimatter may originate from the fact that neutrinos and antineutrinos behave differently during those oscillations.

New research from the Faculty of Health Sciences finds that girls in primary school are just as physically capable as their male classmates. Girls in primary school are just as physically capable as their male classmates, according to  our research , taking the sting out of the insult "you play like a girl".

Summer Series: Edward Honein has joined EPFL's Laboratory of Nanobiotechnology from the American University of Beirut.

The theory that dark matter and dark energy make up most of the cosmos has been confirmed by extremely accurate measurements from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) collaboration involving UCL scientists. The findings verify that only 4% of the universe is made of ordinary matter, 26% is in the form of mysterious dark matter and space is filled with an unseen dark energy, which is causing the accelerating expansion of the universe and makes up 70%.

Researchers have been developing alternatives to the prohibitively expensive platinum and platinum-group metal (PGM) catalysts currently used in fuel cell electrodes. "What makes this exploration especially important is that it enhances our understanding of exactly why these alternative catalysts are active," said Piotr Zelenay.

Berkeley Lab is a member of the Dark Energy Survey collaboration. New measurements - made possible by the 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera in Chile - of the amount and "clumpiness" of dark matter in the present-day cosmos were made with a precision that rivals that of inferences from the early universe by a space telescope, the European Space Agency's Planck observatory.

For the past four years, as part of a project called the Dark Energy Survey , a team of scientists from around the globe has aimed one of the world's most powerful digital cameras towards the sky with the hopes of answering fundamental questions about the universe.

University of Chicago physicists working in the nascent field of experimental vortex dynamics have, with unexpected help from a Sharpie marker, achieved the first measurements of an elusive but fundamental property of fluid flow. Until now, there had been no way in the laboratory to measure the total helicity, or the measure of when two vortex rings intertwine.

Scientists at the University of Bristol have, for the first time, observed the formation of a crystal gel with particle-level resolution, allowing them to study the conditions by which these new materials form. The study showed that the mechanism of crystal growth follows the same strategies by which ice crystals grow in clouds, an analogy which could improve our understanding of these fundamental processes In addition, this novel mechanism allowed the research team to spontaneously form sponge-like nanoporous crystals in a continuous process.

A newly discovered collective rattling effect in a type of crystalline semiconductor blocks most heat transfer while preserving high electrical conductivity - a rare pairing that scientists say could reduce heat buildup in electronic devices and turbine engines, among other possible applications.

Many rock stars don't like to play by the rules, and a cosmic one is no exception. A team of astronomers has discovered that an extraordinarily bright supernova occurred in a surprising location. This "heavy metal" supernova discovery challenges current ideas of how and where such super-charged supernovas occur.

Science and the IT industry have high hopes for quantum computing, but descriptions of possible applications tend to be vague. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now come up with a concrete example that demonstrates what quantum computers will actually be able to achieve in the future. Specialists expect nothing less than a technological revolution from quantum computers, which they hope will soon allow them to solve problems that are currently too complex for classical supercomputers.

Postdoctoral researcher Yuanyuan Wang holds a 'mask' used in a new process that makes it easier to build nanomaterials into transistors, solar cells and other devices. Scientists at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory have discovered a new way to precisely pattern nanomaterials that could open a new path to the next generation of everyday electronic devices.

The peculiar characteristics demonstrated by 'quantum critical points' at absolute zero remain one of the great unsolved mysteries of science. Normally, there needs to be a change in temperature in order to see a phase transition: a liquid gets cold, it freezes; a metal heats up, it loses its magnetic properties.

ANN ARBOR-Girls who develop early are better adjusted when their friends are on a similar timeframe for puberty and of the same race, a new study shows. The University of Michigan study focused on how African-American girls fit in or stand out socially in their schools based on their physical attributes among same-age peers.

Using new numerical simulations and observations, scientists may now be able to explain why the Sun's magnetic field reverses every eleven years. This significant discovery explains how the duration of the magnetic cycle of a star depends on its rotation, and may help us understand violent space weather phenomena around the Sun and similar stars.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Just as athletes cross-train to improve physical skills, those wanting to enhance cognitive skills can benefit from multiple ways of exercising the brain, according to a comprehensive new study from University of Illinois researchers. The 18-week study of 318 healthy young adults found that combining physical exercise and mild electric brain stimulation with computer-based cognitive training promoted skill learning significantly more than using cognitive training alone.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new study indicates that cancer patients and survivors have a ready weapon against fatigue and "chemo brain": a brisk walk. Researchers at the University of Illinois, along with collaborators at Digital Artefacts in Iowa City, Iowa, and Northeastern University in Boston, looked at the association between physical activity, fatigue and performance on cognitive tasks in nearly 300 breast cancer survivors.

Magnetic quantum objects in superconductors, so-called "fluxons", are particularly suitable for the storage and processing of data bits. Computer circuits based on fluxons could be operated with significantly higher speed and, at the same time, produce much less heat dissipation. Physicists around Wolfgang Lang at the University of Vienna and their colleagues at the Johannes-Kepler-University Linz have now succeeded in producing a "quantum egg-box" with a novel and simple method.

By Lauren Chong A team of researchers has developed a faster and easier way to make sulfur-containing polymers that will lower the cost of large-scale production. The achievement, published and Angewandte Chemie , opens the door to creating new products from this class of polymers while producing far less hazardous waste.