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Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics Awarded to University of Florida Superstring Theorist

The American Physical Society (APS) and the American Institute of Physics (AIP) announced today, on behalf of the Heineman Foundation for Research, Educational, Charitable, and Scientific Purposes, that theoretical physicist Pierre Ramond, director of the Institute for Fundamental Theory at the University of Florida, has won the 2015 Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics -- one of the highest honors for scientific investigators in that field.

27 Oct 2014

Astronomers Observe Expanding Thermonuclear Fireball from Nova in Constellation Delphinus

Astronomers at Georgia State University’s Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) have observed the expanding thermonuclear fireball from a nova that erupted last year in the constellation Delphinus with unprecedented clarity.

27 Oct 2014

EPFL Professor Honored for Contributions in Solid State Physics

Professor Robert Schaller has been awarded the 2014 Zener Medal, an honor in the field of solid state physics.

27 Oct 2014

Microscopic Evidence for Exotic Superconducting State

Superconductors and magnetic fields do not usually get along. But a research team led by a Brown University physicist has produced new evidence for an exotic superconducting state, first predicted a half-century ago, that can indeed arise when a superconductor is exposed to a strong magnetic field.

27 Oct 2014

National Synchrotron Light Source II Delivers First X-ray Beams

The brightest synchrotron light source in the world has delivered its first x-ray beams. The National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory achieved "first light" on October 23, 2014, when operators opened the shutter to begin commissioning the first experimental station (called a beamline), allowing powerful x-rays to travel to a phosphor detector and capture the facility's first photons. While considerable work remains to realize the full potential of the new facility, first light counts as an important step on the road to facility commissioning.

27 Oct 2014

Rosetta Orbiter Sensor Sniffs the Fumes of Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko

How does a comet smell? Since early August the Rosetta Orbiter Sensor for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) is sniffing the fumes of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko with its two mass spectrometers. The detected chemistry in the coma of the comet is surprisingly rich already at more than 400 million kilometres from the Sun.

25 Oct 2014

Simulations and Analytical Studies of Travel by Single Quantum Particles

Simulating the behavior of a single particle can be quite a challenging task in physics; after all, it is microscopic and we usually cannot watch in real time. It becomes even more complicated when you realize that the particle has to follow the laws of quantum physics, which allow it be in two or more places at the same time through a phenomenon called superposition.

25 Oct 2014

Researchers Identify Key Phenomenon in Triggering of Solar Flares

Researchers from the Centre de Physique Théorique (CNRS/École polytechnique) and the Laboratoire Astrophysique, Interprétation - Modélisation (CNRS/CEA/Université Paris Diderot) have identified a key phenomenon in the triggering of solar flares.

25 Oct 2014

New Experiment Tests Foundations of Quantum Mechanics at the Large Scale

University of Southampton scientists have designed a new experiment to test the foundations of quantum mechanics at the large scale.

25 Oct 2014

Black Hole Takes a Bite Out of a Star

Astronomers have gotten the closest look yet at what happens when a black hole takes a bite out of a star—and the star lives to tell the tale.

25 Oct 2014

Astronomers Discover Two Families of Exocomets Orbiting Beta Pictoris Star

Beta Pictoris is a young star located about 63 light-years from the Sun. It is only about 20 million years old and is surrounded by a huge disc of material — a very active young planetary system where gas and dust are produced by the evaporation of comets and the collisions of asteroids.

25 Oct 2014

Researchers Observe East-to-West Variations in Titan’s Atmospheric Gases

New maps of Saturn’s moon Titan reveal large patches of trace gases shining brightly near the north and south poles. These regions are curiously shifted off the poles, to the east or west, so that dawn is breaking over the southern region while dusk is falling over the northern one.

24 Oct 2014

New Observational Strategy Helps Determine Amount of Molecular Hydrogen in Distant Galaxies

Scientists at the Universities of Bonn and Cardiff see good times approaching for astrophysicists after hatching a new observational strategy to distill detailed information from galaxies at the edge of the Universe.

24 Oct 2014

Webcast Explores Role of Quantum Mechanics in Helping Understand Universe’s Fabric of Time and Space

Talking about the state of his profession, Dr. Nima Arkani-Hamed recently said “I haven’t been this excited about physics in a very long time.” He’ll share why he’s so excited during his Perimeter Institute (PI) public lecture on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014 at 7 pm EST.

24 Oct 2014