Physics

New-clear Reactors: Newly approved nuclear reactor designs seek to improve on old ones

New-clear Reactors: Newly approved nuclear reactor designs seek to improve on old ones

Environment, Financial, Physics / By

Figure 1: Shown by the red line, the sharp increase in the number of permits issued for nuclear reactors stopped completely after the partial meltdown of the nuclear reactor in the Three Mile Island accident of 1979. Consequently, the operational units of nuclear energy, shown by the blue line, saw a continued rise due to …

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Carbon-foam Light Sailing Could Take Us to the Stars in No Time

Carbon-foam Light Sailing Could Take Us to the Stars in No Time

Physics / By

Figure 1: This is an image of LightSail 2, launched June 25, 2019, which solely utilizes sunlight to propel its orbit. This is a revolutionary example of “light sailing,” in which a reflective material is used to extract the energy of light particles in order to propel a spacecraft. Recently, scientists have suggested using a …

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Natural radiation poses problems for quantum computer development

Natural radiation poses problems for quantum computer development

Physics / By

Figure 1: These scientists are assembling a part of a quantum computer. The superconducting qubits, the fundamental units of a quantum computer, need to be temperatures close to absolute zero in order to work, which illuminates the delicacy of them. This fragility does not end, as researchers have found that natural radiation plays a big …

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Speed of light reduced using nanoantennas

Speed of Light Reduced Using Nanoantennas

Physics / By

Figure 1: The speed of light is extremely fast–186,00 miles per second in a vacuum. Scientists have previously determined that the speed of light is different in different mediums, and that light with higher speeds interact differently with matter than light at lower speeds. By using nanotechnology, a team of researchers have created a device …

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Photons used as “zip ties” to bind electrons together

Photons Used as “Zip Ties” to Bind Electrons Together

Physics / By

Figure 1: The photoelectric effect as explained by Albert Einstein. Photons (the blue squiggly lines) are aimed at and absorbed by electrons (red balls), causing the electrons to excite and be emitted from its position. A team of researchers have exploited this phenomenon to make negatively charged electrons attract each other.  Source: Wikimedia Commons Opposite …

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