Physics and Astronomy News Archive: August 2010

Image: Extended Solar Minimum Linked to Changes in Sun’s Conveyor Belt

Extended Solar Minimum Linked to Changes in Sun’s Conveyor Belt

Source: UCAR   Posted: 8/17/10

A new analysis of the unusually long solar cycle that ended in 2008 suggests that one reason for the long cycle could be a stretching of the Sun’s conveyor belt, a current of plasma that circulates between the Sun’s equator and its poles.
Image: Move Over Caravaggio: Cassini's Light and Dark Moons

Move Over Caravaggio: Cassini's Light and Dark Moons

Source: NASA/JPL   Posted: 8/17/10

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has returned Saturnian moon images from its flyby late last week, revealing light and dark contrasts worthy of chiaroscuro painters like Caravaggio.
Image: New Matter/Antimatter Asymmetry Discovered

New Matter/Antimatter Asymmetry Discovered

Source: MIT   Posted: 8/17/10

Surprising neutrino finding could force physicists to rethink the foundations of particle physics.
Image: Unexpected Energy Gaps Found in Graphene

Unexpected Energy Gaps Found in Graphene

Source: Gatech   Posted: 8/17/10

Researchers have taken one more step toward understanding the unique and often unexpected properties of graphene, a two-dimensional carbon material that has attracted interest because of its potential applications in future generations of electronic devices.
Image: Aurora Alert: The Sun is Waking Up!

Aurora Alert: The Sun is Waking Up!

Source: CfA   Posted: 8/4/10

After a long slumber, the Sun is waking up. Early Sunday morning, the Sun's surface erupted and blasted tons of plasma (ionized atoms) into interplanetary space.
Image: Explained: the Doppler effect

Explained: the Doppler effect

Source: MIT   Posted: 8/4/10

The same phenomenon behind changes in the pitch of a moving ambulance’s siren is helping astronomers locate and study distant planets.
Image: Dark Matter Inside Our Sun?

Dark Matter Inside Our Sun?

Source: RHul   Posted: 8/4/10

A scientist at Royal Holloway, University of London believes dark matter is lurking at the centre of the sun and cooling down its core temperature.
Image: Silicon can be made to melt in reverse

Silicon can be made to melt in reverse

Source: MIT   Posted: 8/4/10

Researchers at MIT have found that silicon, the most widely used material for computer chips and solar cells, can exhibit strange property of “retrograde melting” when it contains high concentrations of certain metals dissolved in it.