Physics on The Soothsayer / page 6

Physicists in Austria have made a groundbreaking discovery in understanding static electricity, also known as contact electrification or triboelectrification. Led by Juan Carlos Sobarzo and Scott Waitukaitis, the team found that the static electricity acquired by identical material samples can evolve differently over time, based on each sample’s history of contact with other samples. This…

Researchers in Beijing, China, have made a significant breakthrough in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease with the development of a photothermal, nanoparticle-based deep brain stimulation (DBS) system. The system, which combines photothermal gold nanoparticles, dopamine neuron-activating TRPV1 antibodies, and β-synuclein peptides, has successfully reversed the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in laboratory mice. The treatment works…

Researchers in Ireland and Norway have discovered the secret behind polar bear fur’s ability to remain ice-free, even in the harsh Arctic winter. The team found that the fur’s ice-shedding properties are due to a substance called sebum, which contains chemicals that could be used to develop environmentally-friendly anti-icing surfaces and lubricants. This breakthrough could…

Researchers at the University of Vienna have successfully used inverse design to engineer a universal spin-wave-based device that can process data with high energy efficiency. The device, which uses magnons to transfer and process information, has the potential to revolutionize data processing techniques and could be used in applications such as cellular communications, WiFi, and…

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have made a significant discovery in the field of cancer treatment. They found that low-temperature plasma, specifically streamer discharge, can inhibit tumour recurrence after surgery by reducing the recurrence rate by roughly 50%. This breakthrough has the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment and improve patient outcomes. Forecast for 6…

Scientists at the KM3NeT neutrino observatory have made a groundbreaking discovery by detecting an ultra-high-energy cosmic neutrino with an energy greater than 100 PeV. This finding has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of cosmic neutrino sources and may even reveal new physics beyond the Standard Model. The detection of such a high-energy neutrino opens…

Researchers from France and Spain have developed a theoretical model to forecast the movements of confined, densely packed crowds. The study, published in Nature, analyzed high-resolution video footage of the Chupinazo opening ceremony of the San Fermín Festival in Pamplona, Spain, and revealed a change in behavior akin to a phase change when the crowd…

Physicists at the University of New South Wales have successfully created and manipulated quantum superpositions of a single, large nuclear spin, a significant breakthrough in the field of quantum information processing. This achievement, which involves a Schrödinger’s cat state, has the potential to improve the accuracy of quantum computers and enable more efficient error correction….

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology and Princeton University have discovered that bacterial cells in polymer solutions, such as mucus, form long cable-like structures that buckle and twist on each other, creating a “living gel.” This finding could lead to new treatments for bacterial infections in patients with cystic fibrosis and help scientists understand…

Researchers from Sweden and Estonia have discovered a new antiviral mechanism using nanoparticles, which could potentially tackle future viral outbreaks. The team found that triethanolamine terminated titania (TATT) nanoparticles showed significant antiviral activity against the enveloped swine transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), but not against the non-enveloped encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV). The researchers propose that the antiviral…