Physics and Astronomy

Researchers at the University of Warwick have trashed the world’s biggest turbulence lab by turning a pleasant stream into a raging torrent – but they say their actions will lead to new understandings in one of the main unsolved problems in physics- turbulence.

Turbulence is one of the main unsolved problems in physics. Turbulent systems fluctuate wildly and understanding this will also help us understand (and put a number on the likelihood of) extreme events in other systems th

The experiment on the International Space Station that will chase earthquakes

Lazio-Sirad is ready to gather data. The experiment is installed on the International Space Station and its aim is to trace the slight variations of the so-called Van Allen belts that seem to occur before earthquakes.

At the same time the experiment will gather data that will make possible the development of techniques of protection from radiation for astronauts. The astronaut Roberto Vittori wil

A new optical method that can image subsurface structures under skin has been demonstrated by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

The method relies on differences in the way surface and subsurface features of various materials scatter light. It was demonstrated with small pieces of pigskin and inorganic materials but might eventually prove useful for imaging living tissues to help

Goal is to assuage public’s concerns about a potential doomsday collision

Astronomers led by an MIT professor have revised the scale used to assess the threat of asteroids and comets colliding with Earth to better communicate those risks with the public. The overall goal is to provide easy-to-understand information to assuage concerns about a potential doomsday collision with our planet.

The Torino scale, a risk-assessment system similar to the Richter scale used for ea

A research group at Cambridge think that the universe might once have been packed full of tiny black holes. Dr Martin Haehnelt, a researcher in the group led by Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, will present new evidence to support this controversial idea at the Institute of Physics conference Physics 2005 in Warwick.

Most cosmologists believe that supermassive black holes grew up in big galaxies, accumulating mass as time went on. But Haehnelt says there is increasing evidence for a

Scientists have developed the first reliable way to extract stem cells from blood without adding contaminating markers

A major breakthrough in stem cell research – a new tool that could allow scientists to harvest stem cells ethically – will be announced at the Institute of Physics’ conference Physics 2005 in Warwick later today (Tuesday 12th April).

Professor Josef Käs and Dr Jochen Guck from the University of Leipzig have developed a procedure that can extract and i