Astronomers from the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with an international team of researchers, have made the first direct detection and measurement of the properties of a dark matter object in the Milky Way.
This observation of a gravitational microlensing event — a temporary increase in the brightness of a background star during the time it takes dark matter to pass in front of it — is reported in today’s issue of Nature.
“By measuring its mass, distance and velocity, w
A balanced portfolio of programs could mean a faster quantum computer.
Strategies from the world of finance could help get the best out of quantum computers, say US researchers 1 . The right portfolio of programs could solve a problem many times faster than a single strategem.
Quantum computers – purely hypothetical as yet – would be fast, but you could never be sure whether a program was going to work or not. You would have to keep running the program until
Researchers find two new leads for anti-anthrax drugs.
As fears over bioterrorism attacks spiral, researchers are making progress towards better anthrax drugs – but these are unlikely to reach the drugstore soon.
Of ten confirmed anthrax cases in the United States by Monday, four have been of the severe, inhaled form against which antibiotics often fail. By the time drugs destroy the bacteria responsible, Bacillus anthracis, the organisms have released enough lethal toxin t
Embargo until September, 6 2001
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