Bosses at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, are looking for a new leader following the sudden departure of executive director Howard Burton. The 42-year-old theoretical physicist, who has led the institute since it was founded in 1999, is leaving today after negotiations over a new contract broke down. Departing six weeks before his contract officially runs out, Burton plans to take a year off from science in the south of France.

Tiny spheres could control light

Thu, 2007-06-14 14:06

Light can be guided and manipulated at the nanometre scale by passing it through collections of tiny metal spheres -- according to new calculations by scientists in the US. The effect involves the interaction of light with plasmons on the surfaces of the spheres and the researchers claim that it could be used to create sources of coherent and polarized light.

NMR gets seriously small

Tue, 2007-06-12 13:53

Researchers in France have made a breakthrough in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy that allows the technique to be used effectively on nanolitre-sized solid samples for the first time. The new method involves the use of two coils -- one stationary and one rotating at up to 70 kHz -- and allows the highly-sensitive magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR technique to be applied to tiny samples.

Wireless power a reality

Thu, 2007-06-07 18:00

The mess of electrical cables that recharge our laptops, mobile phones and PDAs could soon disappear altogether -- at least according to a team of US physicists, who have shown how power can be transmitted without wires using special "resonant" antennas. The researchers used the system to power a 60-W light bulb placed two metres from a wireless transmitter, and say that it could be scaled down for use in portable devices without a loss of efficiency (Science Express doi: 10.1126/science.

Casimir force learns to swim

Wed, 2007-06-06 12:21

Physicists in the US have shown that the Casimir force -- a mysterious quantum phenomenon that draws nearby mirrors together -- can exist in a fluid. The researchers found that two gold-plated surfaces submerged in ethanol experienced the attraction when brought within 200 nm of each other, albeit two times weaker than the force that would be found in a vacuum. This could, they say, lead to a new "quantum floatation" effect, which could be used to design better sensors (arxiv.org/abs/0705.

LHC to skip low-energy test runs

Wed, 2007-06-06 10:15

The Large Hadron Collider will not be ready in time to perform a low-energy "engineering run", which was originally scheduled to take place this November, according to an official at CERN. This will leave the operators no chance to gain experience with the particle accelerator's steering and detection systems before the high-energy runs begin in spring next year. The delay is due primarily to the failure of a Fermilab-built magnet during high-pressure tests in March.

European X-ray laser gets the go ahead

Tue, 2007-06-05 14:49

The building of a powerful new X-ray free-electron laser has been given final approval by the German government now that sufficient funding has been secured. The billion-Euro machine, known as XFEL, will be situated in Hamburg, Germany and will enable researchers to observe chemical and physical processes at the atomic level as they occur in real time. Construction of the facility is set to start in early 2008 with an aim to commence data collection in 2013.

Big particles are secret to crack-free paint

Fri, 2007-06-01 15:10

The frustrating cracks that appear on newly painted surfaces could soon be a thing of the past. Physicists in India have calculated how the properties of paint, such as the size of the constituent particles, affect its ability to stay smooth while drying, which could help manufacturers to develop more effective crack-free paints (Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 218302). Paints are usually made by dispersing tiny particles, some of which are pigment, in a solvent such as water.

Physicists SCORE for third world

Thu, 2007-05-31 13:45

A curious phenomenon responsible for the "singing" made by hot glass vessels during the glass blowing process could soon provide the world's poorest communities with everyday conveniences such as a cooker, a fridge and a generator -- all combined within one unit and powered by simple biomass fuels such as wood. Scientists have long known that sound waves can be generated by irregularly heating a pressurized gas.

Supersolids: the plot thickens

Wed, 2007-05-30 12:13

Neutron scattering results have thrown doubt over the existence of a ghostly state of matter called a supersolid. The research, carried out by scientists in the US and the UK, found that samples of ultracold helium do not exhibit the trademark of a supersolid -- mass occupancy of the ground state. This will dampen physicists' hopes that solids -- like liquids and gases -- can indeed become a quantum "condensate" (Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 205301).

About this image

Courtesy of SOHO/EIT consortium. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. Image has been modified.

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is designed to study the internal structure of the Sun, its extensive outer atmosphere and the origin of the solar wind, the stream of highly ionized gas that blows continuously outward through the Solar System. An uninterrupted view of the Sun is achieved by operating SOHO from a permanent vantage point 1.5 million kilometers sunward of the Earth. SOHO was designed to observe the Sun continuously for at least two years.