Imagine sending a tiny particle, like an electron, through a material so thin it’s just a single layer of atoms. You’d expect it to take a certain amount of time to pass through, right? Maybe a little longer if the material gets thicker, or shorter if it’s super thin. But what if the electron seemed […]
Glitter is festive and fun – a favourite for decorations, makeup and art projects. But while it may look harmless, beautiful even, glitter’s sparkle hides a darker side. Those shimmering specks often end up far from party tables and greeting cards. You can even spot them glinting on beaches, washed in with the tide. In […]
When an object moves extremely fast—close to the speed of light—certain basic assumptions that we take for granted no longer apply. This is the central consequence of Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity. The object then has a different length than when it is at rest, and time passes differently for the object than it […]
Infinity has always been one of the most fascinating and perplexing concepts in mathematics. For ancient Greek mathematicians, it was (in a similar way to the notion of zero) something like a non-concept, i.e., something that one was not allowed to think, and only might express and use by means of circumloquia at the best […]
Pacific Ocean hotspot linked to volcanic features A study by geologists has connected the Louisville hotspot in the Pacific Ocean to both the Louisville Ridge and the Ontong Java Plateau, the largest volcanic plateau on Earth. “This finding offers us a more accurate history of the Pacific and its volcanic activity and helps us understand […]
In the quest to unravel the mysteries of the universe, scientists are turning to tiny glowing molecules and powerful microscopes to detect elusive particles. Two groundbreaking studies, one published in ACS Sensors in 2025 and another in Nature Communications in 2024, showcase innovative approaches to detecting barium ions in high-pressure xenon gas. These advancements are […]
Author: Karen K. Christensen-Dalsgaard, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, MacEwan University In the 11th century in Cairo, the foundations for modern science were laid through the detention of an innocent man. The mathematician Abu Ali al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham had been tasked with regulating the flow of the Nile, but when he saw the river […]
Understanding the origin of heavy elements on the periodic table is one of the most challenging open problems in all physics. In the search for conditions suitable for these elements via “nucleosynthesis,” a Los Alamos National Laboratory-led team is going where no researchers have gone before: the gamma-ray burst jet and surrounding cocoon emerging from […]
Magnetrons are high-power vacuum tubes conceived more than a century ago to produce microwaves. Their working principle involves the interaction of a cloud of electrons jumping from the cathode to the anode of the device together with a magnetic field. This spinning electron cloud trajectory induces electromagnetic fields in several resonant cavities at a certain […]
Study challenges assumptions about magnetar formation The study of the magnetar SGR 0501+4516 using Hubble and Gaia telescopes has deepened the mystery of its origins. Previously thought to be associated with the supernova remnant HB9, the magnetar shows no connection to it, which suggests that SGR 0501+4516 may have formed through an alternative process, such […]