NASA is delaying the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope for another 7 months, from March 2021 to October 31, 2021 due to, among other factors, work stoppages during the coronavirus pandemic. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/james-webb-space-telescope-launch-date-delayed-oct2021…
Tag: element
Spintronics Researchers Demonstrate How to Process Magnetic Vortices for Data Storage
Research continues in a field which involves using the spin and magnetism of electrons in solid-state devices — spintronics. hackingbear shared this report from Nature:
Electric control of magnetic vortex dynamics in a reproducible way on an ultrafast time scale is a key element in the quest for efficient spintronic devices with low-energy consumption. Researchers in China and Germany demonstrated a simple…
A Moment of Clarity Regarding the Raison d’Etre for the App Store
John Gruber, writing at DaringFireball: Feel free to file Google’s release this week of an update to their iPad Gmail app with support for split-screen multitasking under “better late than never,” but this is so late it borders on the absurd. It’s like the difference between showing up fashionably late and showing up a week after the party. Split-screen multitasking was…
Europe wants to use hydrogen to slow climate change – will it work?
The European Commission is set to announce a new strategy to turn the universe’s most abundant element into a way for the EU to decarbonise polluting industries and transport Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2248140-europe-wants-to-use-hydrogen-to-slow-climate-change-will-it-work/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
The US-China Battle Over the Internet Goes Under the Sea
Last week, Washington strongly objected to a new project from Facebook and Google. It’s too risky and offers “unprecedented opportunities” for Chinese government espionage, the Justice Department declared. The project, however, wasn’t about online speech or contact tracing, but concerned an issue that would seem far less politically charged: building an undersea internet cable from the United States to Hong Kong….
Ian Holm, Bilbo Baggins In ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Alien’ Star, Dies At 88
cold fjord writes: Sir Ian Holm, a classically trained actor celebrated for his interpretations of Shakespeare, and with an astonishing range of work in important science fiction and fantasy films, has died at age 88. Holm’s depiction of King Lear was celebrated, and he brought Puck to life in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” But most people on Slashdot will remember him…
The ‘Useless’ Perspective That Transformed Mathematics
Representation theory was initially dismissed. Today, it’s central to much of mathematics. From a report: When representation theory emerged in the late 19th century, many mathematicians questioned its worth. In 1897, the English mathematician William Burnside wrote that he doubted that this unorthodox perspective would yield any new results at all. “Basically what [Burnside was] saying is that representation theory is…
MIT’s Tiny Artificial Brain Chip Could Bring Supercomputer Smarts To Mobile Devices
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Researchers at MIT have published a new paper that describes a new type of artificial brain synapse that offers performance improvements versus other existing versions, and which can be combined in volumes of tens of thousands on a chip that’s smaller physically than a single piece of confetti. The results could help create…
Never-Before-Seen ‘Black Nitrogen’ Plugs Puzzle in Periodic Table
Researchers at the University of Bayreuth have created a form of nitrogen that’s never been seen before. Nicknamed “black nitrogen,” the new substance is crystalline, occurs in two-dimensional sheets, and could one day be useful in advanced electronics. From a report: Strangely enough, the idea that black nitrogen didn’t exist has long been considered a mystery. The periodic table is arranged…
The 50 Years of Crowd Control Research Police Are Ignoring
Thelasko shares an excerpt from FiveThirtyEight: Researchers have spent 50 years studying the way crowds of protesters and crowds of police behave — and what happens when the two interact. One thing they will tell you is that when the police respond by escalating force — wearing riot gear from the start, or using tear gas on protesters — it doesn’t…