New Research Provides Evidence of Strong Early Magnetic Field Around Earth

New research from the University of Rochester provides evidence that the magnetic field that first formed around Earth was even stronger than scientists previously believed. The research, published in the journal PNAS, will help scientists draw conclusions about the sustainability of Earth’s magnetic shield and whether or not there are other planets in the solar system with the conditions necessary to…

Gary Starkweather, Inventor of the Laser Printer, Dies At 81

Gary Starkweather, engineer and inventor of the first laser printer, died on December 26 at the age of 81. The New York Times reports: Mr. Starkweather was working as a junior engineer in the offices of the Xerox Corporation in Rochester, N.Y., in 1964 — several years after the company had introduced the photocopier to American office buildings — when he…

How to Motivate Yourself to Achieve Your Goals

Once you’ve set a goal or New Year’s Resolution, how do you find the motivation to achieve it? Dr. Richard Ryan, who co-developed the Self-Determination Theory, one of the leading theories of human motivation, shares research-backed tips to do just that. Dr. Ryan is also a Professor at the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education […]
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For Tech-Weary Midwest Farmers, 40-Year-Old Tractors Now a Hot Commodity

An anonymous reader quotes a report from StarTribune: Kris Folland grows corn, wheat and soybeans and raises cattle on 2,000 acres near Halma in the northwest corner of Minnesota, so his operation is far from small. But when he last bought a new tractor, he opted for an old one — a 1979 John Deere 4440. He retrofitted it with automatic…

What ‘Ad Astra’ and Brad Pitt Get Wrong About Space Travel, Science and Life In the Cosmos

Freshly Exhumed writes: Adam Frank, professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester and consultant on numerous movie scripts, was excited to watch “Ad Astra,” the new Brad Pitt space thriller. The film was promoted with the promise of scientific realism in depicting a solar system well on its way to being settled by humanity. Unfortunately, Professor Frank finds that despite…

22 Million Pounds of Plastics Enter the Great Lakes Each Year

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Chicago Tribune: Plastic debris makes up about 80% of the litter on Great Lakes shorelines. Nearly 22 million pounds enter the Great Lakes each year — more than half of which pours into Lake Michigan, according to estimates calculated by the Rochester Institute of Technology. Regardless of size, as plastics linger in the water,…

Researchers develop practical method for measuring quantum entanglement

Rochester Institute of Technology researchers have helped develop a new technique for quantifying entanglement that has major implications for developing the next generation of technology in computing, simulation, secure communication and other fields. The researchers outlined their new method for measuring entanglement in a recent Nature Communications article. …

Correlating entangled photons by radial position and momenta

A team of researchers from Xiamen University, the University of Ottawa and the University of Rochester has shown that it is possible to entangle photons with correlations between their radial and momentum states. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the group describes experiments they carried out with entangled photons and what they learned. …