The Gravity Probe B results proving Einstein's theories on the geodetic and frame-dragging effects. (photo, ©Nasa)
Data from Nasa’s Gravity Probe B (GP-B), a satellite launched in 2004 to investigate two parts of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, confirms that he was right, Nasa announced 3 May. The final results published online in the journal Physical Review Letters were presented at a press conference in Washington DC Wednesday 4 May.
The first part of Einstein’s theory that the satellite was out to research is the geodetic effect, or the warping of space and time around a planet or a star. The second is frame-dragging, the amount of space and time that a spinning object pulls with it as it rotates.
“Imagine the Earth as if it were immersed in honey. As the planet rotates, the honey around it would swirl, and it’s the same with space and time,” says Francis Everitt, GP-B principal investigator at Stanford University in a Nasa press release. “GP-B confirmed two of the most profound predictions of Einstein’s universe, having far-reaching implications across astrophysics research. Likewise, the decades of technological innovation behind the mission will have a lasting legacy on Earth and in space.”
Links to other sites: BBC, Nasa, New York Times, Stanford
A material that is both flexible and has the property of bending light visible to the human eye has been created by researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Kentucky, USA reporting in the New Journal of Physics 4 November. Physicists say it is a “huge step forward” in developing materials that will bend light in predictable ways. Potential uses for the so-called meta-flex material are as camera lenses or contact lenses, scientists say.
Materials with these properties have been limited to electromagnetic waves beyond the range of the human eye, and have been rigid, flat materials. The new three dimensional flexible metamaterial uses a different production technique to be flexible, said Andrea Di Falco, one of the authors of the report.
Links to other sites: BBC, Technology Review
Professor Stanislav Smirnov of Unige wins Fields medal
India and Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – A professor at the University of Geneva, Unige, is among four scientist awarded the top mathematics prize in the world: the Fields Medal.
Stanislav Smirnov, 40, received the award for proving two fundamental conjectures in statistical physics. Specifically, the 2010 Fields medal was given to Smirnov for the “proof of conformal invariance of percolation and the planar Ising model in statistical physics.”
The award was presented to Smirnov on 19 August, opening day of the International Congress of Mathematicians in Hyderabad, India.
According to the description of his work given during the ceremony, Smirnov “gave elegant proofs of two long-standing, fundamental conjectures in statistical physics, finding surprising symmetries in mathematical models of physical phenomena.”
The mathematician was born in St Petersburg and after attending university in Russia moved to the United States to pursue his doctoral degrees. He has been a Professor at Unige since 2003.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Cern, the European Nuclear Research Organization, has scheduled its first collisions at 7 TeV, a record if it is achieved, for 30 March. Or, more precisely, it is scheduling the completion of the alignment process that it hopes will lead quickly to collisions, which are in part designed to find Higgs boson. The process popularly dubbed the hunt for the ”God particle” is expected to push the frontiers of our understanding of physics.
The speed at which Cern’s scientists will be able to create a collision is unknown.
Title: Mini Einstein:physics for tots, Meyrin
Description: Free workshop for 4 to 6 year olds (registration required). CERN is offering a series of workshops designed to teach the ABC of physics to the very young.
Call: +41 (0)22 767 76 76 for further info or email: cern.reception@cern.ch
Start Date: 14 Jan 2009
End Date: 25 Feb 2009
Two Japanese researchers, Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa, and one American, Yoichiro Nambu, are sharing the Nobel prize for physics, all for work done in the area of sub-atomic physics. Still to be announced: prizes for chemistry (8 October), literature (9 October), peace (10 October) and economics (13 October). Nobel Prize
