News in Brief
Health - Jul 12
Long-term strategies to control COVID-19 pandemic must treat health and economy as equally important
Long-term strategies to control COVID-19 pandemic must treat health and economy as equally important
Career - Jul 10
10 Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellowships awarded across the University of Birmingham
10 Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellowships awarded across the University of Birmingham
Pedagogy - Jul 10
Finds gender- and wealth-driven disparities affecting children’s school performance in India
Finds gender- and wealth-driven disparities affecting children’s school performance in India
Innovation - Jul 10
Teams up with The Royal Horticultural Society to develop innovative plant data management
Teams up with The Royal Horticultural Society to develop innovative plant data management
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Physics - Chemistry - 06.07.2020 
Flashes bright when squeezed tight: how single-celled organisms light up the oceans
Research explains how a unicellular marine organism generates light as a response to mechanical stimulation, lighting up breaking waves at night. Our findings show how elegant decision-making can be on a single-cell level Maziyar Jalaal Every few years, a bloom of microscopic organisms called dinoflagellates transforms the coasts around the world by endowing breaking waves with an eerie blue glow.
Physics - Astronomy / Space Science - 01.07.2020
Health - Physics - 24.06.2020 
Medicine delivery via microbubbles could be made possible using sound waves
New research has shown that microbubbles, which can be used to deliver drugs to remote parts of the body, can be manipulated by sound waves. Drugs can sometimes be difficult to deliver to specific areas of the body. One way to reach these areas is via microbubbles, which are the subject of intense research for this purpose.
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 23.06.2020
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 23.06.2020
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 23.06.2020 
Cardiff student at the centre of LIGO’s mysterious new discovery
A Cardiff University student has found himself at the centre of a major breakthrough discovery that could potentially help to solve a decades-old mystery. Charlie Hoy, currently in the third year of his PhD and a member of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration, has played a leading role in deciphering new data observed from the violent collision of two objects roughly 800 million light-years away from Earth.
Physics - Astronomy / Space Science - 11.06.2020 
First space-based measurement of neutron lifetime
Our researchers have helped to find a way of measuring neutron lifetime from space for the first time. The discovery could teach us more about the early universe as knowing the lifetime of neutrons is key to understanding the formation of elements after the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago. Scientists used data from NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft.
Physics - 21.05.2020
Physics - Computer Science - 20.05.2020 
Quantum leap: Bristol’s photon discovery is a major step toward large-scale quantum technologies
The development of quantum technologies promises to have a profound impact across science, engineering and society. Quantum computers at scale will be able to solve problems intractable on even the most powerful current supercomputers, with many revolutionary applications, for example, in the design of new drugs and materials.
Materials Science - Physics - 16.04.2020 
Shedding light on dark traps
Researchers pinpoint the origin of defects that sap the performance of next-generation solar technology. We now know what to target to bring up the performances of perovskites. Samuel Stranks A multi-institutional collaboration, co-led by scientists at the University of Cambridge and Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), has identified the source of efficiency-limiting defects in potential materials for next-generation solar cells and LEDs.
Physics - Astronomy / Space Science - 15.04.2020 
Strongest evidence yet that neutrinos explain how the universe exists
New data throws more support behind the theory that neutrinos are the reason the universe is dominated by matter. The current laws of physics do not explain why matter persists over antimatter - why the universe is made of ‘stuff'. Scientists believe equal amounts of matter and antimatter were created at the beginning of the universe, but this would mean they should have wiped each other out, annihilating the universe as it began.
Physics - Astronomy / Space Science - 15.04.2020
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 13.04.2020
Physics - 09.04.2020 
Ordering of atoms in liquid gallium under pressure
Liquid metals and alloys have exceptional properties that make them suitable for electrical energy storage and generation applications. Low-melting point gallium-based liquid metals are used as heat exchange fluids for cooling integrated electronics and in the manufacture of flexible and reconfigurable electronic devices and soft robotics.
History / Archeology - Physics - 08.04.2020 
Revolutionary new method for dating pottery sheds new light on prehistoric past
The exciting new method Europe and Africa. Archaeological pottery has been used to date archaeological sites for more than a century, and from the Roman period onwards can offer quite precise dating. But further back in time, for example at the prehistoric sites of the earliest Neolithic farmers, accurate dating becomes more difficult because the kinds of pottery are often less distinctive and there are no coins or historical records to give context.
Physics - Health - 31.03.2020
Physics - Materials Science - 31.03.2020
Physics - 27.03.2020
Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 19.03.2020 
New data tests ’theory of everything’
One of the biggest ideas in physics is the possibility that all known forces, particles, and interactions can be connected in one framework. String theory is arguably the best-known proposal for a 'theory of everything' that would tie together our understanding of the physical universe. If these particles are eventually detected it would change physics forever Christopher Reynolds Despite having many different versions of string theory circulating throughout the physics community for decades, there have been very few experimental tests.
Life Sciences - Physics - 18.03.2020 
Researchers develop new theory to explain random movement of particles in fluids
Mathematicians have developed a new theory to explain the strange, loopy motions seen in 'passive' particles immersed in 'active' fluids. The theory could help researchers understand how microorganisms forage for nutrients, and how randomness arises in real-life, out-of-equilibrium systems like financial markets.
Physics
Results 1 - 20 of 881.
Research explains how a unicellular marine organism generates light as a response to mechanical stimulation, lighting up breaking waves at night. Our findings show how elegant decision-making can be on a single-cell level Maziyar Jalaal Every few years, a bloom of microscopic organisms called dinoflagellates transforms the coasts around the world by endowing breaking waves with an eerie blue glow.
Tabletop quantum experiment could detect gravitational waves
Tiny diamond crystals could be used as an incredibly sensitive and small gravitational detector capable of measuring gravitational waves, suggests new UCL-led research. Predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity, gravitational waves are ripples in space-time generated by certain movements of massive objects.
Tiny diamond crystals could be used as an incredibly sensitive and small gravitational detector capable of measuring gravitational waves, suggests new UCL-led research. Predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity, gravitational waves are ripples in space-time generated by certain movements of massive objects.
New research has shown that microbubbles, which can be used to deliver drugs to remote parts of the body, can be manipulated by sound waves. Drugs can sometimes be difficult to deliver to specific areas of the body. One way to reach these areas is via microbubbles, which are the subject of intense research for this purpose.
LIGO-Virgo finds mystery object in ’mass gap’
An unusual gravitational wave signal is casting new light on the 'mass gap' between neutron stars and black holes. When the most massive stars die, they collapse under their own gravity and leave behind black holes. When stars that are a bit less massive than this die, they explode in a supernova and leave behind dense, dead remnants of stars called neutron stars.
An unusual gravitational wave signal is casting new light on the 'mass gap' between neutron stars and black holes. When the most massive stars die, they collapse under their own gravity and leave behind black holes. When stars that are a bit less massive than this die, they explode in a supernova and leave behind dense, dead remnants of stars called neutron stars.
Gravitational wave scientists grapple with the cosmic mystery of GW190814
A highly unusual gravitational wave signal, detected by the LIGO and Virgo observatories in the US and Italy, was generated by a new class of binary systems (two astronomical objects orbiting around each other), an international team of astrophysicists has confirmed. Scientists from the LIGO and Virgo Collaboration, which includes researchers from the Institute for Gravitational Wave Astronomy at the University of Birmingham, detected the signal, named GW190814, in August 2019.
A highly unusual gravitational wave signal, detected by the LIGO and Virgo observatories in the US and Italy, was generated by a new class of binary systems (two astronomical objects orbiting around each other), an international team of astrophysicists has confirmed. Scientists from the LIGO and Virgo Collaboration, which includes researchers from the Institute for Gravitational Wave Astronomy at the University of Birmingham, detected the signal, named GW190814, in August 2019.
A Cardiff University student has found himself at the centre of a major breakthrough discovery that could potentially help to solve a decades-old mystery. Charlie Hoy, currently in the third year of his PhD and a member of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration, has played a leading role in deciphering new data observed from the violent collision of two objects roughly 800 million light-years away from Earth.
Our researchers have helped to find a way of measuring neutron lifetime from space for the first time. The discovery could teach us more about the early universe as knowing the lifetime of neutrons is key to understanding the formation of elements after the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago. Scientists used data from NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft.
New gravitational-wave model can bring neutron stars into even sharper focus
Gravitational-wave researchers at the University of Birmingham have developed a new model that promises to yield fresh insights into the structure and composition of neutron stars. The model shows that vibrations, or oscillations, inside the stars can be directly measured from the gravitational-wave signal alone.
Gravitational-wave researchers at the University of Birmingham have developed a new model that promises to yield fresh insights into the structure and composition of neutron stars. The model shows that vibrations, or oscillations, inside the stars can be directly measured from the gravitational-wave signal alone.
The development of quantum technologies promises to have a profound impact across science, engineering and society. Quantum computers at scale will be able to solve problems intractable on even the most powerful current supercomputers, with many revolutionary applications, for example, in the design of new drugs and materials.
Researchers pinpoint the origin of defects that sap the performance of next-generation solar technology. We now know what to target to bring up the performances of perovskites. Samuel Stranks A multi-institutional collaboration, co-led by scientists at the University of Cambridge and Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), has identified the source of efficiency-limiting defects in potential materials for next-generation solar cells and LEDs.
New data throws more support behind the theory that neutrinos are the reason the universe is dominated by matter. The current laws of physics do not explain why matter persists over antimatter - why the universe is made of ‘stuff'. Scientists believe equal amounts of matter and antimatter were created at the beginning of the universe, but this would mean they should have wiped each other out, annihilating the universe as it began.
Matter-antimatter difference found in neutrino oscillations
One of the great scientific puzzles of our time is why we live in a universe full of matter rather than antimatter. Wherever we look, we observe that matter dominates over antimatter, yet we believe that matter and antimatter were created in equal amounts soon after the Big Bang. To reconcile these two facts there must be some difference in the way matter and antimatter behave.
One of the great scientific puzzles of our time is why we live in a universe full of matter rather than antimatter. Wherever we look, we observe that matter dominates over antimatter, yet we believe that matter and antimatter were created in equal amounts soon after the Big Bang. To reconcile these two facts there must be some difference in the way matter and antimatter behave.
Supernova that outshines all others
A supernova at least twice as bright and energetic, and likely much more massive than any yet recorded has been identified by an international team of astronomers, led by the University of Birmingham. The team, which included experts from Harvard , Northwestern University and Ohio University , believe the supernova, dubbed SN2016aps, could be an example of an extremely rare ‘pulsational pair-instability' supernova, possibly formed from two massive stars that merged before the explosion.
A supernova at least twice as bright and energetic, and likely much more massive than any yet recorded has been identified by an international team of astronomers, led by the University of Birmingham. The team, which included experts from Harvard , Northwestern University and Ohio University , believe the supernova, dubbed SN2016aps, could be an example of an extremely rare ‘pulsational pair-instability' supernova, possibly formed from two massive stars that merged before the explosion.
Liquid metals and alloys have exceptional properties that make them suitable for electrical energy storage and generation applications. Low-melting point gallium-based liquid metals are used as heat exchange fluids for cooling integrated electronics and in the manufacture of flexible and reconfigurable electronic devices and soft robotics.
The exciting new method Europe and Africa. Archaeological pottery has been used to date archaeological sites for more than a century, and from the Roman period onwards can offer quite precise dating. But further back in time, for example at the prehistoric sites of the earliest Neolithic farmers, accurate dating becomes more difficult because the kinds of pottery are often less distinctive and there are no coins or historical records to give context.
New quantum technology could help diagnose and treat heart condition
The conductivity of living organs, such as the heart, could be imaged non-invasively using quantum technology developed by UCL researchers, which has the potential to revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a heart condition that causes an irregular and abnormally fast heart rate, potentially leading to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications.
The conductivity of living organs, such as the heart, could be imaged non-invasively using quantum technology developed by UCL researchers, which has the potential to revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a heart condition that causes an irregular and abnormally fast heart rate, potentially leading to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications.
Way to extract colour from black
Scientists have developed a way of extracting a richer palette of colours from the available spectrum by harnessing disordered patterns inspired by nature that would typically be seen as black. Colours that we see in nature often come from nanoscale patterns that reflect light back in particular ways.
Scientists have developed a way of extracting a richer palette of colours from the available spectrum by harnessing disordered patterns inspired by nature that would typically be seen as black. Colours that we see in nature often come from nanoscale patterns that reflect light back in particular ways.
Quantum leap for photon entanglement could revolutionise secure communications
A breakthrough in the development of quantum-enhanced optical systems could pave the way for advances in encryption, communication and measurement, scientists say. In a new paper published today in the journal Science Advances, a group of researchers, led by Matteo Clerici at the University of Glasgow's James Watt School of Engineering and colleagues from the UK, Japan and Germany, demonstrates a new method of generating and detecting quantum-entangled photons at a wavelength of 2.1 micrometres.
A breakthrough in the development of quantum-enhanced optical systems could pave the way for advances in encryption, communication and measurement, scientists say. In a new paper published today in the journal Science Advances, a group of researchers, led by Matteo Clerici at the University of Glasgow's James Watt School of Engineering and colleagues from the UK, Japan and Germany, demonstrates a new method of generating and detecting quantum-entangled photons at a wavelength of 2.1 micrometres.
One of the biggest ideas in physics is the possibility that all known forces, particles, and interactions can be connected in one framework. String theory is arguably the best-known proposal for a 'theory of everything' that would tie together our understanding of the physical universe. If these particles are eventually detected it would change physics forever Christopher Reynolds Despite having many different versions of string theory circulating throughout the physics community for decades, there have been very few experimental tests.
Mathematicians have developed a new theory to explain the strange, loopy motions seen in 'passive' particles immersed in 'active' fluids. The theory could help researchers understand how microorganisms forage for nutrients, and how randomness arises in real-life, out-of-equilibrium systems like financial markets.
News in Brief
Health - Jul 12
Long-term strategies to control COVID-19 pandemic must treat health and economy as equally important
Long-term strategies to control COVID-19 pandemic must treat health and economy as equally important
Career - Jul 10
10 Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellowships awarded across the University of Birmingham
10 Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellowships awarded across the University of Birmingham
Pedagogy - Jul 10
Finds gender- and wealth-driven disparities affecting children’s school performance in India
Finds gender- and wealth-driven disparities affecting children’s school performance in India
Innovation - Jul 10
Teams up with The Royal Horticultural Society to develop innovative plant data management
Teams up with The Royal Horticultural Society to develop innovative plant data management