Black holes are nature’s fastest data-scramblers, and new research suggests that secrets thrown into them may be more secure than previously thought. In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in the US show that once a message has been scrambled by a black hole or another system
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Chief scientist Joel Mozer: ‘We are trying to anticipate what’s coming and prepare for an uncertain future’ WASHINGTON — A group of senior military leaders, scientists and other space professionals met this week in Colorado Springs to discuss the future of the U.S. Space Force. “We are trying to anticipate what’s coming and prepare for
TAMPA, Fla. — Private equity firm TPG has poured $100 million into weather services startup Climavision, which will marry satellite and terrestrial radar observations to improve climate intelligence. Louisville, Kentucky-based Climavision emerged from stealth mode June 2 after being borne out of Enterprise Electronics Corporation, a 50-year old U.S. supplier of weather radar systems with
The astrophysicist Catherine Heymans has made history by becoming the first female Astronomer Royal for Scotland, an office that was created in 1834. In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, she talks about her new role and how she will use it to show that science is relevant to everyone. One initiative she
WASHINGTON — For the first time in more than three decades, NASA has announced it will send a robotic mission to Venus, selecting two proposals in the latest round of its Discovery program. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced at the end of a “State of NASA” speech at NASA Headquarters June 2 that the DAVINCI+
TAMPA, Fla. — Satellite operators have cleared a portion of C-band in a key step toward giving the spectrum to U.S. wireless companies in December. Work has now started on installing filters on ground antennas across the United States, so wireless operators can use the lower 120 MHz of C-band for 5G without interfering with
By: Hannah Pell RR Auction, an auction house based near Boston, Massachusetts, recently sold one of Albert Einstein’s hand-written letters for $1.2 million. The letter is addressed to Polish-American physicist Ludwik Silberstein, a known challenger to Einstein’s relativity theory, going so far as to publish a 1936 essay in the Toronto Evening Telegram titled: “Fatal
Spinning around: physicists have created a gyroscope using nuclear spins in diamond. (Courtesy: Shutterstock/Inna Bigun) Researchers in Russia have built a highly accurate, atomic-scale gyroscope that detects rotation through changes in the coupled spins of electrons and nitrogen nuclei. Led by Alexey Akimov at the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow, the team created its device
TAMPA, Fla. — Satellite operator Viasat is stepping up efforts to stop Starlink’s growing constellation, taking aim at the nearly $900 million of rural broadband subsidies that SpaceX won in December. The operator is asking the Federal Communications Commission to review decisions made around the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), claiming differential treatment and a
TAMPA, Fla. — Europe has tasked an Airbus-led group to devise its own quantum communications network as startup Arqit raises $400 million for a space-based system. Airbus said May 31 the European Commission awarded the group a contract to study a quantum technology-powered network, called EuroQCI, to secure critical infrastructure across Europe. The 15-month agreement
Spike proteins: artist’s impression of the virus that causes COVID-19 (Courtesy: iStock/RomoloTavani) A rapid and low-cost test for the virus that causes COVID-19 has been developed by researchers in the US and Taiwan. Featuring a disposable testing cartridge and a reusable circuit board, the team’s portable system can detect the presence of the virus in
For months, NASA had strongly suggested that it would select two companies for the next phase of its Human Landing System (HLS) program. Just as with the commercial cargo and crew programs, agency officials said, having two companies develop and demonstrate lunar landers would provide redundancy and ensure NASA was getting the best deal. “Competition
HELSINKI — Russia and China are looking to announce new partnerships for a joint initiative to construct a robotic moon base ahead of potential crewed lunar missions. The first responses to invitations to join the International Lunar Research Station project (ILRS) are expected during bilateral meetings during the Global Space Exploration Conference 2021 (GLEX 2021)
A new material that is twice as magnetostrictive as others in its class could be a significant boon for computer-chip developers. The material’s unusual ability to expand and contract in response to tiny pulses of electric current has attracted interest from the chip manufacturer Intel, which is investigating possible replacements for the CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor)
WASHINGTON — NASA released its fiscal year 2022 budget request May 28, asking for $24.8 billion to support a number of new and existing science and exploration programs but also proposing once again to cancel an airborne astronomical observatory. The detailed budget request of $24.801 billion is slightly higher than the $24.7 billion in an
Technologies developed by SDA, MDA and DARPA are expected to transition into larger Space Force programs WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s defense budget proposal for fiscal year 2022 seeks more than $1.2 billion for military space systems in low-Earth orbit. According to budget documents released May 28, nearly $900 million of that investment is for
Taken from the 2021 Physics World Quantum Science & Technology Briefing. You can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app. Susan Curtis reports from the inaugural Quantum West conference, where speakers convened as part of SPIE’s Photonics West event and discussed how quantum technologies could deliver commercial solutions in the years and decades
Tianzhou-2 docking with Tianhe paves way for June crewed mission. HELSINKI — China’s Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft docked with the Tianhe space station module in low Earth orbit Saturday, eight hours after launch from Wenchang spaceport. The uncrewed Tianzhou-2 spacecraft completed automated rendezvous and docking maneuvers with Tianhe at 5:01 p.m. Eastern May 29. Tianzhou-2 is