Experiment proves Reality does not exist until it is measured

Physicists at The Australian National University have conducted John Wheeler's delayed-choice thought experiment, which involves a moving object that is given the choice to act like a particle or a wave. Wheeler's experiment then asks — at which point does the object decide? Common sense says the object is either wave-like or particle-like, independent of how we measure it. But quantum physics predicts that whether you observe wave like behavior (interference) or particle behavior (no interference) depends only on how it is actually measured at the end of its journey.

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Demonstrating a CO2 Recycler

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have successfully demonstrated a prototype machine that uses the sun's energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into the molecular building blocks that make up transportation fuels. The "Sunshine to Petrol" system could ultimately prove a practical way to recycle CO₂ from power and industrial plants into gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, assuming the process can become at least twice as efficient as natural photosynthesis.

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Magnetic levitation applied to a mammal

With the aid of a strong magnetic field, mice have been made to levitate for hours at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. The floating rodents could provide a valuable insight into how astronauts are affected by extended spells in zero gravity.

The effects on the health of an animal spending hours or days in such an intense magnetic field are unknown, though rats subjected to a field of 9.4 teslas – just over half as strong as the one used on the mice – suffered no obvious ill effects.

This system is too small to be used on people, but could you build something similar to levitate humans one day? "Theoretically I think you could," says inventor, "but the cost would be prohibitive."

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Phoenix Mars Lander Confirms Frozen Water On Red Planet

Scientists relishing confirmation of water ice near the surface beside NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander anticipate even bigger discoveries from the robotic mission in the weeks ahead.

The mission has the right instruments for analyzing soil and ice to determine whether the local environment just below the surface of far-northern Mars has ever been favorable for microbial life. Key factors are whether the water ever becomes available as a liquid and whether organic compounds are present that could provide chemical building blocks and energy for life. Phoenix landed on May 25 for a Mars surface mission planned to last for three months.

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Microsoft Worldwide Telescope

Microsoft Research has released the Spring Beta version of a new powerful web-based application called Worldwide Telescope for exploring the universe.

A researcher at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics, Roy Gould gave the first public demo of the World Wide Telescope developed by Curtis Wong and his team at Microsoft.

"While watching the demo, I realized the way I look at the world was about to change."
-Robert Scoble

Here's the demo presentation at TEDTalk:



Related story at nytimes.com

X PRIZE Vision

After the successful completion of Ansari X Prize space competition, new $10 million awards are announced such as Google X Prize for Lunar Landing, Archon X Prize for Genomics and Progressive Automotive X Prize...

X Prize Foundation

Physicists Make Artificial Black Hole Using Optical Fiber

Physicists at the University of St. Andrews, in Scotland, report that they have created a black hole's event horizon using laser pulses and microstructured optical fiber. Such a tabletop black hole, made from a length of optical fiber and laser light, may prove invaluable in understanding the characteristics of these exotic astronomical objects.

Physicists and astronomers believe that black holes are formed when huge stars collapse in on themselves at the end of their lives. They exist at the centers of galaxies, where they act as giant engines that drive the motion of stars, according to astronomers. However, studying them is extremely difficult, particularly because in astronomy one can study only the information carried by light. In the case of black holes, the absence of light means astrophysicists have to rely on indirect means, such as inferring the presence of black holes by the way their gravity bends light outside their event horizons—a phenomenon scientists call gravitational lensing.

Having access to an artificial black hole in the lab will allow astrophysicists to test predictions made by theorists. Physicists would particularly like to test new theories such as quantum gravity, which seeks to reconcile Einstein’s theory of general relativity with quantum mechanics.

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Space tourist Charles Simonyi

On April 9, from a remote launchpad in Kazakhstan, a Soyuz rocket will carry Charles Simonyi into space.

He will share his experiences at a webpage: Nerd in Space

Space tourist and billionaire programmer Charles Simonyi is the former chief architect of Microsoft and has designed Microsoft Office. He was also part of the Xerox team that invented personal computing...

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