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Trinity Physicists Uncover New Way to Turn Light into Usable Energy Breakthrough Links Photon Behaviour with Heat-Engine Physics Physicists at Trinity College Dublin say fresh insights into how light behaves could open a new pathway towards tackling one of science's oldest problems: converting heat into usable energy . Their theoretical breakthrough, now set for experimental testing , may shape the design of specialized devices capable of capturing more energy from sunlight — as well as from lamps and LEDs — and converting it into practical work. The research has been published in Physical Review A . More physics and breakthrough science news How Confined Light Changes Energy Behaviour It focuses on what happens when photons , the particles of light, are confined within microscopic optical structures . Under these conditions, light can undergo a form of condensation, causing photons to act collectively rather than independently , concentrating energy into a narrow, highly inten...

Laser Pulse Timing Found to Control Particle Acceleration Efficiency, Study Reveals In high-intensity laser-matter interactions , such as laser-driven particle acceleration , physicists aim to achieve the maximum possible focused laser peak power — defined by the amount of energy delivered per unit area over the shortest possible pulse duration . With the same pulse energy and focus, the most intense peak is produced by using an ultra-short laser pulse . More physics and technology news Why Laser Pulse Structure Matters According to K á roly Osvay , head of the National Laser-Initiated Transmutation Laboratory (SZTE NLTL) at the University of Szeged , scientists have long known that adjusting the laser's spectral phase allows the pulse's frequency components to arrive at the target in a controlled time sequence, effectively shaping the pulse in time . "We examined what happens when the relative timing of these frequency components is altered," Osvay explained....

Scientists Discover String Theory Explains Why Biological Networks Take Their Shape For more than a hundred years, scientists have puzzled over why physical networks — such as blood vessels, neurons, tree branches and biological systems — take the shapes they do. The dominant idea was that nature designs these structures to be as efficient as possible, using the least amount of material . Yet repeated attempts to test this idea using standard mathematical optimization models consistently failed to match reality. Related science and discovery coverage A Shift in Perspective Solves a Century-Old Puzzle The flaw, it seems, was a matter of perspective . Researchers were thinking in one dimension when the problem demanded three . "We were treating these structures like wire diagrams ," explains Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute physicist Xiangyi Meng, PhD . "But they are not thin wires — they are three-dimensional physical objects with surfaces that must joi...

Colossal Black Hole Caught Shredding a Massive Star in Rare Cosmic Event Known as the 'Whippet' A colossal black hole has been caught tearing apart a massive star , likened by scientists to " preparing a snack for lunch ", during observations presented at the American Astronomical Society's annual meeting held from 4-8 January . Astronomers across the globe witnessed the dramatic cosmic encounter , which was reported at the AAS conference in Phoenix, Arizona . The doomed star was described as being ripped apart and consumed piece by piece by black hole's overwhelming gravitational pull . More breaking space discoveries Scientists Describe an Exceptionally Rare Stellar Destruction Speaking at the conference, Associate Professor of Astrophysics Daniel Perley of Liverpool John Moores University , lead author of a forthcoming paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , said: "We believe we have identified a black hole merging with a mass...

Quantum Theory vs Relativity: A Classical Five-Dimensional Approach to Unifying Physics Quantum mechanics and Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity stand as two towering achievements of modern science. Each has proven remarkably successful within its own territory: quantum theory governs the behaviour of particles and atoms , while general relativity explains gravity and the very fabric of space and time . Yet, after decades of intense research, physicists still lack a convincing framework that unites these two pillars into a single, coherent description of the universe . Related science coverage : Physics and cosmology updates Why Quantum Mechanics and Gravity Remain Unreconciled Most mainstream attempts assume that gravity itself must be treated as a quantum phenomenon . The late physicist Richard Feynman famously warned that accepting quantum mechanics without quantizing gravity would leave physics in serious difficulty. However, quantum theory carries unresolved ...

Galactic Globular Cluster NGC 6569 Found Losing Stars Through Tidal Stripping Astronomers using the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) have turned their attention to the nearby globular cluster NGC 6569 , uncovering compelling evidence that the system is shedding stars as a result of tidal stripping . The findings were detailed in a study released on the arXiv preprint server on December 22 . NGC 6569: A Galactic Bulge Cluster From the Early Milky Way NGC 6569 is a prominent globular cluster positioned in the dense bulge of the Milky Way , some 35,500 light-years away from Earth . Weighing in at roughly 230,000 solar masses and possessing a metallicity of -0.8 dex , it ranks as a relatively massive and moderately metal-enriched cluster . Astronomers believe the cluster is around 13 billion years old , making it a relic from the galaxy's earliest era . Related astronomy insights : Milky Way structure and cosmic evolution Observational Campaign Using the Anglo-Australian Telescope A...

World's Smallest Autonomous Robots Built: Penny-Machine That Swim, Sense and Decide Microscopic Robots Achieve Full Autonomy for the First Time Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan have developed the smallest fully programmable autonomous robots ever built — microscopic machines that swim, sense their surroundings and react without human intervention . Remarkably, each robot costs only a penny and can function for months . So small they are barely visible , the robots measure just 200 by 300 by 50 micrometers , placing them below the size of a grain of salt . Operating on the same scale as many microorganisms , they hold promise for applications ranging from single-cell health monitoring to the construction of tiny engineered systems . The light-powered devices contain microscopic computing units and can be programmed to navigate complex paths, measure temperature variations and adjust their movement accordingly . According to repor...