Supercomputing Sheds Light on the Dark Universe

At Argonne National Laboratory, scientists are using supercomputers to shed light on one of the great mysteries in science today, the Dark Universe. With Mira, a petascale supercomputer at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, a team led by physicists Salman Habib and Katrin Heitmann will run the largest, most complex simulation of the universe ever attempted.

By contrasting the results from Mira with state-of-the-art telescope surveys, the scientists hope to gain new insights into the distribution of matter in the universe, advancing future investigations of dark energy and dark matter into a new realm.

The team's research was named a finalist for the 2012 Gordon Bell Prize, an award recognizing outstanding achievement in high-performance computing.

 

Frozen Powder Drops

When water droplets impact super hydrophobic powder at a high enough velocity, they "freeze" into place. The powder fully encapsulates the droplet, forming shapes resembling bowling pins, ice cream cones, and more.

This video is a submission to the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics Gallery of Motion for 2012.
arXiv article containing this video
Physics Buzz Blog Post

Video Credit: Jeremy Marston, Ying Zhu, Ivan Vakarelski, and Siggi Thoroddsen from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Music: Artist -- Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea. Song -- Romance De Juegos Prohobidos. Performer --
Jim Greeninger


 

ALPHA-2 arrives at CERN

While many experiments are methodically planning for intense works over the long shutdown, there is one experiment that is already working at full steam: ALPHA-2. Its final components arrived last month and will completely replace the previous ALPHA set-up.

Unlike its predecessor, this next generation experiment has been specifically designed to measure the properties of antimatter.

Read more about ALPHA-2: http://cdsweb.cern.ch/journal/CERNBulletin/2012/47/News%20Articles/1493544?ln=en

 

Secrets of our violent Sun

A solar physicist reveals what she knows about the Sun and the latest solar missions.

Hewitt-Drew-it! 24. Momentum

Paul, a former boxer, investigates the physics of riding with a punch, and other situations related to momentum.

Other Hewitt-Drew-it! videos

Circular Polarization

Circular polarization of light.

 

Quarks and gluons with an unsung hero: Professor Graham Ross

Professor Graham Ross from the University of Oxford, winner of the 2012 Dirac Medal awarded by the Institute of Physics for his work in developing the standard model of particles and forces that has led to many new insights into the origins and nature of the universe. A powerhouse of physics, and one of the UK's best kept secrets, Graham laid out the pathway to the discovery of the gluon, the force carrier for the strong nuclear force, and taught Richard Feynman how quantum chromodynamics could be used to work out the interactions between quarks and gluons.

 

ScienceCasts: The Diner at the Center of the Galaxy

The Milky Way's supermassive black hole is generally a picky eater, but NASA's NuSTAR spacecraft recently caught it in the act of having a snack!

 

Open Letter to the President: Physics Education

About physics in american high schools.

Other Minute Physics videos

Problems with High School Physics - Sixty Symbols

Sixty Symbols regulars Ed Copeland, Tony Padilla and Phil Moriarty discuss their personal views on high school physics education in the UK.

Other Sixty Symbols videos

 

Hangout With CERN - The Large Hadron Collider

In this second Hangout with CERN "The Large Hadron Collider" ATLAS physicist Steven Goldfarb is joined by Giulia Papotti and Laurette Ponce from the CERN Control Centre, Despina Hatzifotiadou and Ken Read from the ALICE experiment, Achintya Rao and Roberto Rossin from the CMS experiment and Patrick Koppenburg from the LHCb experiment, as well as Jaana Nystrom from Finland and Liz Krane from the USA.

 This hangout answers questions about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) received via #askCERN on Twitter and Google+ and via YouTube and Facebook comments.

 Recorded live on 8th November 2012.

 

ScienceCasts: Total Eclipse of the Sun

Scientists and sky watchers are converging on the northeast coast of Australia, near the Great Barrier Reef, for a total eclipse of the sun.

Hewitt-Drew-it! 23. Nellie in an Elevator

Paul investigates the forces that act on Nellie Newton in an elevator.

Other Hewitt-Drew-it! videos

Hewitt-Drew-it! 22. Newton's Laws Problem

Paul covers some good physics with an explanation of the classic 2-mass-pulley problem.

Other Hewitt-Drew-it! videos

Is Mars Red Hot?

What would it feel like if you could stand on Mars -- toasty warm, or downright chilly? Find out more about the temperature on Mars in this 60-second video from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.