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| UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO STUDY CHARTS NEW REALM OF PHYSICS |
| By constructing artificial materials that break long-standing rules of nature, a University of Toronto researcher has developed a flat lens that could significantly enhance the resolution of imaged objects. This, in turn, could lead to smaller and more effective antennas and devices for cell phones, increased space for data storage on CD-ROMs and more complex electronic circuits. |
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| LEARNING ABOUT ASTROPHYSICAL JETS IN THE LAB |
| Many astronomical objects, from galactic nuclei to black holes surrounded by accretion disks, emit very long plumes of plasma, called astrophysical jets. |
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| RECORD-HIGH MAGNETIC FIELDS IN LAB MAY ALLOW RE-CREATIONS OF EXTREME ASTROPHYSICAL PHENOMENA |
| Using a new technique, researchers from Imperial College, London, and the Rutherford Appleton lab in the UK have created super-strong magnetic fields that are hundreds of times more intense than any previous magnetic field created in an Earth laboratory and up to a billion times stronger than our planet's natural magnetic field. Such intense magnetic fields may soon enable researchers to recreate extreme astrophysical conditions, such as the atmospheres of neutron stars and white dwarfs, in their very own laboratories. |
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| HIDING IN THE NOISE AND CHAOS |
| A new and novel way of communicating over fiber optics is being developed by physicists supported by the Office of Naval Research. Rather than using the amplitude and frequency of electromagnetic waves, they're using the polarization of the wave to carry the signal. Such a method offers a novel and elegant method of secure communication over fiber optic lines. |
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| RESEARCHERS DEVELOP WORLD'S FIRST LIGHT-TUNABLE 'PLASTIC' MAGNET |
| Low-cost, flexible electronics and better computer data storage might result from the world's first light-tunable plastic magnet, just developed at Ohio State University.
With colleagues at the University of Utah, researchers here developed a plastic material that becomes 1.5 times more magnetic when blue light shines on it. Green light partially reverses that effect. |
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| ULTRACOLD PLASMAS ARE A CHILLING PUZZLE |
| Plasmas, which include the bright glowy stuff in a fluorescent lamp, are clouds in which ions and free electrons move around independently as charged particles. Plasma is thought to be the most common form of matter in the universe, but it’s usually pretty hot. The plasma in a solar corona can have a temperature in the millions of degrees. |
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| PHOTON SWITCH ON LEADING EDGE OF MORE POWERFUL COMPUTERS |
| Manipulation of photons could serve as the fundamental basis needed to turn quantum computing into a reality. Researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered a "switch" involving the manipulation of a photon that may lead to the creation of an optical transistor and usher in a new era of more powerful computers. |
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