Jan. 30, 2013 ? Two Rutgers physics professors have proposed an explanation for a new type of order, or symmetry, in an exotic material made with uranium -- a theory that may one day lead to enhanced computer displays and data storage systems and more powerful superconducting magnets for medical imaging and levitating high-speed trains.
Their discovery, published in this week's issue of the journal Nature, has piqued the interest of scientists worldwide. It is one of the rare theory-only papers that this selective publication accepts.
Collaborating with the Rutgers professors was a postdoctoral researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who earned her doctorate at Rutgers.
"Scientists have seen this behavior for 25 years, but it has eluded explanation." said Piers Coleman, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the School of Arts and Sciences. When cooled to 17.5 degrees above absolute zero or lower (a bone-chilling minus 428 degrees Fahrenheit), the flow of electricity through this material changes subtly.
The material essentially acts like an electronic version of polarized sunglasses, he explains. Electrons behave like tiny magnets, and normally these magnets can point in any direction. But when they flow through this cooled material, they come out with their magnetic fields aligned with the material's main crystal axis.
This effect, claims Coleman, comes from a new type of hidden order, or symmetry, in this material's magnetic and electronic properties. Changes in order are what make liquid crystals, magnetic materials and superconductors work and perform useful functions.
"Our quest to understand new types of order is a vital part of understanding how materials can be developed to benefit the world around us," he said.
Similar discoveries have led to technologies such as liquid crystal displays, which are now ubiquitous in flat-screen TVs, computers and smart phones, although the scientists are quick to acknowledge that their theoretical discovery won't transform high-tech products overnight.
Coleman, along with Rutgers colleague Premala Chandra and MIT collaborator Rebecca Flint, describe what they call a "hidden order" in this compound of uranium, ruthenium and silicon. Uranium is commonly known for being nuclear reactor fuel or weapons material, but in this case physicists value it as a heavy metal with electrons that behave differently than those in common metals.
Recent experiments on the material at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico provided the three physicists with data to refine their discovery.
"We've dubbed our fundamental new order 'hastatic' order, named after the Greek word for spear," said Chandra, also a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The name reflects the highly ordered properties of the material and its effect on aligning electrons that flow through it.
"This new category of order may open the world to new kinds of materials, magnets, superconductors and states of matter with properties yet unknown," she said. The scientists have predicted other instances where hastatic order may show up, and physicists are beginning to test for it.
The scientists' work was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation. Flint is a Simons Postdoctoral Fellow in physics at MIT.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Rutgers University.
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Journal Reference:
- Premala Chandra, Piers Coleman, Rebecca Flint. Hastatic order in the heavy-fermion compound URu2Si2. Nature, 2013; 493 (7434): 621 DOI: 10.1038/nature11820
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/physics/~3/T3kcgVXVD2k/130130184410.htm
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like Dave Silverman, Abbie Smith, Hemant Mehta, and some bald guy with a great tie. This summer looks even bigger, with Lawrence Krauss, Dale McGowen, and Sean Faircloth already announced to appear.
little closer to me is Wichita, Kansas, home to the Skeptics of Oz conference. This will be the third year, and last year it was headlined by Phil ?Bad Astronomer? Plait. The line up of speakers and events looks fantastic this year, so I thought I would share (full disclosure ? I?m one of the speakers).
I?m happy to say that I was asked to come speak at the SoOz this year, and am kicking things off at 9:30 am on Saturday. In case you don?t know who I am (and really, if you?re reading this you should have a tiny clue, but nonetheless), I am a clinical psychologist, professor, researcher, and author. I am also a member of CFI?s Speakers Bureau, a contributor to the Skepticism 101 project, and a bit of a skeptical activist. I?m going to be giving an introduction to how to think scientifically about any topic, helping you hone your critical thinking skills.
JT Eberhard is the author of the popular blog What Would JT Do?, and has been a contributing author to AtheismResource.com. Before joining the SSA, JT was most known as a debater on atheism and LGBT rights and as the co-founder of the Skepticon annual conference?.JT joined the Secular Student Alliance in January 2011 as their first high school specialist.? Previously, the SSA had allowed high schools to affiliate, but JT was hired to build a high school program that catered to the specific needs of teenage activists.? In his time at the SSA the number of high school groups grew over 400%.
Former pastor, current atheist Teresa McBain will take the stage next to talk about her journey from being an evangelical minister to working for American Atheists and now heading up the Humanists of Florida Association. Teresa was also the first female graduate of the Clergy Project, and I was privileged to share the stage with her at FreeOK last year. She?s an engaging, entertaining speaker and had people giving her a standing ovation there.
Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and a Research Fellow with the non-profit educational organization the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He has written hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics, including urban legends, the paranormal, critical thinking, and media literacy?.Radford is one of the world?s few science-based paranormal investigators, and has done first-hand research into mysterious phenomena in sixteen countries on four continents including psychics, ghosts and haunted houses; exorcisms, miracles, Bigfoot, stigmata, lake monsters, UFO sightings, reincarnation, and crop circles, and many other topics. He is perhaps best known for solving the mysteries of the Santa Fe Courthouse Ghost in 2007, and the Hispanic vampire el chupacabra in 2010.
Ray is the founder of Recovering From Religion, as well as the author of four books, two on organizational team issues as well as The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture and Sex and God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality. He has been a psychologist for over 30 years, practicing counseling and clinical psychology for 10 years then moved into organizational psychology and consulting. He has been a student of religion most of his life and holds a MA degree in religion as well as a BA in Sociology/Anthropology and a Doctorate in psychology.
D.J. Grothe is President of the James Randi Educational Foundation, the international educational non-profit founded by celebrated social critic and activist James Randi. Grothe has lectured widely on topics at the intersection of education, science and belief at universities such as Stanford, Harvard, Yale, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and dozens of others. Formerly a professional magician, he has special interests in the psychology of belief and processes of deception and self-deception.
Professor of Theology and Scriptural Studies, Colemon Theological Seminary
Google Maps is not only a strong product, it’s a strong platform. With its Map Maker tool, people from around the world can participate in making Google’s maps more detailed, accurate and up-to-date. This is exactly what happened for North Korea’s maps, Google announced today. Google’s Senior Product Manager of Map Maker, Jayanth Mysore, discussed what went into these new detailed views: To build this map, a community of citizen cartographers came together in Google Map Maker to make their contributions such as adding road names and points of interest. This effort has been active in Map Maker for a few years and today the new map of North Korea is ready and now available on Google Maps. As a result, the world can access maps of North Korea that offer much more information and detail than before. We know this map is not perfect ? one of the exciting things about maps is that the world is a constantly changing place. We encourage people from around the world to continue helping us improve the quality of these maps for everyone with Google Map Maker. From this point forward, any further approved updates to the North Korean maps in Google Map Maker will also appear on Google Maps. Here’s a before and after look at North Korea, with more details popping up thanks to the Map Maker community: We recently reported exactly how Google is managing its Map Maker community, giving them badges for accomplishments and adding more detail to make Google Maps better. While this community isn’t fully relied upon for Google Maps, it is definitely an important part of the entire system. With everything that goes into making Google Maps the most powerful service of its kind, companies like Apple who are trying to do the work on their own definitely have some catching up to do. Right now, Google allows people from 200 different regions to participate in the editing of the Maps product. Without sounding like a huge downer, this is also probably way safer than a Google Street View truck driving around in North Korea at this point.
Yahoo plans to compete on mobile by way of partnerships, not hardware or operating systems, 
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