What is time? Speaking time travel, black holes and the remits of science. In this podcast conversation, we speak with Professor David Wilkinson — physicist and author of popular science books on Stephen Hawking to explore the question: can we ever fully understand time through science, or does it open up more mystery?
University of California, Irvine scientists have expanded on a longstanding model governing the mechanics behind slip banding, a process that produces strain marks in metals under compression, gaining a new understanding of the behavior of advanced materials critical to energy systems, space exploration and nuclear applications.
In a paper published recently in Nature Communications, researchers in UC Irvine’s Samueli School of Engineering report the discovery of extended slip bands—a finding that challenges the classic model developed in the 1950s by physicists Charles Frank and Thornton Read.
While the Frank–Read theory attributes slip band formation to continuous dislocation multiplication at active sources, the UC Irvine team found that extended slip bands emerge from source deactivation followed by the dynamic activation of new dislocation sources.
A colossal structure in the distant Universe is defying our understanding of how the Universe evolved.
In light that has traveled for 6.9 billion years to reach us, astronomers have found a giant, almost perfect ring of galaxies, some 1.3 billion light-years in diameter. It doesn’t match any known structure or formation mechanism.
The Big Ring, as the structure has been named, could mean that we need to amend the standard model of cosmology.
A research team has developed the world’s first next-generation betavoltaic cell by directly connecting a radioactive isotope electrode to a perovskite absorber layer. By embedding carbon-14-based quantum dots into the electrode and enhancing the perovskite absorber layer’s crystallinity, the team achieved both stable power output and high energy conversion efficiency.
The work is published in the journal Chemical Communications. The team was led by Professor Su-Il In of the Department of Energy Science & Engineering at DGIST.
The newly developed technology offers a stable, long-term power supply without the need for recharging, making it a promising next-generation energy solution for fields requiring long-term power autonomy, such as space exploration, implantable medical devices, and military applications.
A giant object that has been lurking in the relative galactic vicinity of the Solar System this entire time has just been unmasked in all its enormous, invisible glory.
Just 300 light-years away, at the edge of the Local Bubble of space, astronomers have discovered a huge, crescent-shaped cloud of molecular hydrogen, the basic building block of everything in the Universe.
It’s the first time scientists have managed to discover molecular material in interstellar space by looking for the glow of far-ultraviolet light. Its discoverers have named the cloud Eos, after the ancient Greek goddess of the dawn.
NASA’s Gateway project takes a major leap as the HALO module, a future home for Artemis astronauts, arrives in Arizona for final outfitting. With life support, command systems, and thermal controls being installed, HALO is preparing to serve as a critical link for lunar exploration. Excitement ma