In 2016, a massive international team of scientists confirmed for the first time the existence of gravitational waves from the collision of two black holes. Now, astronomers have taken a huge leap forward with the detection waves from the collision of two black holes using not two, but three detectors — vastly improving the accuracy by a around a factor of 10, and allowing them to pinpoint the source of the waves. The collision occurred between two black holes 31 and 25 times the mass of our Sun, and took place in a galaxy 1.8 billion light years away, with the resulting black hole 53 times the mass the Sun. The observation is the first using three detectors, and the first for the Advanced Virgo detector in Italy, in collaboration with the LIGO's two detectors in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington, in the United States. Since 2016 LIGO has detected two more gravitational waves from black hole collisions, and this new observation marks the fourth. To find out more check out LIGO and Virgo observatories jointly detect black hole collision.
Are we closing in on a 'theory of everything'?
New research could lead to a Grand Unified Theory of the universe, uniting the physics of the subatomic world with that of interstellar space. Since their formulation last century, quantum physics and relatively theory have offered deeper insights into the workings of the physical world, and although scientists have attempted to bring these two theories together, for example, through string theory, so far the they have proved to be incompatible models of the physical universe. Now, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum optics in Germany, have suggested that gravity might be an outcome of random fluctuations at the quantum level, which would replace gravity as the most fundamental theory and could lead to a unified theory of the physical universe that unites the physics of the microscopic with the macroscopic. To find out more check out Quantum “Flashes” Could Be Responsible for the Creation of Gravity.
Australia's first lithium-ion battery
Researches from the University of Queensland (QUT) have built Australia's fist lithium-ion battery, which could help to kick-start a commercial battery manufacturing industry in the country. The battery, manufactured at the nation’s only low humidity electro-manufacturing dry rooms based at QUT's Institute for Future Environments, has been fabricated using a process that makes lithium-based powder, which produces extremely safe and effect batteries, and are the same type as those used to power Tesla cars. The work is the outcome of a three-year $4 million project funded by the the Auto Cooperative Research Centre in collaboration with the Malaysia Automotive Institute. To find out more check out Lithium-ion batteries.
Nanoparticles key to 3D printing unweldable metal alloys
New research from America could open up three-dimensional (3D) printing to thousands of metal alloys, even those that can't be welded. Currently, only 10 metal alloys can be 3D printed, while the vast majority of the more than 5,500 alloys in use today cannot be additively manufactured because the melting and solidification dynamics during the 3D printing process leads to periodic cracks in the material. Published in the journal Nature, the research describes a method for 3D printing — where metal components are be built up layer-by-layer, increasing design freedom and manufacturing flexibility — of high-strength aluminium alloys. The new technique uses nanoparticles of hydrogen-stabilized zirconium to control solidification during additive manufacturing process. The printed metal alloys showed no signs of cracking and demonstrated strengths comparable to wrought materials. To find out more check out 3D printing of high-strength aluminium alloys.
Meeting ambitious target for Paris climate agreement still possible
A new study shows that the most ambitious goal of the Paris climate agreement — to limit the average global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels — is scientifically possible if the world acts now. Published in the journal Nature Geoscience, the analysis is based on modeling data from the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report and states that the 1.5°C aim is "not yet a geophysical impossibility", on the proviso that countries meet more ambitious emission reductions than previously pledged. The authors of the international study suggest that if we can limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions to around 880 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide — what we'd normally emit in about 20 years — starting from 2015 onwards (so the clock has already started ticking), then it may be possible to keep the rise in temperatures to less than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. To find out more check out Emission budgets and pathways consistent with limiting warming to 1.5 °C.
Breakthrough in light-based computers
Scientists for the first time have managed to store light-based information as sounds waves on a computer chip, and could bring computers that use light instead of electricity a step closer. Light-based or photonics computers have the potential to be around 20 times faster than current electronic computers, and produce no heat and do not guzzle energy like existing devices. Coding information on photons is easy, but finding a way to retrieve and process the stored information is difficult because light is too fast for existing microchips to read. Akin to capturing lightning as thunder, researchers from the University of Sydney in Australia have developed a memory system that accurately transfers between light and sound waves on a photonic microchip, allowing the data to be stored as a sound so it can be retrieved and processed. To find out more check out A chip-integrated coherent photonic-phononic memory.
Looming shortage of sand
The world is running out of sand and gravel, the two most mined resources on the planet exceeding fossil fuels and biomass (measured by weight), according to a report published in the journal Science. The piece suggests that the huge demand, combined with unfettered mining to meet it, is creating the shortages, and the resources are becoming increasingly scarce in many parts of the world. The over-exploitation of sand and gravel has led to environment damage, endangered communities, and caused shortages that are promoting violent conflict. Sand is also a key ingredient for concrete, glass and electronics, and huge amounts are used in land reclamation projects, shale gas extraction and beach renourishment programs. In 2010, according to the report, 11 billion tonnes of sand were used just for construction, and in 2016, in the United States alone, the production and use of construction sand and gravel was valued at US$8.9 billion, an increase of 24 per cent in the past five years. To find out more go to A looming tragedy of the sand commons.
Drinks industry distorts science on health risks of alcohol
New research has shown that it’s not only the tobacco industry that has engaged in tactics to actively misrepresent the science on the health risks associated with smoking, the drinks industry has also demonstrated similar examples of obfuscation and denial on the risks from alcohol. A study undertaken by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK surveyed websites and documents from 27 bodies that represent companies that produce and distribute alcoholic drinks, finding that nearly all the websites evaluated exhibited some kind of misrepresentation of evidence linking alcohol to risks of cancer, particularly breast and colorectal cancers. The researchers identified the most common approach was to present the links between alcohol consumption and cancer risk as highly complex, implying any evidence of a direct correlation is weak or non-existent, as well as examples of denial, misrepresenting the risks of moderate drinking, or establishing misdirection by describing other, non-alcohol related risk factors. To find out more check out Alcohol industry misleading the public about alcohol-related cancer risk.
Breakthrough in quantum computing
Researchers from Australia have designed a new type of qubit — the building blocks of quantum computers, and the equivalent of bytes used for computers today — that could finally lead to the development of a large-scale quantum computer. Current methods for generating qubits use standard tools, such as ion traps and optical tweezers, that allow an atom's quantum states to be analysed, or use circuits made from superconducting materials to detect quantum superpositions. Although there are advantages to these kinds of systems for producing a relatively small number of qubits, when you're looking at generating hundreds or thousands of them linked into a computer, the scale becomes quickly unfeasible. To overcome these constraints, researchers from the University of New South Wales in Australia coded information in both the nucleus and electron of an atom, where the qubit's value is determined by combinations of a binary property called spin — if the spin is 'up' for an electron while 'down' for the nucleus, the qubit represents an overall value of 1, 0 if this is reversed, and the superposition of the spin-states to be used in quantum operations. To find out more check out Flip-flop qubits: radical new quantum computing design invented.
New, efficient process for producing hydrogen fuel
A team of researchers has developed a more efficient and cost-effective way of generating hydrogen fuel, a renewable energy resource whose only by-product is water. Scientists from the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois working with colleagues from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology produced hydrogen from water using a combination of sunlight and photosensitive lipids. The US and Russian researchers inserted a photosensitive protein into nanodiscs made from cell membranes composed of lipid bilayers to mimic a natural cell membrane called bacteriorhodopsin; to generate photocatalysis they dissolved the nanodiscs into water mixed with titanium dioxide, adding platinum to increase the efficiency of the process. The researchers used green and white light, with white light producing 74 times more hydrogen, while hydrogen generation was maintained for two to three hours. To find out more check out Lipid nanodiscs harnessed to produce hydrogen fuel.