F 1.12

(image via Interactions.org)

Physicists unlock mystery of subatomic particle

“European researchers observe for the first time a transformation in neutrinos, evidence that they have mass. It’s an important step in understanding the universe’s dark matter.

For the first time, physicists have confirmed that certain subatomic particles have mass and that they could account for a large proportion of matter in the universe, the so-called dark matter that astrophysicists know is there but that cannot be observed by conventional means.

The finding concerns the behavior of neutrinos, ghost-like particles that travel at the speed of light. In the new experiment, physicists captured a muon neutrino in the process of transforming into a tau neutrino.

Neutrinos interact with matter so weakly that they can travel through the entire Earth with the ease of a light beam traveling through a windowpane. They have no electrical charge — hence the name, meaning “little neutral one.”

The discovery comes from the infinitely patient and creative researchers in an experiment known as OPERA, for Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus.

The project’s source of neutrinos is a proton accelerator at CERN in Geneva that slams protons into a graphite target, producing particles called pions and kaons that quickly decay into muon neutrinos.

Because the neutrino beam that is created is not affected by electrical or magnetic fields, the proton accelerator must be pointed directly at detectors in the laboratory under Gran Sasso mountain 453 miles away in central Italy, between the towns of L’Aquila and Teramo. When neutrinos are produced, they continue in the same direction of the proton beam, arriving at Gran Sasso in 2.4 milliseconds. [story via the LA Times]”

Via xkcd.

avocadosalad:

Ash and Lightning Above an Icelandic Volcano 

Explanation: Why did the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland create so much ash? Although the large ash plume was not unparalleled in its abundance, its location was particularly noticeable because it drifted across such well populated areas. The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in southern Iceland began erupting on March 20, with a second eruption starting under the center of small glacier on April 14. Neither eruption was unusually powerful. The second eruption, however, melted a large amount of glacial ice which then cooled and fragmented lava into gritty glass particles that were carried up with the rising volcanic plume. Pictured above two days ago, lightning bolts illuminate ash pouring out of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano. [via]

NASA’S Terra Satellite Captures Ash Plume of Icelandic Volcano

Here is an image taken by NASA’s Terra satelite of the plume of volcanic ash that has grounded flight in the UK and various other parts of Europe today.

Via NASA.

P.S. Click here for a live map of planes in the air over Europe right now.

7 tera-electronvolt (7,000,000,000,000 eV) collisions have taken place in the LHC for the first time today.

Physicists at CERN have today completed several thousand collisions of protons at higher energies than ever before achieved in a particle accelerator.

Note: Earth has not been swallowed by a black hole.

This is probing deeper into just what matter is made of than ever before.  After this data has been analysed, and various other tests have been carried out, the LHC is due to be shut down while further enhancements are made, so that ultimately it will be able to reach it’s maximum theoretical collision energies of 14 TeV.

“The highest-resolution-yet temperature map and images of Saturn’s icy moon Mimas obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft reveal surprising patterns on the surface of the small moon, including unexpected hot regions that resemble “Pac-Man” eating a dot, and striking bands of light and dark in crater walls.”

(via ScienceDaily)