Technology

What’s Happening with the Higgs Boson

Berkeley Lab scientists, major contributors to the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, explain what the excitement is about

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, will hold a seminar early in the morning on July 4 to announce the latest results from ATLAS and CMS, two major experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that are searching for the Higgs boson. Both experimental teams are working down to the wire to finish analyzing their data, and to determine exactly what can be said about what they’ve found.

“We do not yet know what will be shown on July 4th,” says Ian Hinchliffe, a theoretical physicist in the Physics Division at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), who heads the Lab’s participation in the ATLAS experiment. “I have seen many conjectures on the blogs about what will be shown: these are idle speculation. Things are moving very fast this week, and it’s an exciting time at CERN. Many years of hard work are coming to fruition.” (more…)

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Alex Papan: Too Many Clouds….

It’s a warm day. Spring time, 24 degrees. Alex made a wonderful walk for more than three hours. He checked his post box, there’s only weekend newspapers, full of advertisements. Of course he doesn’t expect any post in the weekend. He cleaned the small but important box. (more…)

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An EL of a Wire which is Essentially a Standard Wire

Pity the poor Neon light – for so long the king of illuminated displays, the Las Vegas favourite, the flickering indicator of all that was exciting, glamorous and sleazy. But now Neon’s time in the limelight (pardon the pun) is over – environmental concerns, expense and impracticality have all led to a reduction in the requirement for Neon’s services. But the main culprit responsible for Neon’s demise is the rise in the quality and variety of electroluminescent lighting options available. In particular, the versatility of electroluminescent (or EL) wire means that it’s now possible to create lighting designs and displays of a quality and intricacy that Neon can’t compete with. (more…)

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Selenium Controls Staph on Implant Material

A coating of selenium nanoparticles significantly reduces the growth of Staphylococcus aureus on polycarbonate, a material common in implanted devices such as catheters and endotracheal tubes, engineers at Brown University report in a new study.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Selenium is an inexpensive element that naturally belongs in the body. It is also known to combat bacteria. Still, it had not been tried as an antibiotic coating on a medical device material. In a new study, Brown University engineers report that when they used selenium nanoparticles to coat polycarbonate, the material of catheters and endotracheal tubes, the results were significant reductions in cultured populations of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, sometimes by as much as 90 percent. (more…)

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The Amazing Spider-Man

Synopsis

Peter Parker, an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy, and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance — leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors, his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero. (more…)

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