Category: Research

Gamma Ray Research in Great Lakes and World Science News

Gamma RayThe Great Lakes Innovation & Technology Report, published by CBS Detroit, reported on the research of Robert Nemiroff (Physics) into gamma ray bursts, which is giving scientists a better understanding of the makeup of the universe.

Nemiroff’s discovery was also published in World Science and on Science Codex, an online science news site.

Spacetime: A Smoother Brew Than We Knew
Spacetime may be less like beer and more like sipping whiskey.

Or so an intergalactic photo finish would suggest.

Physicist Robert Nemiroff of Michigan Technological University reached this heady conclusion after studying the tracings of three photons of differing wavelengths that had been recorded by NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope in May 2009.

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Marcia Goodrich.

Have three little photons broken theoretical physics?

“Originally we were looking for something else, but were struck when two of the highest energy photons from this detected gamma-ray burst appeared within a single millisecond,” Nemiroff told Life’s Little Mysteries. When the physicists looked at the data more closely, they found a third gamma ray photon within a millisecond of the other two.

Read more at Science on NBC News feature “Life’s Little Mysteries.”

Something’s wrong, Einstein’s right

To detect the ripples in space-time, scientists have turned to the radiation produced by incredibly violent cosmic events, known as Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). Produced by the death of giant spinning stars, GRBs are bright enough to be seen billions of light-years away – far enough to allow distortions due to Planck-scale effects to reveal themselves.

Several international teams have been examining records of GRBs for signs of the effects, pushing down to ever smaller scales. The most recent results have now been announced by a group led by Prof Robert Nemiroff of Michigan Technological University.

Read more at The National, by Robert Matthews.

Quantum spacetime more like foam rubber than beer foam

A recent study of gamma-ray bursts by Professor Robert Nemiroff and his colleagues at Michigan Technological University provides the first strong evidence concerning the small-scale smoothness of spacetime. Oddly, this examination of the very small is accomplished by measuring a handful of gamma-rays after they traveled over ten billion light years.

Read more at Gizmag, by Brian Dodson.

Smooth Like Whiskey

These photons are so energetic, their wavelengths should make them small enough to interact with these little “bubbles” and be scattered. But because the photons arrived at the telescope in a dead heat, the MTU teams concludes they had nothing to interact with — that spacetime is not bubbly, but smooth (you know, like fine whiskey). Fantastic, how shall we celebrate?

Read more at Air & Space Smithsonian.

Physics Proposals in Progress August 16-24, 2012

Assistant Professor Claudio Mazzoleni (Physics/EPSSI), “CAREER: Clouds, Turbulence and Mixing: A Remote Sensing Investigation within a Cloud Chamber,” NSF

Assistant Professor Kim Fook Lee (Physics), “CAREER: Fundamental Studies of Discrete Spatial EPR Entanglement,” NSF.

Assistant Research Scientist Loredana Valenzano (Physics) and Professor Ravindra Pandey (Physics), “First Principles Study of Primary Components of Portland Cement,” UCLA.

Professor and Chair Ravindra Pandey (Physics/MuSTI), “First Principles Studies of Structure-Property Relationship in Graphene-based Materials for Defense,” Army Research Laboratory.

Associate Professor Ranjit Pati (Physics), “EAGER: designing a molecular scale spin-switch,” NSF.

Great Lakes Research Center Dedication Thursday

It’s the Great Lakes Research Center, or GLRC. The public is invited to the dedication ceremony for Michigan Technological University’s newest building, set for 2 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 2. Inside are eight laboratories, each tailored for different research topics that relate to the Great Lakes, among them exotic and invasive species, fish ecology, sediments, remote sensing and atmospheric science. READ MORE

See also Atmospheric Sciences and Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences Institute for more information about atmospheric and remote sensing activities at Michigan Tech.

Michigan Tech Faculty, Researchers Endorse Michigan’s 25% by 2025 Renewable Energy Initiative

More than a dozen Michigan Tech faculty members and researchers have gone on the record in support of a ballot initiative designed to give a big boost to the state’s renewable energy industry. If passed by the voters in November, the initiative would require that 25 percent of Michigan’s electricity be generated using renewable energy sources by the year 2025. Among the signers is assistant professor of physics Claudio Mazzoleni. READ MORE

ZnO Nanotubes feature in “Celebrating 50 Years of Applied Physics Letters”

Images of ZnO Nanotubes are selected as one of the cover images of Applied Physics Letters (APL) highlighted in the APL 50th anniversary celebration website. The related article, “Formation of Single Crystalline ZnO Nanotubes without Catalysts and Templates,” was the most read article in March 2007. The images and article are from Professor Yoke Khin Yap’s research group.

Work on Boron Nitride Nanotubes is Featured in NanotechWeb

Recent work on in-situ probing of individual boron nitride nanotubes by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) inside a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) system is being featured in NanotechWeb. The research is conducted by Hessam M Ghassemi and Reza S Yassar in the mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics department and Chee Hui Lee and Yoke Khin Yap in the physics department. NanotechWeb notes that BNNTs are unique materials which enable the study of band structure modulation by mechanical straining. “This may lead to rational control of the electrical properties of novel nanostructures in the future,” commented Yoke Yap.

View the NanotechWeb article