A force that couples electrons and neutrons could be an addition to the Standard Model, and a new study places an upper limit on this hypothetical force’s strength.
Category: physics
5D model accurately predicts nuclear fission in elements beyond uranium and plutonium
A five-dimensional (5D) Langevin approach developed by an international team of researchers, including members from Science Tokyo, accurately reproduces complex fission fragment distributions and kinetic energies in medium-mass mercury isotopes (180 Hg and 190 Hg). The model successfully captures the unusual “double-humped” fragment mass distribution observed in mercury-180 and offers new insights into how nuclear shell effects influence fission dynamics—even at higher excitation energies than previously thought—advancing our understanding of fission in the sub-lead region.
Nuclear fission, the process by which an atomic nucleus splits into smaller parts, is a fundamental process in nuclear physics. While the fission of heavy elements like uranium and plutonium is well studied, lighter nuclei such as mercury (Hg) behave in unexpected ways.
Experiments have shown that 180 Hg undergoes an unexpected form of asymmetric fission, producing fragments of very different sizes. These findings challenge existing models and highlight the need to better understand how nuclear structure affects fission in the sub-lead region, which includes elements with atomic numbers below 82.
Physicists validate ratio method for studying halo nuclei
Theories must stand up to practical testing, and this is especially true in physics. Researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Texas A&M University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of Surrey in the U.K. and Michigan State University have achieved such a milestone: They were able to experimentally demonstrate for the first time that the ratio method can be used to study atomic nuclei, and in particular unstable halo nuclei—thus underscoring the importance of this new reaction observable. The team published their results on May 28, 2025, in Physical Review Letters.
Physicists use 3D-printed spines to sculpt water surface through surface tension
Physicists at the University of Liège have succeeded in sculpting the surface of water by exploiting surface tension. Using 3D printing of closely spaced spines, they have combined menisci to create programmed liquid reliefs, capable of guiding particles under the action of gravity alone. This is a promising advance for microscopic transport and sorting, as well as marine pollution control. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.
Have you ever tried tilting a liquid in a glass? It’s completely impossible. If you tilt the glass, the surface of the liquid will automatically return to the horizontal … except for a small—barely visible—curvature that forms near the edge of the glass. This curvature is called a meniscus. And this meniscus is due to capillarity, a force acting on a millimeter scale and resulting from the surface tension of the liquid.
What would happen if we could create lots of little menisci over a large surface? What if these small reliefs could add up to form slopes, valleys, or even entire landscapes … liquid? This is exactly what scientists from the GRASP laboratory at the University of Liège, in collaboration with Brown University (U.S.), have succeeded in doing.
The Laws Of Nature Evolve With The Cosmos | Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogue 95
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Does Nature Obey Laws? | Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogue 95.
The conviction that the natural world is obedient, adhering to laws, is a widespread assumption of modern science. But where did this idea originate and what beliefs does it imply? In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon discuss the impact on science of the Elizabethan lawyer, Francis Bacon. His New Instrument of Thought, or Novum Organum, put laws at the centre of science and was intended as an upgrade on assumptions developed by Aristotle. But does the existence of mind-like laws of nature, somehow acting on otherwise mindless matter, even make sense? What difference is made by insights subsequent to Baconian philosophy, such as the discovery of evolution or the sense that the natural world is not machine-like but behaves like an organism? Could the laws of nature be more like habits? And what about the existence of miracles, the purposes of organisms, and the extraordinary fecundity of creativity?
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Dr Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, is a biologist and author best known for his hypothesis of morphic resonance. At Cambridge University, as a Fellow of Clare College, he was Director of Studies in biochemistry and cell biology. As the Rosenheim Research Fellow of the Royal Society, he carried out research on the development of plants and the ageing of cells, and together with Philip Rubery discovered the mechanism of polar auxin transport. In India, he was Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, where he helped develop new cropping systems now widely used by farmers. He is the author of more than 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals and his research contributions have been widely recognized by the academic community, earning him a notable h-index for numerous citations. On ResearchGate his Research Interest Score puts him among the top 4% of scientists.
https://www.sheldrake.org/about-rupert-sheldrake?svd=95
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Is our universe the ultimate computer?
Whether we are simply characters in an advanced virtual world is a much-debated theory, challenging previous thinking about the universe and our existence.
The possibility that the entire universe is informational in nature and resembles a computational process is a popular theory among a number of well-known figures, including Elon Musk. The thinking comes from within a branch of science known as information physics, which suggests physical reality is actually made up of structured information.
In an article published in AIP Advances and included in the journal’s “Editor’s Picks,” a physicist from the University of Portsmouth, Dr. Melvin Vopson, presents findings which indicate that gravity or gravitational force is the result of a computational process within the universe.