Rosetta science continues

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Find out how investigations of Comet 67P will help guide future cometary exploration in this ESA Web TV interview from the 49th Rosetta science workshop
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2018/05/Rosetta_science_continues

Red Planet rover set for extreme environment workout

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A representative model of the ExoMars rover that will land on Mars in 2021 is beginning a demanding test campaign that will ensure it can survive the rigours of launch and landing, as well as operations under the environmental conditions of Mars. 

via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/Red_Planet_rover_set_for_extreme_environment_workout

Manhattanhenge 2018: When and Where to Watch

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You might get a chance to take “the best sunset picture of the year” this week in New York.
via New York Times

From CERN to the clinic

Ana Lopes

Timepix3, one of the read-out chips of Medipix.

Medipix – a family of read-out chips for particle imaging and detection developed at CERN – has proved its credentials outside the field of high-energy physics, including in art authentication and restoration. At a seminar at 11:00 CEST today at CERN, broadcast via a webcast, Ron M. A. Heeren from Maastricht University in the Netherlands now describes how one such chip, the Timepix chip, might in the future be found in surgery rooms and pathology departments.

The idea is to use the Timepix chip as a component of the detector in mass spectrometry imaging – a technique that maps the molecular composition of cells and tissues, and is used in many clinical research areas. In his talk, Ron Heeren will describe how Timepix enables the imaging throughput needed for intraoperative molecular pathology. This could help surgeons diagnose cancers and evaluate surgical margins, the rim of tissue around a tumour that has been surgically removed.

Join the webcast.

For more information, visit the event page.

via CERN: Updates for the general public
https://home.cern/about/updates/2018/05/cern-clinic

Settling in

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Space Science Image of the Week: The BepiColombo spacecraft unpacked at their new home at the Spaceport
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2018/05/BepiColombo_unpacked_at_the_Spaceport

World’s first crabbing of a proton beam

Long live the doubly charmed particle

Corinne Pralavorio

The LHCb detector seen in 2018 in its underground cavern. The excellent precision of this detector allowed LHCb physicists to perform detailed measurements on the doubly charmed particle they discovered only last year. (Image: M. Brice, J. Ordan/CERN)

Finding a new particle is always a nice surprise, but measuring its characteristics is another story and just as important. Less than a year after announcing the discovery of the particle going by the snappy name of Ξ_cc⁺⁺ (Xi_cc⁺⁺), this week the LHCb collaboration announced the first measurement of its lifetime. The announcement was made during the CHARM 2018 international workshop in Novosibirsk in Russia: a charming moment for this doubly charmed particle.  

The Ξ_cc⁺⁺ particle is composed of two charm quarks and one up quark, hence it is a member of the baryon family (particles composed of three quarks). The existence of the particle was predicted by the Standard Model, the theory which describes elementary particles and the forces that bind them together. LHCb’s observation came last year after several years of research. Its mass was measured to be around 3621 MeV, almost four times that of the proton (the best-known baryon), thanks to its two charm quarks.

The Ξ_cc⁺⁺ particle is fleeting: it decays quickly into lighter particles. In fact it was through its decay into a Λ_c⁺ baryon and three lighter mesons, K^-, π⁺ and π⁺, that it was discovered. Since then, LHCb physicists have been carrying on an analysis to determine its lifetime with a high level of precision. The value obtained is 0.256 picoseconds (0.000000000000256 seconds), with a small degree of uncertainty. Though very small in everyday life, such an amount of time is relatively large in the realm of subatomic particles. The measured value is within the range predicted by theoretical physicists on the basis of the Standard Model, namely between 0.20 and 1.05 picoseconds.

To achieve this precise result, LHCb physicists compared the measurement of the lifetime of the Ξ_cc⁺⁺ with that of another particle whose lifetime is well-known. They based their measurements on the same sample of events that led to the discovery.

Measuring the lifetime of a particle is an important step in determining its characteristics. Thanks to the abundance of heavy quarks produced by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the excellent precision of the LHCb detector, physicists will now continue their detailed measurements of the properties of this charming particle. With these types of measurements, they are gaining a better understanding of the interactions that govern the behaviour of particles containing heavy quarks.

More information on the new measurements of the Ξ_cc⁺⁺ particle can be found on the LHCb website.

via CERN: Updates for the general public
https://home.cern/about/updates/2018/05/long-live-doubly-charmed-particle

Why we won't get to Mars without teamwork

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If humanity hopes to make it to Mars anytime soon, we need to understand not just technology, but the psychological dynamic of a small group of astronauts trapped in a confined space for months with no escape.
via Science Daily
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Understanding light-induced electrical current in atomically thin nanomaterials

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Scientists demonstrated that scanning photocurrent microscopy could provide the optoelectronic information needed to improve the performance of devices for power generation, communications, data storage, and lighting.
via Science Daily

Samuel Ting to present latest results from AMS

Lightening up dark galaxies

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Astronomers have identified at least six candidates for dark galaxies -- galaxies that have a few (if any) stars in them and are, for that reason, notoriously difficult to detect with current instruments.
via Science Daily
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Space-like gravity weakens biochemical signals in muscle formation

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Microgravity conditions affect DNA methylation of muscle cells, slowing their differentiation.
via Science Daily
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As America Looks Inward, China Looks Up. Way Up.

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China’s launch of a satellite this week, part of a mission to the dark side of the moon, is but one of its recent endeavors into space.
via New York Times

NASA's new planet hunter snaps initial test image, swings by Moon toward final orbit

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After launching April 18, TESS has completed its lunar flyby to put it on track for its final science orbit, and has released a first test image.
via Science Daily
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OPERA presents its final results on neutrino oscillations

The OPERA experiment at the Gran Sasso Laboratory in Italy (Image: INFN)

The OPERA experiment, located at the Gran Sasso Laboratory of the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), was designed to conclusively prove that muon-neutrinos can convert to tau-neutrinos, through a process called neutrino oscillation, whose discovery was awarded the 2015 Nobel Physics Prize. In a paper published today in the journal Physical Review Letters, the OPERA collaboration reports the observation of a total of 10 candidate events for a muon to tau-neutrino conversion, in what are the very final results of the experiment. This demonstrates unambiguously that muon neutrinos oscillate into tau neutrinos on their way from CERN, where muon neutrinos were produced, to the Gran Sasso Laboratory 730 km away, where OPERA detected the ten tau neutrino candidates.

Today the OPERA collaboration has also made their data public through the CERN Open Data Portal. By releasing the data into the public domain, researchers outside the OPERA Collaboration have the opportunity to conduct novel research with them. The datasets provided come with rich context information to help interpret the data, also for educational use. A visualiser enables users to see the different events and download them. This is the first non-LHC data release through the CERN Open Data portal, a service launched in 2014.

There are three kinds of neutrinos in nature: electron, muon and tau neutrinos. They can be distinguished by the property that, when interacting with matter, they typically convert into the electrically charged lepton carrying their name: electron, muon and tau leptons. It is these leptons that are seen by detectors, such as the OPERA detector, unique in its capability of observing all three. Experiments carried out around the turn of the millennium showed that muon neutrinos, after travelling long distances, create fewer muons than expected, when interacting with a detector. This suggested that muon neutrinos were oscillating into other types of neutrinos. Since there was no change in the number of detected electrons, physicists suggested that muon neutrinos were primarily oscillating into tau neutrinos. This has now been unambiguously confirmed by OPERA, through the direct observation of tau neutrinos appearing hundreds of kilometres away from the muon neutrino source. The clarification of the oscillation patterns of neutrinos sheds light on some of the properties of these mysterious particles, such as their mass.

The OPERA collaboration observed the first tau-lepton event (evidence of muon-neutrino oscillation) in 2010, followed by four additional events reported between 2012 and 2015, when the discovery of tau neutrino appearance was first assessed. Thanks to a new analysis strategy applied to the full data sample collected between 2008 and 2012 – the period of neutrino production – a total of 10 candidate events have now been identified, with an extremely high level of significance.

“We have analysed everything with a completely new strategy, taking into account the peculiar features of the events,” said Giovanni De Lellis Spokesperson for the OPERA collaboration. “We also report the first direct observation of the tau neutrino lepton number, the parameter that discriminates neutrinos from their antimatter counterpart, antineutrinos. It is extremely gratifying to see today that our legacy results largely exceed the level of confidence we had envisaged in the experiment proposal.”

Beyond the contribution of the experiment to a better understanding of the way neutrinos behave, the development of new technologies is also part of the legacy of OPERA. The collaboration was the first to develop fully automated, high-speed readout technologies with sub-micrometric accuracy, which pioneered the large-scale use of the so-called nuclear emulsion films to record particle tracks. Nuclear emulsion technology finds applications in a wide range of other scientific areas from dark matter search to volcano and glacier investigation. It is also applied to optimise the hadron therapy for cancer treatment and was recently used to map out the interior of the Great Pyramid, one of the oldest and largest monuments on Earth, built during the dynasty of the pharaoh Khufu, also known as Cheops.

via CERN: Updates for the general public
https://home.cern/about/updates/2018/05/opera-presents-its-final-results-neutrino-oscillations

Deep space radiation treatment reboots brain's immune system

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NASA and private company SpaceX plan to send humans to Mars within the next 15 years -- but need to figure out how to protect astronauts from the dangerous cosmic radiation of deep space. Now neuroscientists have identified a potential treatment for the brain damage caused by cosmic rays -- a drug that prevents memory impairment in mice exposed to simulated space radiation.
via Science Daily
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Alien Asteroids Are Here. Get Used to Them.

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An asteroid that cohabits an orbit with Jupiter came from outside the solar system.
via New York Times

Hidden secrets

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Space Science Image of the Week: Herschel reveals massive stars hidden in a dark bubble, triggering the birth of a new stellar generation
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2018/05/Hidden_secrets_of_a_massive_star-formation_region

Astronomers release most complete ultraviolet-light survey of nearby galaxies

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Capitalizing on the unparalleled sharpness and spectral range of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers is releasing the most comprehensive, high-resolution ultraviolet-light survey of nearby star-forming galaxies.
via Science Daily
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A new map for a birthplace of stars

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A research group has created the most detailed maps yet of a vast seedbed of stars similar to Earth's sun.
via Science Daily
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A bumper crop of LHC results at Quark Matter 2018

A xenon–xenon collision recorded by the CMS detector. (Image: CMS/CERN)

Some 900 nuclear physicists from all over the world are meeting this week in Venice, Italy, for Quark Matter 2018, the 27th International Conference on Ultrarelativistic Nucleus–Nucleus Collisions. The focus of the conference is the hot quark–gluon plasma (QGP) that is thought to have prevailed in the first millionths of a second after the Big Bang, and which can be created for a fleeting moment in collisions of atomic nuclei accelerated in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). At the conference, the main LHC experiments (ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb) are presenting a wealth of new results from such collisions that provide insight into this extreme state of matter.

For more information, see the related Update for scientists.

via CERN: Updates for the general public
https://home.cern/about/updates/2018/05/bumper-crop-lhc-results-quark-matter-2018

Astronomers Release Most Complete Ultraviolet-Light Survey of Nearby Galaxies

Much of the light in the universe comes from stars, and yet, star formation is still a vexing question in astronomy.

To piece together a more complete picture of star birth, astronomers have used the Hubble Space Telescope to look at star formation among galaxies in our own cosmic back yard. The survey of 50 galaxies in the local universe, called the Legacy ExtraGalactic UV Survey (LEGUS), is the sharpest, most comprehensive ultraviolet-light look at nearby star-forming galaxies.

The LEGUS survey combines new Hubble observations with archival Hubble images for star-forming spiral and dwarf galaxies, offering a valuable resource for understanding the complexities of star formation and galaxy evolution. Astronomers are releasing the star catalogs for each of the LEGUS galaxies and cluster catalogs for 30 of the galaxies, as well as images of the galaxies themselves. The catalogs provide detailed information on young, massive stars and star clusters, and how their environment affects their development.

The local universe, stretching across the gulf of space between us and the great Virgo cluster of galaxies, is ideal for study because astronomers can amass a big enough sample of galaxies, and yet, the galaxies are close enough to Earth that Hubble can resolve individual stars. The survey will also help astronomers understand galaxies in the distant universe, where rapid star formation took place.

via Hubble - News feed
http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2018-27

Vast ionized hydrogen cloud in the Whirlpool Galaxy revealed by ultra-sensitive telescope

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No one has ever seen what astronomers first observed using a refurbished 75-year-old telescope in the Arizona mountains. What it was turned out to be a massive cloud of ionized hydrogen gas spewed from a nearby galaxy and then essentially 'cooked' by radiation from the galaxy's central black hole.
via Science Daily
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Review: ‘The Most Unknown’ Tackles Science’s Big Questions

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The documentary interviews nine scientists in fields including astronomy and neuroscience, and asks them to reflect on their work.
via New York Times

Evidence for stars forming just 250 million years after Big Bang

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Astronomers have used observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) to determine that star formation in the very distant galaxy MACS1149-JD1 started at an unexpectedly early stage, only 250 million years after the Big Bang. This discovery also represents the most distant oxygen ever detected in the universe and the most distant galaxy ever observed by ALMA or the VLT.
via Science Daily
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Astronomers find fastest-growing black hole known in space

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Astronomers have found the fastest-growing black hole known in the universe, describing it as a monster that devours a mass equivalent to our sun every two days.
via Science Daily
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Unusual laser emission from the Ant Nebula

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Astronomers have discovered an unusual laser emission that suggests the presence of a double star system hidden at the heart of the 'spectacular' Ant Nebula. The extremely rare phenomenon is connected to the death of a star and was discovered in observations made by European Space Agency's Herschel space observatory.
via Science Daily
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A space ant fires its lasers

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A rare phenomenon connected to the death of a star has been discovered in observations made by ESA’s Herschel space observatory: an unusual laser emission from the spectacular Ant Nebula, which suggests the presence of a double star system hidden at its heart.

via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Herschel/A_space_ant_fires_its_lasers

Water plumes on Jupiter's moon Europa?

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Scientists re-examining data from an old mission bring new insights to the tantalizing question of whether Jupiter's moon Europa has the ingredients to support life. The data provide independent evidence that the moon's subsurface liquid water reservoir may be venting plumes of water vapor above its icy shell.
via Science Daily
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Scientists use Dorset, UK, as model to help find traces of life on Mars

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By studying a stream on the UK coast, experts have calculated how much organic matter we might find on Mars, and where to look.
via Science Daily
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Announcement of the segregation of Graphenea Semiconductor (CVD) business

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The Shareholders meeting has approved the segregation of the CVD business of Graphenea SA into Graphenea Semiconductor SLU. Read official announcement (in Spanish).

via Graphenea

ScienceTake: How Asteroids May Have Brought Water to Earth

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It was thought that water bound up in asteroids would be lost in the intense heat of the impacts when they hit our planet. New experiments say no.
via New York Times

Graphenea launches new GFET product

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Graphenea has launched sales of GFETs – graphene field effect transistors, aimed at lowering barriers to adoption of graphene, especially on the market for sensors. Researchers needing GFETs for their applications, whether in gas or biosensing, or for other applications, needn’t worry anymore about consistently obtaining high-quality GFET devices.

Graphenea has for starters launched two standard GFET-for-sensing configurations dubbed GFET-S10 and GFET-S20, each including 36 individual GFETs on a one square centimeter die, but differing in device layout. The GFET-S10 has devices distributed evenly over the die and the GFET-S20 has the devices concentrated in the center of the die with electrical pads located at the die edge. The GFET-S20 devices all have a 2-probe geometry for probing electrical properties during sensing, whereas the GFET-S10 houses 30 devices with the Hall bar geometry and 6 with 2-probe geometry. The Hall bars enable magnetic field sensing, apart from applications in graphene device research, bioelectronics, biosensing, chemical sensing, and photodetectors that the 2-probe geometry also allows.

Customers can choose a device layout that satisfies their needs. The new product is especially suited to those looking to develop novel applications of graphene, without the desire or capacity to engage in full-scale graphene research that is required for consistent high-quality GFET devices. For those not happy with either of the two layouts, in the coming months the company will launch a custom design service for the same high-quality GFETs in tailored arrangements.

Owing to the 2D nature of graphene and its excellent electrical, optical and mechanical properties, the material makes for an excellent sensor. Sensing power was most strikingly demonstrated by the sensing of the adsorption of a single gas molecule by the team at the University of Manchester, although numerous applications in chemical, bio, or magnetic sensors or photodetectors were also shown. All of those ultrasensitive devices operate on a GFET platform. The new devices from Graphenea have a specified carrier mobility above 1000 cm²/V*s, residual charge carrier density below 2 x 10¹²cm^-2, the Dirac point between 10 and 40V, and a yield higher than 75%. The GFETs are made on the standard Si/SiO₂ substrate, with Ni/Al metal contacts.

via Graphenea

Frequency-stable laser systems for space

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For the first time a frequency reference based on molecular iodine was successfully demonstrated in space! What sounds a bit like science fiction is an important step towards laser interferometric distance measurements between satellites as well as for future global navigation satellite systems based on optical technologies. The frequency reference tests were carried out on May 13 on board the sounding rocket TEXUS54.
via Science Daily
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Simple equation directs creation of clean-energy catalysts

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New guidelines could steer the design of less costly, more efficient catalysts geared toward revving up the production of hydrogen as a renewable fuel. Using its equation, the team discovered several atom-framework combinations that approximate the performance of precious-metal catalysts - platinum, gold, iridium - at mere thousandths of the cost.
via Science Daily

Europa, Jupiter’s Ocean Moon, May Shoot Plumes of Water Into Space

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A re-examination of old data shows a NASA spacecraft may have flown through a plume in 1997. The plumes could offer hints of life on the ice-encrusted moon.
via New York Times

How a pinch of salt can improve battery performance

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Researchers have discovered how a pinch of salt can be used to drastically improve the performance of batteries.
via Science Daily

Stellar family portrait

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Explore Gaia’s second data release with this interactive visualisation of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, the family portrait of stars in our Milky Way
via ESA Space Science
http://sci.esa.int/gaia-stellar-family-portrait/

Our galaxy’s heart

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Space Science Image of the Week: A unique view of our galaxy
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2018/05/Our_galaxy_s_heart

Call for media: Meet Europe’s exoplanet satellite Cheops

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Media are invited to join experts of the Characterising Exoplanets Satellite, Cheops, at Airbus Defence and Space in Madrid, Spain, for a unique opportunity to visit the spacecraft in the clean room on 22 May.

via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Call_for_media_Meet_Europe_s_exoplanet_satellite_Cheops

A Helicopter on Mars? NASA Wants to Try

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The space agency’s next Martian rover, currently scheduled for a 2020 launch, is to carry a four-pound helicopter.
via New York Times

David Pines, 93, Insightful and Influential Physicist, Dies

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He helped explain the electric flow of superconductors and the churning matter inside collapsed stars, work that led to Nobel Prizes (but not for him).
via New York Times

A boost for graphene-based light detectors: Photoexcited graphene puzzle solved

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Light detection and control lies at the heart of many modern device applications, such as the camera you have in your phone. Using graphene as a light-sensitive material for light detectors can offer significant improvements with respect to materials being used now. For example, graphene can detect light of almost any color, and it gives an extremely fast electronic response within one millionth of a millionth of a second. Thus, in order to properly design graphene-based light detectors it is crucial to understand the processes that take place inside the graphene after it absorbs light.
via Science Daily

Punching holes in graphene to boost hydrogen production

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A research team has created an electrode for hydrogen evolution. A nickel-molybdenum (NiMo) catalyst is wrapped in a 'holey' graphene layer containing nanometer-sized holes. The fringes of the holes are chemically active sites, boosting hydrolysis by accelerating charge transfer and H atom adsorption. Meanwhile, graphene protects the NiMo core from dissolving. Through efficient hydrogen generation in acid solution using non-noble metals, the system potentially allows affordable green energy storage.
via Science Daily

Waterloo chemists create faster and more efficient way to process information

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Chemists have found a much faster and more efficient way to store and process information by expanding the limitations of how the flow of electricity can be used and managed.
via Science Daily

Broken nanodiamonds are forever: Self-generating dry lubricant for industry

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Researchers have created a self-generating, very-low-friction dry lubricant that lasts so long it could almost be confused with forever.
via Science Daily

BepiColombo arrives at Europe’s Spaceport

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The spacecraft of the BepiColombo mission to Mercury have arrived safely at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, marking the start of six months of preparation to ready the craft for launch.

via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/BepiColombo/BepiColombo_arrives_at_Europe_s_Spaceport

Moving home

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BepiColombo gets settled in to its temporary home base at Europe’s Spaceport to prepare for launch to Mercury later this year
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/BepiColombo/Highlights/Moving_home

Out There: ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Is Still the ‘Ultimate Trip’

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The rerelease of Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece encourages us to reflect again on where we’re coming from and where we’re going.
via New York Times

Trilobites: This Asteroid Shouldn’t Be Where Astronomers Found It

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Space rocks like 2004 EW95 are common between Mars and Jupiter. The discovery of the object near Neptune may provide insights into how the planets formed.
via New York Times

Bubbly graphene: how cool or hot are you?

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Scientists have measured and controlled the temperature of individual graphene bubbles with a single laser beam for the first time. The strain and curvature introduced by the bubbles is known to tune the electronic, chemical, and mechanical properties of this material. Generally, graphene bubbles are more reactive than flat graphene, so they might be more prone to be decorated with chemical groups.
via Science Daily

ESA Planck team awarded prestigious prize

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The ESA Planck team has been honoured with the 2018 Gruber Cosmology Prize for its mission mapping the cosmic microwave background – relic radiation from the Big Bang that is still observable today.

via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ESA_Planck_team_awarded_prestigious_prize

Fly over Neukum crater

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Enjoy a flight over a fascinating impact crater on Mars
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2018/05/Flight_over_Neukum_crater

New magnetic process in turbulent space

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Explorations in Earth's space environment by NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft have discovered a surprising new magnetic event in turbulent plasma.
via Science Daily
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Atmospheric seasons could signal alien life

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To complement traditional biosignatures, scientists are developing the first quantitative framework for dynamic biosignatures based on seasonal changes in the Earth's atmosphere.
via Science Daily
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Exiled asteroid discovered in outer reaches of solar system

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Astronomers have used ESO telescopes to investigate a relic of the primordial solar system. The team found that the unusual Kuiper Belt Object 2004 EW95 is a carbon-rich asteroid, the first of its kind to be confirmed in the cold outer reaches of the Solar System. This curious object likely formed in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and has been flung billions of kilometers from its origin to its current home in the Kuiper Belt.
via Science Daily
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Why does the Sun's Corona sizzle at one million °F?

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The Sun's corona, invisible to the human eye except when it appears briefly as a fiery halo of plasma during a solar eclipse, remains a puzzle even to scientists who study it closely. Located 1,300 miles from the star's surface, it is more than a hundred times hotter than lower layers much closer to the fusion reactor at the Sun's core.
via Science Daily
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Using CERN technology for medical challenges

Graphenea research team grows

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Graphenea announces the hiring of Dr. Elías Torres Alonso, an expert in graphene production and applications, as Research Scientist. Dr. Torres will strengthen Graphenea’s research team, which prides itself in staying at the cutting edge of graphene science and technology.

Elías Torres Alonso studied Physics with a specialty in Physics of Materials at the Complutense University in Madrid (Spain), where he graduated in 2013. During 2014, he pursued a Master in Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials in Lund (Sweden), where he worked with III-V nanowires grown by MOVPE, especially InAs and InSb heterostructures for photovoltaic and electronic devices.

After that, he joined the group of Quantum Systems and Nanomaterials at Exeter University (UK) to carry out his PhD. There he worked with large area CVD graphene and FeCl3-FLG, liquid exfoliated graphene and graphene oxide for flexible optoelectronic applications and sensing purposes. His work aimed to bridge the gap between graphene research and applications, where scalable methods for graphene production and processing are required for the industry.

At Graphenea, Dr. Torres joins our growing research team that makes use of our Class 1000 cleanroom to produce high-quality graphene on large standard and custom substrates.

via Graphenea

Mission to study how Mars was made

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NASA's Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission is on a 300-million-mile (483-million-kilometer) trip to Mars to study for the first time what lies deep beneath the surface of the Red Planet. InSight is scheduled to land on the Red Planet around 3 p.m. EST (noon PST) Nov. 26, where it will conduct science operations until Nov. 24, 2020, which equates to one year and 40 days on Mars, or nearly two Earth years.
via Science Daily
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Astronomers find exoplanet atmosphere free of clouds

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Scientists have detected an exoplanet atmosphere that is free of clouds, marking a pivotal breakthrough in the quest for greater understanding of the planets beyond our solar system.
via Science Daily
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Mars growth was stunted by early giant planetary instability

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An astrophysics team explains why the growth of Mars was stunted by an orbital instability among the outer solar system's giant planets in a new study on the evolution of the young solar system. The study builds on the widely accepted Nice Model, which invokes a planetary instability to explain many peculiar observed aspects of the outer solar system. The research shows how planet accretion (growth) is halted by the outer solar system instability.
via Science Daily
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Are you up for the TrackML challenge?

Katarina Anthony

10,000 tracks grouping 100,000 points in a future LHC detector as simulated for the TrackML challenge (Image: TrackML Challenge Team/CERN)

Physicists from the ATLAS, CMS and LHCb collaborations have just launched the TrackML challenge – your chance to develop new machine-learning solutions for the next generation of particles detectors.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produces hundreds of millions of collisions every second, generating tens of petabytes of data a year. Handling this flood of data is a major challenge for the physicists, who have developed tools to process and filter the events online within a fraction of a second and select the most promising collision events.

Managing the amount of data will become even more challenging in the near future: a major upgrade foreseen for 2026, the planned start of the High-Luminosity LHC, will increase the collision rate up to a factor of five. Innovative new software solutions will be needed to promptly reconstruct the tracks produced by these collisions with the available computing resources.

To help address this issue, a team of machine-learning experts and LHC physicists has partnered with Kaggle to probe the question: can machine learning assist high-energy physics in discovering and characterising new particles?

Specifically, in this competition, you’re challenged to build an algorithm that quickly and efficiently reconstructs particle tracks from 3D points left in the silicon detectors. The challenge consists of two phases:

• The “Accuracy Phase” is now running on Kaggle from May to July 2018. Here the focus is on the highest score, irrespective of the evaluation time. This phase is an official IEEE WCCI competition (Rio de Janeiro, July 2018).

• The “Throughput Phase” will run on Codalab from July to October 2018. Participants will submit their software to be evaluated by the platform. Incentive is on the throughput (or speed) of the evaluation while reaching a good score. This phase is an official NIPS competition (Montreal, December 2018).

Sign up for the TrackML challenge today. The top three scorers will receive cash prizes. Selected winners may be awarded a top-notch NVIDIA v100 GPU, or get the chance to visit CERN or attend the 2018 Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems in Montreal (Canada).

For more information and the participation conditions, visit the Kaggle challenge website and the official TrackML twitter account.

via CERN: Updates for the general public
https://home.cern/about/updates/2018/05/are-you-trackml-challenge

ESA selects three new mission concepts for study

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A high-energy survey of the early Universe, an infrared observatory to study the formation of stars, planets and galaxies, and a Venus orbiter are to be considered for ESA’s fifth medium class mission in its Cosmic Vision science programme, with a planned launch date in 2032.

via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ESA_selects_three_new_mission_concepts_for_study