- Fundamental Physics: The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox is taught in every intro quantum mechanics class. It goes something like this: Suppose you have an event (like an electron and a positron annihilating) which emits two photons that travel in opposite directions (required for conservation of momentum). The principle theory of QM (Heisenberg interpretation) is that the spin of the photons is indeterminate. It is spin-up and spin-down with equal amplitude. Only when measured does the photon "choose" which it is. Ah, but here's something. Suppose you set this up, and the two photons travel a fair distance, and you measure one of them to be spin up. Instantaneously, the other MUST "choose" to be spin-down, for conservation of angular momentum. But that's weird! The "signal" that told the other photon to choose traveled at greater than the speed of light, which shouldn't be allowed. If you could somehow send a signal at superluminal speed, you could violate causality, you could receive a message from yourself before you sent it!
This paradox, abbreviated EPR, has been around as a thought experiment for ages. But a group in Switzerland tested it, and found that indeed, the photons were entangled and correlated across a distance of many kilometers. They report that "the speed of the influence would have to exceed that of light by at least four orders of magnitude." There is a subtle caveat about privileged reference frame, but this seems like a correct result. Full article Summary Another summary.
- Climatology: Researchers in Barcelona studied weather patterns based on day of the week. It is assumed that the far greater amounts of pollution created on weekdays influence the weather on those days. The group "examined 44 years of climate data from 13 weather stations across Spain. They discovered that winter weekends tend to be drier and sunnier than weekdays." The effect extended beyond the cities, where most of the pollution was created, into rural areas. Link
- Autism: A group reported in Science a study that involved "families in which there were many marriages between cousins . . . to search for genes connected with increased susceptibility to autism." They found some such families, and a genetic workup using Homozygosity mapping and found at least one new gene, NHE9, which is closely associated with the incidence of autism. Nearly "two dozen genes that are now associated with the disorder." Nowhere in the report does "vaccine" appear. I wonder why. Link
- Immunology: "Researchers have for the first time reversed symptoms of HIV infection in a living animal using the technique of RNA interference . . . The construct protected the mice from infection. It also restored the suppressed immune systems of mice that bore HIV-infected immune cells." Link
- Materials science: A substance was made that flaps faster than a hummingbird's wings when laser light is shot at it. "Timothy Bunning and his collaborators prepared a network of liquid crystal polymer containing azobenzene molecules, which act as linking groups. The bonds in these azo groups change reversibly from one geometrical form to another when exposed to ultraviolet laser light of a certain wavelength." Definitely a "check this shit out" paper. Link
- Immunology: "A drug that normally suppresses an immune response by trapping lymphocytes in lymphoid organs results in the elimination of a chronic viral infection when applied at low doses . . . It seems likely that FTY720 boosts the [immune] response, either by enhancing positive regulators of immunity or by blocking negative regulators." Link
Aug 13 2008