New research could help develop gamma ray lasers and produce fusion power

From PhysOrg.com:

Positronium is a short-lived system in which an electron and its anti-particle are bound together. In 2007, physicists at the University of California, Riverside created molecular positronium, a brand-new substance, in the laboratory. Now they have succeeded in isolating for the first time a sample of spin polarized positronium atoms.

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Intracellular protein transportation governed by simple rules

From PhysOrg.com:

This is a fascinating example of how complex processes can be controlled with simple physical and chemical rules. At first glances, it would appear to be enormously challenging to identify the proteins that need to be transported to a certain location, to spot any that have been transported to the wrong place and to stop them radiating off from their ultimate destination. Yet the cell manages this in a really simple way without any additional receptors or regulatory mechanisms. Other self-organising systems, too - such as insect colonies - often work on relatively simple principles. They would otherwise be unable to handle the multitude of tasks they need to perform. "These findings represent a milestone. They will change the way research in cellular biology is done. It’s only when we as scientists understand the principles by which life works that we are truly able to understand life. Focusing on the many different signalling pathways within the cell doesn’t really help that much," says Philippe Bastiaens.

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Computing, Sudoku-style

From PhysOrg.com:

Radul envisioned a new type of computer system that would handle multidirectional information flow automatically. Indeed, not only would it pass information forward and backward through stages of a multistage process, but it would pass data laterally, too: The results of one stage could be fed into, say, two others, which would attack a problem from different directions simultaneously, reconciling their answers before passing them on to the next stage. At that point, the stages of a process wouldn’t really be stages at all, but computational modules that could be arranged in parallel or in series, like elements in an electrical circuit. Programmers would simply specify how each module was connected to those around it, and the system would automatically pass information around until it found solutions that satisfied the constraints imposed by all the modules.

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Is "Dark Matter" actually "Mirror Matter" (having inverse parity to "normal" matter)?

From PhysOrg.com:

The inspiration for mirror matter came from an experiment performed in 1956 that showed that the laws of nature are not left-right symmetrical (also called parity-symmetrical, or p-symmetrical). Specifically, the experiment showed that particles in weak interactions display a preference for left-handedness, so that in a way, the Universe is left-handed. Since the other two forms of symmetry - rotational and translational - do seem to be symmetrical everywhere in nature, scientists wonder why nature doesn’t have p-symmetry as well. But if mirror matter exists, it would solve this problem by having slight right-handedness and restoring the Universe’s p-symmetry.

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Brain-like computing on an organic molecular layer

From PhysOrg.com:

Information processing circuits in digital computers are static. In our brains, information processing circuits—neurons—evolve continuously to solve complex problems. Now, an international research team from Japan and Michigan Technological University has created a similar process of circuit evolution in an organic molecular layer that can solve complex problems. This is the first time a brain-like "evolutionary circuit" has been realized.

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IBM demonstrates nonoscale 3D patterning technique

From PhysOrg.com:

IBM Research in Zurich has demonstrated a new nanoscale patterning technique that could replace electron beam lithography (EBL). The demonstration carved a 1:5 billion scale three-dimensional model of the Matterhorn, a 4,478 meter high mountain lying on the border between Italy and Switzerland, to show how their technique could be used for a number of applications, such as creating nanoscale lenses on silicon chips for carrying optical circuits at a scale so small that electronic circuits are inefficient.

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Bizarre matter could find use in quantum computers: Odd electron mix has fault-tolerant quantum registry

From PhysOrg.com:

There are enticing new findings this week in the worldwide search for materials that support fault-tolerant quantum computing. New results from Rice University and Princeton University indicate that a bizarre state of matter that acts like a particle with one-quarter electron charge also has a "quantum registry" that is immune to information loss from external perturbations.

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A Little Less Force: Making Atomic Force Microscopy Work for Cells

From PhysOrg.com:

Scientists with Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry have developed a nanowire-based imaging technique by which atomic force microscopy could be used to study biological cells and other soft materials in their natural, liquid environment without tearing apart or deforming the samples. This could provide scientists with the long coveted non-destructive means of dynamically probing soft matter.

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Scientists discover new genetic sub-code

From PhysOrg.com:

In a multidisciplinary approach, Professor Yves Barral, from the Biology Department at ETH Zurich and the computer scientists Dr. Gina Cannarozzi and Professor Gaston Gonnet, from the Computer Science Department of ETH Zurich and the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, joined forces to chase possible sub-codes in genomic information. The study, which will be published in today's issue of the journal Cell, led to the identification of novel sequence biases and their role in the control of genomic expression.

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Network expands to 256 times its original size to bridge the micro and macro worlds

From PhysOrg.com:

Now that scientists have developed a diverse assortment of nano- and micro-sized devices and materials, one of the biggest challenges is finding a practical way to incorporate them into macroscale systems. For example, tiny sensors, actuators, and electronic devices can only live up to their full potential when they can be exploited in large systems in everyday life. In a new study, researchers have developed an effective way to bridge the micro and macro scales by designing a network of microwires and micronodes that can be expanded from a few square centimeters to one square meter at low strain levels in the material.

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