Researcher construct invisibility cloak for thermal flow

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By means of special metamaterials, light and sound can be passed around objects. KIT researchers now succeeded in demonstrating that the same materials can also be used to specifically influence the propagation of heat. A structured plate of copper and silicon conducts heat around a central area without the edge being affected. The results are presented in the Physical Review Letters journal.

New mechanism converts natural gas to energy faster, captures CO2

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North Carolina State University researchers have identified a new mechanism to convert natural gas into energy up to 70 times faster, while effectively capturing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2).

"This could make power generation from natural gas both cleaner and more efficient," says Fanxing Li, co-author of a paper on the research and an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC State.

Elucidating energy shifts in optical tweezers

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Quantum optics with microwaves

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Mantle upwelling and initiation of rift segmentation beneath the Afar Depression

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Plate tectonics continually reshape Earth's surface, breaking apart continents over millions of years.

In this study, J.O.S. Hammond and colleagues use seismology to image beneath the Afar depression, the northern extreme of the East Africa rift and the only place on land undergoing the final stages of continental breakup.

New robotic instruments to provide real-time data on Gulf of Maine red tide

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A new robotic sensor deployed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Gulf of Maine coastal waters may transform the way red tides or harmful algal blooms (HABs) are monitored and managed in New England. The instrument was launched at the end of last month, and a second such system will be deployed later this spring.

Decline in snow cover spells trouble for many plants, animals

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MADISON – For plants and animals forced to tough out harsh winter weather, the coverlet of snow that blankets the north country is a refuge, a stable beneath-the-snow habitat that gives essential respite from biting winds and subzero temperatures.

But in a warming world, winter and spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is in decline, putting at risk many plants and animals that depend on the space beneath the snow to survive the blustery chill of winter.

Another 'trophy' for the chemistry cabinet

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The search for cleaner, low temperature nuclear fuels has produced a shock result for a team of experts at The University of Nottingham.

First they created a stable version of a 'trophy molecule' that has eluded scientists for decades. Now they have discovered that the bonding within this molecule is far different than expected. Remarkably their findings have shown that it behaves in much the same way as its counterparts in the well-known transitional metals such as chromium, molybdenum and tungsten.

AGU journal highlights -- May 7, 2013

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The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth (JGR-B), Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans (JGR-C), Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface (JGR-F) and Tectonics.

In this release:

Chaos proves superior to order

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An international team of physicists, including researchers from the Universities of York and St. Andrews, has demonstrated that chaos can beat order - at least as far as light storage is concerned.

In a collaboration led by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, the researchers deformed mirrors in order to disrupt the regular light path in an optical cavity and, surprisingly, the resulting chaotic light paths allowed more light to be stored than with ordered paths.