KASHIWA, Japan (March 27) - Japanese scientists and origami masters hope to launch a paper airplane from space and learn from its trip back to Earth.
In a test outside Tokyo in early February, a prototype about 2.8 inches long and 2 inches wide survived Mach 7 speeds and broiling temperatures up to 446 degrees Fahrenheit in a hypersonic wind tunnel - conditions meant to approximate what the plane would face entering Earth's atmosphere.
It is one the biggest mysteries in physics - where did all the antimatter go? Now a team of physicists claims to have found the first ever hint of an answer in experimental data. The findings could signal a major crack in the standard model, the theoretical edifice that describes nature's fundamental particles and forces.
In its early days, the cosmos was a cauldron of radiation and equal amounts of matter and antimatter. As it cooled, all the antimatter annihilated in collisions with matter - but for some reason the proportions ended up lopsided, leaving some of the matter intact.
Physicists think the explanation for this lies with the weak nuclear force, which differs from the other fundamental forces in that it does not act equally on matter and antimatter. This asymmetry, called CP violation, could have allowed the matter to survive to form the elements, stars and galaxies we see today.
Flipping particle could explain missing antimatter - fundamentals - 18 March 2008 - New Scientist
ScienceDaily (Mar. 9, 2008) — Astronomers have measured the distribution of mass inside a dark filament in a molecular cloud with an amazing level of detail and to great depth. The measurement is based on a new method that looks at the scattered near-infrared light or 'cloudshine' and was made with ESO's New Technology Telescope. Associated with the forthcoming VISTA telescope, this new technique will allow astronomers to better understand the cradles of newborn stars.
While dark matter was not mentioned in this article, I will be watching to see if it is affected. This method will obviously tell us more about the birth of stars.
Newborn Stars: Seeing Dark Filaments Inside A Molecular Cloud
