Science News - December 31, 2011

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SCIENCE NEWS OF THE YEAR | Matter & Energy

Cosmic mimics Simulations suggest that time travel is impossible in a metamate-rial universe (SN: 5/7/11, p. 12), but riding a spacetime bubble could allow travel at up to one-quarter light speed (SN Online: 8/21/11).

The next graphene Scientists grow atom-thin sheets of silicon (nanoribbons at right), with a structure similar to that of graphene (SN: 4/23/11, p. 14).

Big-time cloaking Teams use carpet cloaks to hide 3-D objects big enough to see (pink paper cloaked below), moving invisibility beyond the microscopic (SN: 2/26/11, p. 12). Physicists also find ways to hide events in time (SN: 8/13/11, p. 12) and to shield objects from detection by visible light (SN: 8/27/11, p. 16) and sound waves (SN Online: 6/30/11).

Sexual fireworks A mouse egg explosively releases zinc atoms just after fertilization, outbursts that appear to jump-start embryonic development (SN: 6/4/11, p. 12).

Atomtronics
Physicists choreo-
graph atoms in an
ultracold gas to flow as a
controllable current, a step
toward building the world’s
first “atomtronic” device
(SN: 3/12/11, p. 5).

Pylori trouble A bacterial bad guy responsible for causing ulcers and stomach cancer, Helicobacter pylori, may help trigger Parkinson’s disease (SN: 6/18/11, p. 18).

Wave of reality The
fuzzy quantum shape that
describes the speed or loca-
tion of a single particle, its
“wave function,” is directly
measured in the lab
(SN: 7/16/11, p. 14).

Hydrogen head shot The lightest atom on Earth is directly imaged for the first time (SN: 3/12/11, p. 13).

Magnetricity A current of “magnetricity” is created, as north and south magnetic poles split and move independently (SN: 3/12/11, p. 13).

Brain healing Blocking
newborn nerve cell forma-
tion in mice prevents the
animals from learning and
remembering in a maze
after brain injury, suggest-
ing the newborn cells may
help the brain heal
(SN: 4/23/11, p. 10).

Screwy symmetry A new form of symmetry called “rotational-reversal” symmetry is discovered (SN: 5/7/11, p. 9).

Gland growth Japanese researchers grow for the first time a mouse pituitary gland from embryonic stem cells in a lab dish, a first step toward replacement glands for people (SN: 12/31/11, p. 15).

Electric eye Cells in a tadpole’s gut manipulated to take on specific electrical properties develop into an eye, a major advance toward regenerating complex organs and limbs (SN: 12/31/11, p. 5).

Reality can be understood not only in terms of the flow of energy, but also in terms of the flow of information. So says a team of physicists with a new take on quantum theory (SN: 8/13/11, p. 12). This theory, which explains how matter behaves at the atomic scale, is built on abstract mathematical formulations that seem to defy common sense. But the new take begins with intuitive principles connected to the physical world.

At the idea’s core is a postulate called “purification.” In simplest terms, purification
means that you can know everything there is to know about something even if you
don’t know everything about its parts. Using this postulate and five axioms drawn from
information theory, the researchers have derived the basic mathematical framework of
quantum mechanics. The framework also predicts phenomena routinely observed in the
lab— including entanglement, Einstein’s “spooky action at a distance.”
This recent approach to quantum theory is part of a larger movement, inspired by the
late physicist John Wheeler, to try to recast the explanation of the universe in terms of
information. Proponents speculate that their ideas could ultimately solve one of the grand-
est problems in physics itself: how to unite quantum mechanics and gravity. — Devin Powell