Physical Sciences

The Godmother of the Digital Image

New York Times: In the summer of 2010, while preparing for a long research trip to Madagascar, the mathematician Ingrid Daubechies bought a 50-inch flat-screen TV for her husband, so he could invite friends over to watch Premier League soccer games. After setting it up, the couple turned on a match,…

Solar power tech could help produce next generation synthetic fuels

The Engineer: Concentrated solar energy has come a long way since the days of Archimedes. According to legend, the Greek polymath defended his home city of Syracuse from Roman soldiers using giant mirrors to focus the rays of the Sun, setting…

1st ‘atom tornado’ created from swirling vortex of helium atoms

Space.com: Physicists have created the first-ever atomic vortex beam — a swirling tornado of atoms and molecules with mysterious properties that have yet to be understood. By sending a…

A Mathematician’s Guided Tour Through High Dimensions

Quanta Magazine: The notion of dimension at first seems intuitive. Glancing out the window we might see a crow sitting atop a cramped flagpole experiencing zero dimensions, a robin on a telephone wire constrained to one, a pigeon on the ground…