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Velocity-distribution data of a gas of rubidium atoms, confirming the discovery of a new phase of matter, the Bose–Einstein condensate. Image: NIST

Issue no. 37, 2009 Published: Nov 13, 2009
Quantum 'trampoline' to test gravity
Laser creates record-breaking protons
Google launches Go programming language
Water purifiers for the poor fail to prove their worth
Sniff test to preserve old books

Quantum 'trampoline' to test gravity
To test theories such as general relativity, the strength of gravity is measured precisely using ensembles of supercold atoms falling in a vacuum chamber. These ensembles are called 'Bose-Einstein condensates'. BECs act in a quantum-mechanical wave-like fashion and interfere with each other. The interference pattern depends on the paths the atoms take, so gravity's effect on how fast they fall can be calculated by analysing the pattern with an interferometer. The longer the fall, the more precise the measurement – but the harder it is to keep the ensemble intact. Now researchers at the Institute of Optics in Palaiseau, France, have increased the fall time with a 'quantum trampoline'. In a microscopic chamber, they fired a specially designed laser pulse at the falling BECs. The pulse affected the BECs in the same way that a crystal lattice can affect light: since the atoms exhibit wave-like behaviour, they can be diffracted in a similar way to light in a crystal. By tuning the laser, the team were able to split up the wave, causing some of its components to bounce upwards. When the parts fell back down, the laser was pulsed so they split again, and so on. Eventually the parts recombined in an interference pattern. The device is less precise than existing atom interferometers, but the team plan to improve precision markedly by, for instance, using lighter atoms. Lighter atoms like helium and lithium will levitate for longer after each bounce than heavier atoms. This has the same effect as creating a longer interferometer with heavier atoms.
New Scientist Nov 12, 2009	back to top

Laser creates record-breaking protons
An international group of physicists working at the Los Alamos Laboratory in the US has used a laser to generate 67.5 MeV protons – the highest-energy protons yet produced in this way. Their work points the way to new laser-based devices for proton therapy, which would be far smaller and cheaper than existing particle-accelerator sources. When a high-energy proton beam travels through the human body it deposits most of its energy within a small volume, the size and location of which can be calculated to great precision. As a result, protons offer a distinct advantage over other forms of radiation used to destroy tumour cells because they cause less damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Unfortunately, the accelerators needed to generate the protons can cover thousands of square metres and cost some USD 100m. This has limited the number of proton-therapy facilities available and patients often have to travel considerable distances to be treated in this way. Some physicists believe that a laser-based proton generator could be made for about one tenth of the cost of a conventional accelerator and be small enough to be contained within a classroom-sized laboratory. The idea is that ultra-powerful laser pulses knock electrons out of the atoms within a tiny target, causing the electrons to accumulate on the target's rear surface. This sets up an electric field across the target, accelerating the resultant ions and forcing them to leave the material as a very high-energy beam. The latest breakthrough is a significant step forward towards the creation of such a device. However, scientists warn that it might take a decade before laser-generated protons can be used to combat cancer.
PhysicsWorld Nov 09, 2009	back to top

Google launches Go programming language
Google has released a new experimental programming language to the open source community. Go is an attempt by the web giant to mix the dynamic, web-friendly attributes of scripting languages like Python with the performance and security benefits of compiled languages like C++. The move follows similar attempts to gain a foothold in the world of core IT infrastructure, which include the creation of the Android mobile operating system (OS), the Chrome PC browser and the Chrome OS. Work on Go was started two years ago, but it was assigned a dedicated development team to work on it full time about a year ago. Team members include industry heavyweights Ken Thompson and Rob Pike, two of the creators of the Unix operating system, and Robert Thompson, who developed the Java HotSpot compiler. Google says that Go is intended to be a systems programming language for building software such as web servers and databases. Its concurrent programming model is optimised for multi-processing and multi-core-based machines. Described by the vendor as a 'fresh and lightweight take on object-oriented design', the language is intended to improve the handling of dependencies between reusable software components such as libraries.
VNUnet UK Nov 11, 2009	back to top

Water purifiers for the poor fail to prove their worth
Many of the systems intended to provide clean water for families in some of the world's poorest communities may not work. That's the conclusion of Paul Hunter, a microbiologist at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, who has assessed past studies of the effectiveness of household water treatment (HWT) systems. Most of these systems work either by disinfecting the water – using chlorine tablets or by allowing the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight to purify stored water – or by passing it through ceramic or sand filters to remove microorganisms. Hunter says that many of the studies he analysed are too short-term to lead to meaningful conclusions. Worse, in some studies comparing new treatments with old ones, those gathering the data knew which was which. This risks biasing their conclusions. Hunter thinks that before HWT programmes are rolled out they should be subject to the same rigorous testing as drugs. Bruce Gordon, who leads the World Health Organization's water, sanitation and hygiene department disagrees, and says it would be premature to give up on HWT. He maintains that contaminated water is a major concern for developing countries.
New Scientist / Environmental Science & Technology Nov 11, 2009	back to top

Sniff test to preserve old books
The key to preserving the old, degrading paper of ageing books is contained in the smell of their pages, and a new 'sniff test' can measure degradation of old books and historical documents, according to an international team of scientists led by University College London. The test picks up and identifies the chemicals that the pages release as they degrade. This could help libraries and museums preserve a range of precious books. The test is based on detecting the levels of volatile organic compounds. These are released by paper as it ages and produce the familiar 'old book smell'. The new method is called 'material degradomics'. The scientists are able to use it to find what chemicals books release, without damaging the paper. It involves an analytical technique called gas chromatography- mass spectrometry. This simply 'sniffs' the paper and separates out the different compounds. The team tested 72 historical papers from the 19th and 20th centuries and identified 15 compounds that were 'reliable markers' of degradation. Measuring the levels of these individual compounds made it possible to produce a 'fingerprint' of each document's condition.
BBC News / Analytical Chemistry Nov 12, 2009	back to top