(Press-News.org) LIVERMORE, Calif. -- One of the unsolved mysteries of contemporary science is how highly organized structures can emerge from the random motion of particles. This applies to many situations ranging from astrophysical objects that extend over millions of light years to the birth of life on Earth.
The surprising discovery of self-organized electromagnetic fields in counter-streaming ionized gases (also known as plasmas) will give scientists a new way to explore how order emerges from chaos in the cosmos. This breakthrough finding was published online in the journal Nature Physics on September 30.
"We've created a model for exploring how electromagnetic fields help organize ionized gas or plasma in astrophysical settings, such as in the plasma flows that emerge from young stars," said lead author Nathan Kugland, a postdoctoral researcher in the High Energy Density Science Group at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). "These fields help shape the flows, and likely play a supporting role alongside gravity in the formation of solar systems, which can eventually lead to the creation of planets like the Earth."
"This observation was completely unexpected, since the plasmas move so quickly that they should freely stream past each other," explained Hye-Sook Park, team leader and staff physicist at LLNL. Park added that "laser-driven plasma experiments can study the microphysics of plasma interaction and structure formation under controlled conditions."
Studying astrophysics with laboratory experiments can help answer questions about astrophysical objects that are far beyond the reach of direct measurements. This research is being carried out as part of a large international collaboration, Astrophysical Collisionless Shock Experiments with Lasers (ACSEL), led by LLNL, Princeton University, Osaka University and Oxford University, with many other universities participating.
###
This work was performed at the OMEGA EP laser by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Additional support was provided by the LDRD program and the International Collaboration for High Energy Density Science (ICHEDS), supported by the Core-to-Core Program of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The research leading to these results received funding from the European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme.
Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory provides solutions to our nation's most important national security challenges through innovative science, engineering and technology. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Lawrence livermore experiments illuminate how order arises in the cosmos
2012-10-05
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Urban coyotes could be setting the stage for larger carnivores to move into cities
2012-10-05
COLUMBUS, Ohio – About five miles from Chicago O'Hare International Airport, scientists have located the smallest known coyote territory ever observed. For at least six years, a coyote community has maintained its existence within about a third of a square mile.
"That's an indication that they don't have to go far to find food and water. They're finding everything they need right there, in the suburbs of Chicago," said Stan Gehrt, an associate professor of environment and natural resources at Ohio State University who has led the tracking of coyotes around Chicago for ...
Non-native plants show a greater response than native wildflowers to climate change
2012-10-05
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Warming temperatures in Ohio are a key driver behind changes in the state's landscape, and non-native plant species appear to be responding more strongly than native wildflowers to the changing climate, new research suggests.
This adaptive nature demonstrated by introduced species could serve them well as the climate continues to warm. At the same time, the non-natives' potential ability to become even more invasive could threaten the survival of native species already under pressure from land-use changes, researchers say.
The research combines analyses ...
Mechanism of aerosol aging identified
2012-10-05
Atmospheric aerosol particles have a significant effect on climate. An international team of researchers has now discovered that a chemical process in the atmosphere called aging determines to a major extent the concentration and the characteristics of aerosol particles. To date, this aspect has not been accounted for in regional and global climate models. In the Muchachas [Multiple Chamber Aerosol Chemical Aging Experiments] project, the team has not only managed to demonstrate the effects of aging but has also been able to measure these. Their findings have been published ...
Pacemaker could help more heart failure patients
2012-10-05
A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden demonstrates that a change in the ECG wave called the QRS prolongation is associated with a higher rate of heart-failure mortality. According to the team that carried out the study, which is published in the scientific periodical The European Heart Journal, the discovery suggests that more heart-failure cases than the most serious could be helped by pacemakers.
Heart failure, which takes a multitude of forms, is one of the most common causes of hospitalisation and death in the West. While there are several effective treatments ...
Breakthrough study identifies trauma switch
2012-10-05
Researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School have for the first time identified the mechanism that protects us from developing uncontrollable fear.
Our brains have the extraordinary capacity to adapt to changing environments – experts call this 'plasticity'. Plasticity protects us from developing mental disorders as the result of stress and trauma.
Researchers found that stressful events re-programme certain receptors in the emotional centre of the brain (the amygdala), which the receptors then determine how the brain reacts to the next traumatic event.
These ...
Benzodiazepine use and dementia in the over 65s
2012-10-05
The results from comparative analysis of this population demonstrate the risk of developing dementia increased by 50% for subjects who consumed benzodiazepines during the follow-up period, compared with those who had never used benzodiazepines. Although this study does not confirm a cause and effect relationship, as is the case for all epidemiological research, the researchers recommend increased vigilance when using these molecules, which remain useful in the treatment of insomnia and anxiety in elderly patients.
The results of this research are available online on ...
Essential oils as antigerminants for the storage of potatoes
2012-10-05
This press release is available in Spanish.
One of the critical moments in the final quality of the potato occurs during its storage, as there exists the risk of sprouting or rotting due to pathogenic agents such as bacteria and fungi. In order to avoid this, agricultural engineer David Gómez Castillo carried out research for his PhD on the possibility of substituting the current use of chemical products by treating the tuber with essential oils of mint, caraway, coriander, eucalyptus and clove, "which have proved to be great potential inhibitors in the main problems detected".
The ...
A white mouse
2012-10-05
These proteins are required for melanocyte stem cell self-maintenance and, as such, correct pigmentation throughout the mice's life span. Without these two proteins, the mice's fur turns white.
Their research is published in the review 'Cell Report' and paves the way for serious possibilities in terms of stopping the formation of melanomas, tumours that originate from melanocyte cells.
Melanocytes are cells in the organism used for skin, fur and hair pigment. This pigmentation function provides protection from the sun and lends organisms their colour. Malfunctions in ...
Mosquito genetics may offer clues to malaria control, Virginia Tech researchers say
2012-10-05
An African mosquito species with a deadly capacity to transmit malaria has a perplexing evolutionary history, according to discovery by researchers at the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech.
Closely related African mosquito species originated the ability to transmit human malaria multiple times during their recent evolution, according to a study published this week in PLoS Pathogens by Igor Sharakhov, an associate professor of entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Maryam Kamali of Tehran, Iran, a Ph.D. student in the department of ...
Building 3-D structures from a 2-D template
2012-10-05
This press release is available in German.
Deep below the silicon surface, the SPRIE method produces regular structures in the micrometer range that refract light. (Photo: KIT/CFN)
In modern telecommunications, light carries digital information over kilometers within seconds. Adapted optical materials control the light signals. In the AFM journal, researchers from Berlin, Louvain, and from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology present a method to produce photonic crystals. Their optical properties are adjusted by structures of micrometer size. The method is rapid, cheap, ...