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Research News

  • Changing transatlantic flight routes ‘could reduce climate impact’

    Airlines could reduce their climate impact by up to 10 per cent in the future by optimising some flight routes, according to new research. The study shows the cost to airlines of changing flight routes to avoid areas where emissions have the largest impact would be comparatively small – around a one per cent increase […]

  • Study shows dramatic increases in China’s economic exposure to earthquakes

    China’s economic exposure to earthquakes has dramatically increased since 1990, researchers from Beijing Normal University have found. They found that rapid economic growth and urbanisation in the country have led to huge spatiotemporal changes in the economic value of the country’s assets (buildings and non-building infrastructure) and gross domestic product (GDP) exposed to seismic hazards. […]

  • Matter wave gyroscope could offer precise direction in absence of GPS signal

    Protocol for rotation sensing with trapped ions provides blueprint for big sensitivity boost in a small package Researchers in the USA have presented a protocol for a highly sensitive and compact gyroscope, capable of measuring very small changes in rotation. The design could form part of an inertial navigation system and offer directional information in […]

  • Simple climate change contribution measure ‘remains elusive’

    The search for a single and simple measure for each country’s contribution to global warming is unlikely to succeed, new research has warned. The question of how to fairly quantify national contributions to global warming historically, and inform future policy on sharing the burden of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, has long been part of international […]

  • Researchers use mathematical modeling to explain complete destruction of Germanwings Flight 9525

    An international team of researchers, led by Texas A&M mathematician Professor Goong Chen, has used the latest in visualization technology and their collective scientific expertise to chart the final moments of Germanwings Flight 9525, deliberately crashed in the French Alps on March 24, 2015. Although it happened almost two years ago, the crash is still […]

  • Study shows dramatic increase in meltwater from Canadian glaciers

    The ice loss from Canada’s Queen Elizabeth Islands glaciers has transformed them into a major contributor to sea level change, new research has found. By combining ice discharge calculated from remote sensing data with the latest version of the Regional Atmospheric Climate Model, the study tracked the mass loss from the islands’ glaciers and ice […]

  • New research makes cutting edge cancer treatment more precise

    Researchers in Germany have taken an important step towards improving the accuracy of a highly effective radiotherapy technique used to treat cancer. The team, from the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), the Heidelberg Ion-Beam Therapy Centre (HIT) and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), hoped to address uncertainty about the dosimetry – the measurement and assessment of […]

  • Physics explains why rock musicians prefer valve amps

    For many guitarists, the rich, warm sound of an overdriven valve amp – think AC/DC’s crunchy Marshall rhythm tones or Carlos Santana’s singing Mesa Boogie-fuelled leads – can’t be beaten. But why is the valve sound so sought after? David Keeports, a physics professor from Mills College in California, looked at the science of valve […]