>Date: 16 Apr 1999 22:25:51 -0000 >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: "-PhysicsWeb-" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Organization: IoP >Subject: Latest PhysicsWeb Summaries (text) > > ---------------------------------------------------------- >/ PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert >\ (http://PhysicsWeb.org) > ========================================================== > ---------------------------------------------------------- >| News > ========================================================== > * Multi-planet system startles astronomers: (16 April) > Astronomers have discovered the first planetary system > around a star other than the Solar System around our Sun. > Paul Butler of the Anglo-Australian Observatory and a > team of US astronomers have discovered three large > Jupiter-size planets orbiting the star Upsilon > Andromedae, which is 44 light years away from the Earth. > The results have big implications for theories of > planetary formation. Previously astronomers thought that > Jupiter-sized planets could only form on the outskirts of > planetary systems, but two of the planets orbit Upsilon > Andromedae at less than the Earth-Sun distance. > [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/3/4/9 ] > ---------------------------------------------------------- > * Sharper image for polycrystalline materials: (16 > April) > A new technique that allows researchers to calculate the > three-dimensional structure of polycrystallites has been > discovered. Until recently the preferred method for > calculating 3D structures, X-ray diffraction, could only > be used with single crystals. The new technique yields > structures for polycrystalline materials that are similar > in quality to those obtained from single crystals > (Science 284 477). > [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/3/4/10 ] > ---------------------------------------------------------- > * The most distant object in the universe: (16 April) > The Hubble Space Telescope has pinpointed the most > distant galaxy ever observed. Kenneth Lanzetta, Hsiao-Wen > Chen and Sebastian Pascarelle from the State University > of New York at Stony Brook detected the galaxy at > ultraviolet wavelengths using the Space Telescope Imaging > Spectrograph. The galaxy has a redshift of 6.68, which > means that we are seeing it as it existed when the > universe was only 5% of its present age (Nature > 398 586). > [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/3/4/11 ] > ---------------------------------------------------------- > * Physics looks to the future: (16 April) > Physicists should work harder to improve the public > awareness of science and the training of science > teachers. These are two of the conclusions of a report of > a workshop held in preparation for the World Conference > on Science in Budapest in June. The report also argues > that the United Nations should set up an impartial > international body to adjudicate on scientific questions > such as genetically modified crops and cold fusion, and > that the amount that a country spends on research should > be directly linked to its gross domestic product. > Physicists should also present a united front, says the > report, or they will be vulnerable to 'fractional > fighting'. The World Conference on Science is being > organized by the United Nations Educational Scientific > and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International > Council of Science (ICSU). > [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/3/4/12 ] > ---------------------------------------------------------- > ---------------------------------------------------------- >| Reviews > ========================================================== > * When conflict tests your convictions: (13 April) > Physicists in Conflict: From Antiquity to the New > Millennium Neil Porter 1998 Institute of Physics > Publishing 275pp #25.00/$39.50hb > [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/reviews/12/4/3 ] > ---------------------------------------------------------- > * Visions of Einstein: (13 April) > Albert Through the Looking Glass: The Personal Papers of > Albert Einstein Ze'ev Rosenkranz (ed) 1998 The Jewish > National and University Library 156pp $35.00hb > [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/reviews/12/4/4 ] > ---------------------------------------------------------- > > ---------------------------------------------------------- >/ This alert was generated according to your settings. >| To change your alerting settings visit User Options at >\ http://PhysicsWeb.org/users/options/alert > ========================================================== > >Copyright (C)IOP Publishing Ltd. 1999. All rights reserved. >
