http://focus.aps.org News stories covering physics research published in Physical Review and Physical Review Letters. en http://focus.aps.org/story/v23/st22 Gamma rays and energetic electrons detected on a Japanese mountaintop confirm that thunderstorms are efficient electron accelerators. <br/><img src ="http://focus.aps.org/files/focus/v23/st22/thunderstorm_250.jpg" alt ="teaser image"/><br/>Image: iStockphoto.com/Nature247<br/><br/> accelerator bremsstrahlung L-5 L5-50B lightning Physical Review Letters runaway electron avalanche terrestrial gamma ray flashes thundercloud thunderstorm Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:12:38 -0400 Michael Schirber 22889 at http://focus.aps.org http://focus.aps.org/story/v23/st21 Colliding protons can remain intact but still generate new particles, according to results from Fermilab. A similarly clean process could produce the elusive Higgs particle at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. <br/><img src ="http://focus.aps.org/files/focus/v23/st21/CMS_250.jpg" alt ="teaser image"/><br/>Image: CERN<br/><br/> CERN Chi meson exclusive production Fermilab Higgs boson L-1 L1-20B LHC Physical Review Letters QCD quantum field theory Tevatron virtual gluons Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:28:08 -0400 JR Minkel 22887 at http://focus.aps.org http://focus.aps.org/story/v23/st20 A fraction of the soot particles produced in a flame can have a more rod-like, rather than bush-like structure, contradicting the conventional theory, which is relevant for industrial products and the atmosphere. <br/><img src ="http://focus.aps.org/files/focus/v23/st20/soot_250.jpg" alt ="teaser image"/><br/>Image: Phys. Rev. Lett. <b>102</b>, 235504 (2009)<br/><br/> aerosol aggregation carbon carbon black cluster combustion diffusion limited aggregation DLA DLCA flame fractal L-6 L6-55B particle Physical Review Letters soot Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:36:20 -0400 Don Monroe 22885 at http://focus.aps.org http://focus.aps.org/story/v23/st19 Computer simulations explain how proteins can slide along strands of DNA looking for a target sequence without getting stuck. <br/><img src ="http://focus.aps.org/files/focus/v23/st19/EcoRV_250.jpg" alt ="teaser image"/><br/>Image: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EcoRV_1RVA.png">R. Wheeler</a><br/><br/> biophysics DNA L-8 L8-81B Monte Carlo simulation osmotic pressure Physical Review Letters protein Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:53:37 -0400 Michelangelo D'Agostino 22883 at http://focus.aps.org http://focus.aps.org/story/v23/st18 A miniature time machine, possibly based on a wormhole through spacetime, could be used to break a super-secure quantum code. <br/><img src ="http://focus.aps.org/files/focus/v23/st18/time_tunnel_250_1.jpg" alt ="teaser image"/><br/>Image: mptvimages.com<br/><br/> closed timelike curves L-0 L0-04B Physical Review Letters quantum cryptography quantum measurement time travel Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:00:08 -0400 David Lindley 22881 at http://focus.aps.org http://focus.aps.org/story/v23/st17 A single neutrino left over from the big bang may have a quantum wave (wave function) that stretches across the universe. <br/><img src ="http://focus.aps.org/files/focus/v23/st17/Hubble_ultradeep1_250.jpg" alt ="teaser image"/><br/>Image: <a href="http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2004/07/image/a/">S. Beckwith/NASA/ESA/STScI/HUDF Team</a><br/><br/> big bang cosmic microwave background galaxy formation L-0G LG-13B neutrino mass neutrino mixing Physical Review Letters quantum mechanical superposition relic neutrinos wave function collapse Tue, 26 May 2009 17:45:41 -0400 Michael Schirber 22879 at http://focus.aps.org http://focus.aps.org/story/v23/st16 The 1947 invention of the transistor, which made the microchip revolution possible, occurred in spite of a fierce rivalry between the inventors and their boss. <br/><img src ="http://focus.aps.org/files/focus/v23/st16/transistor_250.gif" alt ="teaser image"/><br/>Image: Bell Labs/Alcatel-Lucent<br/><br/> Bardeen Brattain electronics Landmarks Physical Review semiconductor Shockley transistor triode Thu, 14 May 2009 20:40:51 -0400 David Lindley 22877 at http://focus.aps.org http://focus.aps.org/story/v23/st15 A feeble light beam reverses the magnetism of small regions of a magnetic semiconductor, raising new possibilities for using light in magnetic data storage. <br/><img src ="http://focus.aps.org/files/focus/v23/st15/mag-opt_byte_big_250.gif" alt ="teaser image"/><br/>Image: Phys. Rev. Lett. <b>102</b>, 187401 (2009)<br/><br/> coercivity Curie temperature domain doping ferromagnet gallium arsenide L-7 L7-74B magnetism magneto-optical manganese MBE memory recording Molecular Beam Epitaxy optical Physical Review Letters semiconductor semimagnetic Thu, 07 May 2009 17:52:29 -0400 Don Monroe 22875 at http://focus.aps.org http://focus.aps.org/story/v23/st14 Calculations reveal that a dense cloud of cold atoms pumped with lasers can glow with its own laser light. Such 'random lasers' have previously been made only from solid and liquid materials. <br/><img src ="http://focus.aps.org/files/focus/v23/st14/RandomLaserMOT_250.jpg" alt ="teaser image"/><br/>Image: W. Guerin/Nice Sophia Antipolis Univ.<br/><br/> atom trapping cold atom gain medium L-4 L4-39B multiple scattering Physical Review Letters population inversion random laser Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:10:39 -0400 Michael Schirber 22873 at http://focus.aps.org http://focus.aps.org/story/v23/st13 A new system for analyzing sleep data could help future patients by providing a more complete picture of their sleep process. <br/><img src ="http://focus.aps.org/files/focus/v23/st13/sleep_250.jpg" alt ="teaser image"/><br/>Image: iStockphoto.com/perkmeup<br/><br/> apnea exponential hypnogram L-8 L8-81B Markov Physical Review Letters REM sleep sleep dynamics statistics Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:06:56 -0400 JR Minkel 22871 at http://focus.aps.org