First Edition

Popular
Science

Written By Filip Slavchev

Credit to authors of articles

Table of Contents
Astronomy
Science News Of 2015

The branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space,

and the physical universe as a whole. Found on page 2

1. Planetary System Twice The Age Of The Sun

Discovered February 2nd

Articles 1 and 3

2. Monster black hole from early cosmos challenges

physics- February 26th
3. Has the Sound of the Stars been Discovered by
Researchers?- March 17th
4. New Form of Ice Forms in Graphene "Sandwich" March 26th
5. Dark matter is ghostly and non-interactive -March
27th
6. Big Bang theory could be debunked by Large Hadron
Collider- April 5th
7. Aluminum battery charges smartphones in 60
seconds- April 7th
8. Artificial blood vessel breakthrough as natural cells
take over- April 28th

Biology
The study of living organisms, divided into many specialized
fields that cover their morphology, physiology, anatomy, behavior, origin, and distribution. Found on page 9
Article 8

Physics
The branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy. The subject matter of physics, distinguished from that of chemistry and biology, includes mechanics, heat, light and other radiation, sound, electricity, magnetism, and the structure of atoms. Found on page 12
Articles 2, 4, 5, 6, 7

Astronomy

For every one, as I think,

must see that astronomy
compels the soul to look
upwards and leads us from
this world to another.
Glaucoma, the older
brother of Plato, in Plato's
The Republic, c. 380 BCE

Section 1

Astronomy
Planetary System Twice The Age Of
The Sun Discovered
The Kepler-444 star is 11.2 billion years old and orbited by five
planets about the size of Mercury and Venus.
AsianScientist (Feb. 2, 2015) - An international team of astronomers has discovered a sun-like star with orbiting planets dating back to the dawn of the Galaxy.
The discovery, published in The Astrophysical Journal, used observations
made by NASA's Kepler satellite.
The scientific collaboration was
led by the University of Birmingham and contributed to by the
University of Sydney.
The star, named Kepler-444,
hosts five planets smaller than
Earth, with sizes varying between
those of Mercury and Venus. At
11.2 billion years old it is the oldest

star with earth-sized planets ever found and proves that such
planets have formed throughout the history of the Universe.
"We've never seen anything like thisit is such an old star and
the large number of small planets make it very special," said
Dr. Daniel Huber an author on the paper from the University of
Sydney.
"It is extraordinary that such an ancient system of terrestrialsized planets formed when the universe was just starting out,
at a fifth its current age. Kepler-444 is two and a half times
older than our solar system, which is only a youthful 4.5 billion
years old."
"This tells us that
planets this size
have formed for
most of the history of the universe and we
are much better
placed to understand exactly
when this began
happening."

Dr. Tiago Campante, the research leader from the University of

Birmingham said, "We now know that Earth-sized planets have
formed throughout most of the Universe's 13.8-billion-year
history, which could provide scope for the existence
of ancient life in the Galaxy."
The team used astro-seismology to determine the age of the star and planets.
This technique measures oscillationsthe natural resonances of the
host star caused by sound waves
trapped within it.
They lead to minuscule changes
or pulses in the star's brightness
and allow researchers to measure its diameter, mass and age.
The presence and size of the
planets is detected by the dimming that occurs when the planets pass across the face of the
star. This fading in the intensity of
the light received from the star enables scientists to accurately measure
the sizes of the planets relative to the size
of the star.
"When astro-seismology emerged about two decades

ago we could only use it on the Sun and a few bright stars, but
thanks to Kepler we can now apply the technique to literally
thousands of stars. Astro-seismology allows us
to precisely measure the radius of
Kepler-444 and hence the sizes of
its planets. For the smallest
planet in the Kepler-444 system, which is slightly larger
than Mercury, we measured its size with an uncertainty of only
100km," Huber said.
"It was clear early on
that we had discovered something very
unusual because
we had five planets
orbiting a very bright
starone of the brightest Kepler has observed. It is fantastic that
we can use astroseismology to date the star
and determine just how old it is.
"In the case of Kepler-444 the planets
4

orbit their parent star in less than ten days, at less than onetenth the Earth's distance from the Sun. Their closeness to their
host star means they are uninhabitable because of the lack of
liquid water and high levels of radiation. Nevertheless, discoveries like Kepler-444 provide important clues on whether a
planet that is more truly comparable to Earth may exist.

one step closer to finding an Earth-sized planet with a one year orbit around a
star similar to our Sun.

"We're another step closer towards finding the astronomers'

holy grailn Earth-sized planet with a one year orbit around a
star similar to our Sun."
Synopsis: An international team of researchers have recently discovered a
sun-like star system orbited by five planets and he name of this star system is
Kepler-444 which is 11.2 billion years old. In that solar system, it contains 5
planets of varying size similar to the likes of mercury, Venus and even Earth.
This is is the oldest star with earth-sized planets and proves that such systems
could have existed. This find could provide scope for ancient life in the galaxy said, Dr. Tiago Campante, the research leader from the University of Birmingham. The international team used astro-seismology to determine the age
of the residing stars and planets. This technique essentially studies the internal structure of pulsating stars by the interpretation of their frequency spectra.
Different oscillation modes penetrate to different depths inside the star and provides information about the interior of the star similar to the seismologists on
Earth who study the interior of Earth. The slight changes of the pulses in the
stars brightness allowed the scientists to determine its size, diameter, mass
and age. The presence of the other planets is detected by the dimming that
occurs when the planets pass across the face of the star. This fading in the intensity of the light received from the star enables scientists to accurately measure the sizes of the planets relative to the size of the star. The scientists are

Section 2

Astronomy
Has the Sound of the Stars been Discovered by Researchers?
A fluke discovery by a team of researchers has provided experimental evidence that stars may give off sound.
The study of fluids in motion, now known as hydrodynamics, actually goes back to the Egyptians, so it is not often that new discoveries are made. However when examining the interaction of
an ultra-intense laser with a plasma target, the team observed
something unexpected.
Scientists including Dr John Pasley, of the York Plasma Institute
in the Department of Physics at York, realized that in the trillionth of a second after the laser strikes, plasma flowed rapidly
from areas of high density to more stagnant regions of low density, in such a way that it created something like a traffic jam.

Trillion Hertz Frequency

However, the sound generated was at such a high frequency
that it would have left even bats and dolphins struggling!
6

With a frequency of nearly a trillion hertz, the sound generated

was not only unexpected, but was also at close to the highest
frequency possible in such a material. That is six million times
higher than that which can be heard by any mammal.
Plasma piled up at the interface between the high and low density regions, generating a series of pressure pulses: a sound
wave.
Dr Pasley, who worked with scientists from the Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India, and the Science and
Technology Facilities Councils Central Laser Facility in Oxfordshire, said:
One of the few locations in nature where we believe this effect
would occur is at the surface of stars. When they are accumulating new material stars could generate sound in a very similar
manner to that which we observed in the laboratory so the
stars might be singing but, since sound cannot propagate
through the vacuum of space, no one can hear them.

The technique used to observe the sound waves in the lab

works very much like a police speed camera. It allows the scientists to accurately measure how fluid is moving at the point that
is struck by the laser on timescales of less than a trillionth of a
second.
Dr Alex Robinson from the Plasma Physics Group at STFCs
Central Laser Facility developed a numerical model to generate
acoustic waves for the experiment. He said:
It was initially hard to determine the origin of the acoustic signals, but our model produced results that compared favorably
with the wavelength shifts observed in the experiment. This
showed that we had discovered a new way of generating sound
from fluid flows. Similar situations could occur in plasma flowing
around stars
Synopsis: A recent groundbreaking discovery was made by a team of researchers. This incredible find provided experimental evidence that stars produce a sound. The mechanics behind the discovery is hydrodynamics or

the study of fluids in motion. This

study goes back to the ancient Egyptians but however, when the team
examined the interaction of an ultraintense laser with a plasma target,
the team observed something completely unexpected.The scientists at
York plasma institute realized that
one-trillionth of a second after the
laser stroke, the plasma flowed from
areas of high density to areas of low
density in such a way that created
pressure pulses or sound waves.
The sound produced was a frequency close to a trillion hertz, which
was the highest frequency produced
in such a material. Another interesting factor is that this frequency is six
million times higher that any mammal is able to hear. Scientists postulated that this phenomenon would
would naturally occur on the surface
of stars but because sound cannot
travel through the vacuum of space
nothing can hear the sound waves.
The technique that was used works
similarly to a police speed camera.
This technique allowed the scientists
to accurately measure how fluid
moves when struck by a laser on a
timescale a trillionth of a second.

Biology

You can't even begin to

understand biology, you
can't understand life,
unless you understand
what it's all there for, how it
arose - and that means
evolution.
Richard Dawkins

Section 1

Biology
Artificial blood vessel breakthrough as
natural cells take over
Biodegradable artificial blood vessels that remain free from
blockages and are replaced by the body have been developed
by medical researchers in Austria. The breakthrough could lead
to the increased use of artificial blood vessels in bypass operations.
The blood vessels are made from an elastomer material, which
is created by spinning polymer solutions in an electrical field to
form very fine threads. These threads are then wound onto a
spool for use in surgical procedures.
During bypass procedures blocked blood vessels are normally
replaced by vessels taken from elsewhere on the body, with current prosthetic alternatives often not suitable. Such vessels
have rougher surfaces than their natural counterparts and are
prone to becoming blocked. The biocompatible polymers were
spun in an electrical field. To solve this problem researchers at
Vienna University of Technology and Vienna Medical University
developed new polymers known as thermoplastic polyure-

10

thanes. The findings were published in the journalActa Biomaterialia.

"By selecting very specific molecular building blocks we have
succeeded in synthesizing a polymer with the desired properties," explained Robert Liska from Vienna University of Technology's synthetic chemistry institute.
Researchers around the world have been working for years to
create artificial blood vessels that work as well as the real thing.
This latest breakthrough could allow surgeons to carry out more
bypass operations and reduce the risk of blockages associated
with smaller artificial blood vessels. The polymer created by the
team in Austria is slightly porous and initially allows a small
amount of blood to seep through, encouraging nearby tissue to
thrive. Over time the artificial blood vessel is replaced by natural, endogenous cells.

Experiments with rats have already proven successful and researchers are confident the technique could be carried over to
humans.
"The rats' blood vessels were examined six months after insertion of the vascular prostheses," explained Helga Bergmeister
from Vienna Medical University We did not find any aneurysms, thromboses or inflammation." She noted that natural
cells had also turned the artificial vessel into natural body tissue. More pre-clinical trials will be carried out before the artificial blood vessels can be used on humans.
Synopsis: Medical researchers in Austria have recently created biodegradable
artificial blood vessels which could lead to the increase of their use in bypass operation. These artificial blood vessels are constructed using thermoplastic polymers or
elastomers. The the polymer solution is then spun in an electric field to form extremely fine threads which then are woven into a cylindrical device on which film,
magnetic tape, thread, or other flexible materials can be wound (spool) such as the
elastomer used in this procedure. Traditionally during an operation the surgeons
would generally harvest blood vessels from another body part to replace blocked
blood vessels during a bypass operation and most artificial vessels created today are
unsuitable for the operation. Some issues is that the vessels used in place of the old
ones have is that they carry rougher surfaces in comparison to their natural counterpart and these vessels are prone to clogs and blockages. To solve this, a team at Vienna University of Technology and Vienna Medical University created thermoplasticpolyurethanes that are biocompatible. This breakthrough would allow surgeons to
operate on more patients with needs of bypass operations and reduce the risk of
blockages. The way the technology works is that when the polyurethane tubes or
vessels are implanted in place of the old blood vessels, it allows some blood to flow
through which encourages the surrounding tissue to grow and the artificial blood vessels to have their place taken by natural cells.

11

Physics

What we usually consider

as impossible are simply
engineering problems...
there's no law of physics
preventing them.
-Michio Kaku

Section 1

Physics

The black hole, which formed just 900 million years after the
Big Bang, is the source of a powerful beam of bright material
known as a quasar.

Monster black hole from early cosmos

challenges physics

"When we found this supermassive black hole we got very excited because we had found something that we never thought
we could find," says Dr Fuyan Bian of the Australian National
University.

Super big discovery The discovery of a supermassive black

hole from the early cosmos is set to rewrite physics, say scientists.
An international team of astronomers detected a black hole 12
billion times the mass of our Sun, they report today in the journal Nature .

The team, led by Xue-Bing Wu at Peking University, discovered

the black hole and quasar -- known as SDSS JO100+2802 -using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, then followed up with three
other telescopes.
With a luminosity of 420 trillion that of our Sun's, the new quasar is seven times brighter than the most distant quasar known.
"This quasar is very unique. Just like the brightest lighthouse in
the distant universe, its glowing light will help us probe more
about the early Universe," says Wu.
Challenging physics
But the discovery of the supermassive black hole powering the
quasar presents a mystery: how can such a monster black hole
grow so quickly in the early Universe?

13

"It's very hard to make these kinds of supermassive black holes

very early in the universe," says Bian.
"We need to find some new theory that can grow the supermassive black hole much faster than we thought."
Supermassive black holes are believed to have formed in conjunction with galaxies in the early Universe but according to current theories there must be a careful balancing of forces to build
a black hole.
As material accelerates under the force of gravity towards a
black hole, it heats up, emitting an extraordinary amount of energy in the form of a quasar.

But the energy of the quasar actually pushes material away

from the black hole so if it is too great it can stop material falling
onto to the black hole altogether.
These forces must be balanced, which limits how fast a black
hole can grow. This fact, combined with the small amount of
matter available in the early Universe in the first place, make it
hard for scientists to explain how the supermassive black hole
came into existence.
"With this supermassive black hole, very early in the Universe,
that theory cannot work," says Bian.
"It's time for a new hypothesis and for some new physics."
Synopsis: An international team of astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole that was created approximately 900 million years after the big bang.
The supermassive blackhole that was discovered by this team is about 12 billion
times the size of our sun and has a luminosity 420 trillion times our sun. The blackhole is the powerful source of a powerful beam of bright material known as a quasar.
The team, led by Xue-Bing Wu at Peking University, discovered the black hole and
quasar known as SDSS JO100+2802 using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey telescope.
The factor that puzzles scientists most is the fact that a supermassive blackhole of
that size is able to grow in such a short period of time proprietary to the current laws
laws of physics. According to current theories, there must be a conjunction with galaxies in the early universe and there must be careful balancing of forces to construct a
black hole. In general, as the material accelerates towards a black hole, it heats up
and emits an extraordinary amount of energy in the form of a spiral tube shape which
is known as a quasar. Surprisingly, the energy of the quasar pushes material away
from the black hole and if it is too great it can stop the material from falling onto the
black hole. With the limitation of the amount of matter in the early universe it is impossibly hard to determine how the supermassive black hole came into existence.

14

Section 2

Physics
New Form of Ice Forms in Graphene
"Sandwich"
In 'square ice', which has been seen between graphene sheets,
water molecules lock flat in a right-angled formation. The structure is strikingly different from familiar hexagonal ice (right).

By flattening a droplet of water between two sheets of graphene, researchers have created a new form of ice. Just a few
molecules thick, its atoms are locked in a square grid pattern.

The discovery of square ice highlights another remarkable

property of graphene, which consists of flat, atom-thick sheets
of carbon. Not only are graphene sheets remarkably stiff, strong
and conductive, but they can also exert immense pressure on
molecules trapped between them. This could explain why water
seeps through stacks of graphene very quickly a property
that suggests the material could be used in desalination membranes to purify water.

Back in 2012, a
team led by Andre
Geim at the University of Manchester, UK
who shared the
2010 Nobel Prize
in Physics for isolating and studying graphene
found that water
vapor could pass
through laminated
sheets of graphene oxide, something that not even helium gas could manage. Two years later, they showed that liquid water performed
15

the same trick through stacks of graphene oxide, even though

those stacks filtered out other molecules.
Computer simulations suggested that water was forming layers
of square ice between the graphene sheets. Pushing the ice
from one end shunted all the molecules forward in concert, like

Ice to meet you

Geims team dropped one microliter of water on to a sheet of
graphene, and then placed a second graphene wafer on top, all
at room temperature. As the water slowly evaporated, the graphene sheets were squeezed together until they were less than
one nanometre apart, trapping pockets of water in the sandwich.
Transmission electron microscopy revealed that these pockets
contained square ice. Its not totally unexpected, says Alan
Soper, a physicist at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Harwell, UK, who wrote a News & Views article that accompanies
the report of the discovery, which is published in Nature. When
water gathers into small clusters of just eight molecules, for example, it forms a cubic structure. But its never been observed
in such an extended layer, he says.
Soper reckons that square ice qualifies as a new crystalline
phase of ice, joining 17 others that have already been observed.

carriages in a high-speed train. But you never trust moleculardynamics simulations, says Geim. Hence the latest experiment.

Flat hunting
Square ice is strikingly different from normal ice. In a single, Vshaped water molecule (H2O), an oxygen atom is connected to
two hydrogen atoms by strong bonds. But it also forms weaker
attractions to hydrogen atoms in two neighboring water mole16

cules. In ice, these four bonds are usually arranged in a tetrahedral (pyramid) shape.

ery also points to a incredible property of graphene, they are stiff, conduction and
most importantly that the graphene is able to exert immense pressure on molecules between the graphene sheets (Flat, thin sheets of carbon). This property of

But in a layer of square ice, all the atoms lie in a flat plane with
a right angle between each oxygenhydrogen bond. Geims
patches of square ice contained one, two or three of these layers, with oxygen atoms in adjacent layers sitting directly on top
of one another.

graphene also explains why water seeps so fast between the two carbon sheets
which also suggests that carbon sheets could be used in desalinization membranes and water purification processes. Earlier in 2012, a team led by Andre
Geim at the University Manchester, UK who also shared a nobel prize in 2010 for
his work on graphene sheets. A remarkable discovery that was made demonstrated that water vapor could pass through laminated sheets of graphene oxide,
something that not even helium gas could manage. Two years earlier, the results

The team calculated that the graphene sheets must be exerting

more than 10,000 times atmospheric pressure to flatten water
in this way. It was a surprise the pressure was so high, says
Geim. That pressure is generated when the graphenes carbon
atoms get close enough to distort each others electron clouds.
This causes a mutual attraction, known as the van der Waals
force, between carbon atoms in adjacent graphene layers. Its
like having millions of little springs holding them together, says
Soper.

of an experiment showed that liquid water passed through laminated sheets of

Geim thinks that square ice could turn up in other tight spaces,
such as the interiors of nanotubes. And pinning down its properties should help the development of improved desalination filters based on graphene, he adds. Finding out how the water
behaves in a capillary is a big part of what we need to do to
make a good filter, says Geim. This is a very important step.

hydrogen atoms in two neighboring water molecules. In ice, these four bonds are

graphene oxide despite those those stacks filtered out other molecules and computer simulations showed that suggested that water was forming layers of square
ice between the graphene sheets. Geims team later experimented by dropping
one microliter of water onto one sheet of graphene wafer, then a second was
placed on top at room temperature. As the water slowly evaporated and the two
sheets were pressed together until a nanometer apart trapping pockets of water
in the sandwich and transmission electron microscopy revealed that these pockets contained square ice. Square ice is astoundingly different from normal ice for
example, in a single V-shaped water molecule (H2O), an oxygen atom is connected two hydrogen atoms by strong bonds and also forms weaker attractions to
usually arranged in a tetrahedral shape. Conventionally, in a thin layer of square
ice, all the atoms lie in a flat formation with a right angle between each Hydrogen
and oxygen bond but Geims square ice contained multiple layers of this type with
oxygen atoms sitting in adjacent layers on top of each other. Geims team also
calculated that the graphene sheets are exerting more than 10,000 times atmospheric pressure to flatten water because the carbons atoms are close enough to
distort each other's electron clouds.

Synopsis: Scientists have recently discovered that by flattening water molecules in right angled formation, they are able to create square ice. This discov-

17

Section 3

Physics
Dark matter is ghostly and noninteractive
A new study of colliding galaxy clusters has found that dark
matter doesn't even interact with itself.
The findings reported in the journal Science, mean some existing dark matter models - which give the mysterious substance
properties similar to normal matter - will need to be revised.

"We have concluded that dark matter is most probably not interacting, so it exists in its ghostly state without interacting," says
the study's lead author Dr David Harvey of the cole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne in Switzerland.
"This is surprising because we see in our world that all the particles interact with each other quite highly, whereas dark matter
does not seem to do that."
Astronomers first noticed dark matter when they realized that
there wasn't sufficient gravitational attraction to keep stars orbiting as fast as they do around the centers of galaxies.
Another apparently invisible substance, which scientists now
call dark matter, must be providing the additional gravity.
Scientists estimate that dark matter makes up 85 per cent of all
the matter in the universe.
All the normal matter - which makes up all the stars, planets,
dust and gas clouds (which scientists call baryonic matter) makes up just 15 per cent of all the matter in the universe.
Gravitational lensing
The new research by Harvey and colleagues, examined 72 galaxy cluster collisions to see how dark matter interacts.

18

Galaxy clusters are huge, gravitationally-bound collections of

galaxies - interspersed with immense clouds of gas - which
form some of the largest structures in the universe.

"By looking at background galaxies behind the cluster, you can

see how light from those galaxies is bent by the mass of the
foreground cluster.

The authors compiled optical and X-ray images of galaxy cluster collisions using data from the Earth orbiting Chandra X-ray
observatory and Hubble Space Telescope.

The way light is bent provides clues about where the cluster's
dark matter is located, and how it interacts during collisions.

The X-rays are emitted by gas allowing scientists to pinpoint

where the gas clouds are located, while the optical data shows
the location of galaxies.
"Hubble allows us to see the galaxies in the galaxy cluster and
also look at the galaxies behind galaxy clusters," says Harvey.

The authors found galaxies pass through each other unimpeded during collisions, with their movement controlled by gravity.
They also found that the gas of each galaxy cluster interacts
with the gas of the colliding cluster as they merge, slowing
down and separating from its original galaxy cluster.
The question is; what is the dark matter doing during these collisions?
"We found the dark matter doesn't slow down, so as these huge
dense lumps of dark matter come together, they go through
each other without any interaction, they just follow the galaxies,
or more accurately the galaxies are sticking to the dark matter,"
says Harvey.
"This is telling us that dark matter will most likely not interact
the way protons [of normal matter] do, so it's ruling out models
of dark matter that try to mirror the universe we have.

19

"Various dark matter models predict that dark matter will self interact to a certain degree, but what we've shown is that it
doesn't."
Time for a rethink
According to Harvey, theorists will now need to tweak their dark
matter models of 'mirror universes' and 'dark photons' in order
to match his teams observations.
"At the moment there are inconsistencies ... what we are doing
is getting us closer to understanding what dark matter is," says
Harvey.
The authors work complements the dark matter research about
to be undertaken by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
"What CERN and the other ground based detector experiments
are looking to do is see how dark matter relates to the standard
model of particle physics," says Harvey.

tulated that there was an invisible property of matter or even another type of
matter that influences the gravitational attraction which is what they call dark
matter, in addition to this scientists think that based on this premise, 85% of
the universe is made up of dark matter and the other 15% is the normal matter. The normal matter in the universe is what makes planets, stars, dust
clouds and other materials and the regular matter is called Baryonic matter.
New research by Harvey and colleagues intends to study the collisions of 72
galaxy clusters in order to observe how dark matter interacts. Essentially, galaxy clusters are massive, gravitationally-bound collections of galaxies and are
interspersed with immense clouds of gas which form some of the largest structures in the universe. The researchers gathered optical data and X-rays from
the Hubble telescope and the Chandra X-ray observatory for the collisions of
the galaxies. In order to find these galaxies the scientists use the optical data
to track the location of the galaxies and use the X-ray imagery to find the gas
clouds. The authors findings are simply astounding, the authors manage to
find out that the way light is bent and how it provides clues about where the
clusters dark matter is and how it interacts during collisions. Scientist found
that when a collision occurs between two galaxies, dark matter does not slow
down and does not interact. This demonstrates that dark matter does not interact in the way of baryonic (normal) matter which forces scientists to rethink
their models of dark matter that try to mirror the universe we have and how
they interact.

"What I'm looking at is how dark matter interacts with in its own
dark sector, its own dark universe side, which you can't do from
the ground."
Synopsis: Scientists at CERN have conducted a study of colliding galaxy
clusters that claims that it has found that dark matter doesn't even interact with
itself. Astronomers have first noticed the presence of dark matter when it came
to the realization that there was not a sufficient gravitational attraction to keep
stars orbiting as fast as they should at the center of galaxies, so scientists pos-

20

Section 4

Physics
Big Bang theory could be debunked
by Large Hadron Collider
The detection of miniature black holes by the Large Hadron Collider could prove the existence of parallel universes and show
that the Big Bang did not happen, scientists believe.
The particle accelerator, which will be restarted this week, has
already found the Higgs boson the God Particle which is
thought to give mass to other particles.

Now scientists at Cern in Switzerland believe they might find

miniature black holes which would reveal the existence of a parallel universe.
And if the holes are found at a certain energy, it could prove the
controversial theory of rainbow gravity which suggests that the
universe stretches back into time infinitely with no singular point
where it started, and no Big Bang.
The theory was postulated to reconcile Einsteins theory of general relativity which deals with very large objects, and quantum mechanics which looks at the tiniest building blocks of
the universe. It takes its name from a suggestion that gravity's
21

effect on the cosmos is felt differently by varying wavelengths of

light.

gets denser, approaching an infinite density but never quite

reaching it.

The huge amounts of energy needed to make rainbow gravity

The effect of rainbow gravity is small for objects like the Earth
but it is significant and measurable for black holes. It could be
detected by the Large Hadron Collider if it picks up or creates
black holes within the accelerator.
We have calculated the energy at which we expect to detect
these mini black holes in gravity's rainbow [a new theory]. If we
do detect mini black holes at this energy, then we will know that
both gravity's rainbow and extra dimensions are correct, Dr Mir
Faizal told Phys.org.
The second run of the LHC will begin this week and the
beams are expected to go full circle on Wednesday for the first
time since the 27km accelerator was shut down in early 2013
for an upgrade.
When it is fired up it will smash protons together at nearly double the energy that was used to find the Higgs boson.
Rolf Heuer, Director General of CERN, said the switch-on
would create a new era for physics which could also shed light
on dark matter, dark energy and super-symmetry.

would mean that the early universe was very different. One result would be that if you retrace time backward, the universe

I want to see the first light in the dark universe. If that happens,
then nature is kind to me.
22

sion [height], parallel universes can also exist in higher dimensions, added Dr Faizal,
We predict that gravity can leak into extra dimensions, and if it
does, then miniature black holes can be produced at the LHC.
Normally, when people think of the multiverse, they think of the
many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, where every
possibility is actualised.
"This cannot be tested and so it is philosophy and not science.
This is not what we mean by parallel universes. What we mean
is real universes in extra dimensions.

Scientists believe they could find the first proof of alternative realities that exist outside out own universe.

The newly revamped Large Hadron Collider

It is even possible that gravity from our own universe may leak
into this parallel universe, scientists at the LHC say.
Just as many parallel sheets of paper, which are two dimensional objects [breadth and length] can exist in a third dimen-

As gravity can flow out of our universe into the extra dimensions, such a model can be tested by the detection of mini
black holes at the LHC.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has undergone important upgrades and repairs over the past two years since the first shutdown.
The particle collider boasts new magnets, superior cryogenics,
higher voltage and higher energy beams that will allow the machine to run at nearly double the collision energy of the first run.
The first circulating beams of protons in the LHC are planned
for the week beginning 23 March, and by late May to early June
the LHC aims to be running at 13 TeV.
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Frances Saunders, president of the IOP, said, This has been a

massive effort by all the scientists and engineers at CERN to upgrade the LHC and its detectors and get it ready to operate at
almost double the collision energies of the first run.
As well as allowing greater study of the Higgs boson there is
much anticipation amongst the physics community as to what
else may be found at these higher energies, testing our theories
and understanding of concepts such as supersymmetry and potentially giving greater insight into the 95 per cent of the universe that is composed of dark matter and dark energy.

Synopsis: Scientists at CERN believe that if they are able to detect

miniature black holes in the hadron collider, this would prove the existence of parallel universes . The particle accelerator which discovered
the Higgs-boson, which is the invisible particle thought to give mass to
other particles. Now, when the collider is restarted, they will attempt to
detect miniature black holes which would prove the existence of a parallel universe and if they are found at a particular energy, it would also
prove the theory of rainbow gravity which theorizes that there was no big
bang, the universe stretches back infinitely with no beginning, but this
would also mean the early universe was very different at that time. It
would have gotten denser, approaching an infinite density but never
quite reaching it which also reveal another aspect of the experiment, the
energy required to achieve rainbow gravity is what contributes to the density of the early universe . The theory was postulated to reconcile Einsteins theory of general relativity which deals with very large objects,
and quantum mechanics which looks at the tiniest building blocks of the
universe. In quantum mechanics, the effects of rainbow gravity were
small on planetary bodies like earth but a large impact on objects such
as black holes and rainbow gravity could be detected by the Large Hadron Collider if it picks up or creates black holes within the accelerator, in
addition the accelerator will use double the energy it used to find the
Higgs-Boson. If this experiment goes according to plan, the scientists at
CERN would be the first to find evidence of alternative realities outside
of our universe and it is entirely possible that our gravity may leak into
the parallel universe which is also evidence of this postulation. Just as
many parallel sheets of paper, which are two dimensional objects
[breadth and length] can exist in a third dimension [height], parallel
universes can also exist in higher dimensions, added Dr Faizal.

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Section 5

Physics
Aluminum battery charges smartphones in 60 seconds
A bendable battery that can fully charge a smartphone in less
than one minute could soon be powering popular gadgets. The
potentially-revolutionary aluminium battery is also more environmentally friendly than current lithium-ion and alkaline batteries
and keeps working for "thousands" of cycles.

The "ultrafast rechargeable aluminium-ion battery", developed

by chemists at Stanford University, is a "major breakthrough"
for portable technology, according to the team that discovered
it. Their findings were published in the journal Nature.
In experiments the battery successfully charged a smartphone
in one minute, compared to current lithium-ion batteries that
take hours to deliver a full charge. The aluminium-ion battery delivers two volts of electricity and could also potentially replace
the millions of 1.5 volt AA and AAA batteries used in gadgets
ranging from remote controls to toys.
Researchers have been experimenting with aluminium batteries
for decades, but have never found the perfect combination of
materials to produce enough voltage via a cell that lasts for
thousands of cycles of charging and discharging.
"We have developed a rechargeable aluminium battery that
may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, and lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames," said Hongjie Dai, a
professor of chemistry at Stanford, adding that the battery won't
catch fire "even if you drill through it". The experimental battery
uses a negatively charged anode made from aluminium, and a
positively charged cathode made from graphite. The electrolyte
inside is a salt that's liquid at room temperature, making it more
stable and better for the environment than conventional
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speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life. I see this as a new
battery in its early days. It's quite exciting," Dai said.
Synopsis: Chemists at Stanford University have produced a bend-

batteries.The prototype is also reportedly more durable, lasting

more than 7,500 cycles without loss of capacity. Previous
aluminium-ion batteries lasted around 100 cycles, with lithiumion batteries running to around 1,000 cycles.
"This was the first time an ultra-fast aluminium-ion battery was
constructed with stability over thousands of cycles," the authors
wrote.While it currently produces half the voltage required to
power a smartphone the researches believe that improvements
to the cathode material could increase voltage and energy
density.
"Otherwise, our battery has everything else you'd dream that a
battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-

able aluminum battery that is able to charge your device in 60 seconds. Aluminum used in the battery is also more environmentally
friendly than the lithium-ion and alkaline-ion battery used in most of todays phones and devices. During experiments by the two chemists,
they ran successful tests in charging a smartphone to deliver a full
charge in less than 60 seconds. Despite delivering only 2-volts of energy to the device, it would replace most 1.5 AA and AAA batteries
used in a variety of gadgets. But this is not the first encounter with this
incredible tech, researchers have already been experimenting with aluminum batteries but could never find the perfect combination of materials to produce enough voltage through a cell that lasts thousands of
cycles. This battery tech found in the aluminum-ion batteries may replace the existing batteries such as the lithium-ion batteries found in
modern devices like iPads and iPhones and not only is this new battery environmentally friendly, it wont burst into flames even when you
drill through it. This experimental battery uses a negatively charged
anode made from aluminum, and a positively charged cathode made
from graphite. The electrolyte inside is a salt that's liquid at room temperature, making it more stable and better for the environment than
conventional batteries. The prototype is also more durable and is able
to charge more than 7,500 cycles, while this prototype is incredible,
the first iteration was only able to go through 100 cycles and the
modern-day lithium-ion battery is able to last 1000 cycles.

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