Bookmarks for 2011-03-31

The first non-trivial atom circuit: Progress towards an atom SQUID
"Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland have created the first nontrivial "atom circuit," a donut-shaped loop of ultracold gas atoms circulating in a current analogous to a ring of electrons in a superconducting wire. The circuit is "nontrivial" because it includes a circuit element—an adjustable barrier that controls the flow of atom current to specific allowed values."
(tags:sci )
Roastbusters! Firefighters of the future to zap flames with electric charge? | Blog | Futurismic
"…they connected a powerful electrical amplifier to a wand-like probe and used the device to shoot beams of electricity at an open flame more than a foot high. Almost instantly, the flame was snuffed out. Much to their fascination, it worked time and again."
(tags:sci tech )
Creative Review – The White Review
"TWR combines an austere design attitude with a very contemporary feel; reflected, too, in the journal's well-honed online presence."
(tags:magazine design )
Try failed stars for alien life
"The search for alien life usually focuses on planets around other stars. But a lesser-known possibility is that life has sprung up on planets that somehow were ejected from their original solar systems and became free-floating in the universe, as well as on small bodies called sub-brown dwarfs, which are stars so small and dim they are not really stars at all, but function more like planets."
(tags:space )