Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

A swarm of 85,000 earthquakes at the Antarctic Orca submarine volcano      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In a remote area, a mix of geophysical methods identifies magma transfer below the seafloor as the cause.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Ultrasound gave us our first baby pictures can it also help the blind see?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

While there are no successful non-invasive therapeutics currently available for the treatment of vision loss, researchers at have come up with a new idea to address this growing problem. Currently, ophthalmologists use electronic technology to directly stimulate retinal neurons by implanting electrode devices inside the eye, a technique that requires expensive and invasive surgery. A research team is now exploring a non-surgical solution that could restore sight by using another of the five senses: Sound.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound Space: The Solar System
Published

'Ears' for rover Perseverance's exploration of Mars      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have built instruments to give humans eyes and a nose on Mars -- and now they are helping add ears as well.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Dual-mode endoscope offers unprecedented insights into uterine health      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new endoscope design that combines ultrasound with optical coherence tomography can assess the structural features of the endometrium with unprecedented detail. This dual-mode endoscope could help doctors diagnose infertility problems that are related to endometrial receptivity with greater accuracy than current imaging technologies.

Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

Volcano monitoring at Mount Etna using fiber optic cables      (via sciencedaily.com) 

In order to understand and predict volcanic events even better, a better understanding of the diverse underground processes involved is required. A new way to detect such processes, even if they are very subtle, is to use fiber optic cables as sensors. The analysis of light that is backscattered in them when the cables are deformed by vibrations, for example, has now made it possible for the first time to determine the volcanic signature of the Sicilian volcano Etna very precisely.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

The Rule of Two helps make spaces sound better      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers developed a new acoustic measurement technique in a room with more acoustic combinations than there are ants on Earth.

Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

Drought alters Mammoth Mountain’s carbon dioxide emissions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A study suggests the weight of snow and ice atop the Sierra Nevada affects a California volcano's carbon dioxide emissions, one of the main signs of volcanic unrest.

Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

Describing the devastating eruption in Tonga      (via sciencedaily.com) 

On January 15, the volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai devastated the nation of Tonga. The eruption triggered tsunamis as far afield as the Caribbean and generated atmospheric waves that travelled around the globe several times. Meanwhile, the volcano's plume shot gas and ash through the stratosphere into the lower mesosphere.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Warming oceans are getting louder      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Climate change is speeding sound transmission in the oceans and the way it varies over the globe with physical properties of the oceans. Two 'acoustic hotspots' of future sound speed increases are predicted east of Greenland and in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, East of Newfoundland. In these locations, the average speed of sound is likely to increase by more than 1.5% if 'business-as-usual' high rates of greenhouse gas emissions continue through 2100.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Concert hall acoustics for non-invasive ultrasound brain treatments      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Engineers have developed a device that is a first step to enabling noninvasive, ultrasound-based therapies for the brain. For example, ultrasound waves are currently being used in clinical trials to treat epilepsy.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Quantum dots shine bright to help scientists see inflammatory cells in fat      (via sciencedaily.com) 

To accurately diagnose and treat diseases, doctors and researchers need to see inside bodies. Medical imaging tools have come a long way since the humble x-ray, but most existing tools remain too coarse to quantify numbers or specific types of cells inside deep tissues of the body. Quantum dots can do that, according to new research in mice.

Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

The oxidation of volcanoes -- a magma opus      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study unlocks the science behind a key ingredient -- namely oxygen -- in some of the world's most violent volcanoes. The research offers a new model for understanding the oxidation state of arc magmas, the lavas that form some volcanoes, such as the one that erupted dramatically in Tonga earlier this year. The plume from Tonga's underwater volcanic eruption on Jan. 15 rose 36 miles into the air. Ash from the volcano reached the mesosphere, Earth's third layer of atmosphere.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

New acoustic fabric converts audible sounds into electrical signals      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have developed a new acoustic fabric converts audible sounds into electrical signals. They designed a fabric that works like a microphone, converting sound first into mechanical vibrations, then into electrical signals, similarly to how our ears hear.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Gravitational wave mirror experiments can evolve into quantum entities      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists review research on gravitational wave detectors as a historical example of quantum technologies and examine the fundamental research on the connection between quantum physics and gravity. The team examined recent gravitational wave experiments, showing it is possible to shield large objects from strong influences from the thermal and seismic environment to allow them to evolve as one quantum object. This decoupling from the environment enables measurement sensitivities that would otherwise be impossible.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Acoustic propulsion of nanomachines depends on their orientation      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have now found answers to central questions which had previously stood in the way of acoustic propulsion of nanoparticles.

Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

Water determines magma depth, a key to accurate models of volcanic activity, eruption      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Around the world, between 40 and 50 volcanoes are currently erupting or in states of unrest, and hundreds of millions of people are at risk of hazards posed by these potentially active volcanos. Yet, despite the profound hazards posed to human life and property by volcanic eruptions, humanity still cannot reliably and accurately predict them, and even when forecasts are accurately made by experts, they may not afford ample time for people to evacuate and make emergency preparations.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Physicists show how frequencies can easily be multiplied without special circuitry      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new discovery by physicists could make certain components in computers and smartphones obsolete. The team has succeeded in directly converting frequencies to higher ranges in a common magnetic material without the need for additional components. Frequency multiplication is a fundamental process in modern electronics.

Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published

Nealtican lava flow field, Popocatépetl volcano: A window to the past and future hazards      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The Popocatépetl volcano, located southeast of Mexico City, stands as the second highest peak in Mexico and is considered to be one of the potentially most dangerous volcanoes in the world, given its record of highly explosive eruptions over the last 23,000 years.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Ultrasound scan can diagnose prostate cancer      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An ultrasound scan can be used to detect cases of prostate cancer, according to new research.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
Published

Ultrasounds for endangered abalone mollusks      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The world's abalone are threatened, endangered or otherwise vulnerable in nearly every corner of the planet. If only we could wave a magic wand to know when abalone are ready to reproduce, without even touching them. Scientists have now found that wand -- although it isn't magic, and it only looks like a wand. It's an ultrasound transducer, and it can be used to quickly and noninvasively detect when abalone are ready to spawn, they report in a study this week.