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At a quantum scale, the motion of electrons and protons is completely and genuinely random, since it doesn’t follow a clear path of cause and effect. You basically have no idea what’s going to happen. If you can measure this somehow, than you’ve got yourself an absolutely random value.

“If you want to defeat an adversary who is trying to hack into your system, basically you need large quantities of random numbers,”  Sussman said.

“…a truly random number generator will provide impenetrable encryption for communications — be they military transmissions, secure banking, or online purchasing — that underpin the modern connected world.”

The experiments, which spanned more than a decade, suggest that the electron differs from being round by less than 0.000000000000000000000000001 cm. Just so you can get an estimate, if the electron were as big as the solar system, it would still be spherical to within the width of a human hair.

a team from the Imperial College London concluded that the electron is actually incredibly round, thus making the most accurate estimate of its shape.

The Brain-Art Competition

In order to recognize the beauty and creativity of artistic renderings emerging from the neuroimaging community, we are launching the first annual Brain-Art Competition. Countless hours are devoted to creation of informative visualizations for communicating neuroscientific findings. This competition aims to recognize the artistic creativity of our community that often goes unappreciated in the publication process.

We are inviting researchers to submit their favorite unpublished works for entry.  Both team and single-person entries are welcomed. The competition will have four award categories: 1)Best 3-Dimensional Brain Rendering 2)Best Representation of the Human Connectome 3)Best Abstract Brain Illustration 4)Best Humorous Brain Illustration

first direct images of

magnetic monopoles

Image representing 12 micrometer x 12 micrometer of artificial magnetic metamaterial where monopoles can be seen at each end of the Dirac strings, visible as dark lines. The dark regions correspond to magnetic islands where the magnetization is reversed. (Image courtesy of Paul Scherrer Institute)

Thinking about solar?

Green Ray Solar this week is expected to announce UL certification for a solar panel that puts out alternating current, rather than direct current as most solar photovoltaic panels do today. AC panels can be simpler to install and wire together than traditional panels, which makes a piecemeal approach easier,

Traditionally, solar panels are tied into a device called an inverter, which converts the direct current from panels into household alternating current. Strung together, several panels produce enough voltage to run an inverter which, sized for a rooftop array, is roughly as big as a computer monitor.