Featured in EPN

Europhysics News, Vol. 47/3 – May/June 2016 can be downloaded on the magazine’s website.

Flipbook of EPN 47/3.

Physics of ball sports
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epn/2016301

Ball sports have been part of human history for thousands of years [1]. Nowadays, 13 of them are part of the Olympic games (badminton, basketball, beach volley, football/soccer, golf, handball, hockey, rugby, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, water polo, ice hockey). All these games differ by launcher (hand, club, racket, bat), ball (size, shape and mass), pitch size and number of players. These differences induce different ball velocities. Apart from the velocities and the way to maximize them, we discuss in this article the ball trajectories and their impact on the size of sports fields.

Discovering new information from historical artefacts – Using electromagnetic radiation and charged particles as a probe
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epn/2016302

Archaeological artefacts included in cultural heritage contribute to the knowledge of our roots, which may help us to learn about our future. Although the connection between ancient times and nuclear technology seems farfetched, this paper will try to show how nuclear radiation of various kinds can be irreplaceable in the elemental composition analysis of an archaeological find.

Letter to the Editors
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epn/2016303

This article has no abstract.

CO₂-Neutral Fuels
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epn/2016304

Mimicking the biogeochemical cycle of System Earth, synthetic hydrocarbon fuels are produced from recycled CO₂ and H₂O powered by renewable energy. Recapturing CO₂ after use closes the carbon cycle, rendering the fuel cycle CO₂ neutral. Non-equilibrium molecular CO₂ vibrations are key to high energy efficiency.

Disappearing iron
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epn/2016305

This article has no abstract.

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