Electrons and Photons

"Can we really touch things? Well if by touch we mean exchange a force-carrying particle with, then yes. The photon is the force-carrier of the electromagnetic interaction. But if the photon is also a particle of light then why aren't magnets glowing? Because the photons are virtual particles, which means they can't be directly detected (without changing the outcome we are trying to measure."  1Veritasium 

Electron decay into two separate parts

Artist's impression of an electron 
splitting up into two new particles: 
a spinon carrying the electron's spin 
and an orbiton carrying its orbital moment. 
(Graphics: David Hilf, Hamburg)

"An electron has been observed to decay into two separate parts, each carrying a particular property of the electron: a spinon carrying its spin - the property making the electron behave as a tiny compass needle - and an orbiton carrying its orbital moment - which arises from the electron's motion around the nucleus. These newly created particles, however, cannot leave the material in which they have been produced. This result is reported in a paper published in Nature by an international team of researchers led by experimental physicists from the Paul Scherrer Institute (Switzerland) and theoretical physicists from the IFW Dresden (Germany)."

in PhysOrg

Follow the link to read more.

Mysterious electron acceleration explained

An artist's rendition of Earth's magnetosphere. A magnetic tail, or magnetotail, is formed by pressure from the solar wind on a planet's magnetosphere. Image: NASA

A mysterious phenomenon detected by space probes has finally been explained, thanks to a massive computer simulation that was able to precisely align with details of spacecraft observations. The finding could not only solve an astrophysical puzzle, but might also lead to a better ability to predict high-energy electron streams in space that could damage satellites. (PhysOrg)

Great Stuff: Use Lenovo promotional codes to update your computer and technology to more effectively compile data.