Integrated Calendar

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, the first focusing high-energy X-ray telescope in orbit, extends sensitive X-ray observations above the band pass where Chandra and XMM-Newton operate. With an unprecedented combination of sensitivity, spectral and imaging resolution, NuSTAR is advancing our understanding of black holes, neutron stars, and supernova remnants. I will describe the mission, and present highlights of science results from the first year of science observations.

In 1871, James Clerk Maxwell proposed a mythical creature that could regulate the motion of gas-phase particles by controlling a gate. This creature was called Maxwell's demon by Lord Kelvin, and remained a vigorous topic of debate for over 130 years. The demon seemed to violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics, though it was later shown that in principle, information entropy saves us from that catastrophe. In this talk, I will describe how we have now realized Maxwell's demon in the laboratory with a self-acting one-way wall, and how it enables the control of matter with light. In particular, I will discuss how Maxwell's demon is being used to break the barriers

Globally correlatable marine magnetic anomalies record past polarity reversals and changes in the strength of the dipolar geomagnetic field. Traditionally, plate reconstruction models rely on reversals-related anomalies leading to a well-known major temporal gap and tectonic ambiguities in the existing kinematic models for the Cretaceous normal superchron (83.5-120.6 Ma), a long period when no polarity reversal took place. Recent findings on the behaviour of the geomagnetic field during the superchron (Granot et al., 2012) provide new time markers that may be used to define internal isochrones within the Quiet Zones. Based on these features I present a new kinematic model for the opening of the South Atlantic. New sets of finite rotation parameters illuminate in details the break-up and initial drift of Africa and South America. Based on these new rotations I present the first magnetically-constrained opening model for the Equatorial Atlantic Gateway.