All Stories by Davide Castelvecchi
- Chemistry
Small steps toward big energy gains
New studies with different fuel cell catalysts show promising results.
- Computing
Building ‘The Matrix’
Simulating new materials could help in building them — but only quantum simulators could fully model reality. A team reports a first step in realizing quantum simulation.
- Chemistry
Quantum physics makes water different
The length of bonds connecting water molecules could demonstrate quantum effects and help explain some of water’s weirdness.
- Humans
Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science
Richard Preston, Random House, 2008, 240 p., $26.
- Climate
Hydrogen economy sustainable in 15 years
Hydrogen fuel cells can eventually replace the combustion engine, but meanwhile a wider range of technologies will be needed to reduce carbon emissions.
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- Materials Science
Solar panels to dye for
Scientists show that cheap chemical dyes may one day help with the efficient capture of the sun's energy
- Paleontology
Fossils, now available in color
Fossilized feathers of an early bird or dinosaur may retain evidence of pigment, offering a chance to animal colors of the Cretaceous.
- Math
Strategy to stop a pandemic
A limited supply of vaccine shots, if targeted well, could stop the spread of disease.
- Math
Optimizing leafy networks
Scientists reveal a mathematical principle underlying the arrangement of leaf veins in plant species.
- Astronomy
Too much information in the Odyssey
A controversial interpretation of passages from the Odyssey suggests that Homer knew much more about planetary motions than historians thought possible.
- Earth
Resonating with the ocean
An experiment may explain the origin of underwater waves that shape the sediment of continental slopes.
