Davide Castelvecchi

All Stories by Davide Castelvecchi

  1. Math

    Net advantage

    When damaged, networks that seem resilient can still become inefficient to the point of being unusable.

  2. Tech

    Bucky shrink-wrap

    Scientists filmed cage-shaped carbon molecules as they shrank to become buckyballs.

  3. Physics

    Shadow World

    Physicists have found new evidence for a 10-year-old conjecture that bridges the gap between the many-dimensional space of string theory and more familiar theorizing.

  4. Tech

    Hooking up

    Cleverly designed molecules can self-assemble into networks and stay robustly connected.

  5. Physics

    Rock, paper, toxins

    A computer model simulates a kind of rock-paper-scissors competition among three species of virtual bacteria.

  6. Physics

    Let There Be Aluminum-42: Experiment creates surprise isotope

    In experiments that created the heaviest isotope yet of magnesium, an unexpected isotope of aluminum also showed up.

  7. Physics

    Axion Gone: New tests find no sign of anomalous particle

    New experiments contradict earlier claims of the discovery of the axion, a possible constituent of cosmic dark matter.

  8. Materials Science

    Feet of clay, but superstrong

    Gluing together nanoscale clay particles with a simple adhesive creates a strong but flexible material.

  9. Chemistry

    Platinumfree fuel cell

    Cheaper than a typical hydrogen fuel cell, a new, platinumfree cell runs on a "green" liquid fuel.

  10. Humans

    Mice, Magnetism, and Reactions on Solids

    The 2007 Nobel prizes in the sciences recognized research in genetics, materials science, and surface chemistry.

  11. Physics

    Light does some weird math

    Adding a photon to a light pulse then taking one out gives a different result from doing the same operations the other way around.

  12. Earth

    A different spin

    A change in the properties of Earth's mantle at high pressure and temperature may influence seismic waves in a novel way.