All Stories by Peter Weiss
- Physics
Candy Science: M&Ms pack more tightly than spheres
Squashed or stretched versions of spheres snuggle together more tightly than randomly packed spheres do.
- Physics
Two New Elements Made: Atom smashups yield 113 and 115
Two new elements—115 and 113—have joined the periodic table.
- Materials Science
Pumping Carbon: Researchers watch nanofibers grow
The first atomic-scale movies of carbon nanofiber growth show particles of a metal catalyst pulsating wildly while carbon and metal atoms scuttle across the particle’s surface.
- Physics
Skipping stones 101
Using their own stone-skipping machine, physicists have found what may be the best angle for a rock to hit the water in order to achieve the most skips.
- Physics
New signs of shadow particles
The influence of as-yet-undiscovered heavy particles outside of today's prevailing theory of particle physics may have accelerated the rate at which subatomic muons wobbled in a recent experiment.
- Physics
Wet ‘n’ Wild
Scientists have tracked the weirdness of water to microscopic arrangements of molecules and perhaps to the existence of a second, low-temperature form of the familiar substance.
- Physics
A Solid Like No Other: Frigid, solid helium streams like a liquid
Frozen helium prepared in a laboratory has apparently transformed into a superfluid solid, or supersolid—a never-before-seen phase of matter that theorists predicted more than 30 years ago.
- Tech
Tapping sun’s light and heat to make hydrogen
Researchers have demonstrated a highly efficient means of splitting water molecules to generate hydrogen fuel.
- Physics
Light pulse hovers in atom capsule
A new way to freeze light pulses in midflight preserves the pulses' optical energy and may eventually lead to using stationary light in optical circuits and quantum computers.
- Tech
Electronic skin senses touch
A pressure-detecting membrane laminated onto a sheet of flexible plastic electronics may lead to artificial skin for robots.
- Tech
Flashy Transistors: Electronic workhorses also shed light
Researchers have discovered that the transistor can emit light, a yet-untapped talent.
- Physics
Topsy Turvy: In neutrons and protons, quarks take wrong turns
Revved-up particles, namely quarks, spinning inside neutrons in the opposite direction to that of the neutrons themselves, challenge the prevailing model of how quarks behave.
