All Stories by Peter Weiss
- Materials Science
Dribble Quibble: Experiments find that new basketball gets slick
According to preliminary results from a study at a physics lab, a new basketball for professional players bounces less elastically, veers more when it bounces, and becomes more slippery when damp than does a leather ball.
- Physics
First teleportation between light and matter
Physicists have for the first time transmitted quantum states between atoms and light.
- Humans
Ballot Roulette
In the midst of rapid change in voting technology, researchers are finding causes for concern as well as inventing new equipment and schemes to improve the accuracy and integrity of elections.
- Physics
Electromagnetism could ease the flow in oil pipelines
A few minutes of exposure to a magnetic or electric field sharply reduces crude oil's viscosity for hours at a time.
- Physics
Vanishing Actor: Physicists unveil first invisibility cloak
The first functional invisibility cloak, which operates at microwave frequencies, has emerged from the laboratory.
- Physics
Fit to Be Tied
Two new books present scathing critiques of string theory, which holds that the universe has 11 dimensions and that its fundamental building blocks are ultratiny loops of energy known as strings.
- Tech
Teasing Apart Nanotubes: Fast-spun carbon fibers may feed an industry
Researchers have devised a way to sort carbon nanotubes by size and electronic properties.
- Humans
Nobel prizes recognize things great and small
The 2006 Nobel prizes in the sciences were announced this week, and all five winners are U.S. scientists.
- Physics
Hot Stuff: A usually ultracold, odd state forms when warm
An exotic quantum state that had previously appeared only under conditions of astonishing cold has made its room-temperature debut.
- Tech
Muscling up colors for electronic displays
Researchers have found a way to provide the complete color palette for television and computer screens.
- Tech
Long-Sought Laser? Standard microchips may gain speedy optical connections
Although not made exclusively of silicon, a new type of laser runs on electricity and could be mass manufactured in the same factories as silicon microchips are.
- Tech
A thin laser gets thinner
Researchers have created a microchip laser that fires an extraordinarily thin beam of high-intensity light.
