Peter Weiss

All Stories by Peter Weiss

  1. 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.

  2. Physics

    First teleportation between light and matter

    Physicists have for the first time transmitted quantum states between atoms and light.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Physics

    Vanishing Actor: Physicists unveil first invisibility cloak

    The first functional invisibility cloak, which operates at microwave frequencies, has emerged from the laboratory.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. Tech

    Muscling up colors for electronic displays

    Researchers have found a way to provide the complete color palette for television and computer screens.

  11. 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.

  12. Tech

    A thin laser gets thinner

    Researchers have created a microchip laser that fires an extraordinarily thin beam of high-intensity light.