All Stories by Peter Weiss
- Physics
To pack a strand tight, make it a helix
The optimal way to pack long strings into small spaces is to coil them into helices—particularly the types of helices found in proteins and perhaps DNA.
- Physics
Attractive atoms pick up repulsive habits
Rubidium atoms intrinsically attract each other, but new experiments near absolute zero have induced the atoms to repel each another instead.
- Physics
Why is antimatter absent? Hunt heats up
Two new particle accelerators built to help discover why there's matter instead of antimatter in the universe are closing in on an answer at record speed.
- Physics
Matter’s Missing Piece Shows Up
The first direct evidence of the tau neutrino, the last of the 12 subatomic particles considered the fundamental building blocks of matter, has finally been found.
- Tech
The Little Engines That Couldn’t
Tired of grinding their gears, micromachine researchers turn to surface science.
- Physics
Device Sees More inside Live Cells
A new type of optical microscope, which can discern objects smaller than a supposedly fundamental limit for visible-light viewing, may make it possible to see finer details of the insides of living cells.
- Tech
Technique boosts data rate in light pipes
Turning a liability into an asset, a new technique for passing information through optical fibers increases the data flow by exploiting the very trait that has long held that flow back.
- Physics
Gecko toes tap intermolecular bonds
For scurrying upside down on smooth ceilings and other gravity-defying feats, lizards known as geckos may exploit intermolecular forces between the surface and billions of tiny stalks under their toes.
- Physics
New equation fits nitrogen to a T
An elaborate, new equation that yields more accurate values for nitrogen's properties might have a multimillion-dollar impact in the cryogenic fluids industry.
- Tech
Magnifier May Crack Crimes, Crashes
Gumshoes equipped with a novel device for magnifying magnetic fields may spy clues on damaged, erased, or deliberately corrupted audio tapes and other magnetic media.
-
- Tech
Satellite links may don quantum cloaks
A theoretically foolproof scheme to shield secrets via the laws of quantum mechanics demonstrates its readiness to take on Earth-satellite communications.
