Tech
New audio tech could let you listen privately without headphones
Private listening out in the open is possible thanks to acoustic metasurfaces that precisely bend and direct sound waves.
Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Physics
- Physics
Physicists explain how cheese rosettes form
Rosettes made by scraping Tête de Moine, or “monk’s head,” cheese result from variations in the friction between the blade and the cheese.
- Physics
Here’s how we might generate electricity from rain
Water drops produce electricity when dripped through a small tube. That power might be harnessed as renewable energy in rainy places.
- Physics
Imitation dark matter axions have arrived. They could reveal the real thing
A long-elusive, hypothetical subatomic particle called the axion can be simulated and potentially detected in a type of thin material.
- Particle Physics
Neutrinos’ maximum possible mass shrinks further
The KATRIN experiment in Germany nearly halved the maximum possible mass for neutrinos, setting it at 0.45 electron volts.
- Particle Physics
Physicists have confirmed a new mismatch between matter and antimatter
Charge-parity violation is thought to explain why there’s more matter than antimatter in the universe. Scientists just spotted it in a new place.
- Quantum Physics
Physicists are mostly unconvinced by Microsoft’s new topological quantum chip
Majorana qubits could be error resistant. But after a contentious talk at the Global Physics Summit, scientists aren’t convinced Microsoft has them.
- Physics
Calls to restart nuclear weapons tests stir dismay and debate among scientists
Many scientists say “subcritical” experiments and computer simulations make nuclear weapons testing unnecessary.
- Quantum Physics
A quantum computing milestone is immediately challenged by a supercomputer
A quantum processor solved a problem in 20 minutes that would take a supercomputer millions of years. A supercomputer then did a part of it in about 2 hours.
- Math
The einstein tile rocked mathematics. Meet its molecular cousin
Chemists identify a single molecule that naturally tiles in nonrepeating patterns, which could help build materials with novel electronic properties.
