BIG REVEAL To the naked eye, the woman in the damaged daguerreotype (left) looks ghostly. A synchrotron helped researchers restore her portrait (right).
Left: National Gallery of Canada; Right: M.S. Kozachuk et al/Scientific Reports 2018
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Magazine
In the July 21 SN: Portraits of a galaxy’s ecosystem, sleep and Alzheimer’s, poliovirus vs. glioblastoma, Parker Solar Probe previewed, mind-reading robots, a new ancient gibbon and more.
Matter & Energy
Topic Image Rail
GLITZY HARDWARE A new kind of human-made diamond (the clear material across the middle of this optical microscope image, measuring about 4 by 10 millimeters) laced with silicon and boron could be used to build better quantum memory devices.
Brendon Rose
POWER THROUGH Car engines operate using pistons (illustrated), which convert the heat from burning fuel into motion. Friction decreases the efficiency of such engines, but quantum machines can evade that limitation.
3alexd/iStockphoto
Matter & Energy
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Physics
News in Brief
Einstein’s general relativity reigns supreme, even on a galactic scale
Scientists have made the most precise test of Einstein’s theory of gravity at great distances.News
To combat an expanding universe, aliens could hoard stars
An advanced alien civilization might combat the impact of dark energy by harvesting stars. -
Chemistry
Science Visualized
How a particle accelerator helped recover tarnished 19th century images
Chemists used a synchrotron to peek beneath 150 years of grime on damaged daguerreotype images, revealing hidden portraits.ScicuriousWant to build a dragon? Science is here for you
Fire-breathing dragons can’t live anywhere outside of a book or TV. But nature provides some guidance as to how they might get their flames. If they existed, anyway. -
Materials
News
Designer diamonds could one day help build a quantum internet
A new design in artificial diamonds stores and releases quantum information better than others.Teaser
A new plastic film glows to flag food contaminated with dangerous microbes
Plastic patches that glow when they touch some types of bacteria could be built into food packaging to reduce the spread of foodborne illness. -
Quantum Physics
News
Mini machines can evade friction by taking quantum shortcuts
Special maneuvers allow researchers to create tiny machines that are as efficient as possible.News
A tiny version of this physics toy is revealing quantum secrets
Scientists created a quantum Newton’s cradle to study thermal equilibrium. -
Condensed Matter
News in Brief
Give double-layer graphene a twist and it superconducts
When graphene layers are twisted to a “magic angle,” the material superconducts.News
Some meteorites contain superconducting bits
Scientists find materials that conduct electricity without resistance in two meteorites.
