Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Materials Science
Radar distinguishes electronics from other metals
Using two pulses of radio waves, method could locate survivors trapped in rubble.
- Particle Physics
Higgs mass isn’t natural, but maybe it shouldn’t be
Famous particle’s perplexing properties suggest physicists should change their expectations.
- Physics
Oldest pitch-drop experiment
The allure of pitch — a black tarlike hydro-carbon by-product of distilling petroleum, wood or coal — comes from its split personality: It shatters from a quick hit with a hammer, but flows if set aside for long periods.
- Quantum Physics
Heisenberg’s instinct was accurate
Scientists develop mathematical proof of quantum physics feature first suggested more than 80 years ago.
- Physics
It’s too soon to declare supersymmetry a tragedy
Supersymmetry is the odds-on favorite to solve many of the mysteries about the physical world that have stumped theorists for decades. Supposedly the LHC should produce actual evidence for SUSY, but it hasn’t. And so some physicists have begun to declare SUSY dead, or at least on life-support.
- Particle Physics
Nobel’s sharp cuts
Gerald Guralnik was home when he learned online that physicists François Englert and Peter Higgs had won the Nobel Prize in physics for formulating the same theory he had proposed nearly 50 years ago.
- Physics
New limit placed on physics constant
An analysis of how much the fine structure constant varies with the density of matter may help scientists determine whether the parameter changes with time.
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- Chemistry
Simulating reactions in cyberspace earns Nobel Prize in chemistry
Computer models that meld quantum and classical calculations have earned three scientists the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
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- Physics
Proton-boron nuclear fusion returns to spotlight
A technique can fuse nuclei without producing harmful neutrons, but it is far from being power plant–ready.
