Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Materials Science
Viruses could power devices
Viruses — the biological kind — could be used to construct more efficient, environmentally friendly lithium ion batteries
- Physics
Spin control for technology
Long-lived helix offers a new way to keep electron spin stable and in sync
- Astronomy
Planck by Planck
The launch of the European Space Agency’s Planck mission, set for late April or early May, will put into orbit a new tool —the microwave equivalent of polarized sunglasses — that may offer a view of the dawn of time.
- Chemistry
Exxon Valdez oil lingers, as does its toxicity
Even 20 years after a major oil spill, barely degraded pockets of the oil persist within some intertidal beaches, research shows.
- Space
Quantum entanglement can be too much of a good thing
An overdose of the spooky connection can break down quantum computing systems, researchers find.
- Physics
Never mind the Pollock ‘fractals’
Scientists strengthen claim that fractal analysis is moot.
- Chemistry
Helping molecules reach meta
Researchers find a simple way to get molecules into the meta position on an aromatic ring, opening fresh possibilities for making new compounds.
- Physics
Evidence mounts for an exotic supersolid
Rubidium atoms simultaneously act like a solid and a superfluid.
- Materials Science
The American Physical Society Meeting
Get your daily physics news here from the March meeting of the American Physical Society.
- Physics
Elusive Higgs particle has fewer hideouts
Physicists have announced new limits on the mass of the elusive Higgs boson. The particle's discovery would complete the standard model of particle physics.
- Earth
Goo gives eels just the right buoyancy
Scientists survey the specific gravity of 25 marine critters.
- Materials Science
Cornering the Terahertz Gap
Controlling light’s path could enable invisibility or harness an intriguing but so far elusive stretch of the spectrum.
