Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Diamonds engage at the nano scale
Manipulating the quantum properties of diamond impurities makes diamond into a kind of microscope that could, for example, reveal the inner working of cells.
- Chemistry
Obama’s brain trust
Featured blog: Sixty-one Nobel laureates sign a letter explaining why they support Barack Obama's run for the presidency.
- Physics
Photons caught in the act
Physicists manipulated a microwave pulse and could essentially watch it transition from a quantum state into the realm of classical physics.
- Space
Large Hadron Collider shuts down early for the winter
CERN announces that needed repairs, plus high fuel costs, will delay the first planned collisions until next spring.
- Climate
(Political) party animals
Featured blog: When it comes to attitudes about climate change, the chasm between Democrats and Republicans is wide. Political-polling analysts speculate that a McCain win in November might do more than an Obama victory to win over the minds of climate-change skeptics.
- Physics
Apollo or Manhattan Project: Which Paradigm Fits Energy Better?
A new petition developed to lobby the presidential candidates argues that increased federal investments in basic energy research are essential.
- Physics
A ‘novel’ chemistry to make fuel from sugar
It’s not alchemy, but it might sound like it: a new way to transform sugars from plants into gasoline, diesel or even jet fuel by passing the sugars over exotic materials.
- Climate
Energy: Apollo-like Program Needed
Big action and big bucks are needed to deal with the United States' energy problems, research leaders argued today.
- Astronomy
McCain Is Bullish on R&D
Featured blog: John McCain weighs in on science and technology issues with long-awaited written responses to the Science Debate 2008.
- Materials Science
A killer paint job
New findings suggest that nanotechnology paints for walls, ceilings and surfaces could one day be used to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria in hospitals.
- Physics
The proton’s strange new cousin
Physicists have discovered a new particle made of three quarks, including two strange quarks. Its existence further validates the standard model of particle physics.
- Physics
Electrons as math whizzes
A new paper suggests the possibility that the behavior of electrons in quantum systems could verify Riemann’s famous conjecture about prime numbers.
