Physics
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
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ChemistryQuantum physics makes water different
The length of bonds connecting water molecules could demonstrate quantum effects and help explain some of water’s weirdness.
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PhysicsDecoding the Quantum Mystery
An essay by Tom Siegfried, SN's Editor in Chief, explores how signals from space to Earth could establish the reality of Einstein's worst fear.
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Health & MedicineInsightful Light
Raman spectroscopy may offer doctors, dentists and forensic scientists a better tool for molecular detection.
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Materials ScienceSolar panels to dye for
Scientists show that cheap chemical dyes may one day help with the efficient capture of the sun's energy
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PhysicsLarge Hadron Collider
When the Large Hadron Collider powers up this fall, protons moving at almost the speed of light will collide with energies high enough, physicists hope, to solve matter’s biggest mysteries.
By Ron Cowen -
PhysicsLayers in a Stradivarius
Slight differences in the wood from which violins are made might be what distinguishes a mellow-toned Stradivarius from an ordinary instrument.
By Sid Perkins -
PhysicsLeft in the cold
An optical trap lets atoms in but not out, and it can be used to study matter at ultracold temperatures.
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PhysicsGalaxy Zoo’s blue mystery (part I)
A Dutch science teacher found a novel celestial object that had eluded the notice of astronomers.
By Janet Raloff -
Materials ScienceFamily Snaps in Peril
Digital photography appears to be far more ephemeral than camera sales people have led us to believe.
By Janet Raloff -
PhysicsLife’s code in soap
The mathematics of soapy water yields some clues to the origin of the genetic code.
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PhysicsSuction hunters
Scientists reveal new details on how extendable jaws help fish capture prey.