Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
John Wheeler (1911-2008)
SN Editor in Chief Tom Siegfried remembers the late physicist John Wheeler, who coined the term "black hole" in 1967, with excerpts from conversations the two had engaged in over the past two decades.
- Math
Less is more
Researchers have shown that a grip that’s too tight can be counterproductive, especially on a microscopic object — but the findings could apply to fields ranging from ecology to sociology.
- Physics
Gödel, Escher, Chopin
Musical theorists see inuitive links between musical chords and geometries.
- Climate
Air Pollution Can Be So Cool — ing
Fossil-fuel pollution has been offsetting global warming to the tune of about 30 percent per year. Cleaning up that pollution, a must, threatens to accelerate warming unless humanity changes its fuel-use strategy.
- Tech
Down with the transistor
A new type of electronic component could shrink computer chips and make them more powerful.
- Materials Science
Squid beaks are hardly soft
Water softens squid beaks toward their base, so they don't cut into the squid's own soft tissue.
- Materials Science
Quantum Cocoon
Diamond can hold quantum information even at room temperature, which makes it a candidate material for future quantum computers.
- Materials Science
Live Another Day: African insect survives drought in glassy state
When dehydrated, the larvae of an African fly replace the water in their cells with a sugar, which solidifies and helps keep cellular structures intact.
- Materials Science
A sticky issue
Peeling off adhesive tape can be frustrating, and now researchers know why.
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- Materials Science
Cellulose that stiffens and softens
A material inspired by sea cucumbers morphs from rigid to soft.
- Physics
Too speedy for gravity?
A new analysis suggests that five different spacecraft gained more speed as they flew past Earth than can be accounted for by Einstein's theory of gravitation.
