Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Stradivari’s secrets
Three-dimensional imaging of a classic violin's vibrations explains the instrument's superior ability to direct sound to the audience.
- Materials Science
Needling Cells: Stem cells could take their cues from silicon nanowires
Scientists have grown mouse stem cells on a bed of silicon nano-needles, hoping that they will be able to guide the cells' development through electrical stimulation.
- Materials Science
Heal thyself—again and again
A new self-healing material can repeatedly repair damage at the same spot.
- Physics
Magnetic Logic: Electron spins could do cool calculations
Novel circuits use electrons as tiny bar magnets to process information.
- Physics
Carbon’s mysterious magnetism
An X-ray experiment has yielded the most conclusive evidence to date that carbon can be magnetic.
- Physics
The dance of the electron spins
Physicists have used a novel measuring technique to track the motions of electron spins in a tiny magnet as its polarity flips, with north and south poles changing places.
- Physics
Broadband vision
Cells that act like optical fibers could explain why vertebrate retinas have sharp vision despite being mounted backwards.
- Physics
Spinning into Control
High-speed flywheels could replace batteries in hybrid vehicles and help make the electrical grid more reliable.
- Physics
Invisible Trail: Analyzing the vortices in the wake of a bat
Flying bat generate lift and thrust with their wings much differently than birds do.
- Physics
Degrees of Quantumness: Shades of gray in particle-wave duality
Light can be made to act as if it's composed of particles, waves, or something in between.
- Physics
The Hunt for Antihelium
Scientists have been searching about 30 years for a single nucleus of helium made from antimatter, and although the discovery would imply that whole antimatter galaxies exist, the researchers' time could be running out.
- Physics
Quantum Loophole: Some quirks of physics can be good for science
Physicists have found a way to almost double measurement precision when using photons to gauge distances.
