Physics

  1. Materials Science

    Tiny Trouble: Nanoscale materials damage fish brains

    Although nanomaterials could one day lead to more powerful electronics and better medicines, new research shows these tiny materials can also be toxic to fish.

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  2. Physics

    Quantum link connects light, ions

    By proving experimentally for the first time that an atom and a photon can become entwined in a quantum embrace called entanglement, physicists took a step toward teleporting quantum characteristics from one atom to another.

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  3. Materials Science

    Forensics on Trial

    A decades-long practice of matching bullets on the basis of their chemical makeup is flawed, and the story behind this forensic technique reveals how science can get distorted in the courtroom.

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  4. Physics

    Complexity by way of simplicity

    Researchers have demonstrated a new way to simplify some intricate patterns whose extreme complexity has convinced theoretical physicist Stephen Wolfram that traditional science can't explain many important natural phenomena.

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  5. Materials Science

    New work improves stainless steel surface

    A novel electrochemical method improves the surface of stainless steel without making the metal brittle or prone to corrosion.

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  6. Physics

    Protons may waltz off nuclear dance floor

    Detection of proton pairs simultaneously emitted from neon nuclei raises the possibility that a new and long-sought window into the nucleus has been found and unlocked.

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  7. Materials Science

    Cinching nanotubes into tough fibers

    Irradiating bundles of carbon nanotubes can lead to tougher fibers.

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  8. Physics

    Radioactive sprinkles keep machines true

    Needing tiny radioactive sources to calibrate medical scanners with ever-sharper vision, an Australian team dipped tiny balls the size of candy sprinkles into a radioactive liquid.

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  9. Physics

    Bubble Fusion: Once-maligned claim rebounds

    Researchers who reported 2 years ago that they created nuclear-fusion reactions inside bubbles imploding in a vat of liquid acetone have now bolstered their controversial claim with new evidence.

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  10. Materials Science

    Hard Stuff: Cooked diamonds don’t dent

    When exposed to high heat and pressure, single-crystal diamonds become extraordinarily hard.

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  11. Physics

    Nuclear pudding—to go

    Moving at nearly the speed of light, atomic nuclei hurtling through a huge particle collider may become mostly dense, flattened puddings of nuclear particles known as gluons.

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  12. Physics

    New supergas debuts

    A cloud of ultracold potassium atoms, manipulated by means of a magnetic field, has coalesced into a new super form of matter called a fermionic condensate.

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