Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Light Projects
This colorful, interactive Web site provides a lively introduction to the nature of light and spectra. A product of Project LITE (Light Inquiry Through Experiments) at Boston University, the site offers a variety of applets, activities, and materials on topics ranging from color mixing and afterimage effects to moire patterns and geometrical optics. A fascinating […]
- Materials Science
Nice Threads
Once researchers figure out how to spin strong fibers out of carbon nanotubes, real-world applications such as long-distance power-transmission cables, lightweight aircraft materials, and electronic textiles become feasible.
- Materials Science
Branching Out: Semiconducting nanotrees could boost electronics
Forests of semiconducting nanotrees could form the basis of future solar cells, low-energy lighting, and other optical or microelectronic devices.
- Physics
Holey Water: Punctured fluid stays riddled
Extreme vibrations and high concentrations of tiny particles, such as cornstarch, in water can create holes in the liquid.
- Physics
After 40-year prep, gravity test soars
The Gravity Probe B satellite, which was built to test aspects of general relativity, finally hurtled into space.
- Physics
The Rise of Antibubbles
Tiny globules of water enclosed by thin shells of air in water that look like bubbles but don't act like them have recently become the objects of serious study.
- Materials Science
Next High-Tech Polishing Fluid: Tea—A new brew for the computer industry
A concoction based on green tea may speed up manufacturing of precision components for computer hard-disk drives while reducing toxic wastes.
- Physics
Fundamental constant didn’t vary after all
In disagreement with prior findings, an analysis of new quasar observations indicates that alpha, the universal constant that defines the strength of the electromagnetic force, has not varied since the early days of the cosmos.
- Physics
The Electron’s Other Charge: Workhorse of electricity shows its weak side
Although electrons are nonnuclear particles, they exert a feeble nuclear force on each other when they snuggle up close, a new experiment shows.
- Physics
Signs of mass-giving particle get stronger
The promising search at a collider in Switzerland for the Higgs boson—the crucial and last undetected fundamental particle predicted by the central theory of particle physics—became even more of a cliff-hanger as a new, strong hint of the particle appeared on the eve of the machine's second scheduled demise.
- Materials Science
Crafty Carriers: Armoring vesicles for more precise and reliable drug delivery
Materials scientists are designing tough, microscopic drug-delivery vesicles that could reach their targets intact and release their cargoes on cue.
- Physics
Photon Double Whammy: Careening electrons may rev up solar cells
A newfound cue ball effect in nanometer-scale crystals of a semiconductor compound may lead to highly efficient solar cells made from such nanocrystals.
