Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Particle breakdowns beat expectations
A fresh analysis of 2002 accelerator data finds a third instance of a type of breakdown of subatomic kaons that's not supposed to happen so often, suggesting that shadowy, hypothetical particles predicted by a theory called supersymmetry may be influencing kaon behavior.
- Materials Science
Nanotubes take on the Grand Canyon
A new technique can turn forests of carbon nanotubes into a foamlike material with ideal properties for making lightweight shock absorbers.
- Physics
A New Form of Water: Melting ice turns oddly dense
The density of a recently made film of water far exceeds that of ordinary water, suggesting that the film may be the first isolated sample of a proposed form of water thought to contribute to ordinary water's odd properties.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Materials Science
Cinching nanotubes into tough fibers
Irradiating bundles of carbon nanotubes can lead to tougher fibers.
- 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.
- 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.
- Materials Science
Hard Stuff: Cooked diamonds don’t dent
When exposed to high heat and pressure, single-crystal diamonds become extraordinarily hard.
- 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.
