Physics
- Materials Science
Nanotube ID: New signatures aid nanotech progress
Researchers have developed a means for rapidly distinguishing among 33 semiconducting varieties of carbon nanotubes.
- Physics
Spectrum deftly takes visible light’s pulse
A rainbow path to more precise measurements of visible-light frequencies may become an express lane to unprecedented accuracy in everyday measurements for all the sciences.
- Physics
Cold War Conductor: Ultracold plutonium compound shows no resistance
Researchers studying the crystalline properties of radioactive plutonium have discovered the first plutonium-based superconductor.
- Physics
Quantum quirks quicken thorny searches
A researcher has come up with a quantum algorithm for identifying one or more items in a large, unsorted database when complete information about the search target is unavailable.
- Physics
Speedy impacts send microwave distress calls
Laboratory smash-ups mimicking those between fast-moving space debris and satellites appear to emit microwave bursts, suggesting that microwave detectors might someday prove useful for monitoring the health of spacecraft.
- Materials Science
Worm’s teeth conceal odd mineral material
A worm's teeth contain a copper mineral that could serve as a model for new materials.
- Physics
Laser links segue to chemical bonds
Light can knit matter together until other bonds take over, providing a potentially useful approach to building nanometer-scale structures and materials.
- Physics
Electron cycling in quantum confines
A lone electron zips around in the tightest circle allowed by quantum mechanics in an extraordinarily small, frigid cyclotron, potentially allowing scientists to nail down some fundamental constants of physics more precisely than ever before.
- Physics
Motor design flouts physical law
A proposed silicon device the size of a red blood cell would transform random thermal motion into useful mechanical power in violation of the second law of thermodynamics, its designers claim.
- Materials Science
Knitting with nanotubes
Researchers can draw fine yarns of carbon nanotubes from a reservoir of the microscopic cylinders.
- Physics
Putting the brakes on antihydrogen
By mixing ultracold antiprotons and antielectrons, physicists have created the first atoms of antihydrogen that move at a leisurely enough pace for direct measurements of their properties.
- Materials Science
Metal Manipulation: Technique yields hard but stretchy materials
Researchers have combined a standard metalworking technology—rolling—with a programmed sequence of cooling and heating steps to process copper into a form that contains both nanoscale and microscale crystal grains.
