Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Gluing building blocks with geometry
Using blocks with simple shapes, researchers have found ways to construct strong panels with no fasteners securing most of the blocks.
- Materials Science
Layered Approach
A decade-old method for creating thin coatings is poised to move from the lab to countless low- and high-tech products.
- Materials Science
Worm’s Jaws Show Mettle: Zinc links may inspire new materials
New analyses of the jaws of marine worms may lead scientists to better ways of making synthetic materials.
- Physics
Fast Findings on Fluid Frenzy: Taking turbulence models to a new level
A new way to simulate turbulence by including some of the microscopic, molecular properties of fluids is influencing automobile design and may soon affect many other fields.
- Physics
Antiglare eye black is better than tape
Black grease that athletes smear under their eyes to control the glare of the sun really helps them discern contrast; what's more, it works better than black tape, a newer antiglare aid.
- Materials Science
Miniature Motor: Nanotubes central to new rotating device
Researchers have used miniature, nested cylinders, called multiwalled carbon nanotubes, to make a motor only 300 nanometers long.
- Physics
Mastering the Mixer
Almost anything can happen when a batch of grains or powders is mixed—including striking, swirling patterns and spontaneous, total separation—so researchers are playing with beads, salt, sand, and other particles in simple tumblers to find out what's going on.
- Materials Science
Tiny Labs: Polymers on silicon chip catch, release proteins
In a step toward a new laboratory-on-a-chip technology, researchers have grown a dense polymer film on a silicon wafer that takes up and releases proteins on command.
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- Physics
Magnetic current flows solo
By exploiting quantum mechanical interactions, physicists have generated glows of the magnetic fields of electrons without corresponding flows of their electric charges.
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- Physics
Wild Bunch: First five-quark particle turns up
Physicists have uncovered strong evidence for a family of five-quark particles after decades of finding no subatomic particles with more than three of the fundamental building blocks known as quarks.
