Physics

Physics

Sandcastle Physics

Just about anyone can build a sandcastle out of wet sand. Why sand behaves as it does–on the beach, during earthquakes, at low pressures–isn’t yet fully understood. A NASA space shuttle experiment is now slated to tackle details of what happens when sand is compressed. Go to: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/11jul_mgm.htm

Materials Science

In glass, fast crowds boogie to brittle end

New experiments suggest that a coordinated dance involving more and more molecules may help explain the puzzling transformation from liquid to the molecular gridlock of solid glass.

Materials Science

Healing Wounds: Interactive dressing speeds the process

A new, easily prepared hydrogel material promotes more rapid wound healing in laboratory animals than do conventional dressings.

Materials Science

Molecular template makes nanoscale helix

Using ribbons made of organic molecules as minuscule templates, researchers have coaxed a semiconductor material into tiny helical coils.

Physics

Heightened Resistance: Sharper shaft points to smaller bits

Scientists have exploited a method for detecting the orientations of magnetic fields to achieve a remarkable leap in detector sensitivity.

Materials Science

X Rays to Go: Carbon nanotubes could shrink machines

A new type of X-ray machine operates at room temperature by producing X-ray-generating electrons with carbon nanotubes instead of traditional heated metal filaments.

Physics

Twice-charmed particles spotted?

Exotic cousins of protons and neutrons known as doubly-charmed baryons may have made their laboratory debut.

Materials Science

Spring in your step? The forces in cartilage

Researchers are uncovering the role of molecular forces in cartilage's ability to resist compression.

Physics

Double or Nothing

The hunt for a rare, hypothetical nuclear transformation known as neutrinoless double-beta decay may answer one of the most urgent questions in physics today: How much do elementary particles called neutrinos weigh?

Physics

U.S. time now flows from atom fountain

The United States has switched to the atomic fountain clock, which sets itself according to the resonant frequency of rising and falling balls of cold cesium.

Physics

Magnets trap neutrons for a lifetime

A new device that uses magnets to trap neutrons may enable physicists to measure more precisely how quickly free neutrons decay, a time period with implications for understanding both the weak force and the early universe.

Physics

Lasers act on cue in electron billiards

Electrons torn from atoms by a laser beam can shoot back into the atom and knock loose other electrons like balls in a billiard game, a finding that may have applications in nuclear fusion, particle acceleration, and fundamental physics experiments.