Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Water is weird. A new type of ice could help us understand why
A newfound type of amorphous ice with a density close to liquid water could help scientists make sense of water’s quirks.
- Physics
Muon scanning hints at mysteries within an ancient Chinese wall
Density fluctuations within the ancient rampart encircling the city of Xi’an could be defects or yet-to-be-discovered archaeological finds.
- Materials Science
These shape-shifting devices melt and re-form thanks to magnetic fields
Miniature machines made of gallium embedded with magnetic particles can switch between solid and liquid states.
- Materials Science
Want a ‘Shrinky Dinks’ approach to nano-sized devices? Try hydrogels
Patterning hydrogels with a laser and then shrinking them down with chemicals offers a way to make nanoscopic structures out of many materials.
- Chemistry
These chemists cracked the code to long-lasting Roman concrete
Roman concrete has stood the test of time, so scientists searched ruins to unlock the ancient recipe that could help architecture and climate change.
- Physics
A powerful laser can redirect lightning strikes
In a mountaintop experiment, a laser beamed into the sky created a virtual lightning rod that snagged several bolts before they hit the ground.
- Physics
Rare ‘dark lightning’ might briefly touch passengers when flying
Gamma-ray blasts from thunderstorms might occasionally zap passing airplanes, briefly exposing passengers to unsafe levels of radiation.
- Physics
Here’s how to make a fiber-optic cable out of air using a laser
A hollowed-out laser beam heats a tube of air that surrounds cooler air, providing a way to guide light much the way fiber optics do.
- Physics
Tiny bubbles that make icicles hazy are filled with water, not air
Like tree rings, layers of itty-bitty water pockets also preserve a record of an icicle’s growth.
- Animals
Jumping beans’ random strategy always leads to shade — eventually
Jumping beans use randomness to maximize their chances of getting out of the sun’s heat, a new study finds.
- Physics
We could get messages back from spacecraft sent through a wormhole
A simulation of a probe sent to the other side of a wormhole shows it could send speedy messages back before the hole closes and the probe is lost.
- Space
Humans haven’t set foot on the moon in 50 years. That may soon change
In 1972, the era of crewed missions to the moon came to an end. Fifty years later, a new one has begun.
