Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Nanotubes get into gear for new roll
Atoms on the surface of carbon nanotubes appear to mesh when tubes roll across a graphite surface, making the tubes possible atomic-scale gears, which have been long-sought in nanotechnology.
- Physics
Devilish polygons speak of past stress
A new theory and a simple test with cornstarch and water may help explain the polygonal geometry of rock columns in the Devil's Postpile in California and elsewhere.
- Materials Science
Bigger, Cheaper, Safer Batteries: New material charges up lithium-ion battery work
A new material could make rechargeable lithium-ion batteries smaller, cheaper, and safer.
- Materials Science
The Buck Starts Here
The U.S. Mint performed some neat tricks to make a golden dollar.
- Materials Science
Materials with Memory
Metal alloys and polymers that can remember a preprogrammed shape may literally reshape technologies ranging from warfare to medicine and car repair.
- Physics
Neon gives healthy glow to reactor
Preferring neon to nicotine, magnetic-fusion reactors called tokamaks get a performance boost from puffs of the noble gas.
- Physics
Photon-in-a-box slings atom into orbit
A single photon confined to a tiny, mirror-lined cavity becomes electrically strong enough to swing an atom in loops.
- Physics
Soft crystal shows off its many new facets
Experiments with a liquid crystal may confirm the 50-year-old prediction that a nearly unlimited number of facets of different orientations can simultaneously decorate a crystal surface.
- Materials Science
Fridge Magnets and Chemistry
Theres a tiger on your fridge! Lurking inside refrigerator magnets of the flat, flexible variety are magnetic-field stripes of alternating polarity. This University of Wisconsin Web site explains how fridge magnets work, shows how you can use such magnets to learn about magnetic force microscopy, and suggests experiments involving fridge magnets to model how metals […]
- Materials Science
Rice hulls could nourish Silicon Valley
Scientists are developing ways to extract and purify the silicon that occurs naturally in rice hulls.
- Materials Science
Better-Built Diamonds: Fast growth, purity may multiply uses
A research group has fabricated the purest diamonds ever made or found, and another has devised a way to grow high-quality diamonds up to 100 times faster than typical growth rates.
- Physics
Electron spins pass imposing frontier
Electron spins crossed from one semiconductor to another with apparent ease and little or no mussing of their direction, suggesting that sandwiches of materials common in microcircuits are no obstacle to creating spin-information channels in future circuits.
