Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Voyager spacecraft still buffeted by sun
Even though the two Voyager probes launched in 1977 passed the outermost planets in our solar system more than a decade ago, their sensors show that they can't yet outrun the influence of solar flares.
- Physics
Old data yield new signs of extra force
Several experimental findings that conflict with predictions of the prevailing standard model of particle physics suggest that nature may include another force beyond the four known ones.
- Physics
Catch a Wave
Detection of gravitational waves predicted by Einstein's 1916 general theory of relativity may finally occur, thanks to a new generation of laser-based observatories.
- Materials Science
Tiny gems on steps find future in films
The discovery of diamond-crystal seeds on steps in silicon may lead to long-sought, large wafers of pure, single-crystal diamond for electronics and other uses.
- Physics
Electrical superball pulls itself together
A strong electric field can drive tiny particles of a superconductor to bind themselves together into a remarkably sturdy ball.
- Physics
Matter waves: Be fruitful and multiply
For the first time, physicists induced atoms to amplify a selected matter wave in a manner analogous to a cascade of photons amplifying the characteristic electromagnetic wave of an optical laser.
- Materials Science
Impurity clouds from all sides now
For the first time, scientists have obtained detailed, three-dimensional images of line defects in steel.
- Materials Science
Small-scale glues stick to surfaces
Tailored molecular glues can connect together tiny particles for nanotechnology applications.
- Physics
Time’s arrow may make U-turns in universe
Time may run backwards for isolated chunks of matter in our universe and that reversed state could be probed gently from the forward-going realm without disturbing the time arrow.
- Physics
Computers Crunch Quantum Collisions
Physicists have mathematically described what happens when an electron collides with a hydrogen atom, accomplishing a longstanding goal.
- Physics
Loud Loop: New explanation of whip-snapping unfurls
The wake of a loop zooming along a whip may silence the faster-moving tip so the loop actually causes the whip's loud bang.
- Physics
Atom laser gets a full tank
A method to refill Bose-Einstein condensates—ultracold clouds of atoms all in the same quantum state—may soon make possible the first atom lasers that can shoot a stream of condensate atoms indefinitely.
