Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- 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.
- Materials Science
Beyond Jell-O: New ideas gel in the lab
Researchers have created a new class of hydrogels that might prove useful in tissue engineering, drug delivery, and other biomedical applications.
- Physics
Tiny tungsten beams lord over light
By filtering radiated heat, a novel microstructure of crisscrossed tungsten beams promises to improve the efficiency of light bulbs and of heat-to-electricity conversion devices.
- Physics
Unexpected Boost: A superconductivity killer’s silver lining
Among superconductors—materials able to conduct electricity without resistance—an effect that normally diminishes current-carrying ability surprisingly turns out to sometimes enhance it.
- Physics
Detector spots solar chameleons
A new measurement of the sun's emission of ghostly neutrinos indicates that the prevailing theory of particle physics needs repair.
