Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- 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.
- Physics
Fluid Beauty
Visualizations of a swirling jet, an insect’s wake, agitated sand, and other types of fluid motion can produce stunning images. The American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics annually recognizes research efforts that generate images having both scientific merit and aesthetic appeal. Its gallery of fluid motion features a variety of winning photographs (pdf images) […]
- Physics
Not-So-Neutral Neutron: Clearer view of neutron reveals charged locales
A sharp, new picture of the neutron reveals that rather than being uniformly electrically neutral, the particle contains regions of positive and negative charge.
- Materials Science
Self-Sutures: New material knots up on its own
Researchers have used a new biodegradable material to make surgical sutures that knot and tighten themselves as they warm to body temperature.
- Materials Science
Membrane Mastery: Nanosize silica speeds up sieve
A novel modification to polymer membranes gives researchers a means to tune certain filters so they separate molecules more quickly and more selectively.
- Physics
Molding Atoms: Using a tiny template to make tinier structures
With the help of a molecular mold composed of exactly 188 atoms, researchers have been able to impose textures at an even smaller atomic scale on a metal surface.
- Materials Science
Steely Glaze: Layered electrolytes control corrosion
Experiments with ultrathin organic coatings applied to steel suggest a new technique for slowing corrosion.
