Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
The magnetic mystery at the center of the Earth
The history of the planet’s all-important magnetic field has scientists ramping up simulations and lab experiments to resolve a baffling paradox.
- Materials Science
Nanogenerators harvest body’s energy to power devices
Nanogenerators offer body-harvested energy to fuel bionic future
- Quantum Physics
New experiment verifies quantum spookiness
A new experiment provides the most robust proof that quantum mechanics doesn’t follow the rules we take for granted in everyday life.
- Physics
Hawking proposes solution to black hole problem
Light sliding along the boundary of a black hole encodes everything that ever fell inside, suggests Stephen Hawking in a new but incomplete proposal.
- Humans
Moon bounces, bad spider leaders and more reader feedback
Readers debate faith's role in evolution, compare politicians to spiders and more.
- Physics
3-D printed device cracks cocktail party problem
A plastic disk does what sophisticated computers cannot: solve the cocktail party problem.
- Quantum Physics
Physicists get answers from computer that didn’t run
By exploiting the quirks of quantum mechanics, physicists consistently determined what a quantum computer would have done without actually running the computer.
- Physics
Quest for room-temperature superconductivity warms up
Scientists have demonstrated that a material can conduct electrical current without resistance at temperatures as high as –70° Celsius.
- Chemistry
Three kids’ science books offer fun, fascinating experiments
No matter what interests kids, there’s a do-it-yourself science book for them. Here are three with entertaining and educational options.
- Particle Physics
Antimatter doesn’t differ from charge-mass expectations
An experiment with unprecedented precision finds that protons and antiprotons have the same ratio of charge to mass, which is consistent with theories but disappoints many physicists.
- Physics
3-D printed device cracks cocktail party problem
A plastic disk does what sophisticated computers cannot: solve the cocktail party problem.
- Materials Science
Buckyballs turn on copper’s magnetism
Exposure to buckyballs bestows ironlike magnetic properties onto the normally nonmagnetic metals copper and manganese.
