Physics
Here’s how Rudolph’s light-up nose might be possible
Simple chemistry could give the reindeer his famously bright snout. But physics would make it look different colors from the ground.
Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Physics
- Physics
Water jets may break up into droplets thanks to jiggling molecules
Streams of liquid form drops thanks to unidentified disturbances. It could be the jiggling of individual molecules.
- Physics
There’s math behind this maddening golf mishap
Math and physics explain the anguish of a golf ball that zings around the rim of the hole instead of falling in.
- Space
Black holes are encircled by thin rings of light. This physicist wants to see one
Theoretical physicist Alex Lupsasca is pushing for a space telescope to glimpse the thin ring of light that is thought to surround every black hole.
- Physics
These simple knife tricks stop onion tears instantly
With a high-speed camera and a tiny guillotine, scientists showed that chopping onions slowly and with sharper knives cuts down on tears.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum ‘echoes’ reveal the potential of Google’s quantum computer
Google says its quantum computer achieved a verifiable calculation that classic computers cannot. The work could point to future applications.
- Physics
A tiny, levitated glass sphere behaves like the hottest engine ever made
At an effective temperature of 13 million kelvins, the jiggling glass sphere could help scientists understand physics at the microscale.
- Materials Science
New wetsuit designs offer a layer of protection against shark bites
By weaving Kevlar or polyethylene nanofibers into standard neoprene in wetsuits, researchers found ways to limit injury during rare encounters with sharks.
- Particle Physics
Lasers made muon beams, no massive accelerator needed
The advance hints at the possibility of portable muon-making devices that could help peer through solid materials for hidden contraband.
- Quantum Physics
Discoveries that enabled quantum computers win the Nobel Prize in physics
In the 1980s, John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis demonstrated quantum effects in an electric circuit, an advance that underlies today’s quantum computers.
