Physics

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

More Stories in Physics

  1. Animals

    Frilly bug feet inspire a water-striding robot

    Ripple bugs’ nimble movements on the surface of water inspired a robot with automatically unfurling fans on its feet.

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  2. Space

    Astronauts need oxygen. Magnets could help

    Adding a magnet could simplify the process of producing oxygen in space, making a crewed mission to Mars more feasible.

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  3. Physics

    Sunlight is all that’s needed to keep these tiny aircraft aloft

    Sun-powered fliers could use photophoretic forces to hover in the mesosphere, gathering data from a region off limits to planes and balloons.

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  4. Materials Science

    Scientists re-create a legendary golden fabric from clam waste

    Sea silk, once spun from endangered clams, may make a comeback — thanks to discarded fibers from a farmed species. The find could sustainably revive a fading art.

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  5. Quantum Physics

    A quantum computer goes to space

    Quantum computers in space could be useful for communications networks or for testing fundamental physics.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    An injected gel could make drugs like Ozempic last longer

    GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and weight loss are difficult for some people to inject weekly. A new slow-release gel, tested in rats, could help.

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  7. Space

    The biggest black hole smashup ever detected challenges physics theories

    Gravitational waves spotted by LIGO reveal two black holes, 140 and 100 times the mass of the sun, merged to become a 225 solar mass behemoth.

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  8. Physics

    Scientists 3-D printed a tiny elephant inside a cell

    The first structures ever 3-D printed inside living cells point to applications for biology research.

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  9. Quantum Physics

    ‘Magic’ states empower error-resistant quantum computing

    Special quantum states allow computers to perform the most difficult class of quantum computing operations.

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