Peter Weiss

All Stories by Peter Weiss

  1. Physics

    Dial-a-Splash: Thin air quells liquid splatter

    How much liquids splatter when drops hit surfaces depends on the surrounding air pressure.

  2. Physics

    Putting a new spin on silicon

    Embedding ions of manganese in silicon imparts a magnetic field to the otherwise nonmagnetic semiconductor.

  3. Tech

    Outsmarting the Electronic Gatekeeper: Code breakers beat security scheme of car locks, gas pumps

    Because designers flouted a well-known rule for making cryptographic systems impenetrable, automakers and other businesses have embraced a wireless security technology that's vulnerable to attack.

  4. Plants

    In a Snap: Leaf geometry drives Venus flytrap’s bite

    Behind a Venus flytrap's rapid snap lies an extraordinary shape-changing mechanism.

  5. Tech

    Congealing useful oddballs

    A device for manipulating liquid droplets turns out to have the unexpected ability to fabricate tiny, solid balls with unusual, and potentially useful, patterned structures inside.

  6. Tech

    Thrifty trucks go with the flow

    Forcing air through strategically placed slits on a tractor trailer results in a major boost in fuel economy.

  7. Tech

    Micro Musclebot: Wee walker moves by heart cells’ beats

    A new breed of mobile micromachine made of living heart tissue, gold, and silicon takes a step with each rhythmic contraction of its muscle cells.

  8. Physics

    Twinkle Toes: How geckos’ sticky feet stay clean

    Besides allowing geckos to cling to walls and ceilings, the millions of tiny fibers on the undersides of these lizards' toes clean themselves with each step.

  9. Physics

    Probe bares heart of X-ray inferno

    Physicists have snapped the first real-time pictures of the exploding core of the world's most powerful X-ray source other than a nuclear bomb.

  10. Tech

    Frankenstein’s Chips

    As evidence mounts that drug-safety trials can miss dangerous effects, scientists are building living, miniature models of animals and people to enhance drug and chemical tests.

  11. Tech

    Microscope goes mini

    The atomic force microscope has been shrunk to the size of a microchip.

  12. Tech

    Magnetic Bit Boost: Quantum rewiring for computer memories

    A quantum-mechanical memory component that might replace electronic computer memories has come closer to practicality.