All Stories by Peter Weiss
- Tech
Software bugs cost big bucks
An epidemic of software errors in industrial computer programs is costing the United States $60 billion per year.
- Materials Science
In glass, fast crowds boogie to brittle end
New experiments suggest that a coordinated dance involving more and more molecules may help explain the puzzling transformation from liquid to the molecular gridlock of solid glass.
- Physics
Heightened Resistance: Sharper shaft points to smaller bits
Scientists have exploited a method for detecting the orientations of magnetic fields to achieve a remarkable leap in detector sensitivity.
- Physics
Twice-charmed particles spotted?
Exotic cousins of protons and neutrons known as doubly-charmed baryons may have made their laboratory debut.
- Physics
Double or Nothing
The hunt for a rare, hypothetical nuclear transformation known as neutrinoless double-beta decay may answer one of the most urgent questions in physics today: How much do elementary particles called neutrinos weigh?
- Tech
Putting squish into artificial organs
Artificial organs and tissues may someday feel more like the real thing if a new, rubbery polymer supplants mostly stiff materials available today for tissue engineering.
- Physics
U.S. time now flows from atom fountain
The United States has switched to the atomic fountain clock, which sets itself according to the resonant frequency of rising and falling balls of cold cesium.
- Physics
Magnets trap neutrons for a lifetime
A new device that uses magnets to trap neutrons may enable physicists to measure more precisely how quickly free neutrons decay, a time period with implications for understanding both the weak force and the early universe.
- Physics
Lasers act on cue in electron billiards
Electrons torn from atoms by a laser beam can shoot back into the atom and knock loose other electrons like balls in a billiard game, a finding that may have applications in nuclear fusion, particle acceleration, and fundamental physics experiments.
- Tech
Making a Little Impression: New chip-making method may mold the industry
A simple mechanical means of embossing silicon may offer an alternative to conventional chip-making methods.
- Materials Science
Wiregate: Metallic picket fence flips magnetic bits
Rather than relegate magnetic fields to the usual backup role of data storage for computers, a new microcircuit exploits those fields for computation, possibly leading to cheaper, lower-power chips than traditional electronic ones.
- Physics
Old data yield new signs of extra force
Several experimental findings that conflict with predictions of the prevailing standard model of particle physics suggest that nature may include another force beyond the four known ones.
