All Stories by Peter Weiss
- Physics
Computer simulates full nuclear blast
In a classified nuclear-weapon experiment, the world's fastest computer simulated a thermonuclear blast in three dimensions.
- Physics
Magnetism piece fits no-resistance puzzle
Experimenters have found evidence that a type of magnetic behavior correlated with the onset of zero electrical resistance in some so-called high-temperature superconductors is generic to the whole class of those materials, yielding a possible clue to how the substances lose their resistance.
- Physics
Star in a Jar? Hints of nuclear fusion found—maybe
In a bench-top experiment, atomic nuclei may have fused inside rapidly imploding bubbles of vapor in a liquid bombarded by sound waves, but many scientists find the evidence for bubble fusion unconvincing.
- Materials Science
Thin Jet Flies Two for One: Double streams yield sheathed nanoballs, fibers
Researchers have used powerful electric fields to stretch liquids into ultrathin jets in which a stream of one liquid encloses the stream of another.
- Tech
Littlest catalysts get a lot of support
Tiny metal clusters used as catalysts are getting so small that presumably inert carrier materials that host them are also getting involved in the reactions.
- Tech
Beam Team: Unusual laser emits a band of light
A novel laser on a microchip emits a band of light rather than the single, pure color usually expected from a laser.
- Tech
Itsy chain turns bitsy gears
A tiny chain with links the size of biological cells offers a new way to deliver power to micromachines.
- Tech
Circuitry in a nanowire: Novel growth method may transform chips
Made from alternating bands of different semiconductors, a new type of superthin wire incorporates working electronic and optical devices within the wire itself, raising the prospect of making extremely tiny and versatile circuits from the striped filaments.
- Physics
Light comes to halt again—in a solid
By stopping laser light pulses cold in a crystal, storing them, and then releasing them, physicists have achieved the same feat accomplished last year in gases, but this time in a more practical material.
- Physics
Anatomy of a Lightning Ball
Metallic fuzz, acid droplets, or other fairy dust may conjure up ball lightning (with video clips).
- Physics
Balloon bursts give clue to fast cracks
A casual observation about the edges of popped balloons may have led researchers to previously unknown features of the most common and least understood types of fractures.
- Computing
Calculating Cartoons
Thanks to sophisticated computer simulations of the laws of physics, spectacular special effects—plus a zoo of strange but real-looking creatures—increasingly enliven movie screens and computer-game consoles.
