Physics

  1. Space

    Making lemonade with quantum lemons

    Physicists produce “spooky action at a distance,” using a phenomenon that would usually disrupt it.

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  2. Physics

    Memories made of light

    Physicists find a more efficient way to store quantum information in a crystal, a step towards super-secure quantum communications.

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  3. Physics

    Physics in free fall

    Physicists drop supercold atoms down an elevator shaft to see what will happen.

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  4. Physics

    Bouncing beads outwit Feynman

    Ratchet-and-pawl thought experiment whirs to life, extracting work from bouncing beads.

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  5. Ecosystems

    Sharks use math to hunt

    Marine predators cruise the seas using fractal principles.

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  6. Physics

    A giant proposal for a new type of molecule

    Atoms linked across vast distances, can point in two directions at once

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  7. Physics

    Law & Disorder: A Companion

    More resources about how physicists and philosophers understand time.

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  8. Materials Science

    Quantum photocells might cheat efficiency limits

    Factoring in quantum coherence could increase efficiency of harnessing sunlight in photovoltaic cells.

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  9. Humans

    Teeth as a forensic clock

    Here’s something we’re likely to see that endearing techno whiz kid, Abby Sciuto, whip out of her forensic arsenal next season on NCIS. They’re chemical and nuclear technologies to date teeth. When paired up, new research indicates, they’ll identify not only when people were born but also the age at which they clocked out — thereby pointing to the general date of death.

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  10. Physics

    Some ‘ball lightning’ reports may be hallucinations

    Magnetic fields generated by real bolts could trigger visual effects in the brain.

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  11. Earth

    BP’s estimate of spill rate is way low, engineer suggests

    “It’s not rocket science.” That’s how a Purdue University mechanical engineer described his calculations of startling amounts of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from fissures in heavily damaged piping at a BP drill site. During a May 19 science briefing convened by a House subcommittee, Steve Wereley walked members of Congress through his use of particle image velocimetry to explain how he and other engineers track changes in video images of gases or liquids to estimate the volumes billowing before their eyes.

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  12. Physics

    Record number of photons lassoed into a quantum limbo 

    Physicists entangle five particles, each existing in two states simultaneously.

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