Physics

  1. Climate

    Air Pollution Can Be So Cool — ing

    Fossil-fuel pollution has been offsetting global warming to the tune of about 30 percent per year. Cleaning up that pollution, a must, threatens to accelerate warming unless humanity changes its fuel-use strategy.

    By
  2. Tech

    Down with the transistor

    A new type of electronic component could shrink computer chips and make them more powerful.

    By
  3. Materials Science

    Squid beaks are hardly soft

    Water softens squid beaks toward their base, so they don't cut into the squid's own soft tissue.

    By
  4. Materials Science

    Quantum Cocoon

    Diamond can hold quantum information even at room temperature, which makes it a candidate material for future quantum computers.

    By
  5. Materials Science

    Live Another Day: African insect survives drought in glassy state

    When dehydrated, the larvae of an African fly replace the water in their cells with a sugar, which solidifies and helps keep cellular structures intact.

    By
  6. Materials Science

    A sticky issue

    Peeling off adhesive tape can be frustrating, and now researchers know why.

    By
  7. Physics

    Neutron vision

    A new neutron detector might help identify smuggled radioactive materials.

    By
  8. Materials Science

    Cellulose that stiffens and softens

    A material inspired by sea cucumbers morphs from rigid to soft.

    By
  9. Physics

    Too speedy for gravity?

    A new analysis suggests that five different spacecraft gained more speed as they flew past Earth than can be accounted for by Einstein's theory of gravitation.

    By
  10. Physics

    Black Hole of Light: Laser pulses create model of event horizon

    Physicists have created the optical analog of a black hole's surface of no return, a setup that could help test whether actual black holes glow.

    By
  11. Physics

    Birds network too

    Starlings in a flock adjust their trajectories to those of their closest neighbors, which helps the flock stay together when under attack.

    By
  12. Physics

    Extreme Measures

    Physicists use atom interferometry to measure gravity and other forces with unrivaled precision, and the technique could potentially guide airplanes and uncover buried caches of oil and diamonds.

    By