Physics

  1. Physics

    Champion of strength is forged in mighty anvil

    A new form of carbon created in an anvil and composed of microscopic needles of diamond has emerged as the strongest known material.

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  2. Materials Science

    Sun and Sand: Dirty silicon could supply solar power

    Scientists have proposed a way to control the distribution of contaminants in silicon, potentially opening up the use of cheaper starting materials for making solar cells.

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  3. Materials Science

    Fog Be Gone: Nanocoating clarifies the view

    Scientists have created a nanocoating that prevents fogging and reflection on glass surfaces.

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  4. Physics

    Warm Ice: Frozen water forms at room temperature

    Ultrathin films of ice observed at room temperature and ordinary atmospheric pressure should be more widespread than previously thought, according to new experiments indicating that weaker-than-expected electric fields induce such freezing.

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  5. Materials Science

    Fine Fabric: New, fast way to make sheets of nanotubes

    Scientists have come up with a way to efficiently produce thin, transparent sheets of carbon nanotubes that are several meters long.

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  6. Materials Science

    Nanotube carpet mimics gecko feet

    Carbon nanotubes can outdo the extraordinary sticking power of a gecko's foot hairs.

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  7. Physics

    Materials scientists go flat out

    By separating flakes of single-layer crystals from several ordinary materials, physicists have discovered what may be both the world's thinnest materials and a technologically promising new class of substances.

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  8. Physics

    Glints from Inner Space: Sensing Earth’s hidden radioactivity

    Physicists have observed signatures of radioactivity deep within Earth, enabling measurement of planet-wide thorium and uranium quantities.

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  9. Physics

    Why isn’t the sky violet, Daddy?

    A new analysis of why the sky looks blue reveals that the reason may be the combined effects of the atmosphere and of our eyes' color-sensing apparatus.

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  10. Physics

    In search of the imperfect nanocrystal

    Semiconductor nanocrystals can incorporate property-enhancing impurities into their growing structures as long as the crystals have facets onto which such atoms can strongly adhere.

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  11. Physics

    Getting Warped

    While museum displays such as simulations of warped space-time acquaint visitors with the ideas behind Albert Einstein's scientific discoveries, other galleries of artifacts, letters, and even film footage reveal the multifaceted man that Einstein was.

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  12. Physics

    Realistic Time Machine? New design could forgo exotic ingredient

    A novel time machine concept may avoid a problem of earlier, less-practical proposals by requiring only normal matter and the vacuum known to exist in space.

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