Physics

  1. Materials Science

    Bright Future

    Energy-efficient, semiconductor-based chips called light-emitting diodes will begin to illuminate homes and offices within the next decade, displacing power-hungry incandescent and fluorescent lighting.

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  2. Physics

    Dr. Feynman’s Doodles

    A new U.S. postage stamp honoring physicist and folk hero Richard P. Feynman sports curious squiggles, invented by Feynman, that were rejected at first but soon became a major tool of physicists everywhere for picturing the behaviors and calculating the properties of matter and energy.

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  3. Materials Science

    Lube Tune-Up: Motor oil from recycled plastic could improve automotive-fuel efficiency

    Chemists have developed a technique for making high-performance lubricating oils from recycled plastic.

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  4. Physics

    Probing chemical signatures in an earthy way

    Scientists have performed nuclear magnetic resonance analysis using Earth's magnetic field.

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  5. Materials Science

    Whisking Whiskers: Nanobrushes sweep up

    Researchers have made microscopic brushes with carbon nanotube bristles.

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  6. Materials Science

    Micropower Heats Up: Propane fuel cell packs a lot of punch

    Portable electronic devices such as laptops and MP3 players could soon run on miniature fuel cells that consume propane.

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  7. Physics

    Quantum Diaries

    What’s it like being a physicist? For the “World Year of Physics” in 2005, more than 30 physicists from around the world are providing occasional glimpses of their lives throughout the year via blog entries, video clips, and photos. Go to: http://interactions.org/quantumdiaries/

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  8. Materials Science

    Tissue Tether: Improved conducting plastic could boost nerve-regeneration success

    Biomedical engineers aim to repair damaged nerves with a chemically modified conducting polymer that stimulates the growth of nerve cells.

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  9. Physics

    Molecular Anatomy Revealed

    Using ever-faster lasers to zap the electron clouds in atoms and molecules, scientists are making major strides toward observing and controlling the elementary quantum transformations that underlie all of chemistry.

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  10. Physics

    Quantum Bull’s-Eye: Particle-mass prediction hits the mark

    By precisely predicting the mass of a subatomic meson, physicists have demonstrated they have the computational know-how to calculate real-world details from quark basics.

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  11. Physics

    Galactic data shore up a constant

    Alpha, a constant of nature found to vary in some astrophysical studies, actually holds steady, according to the first survey of galaxies used to evaluate alpha's constancy.

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  12. Physics

    Scales tilt against five-quark particles

    Studies that fail to find purported five-quark particles, or pentaquarks, are stacking up quicker than studies that claim to have found such particles, suggesting that they might not really exist.

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