Physics

  1. Physics

    Icicle waves go with the flow

    A new model of icicle growth may explain the strange fact that ripples often found on those icy spikes typically sit about 1 centimeter apart, whether the icicles themselves are big or small.

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  2. Physics

    Light pulses flout sacrosanct speed limit

    Faster-than-light firsts: Restless laser pulse leaves before it arrives, while merging microwaves send out a superluminal scout.

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  3. Materials Science

    Nanotube ID: New signatures aid nanotech progress

    Researchers have developed a means for rapidly distinguishing among 33 semiconducting varieties of carbon nanotubes.

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  4. Physics

    Spectrum deftly takes visible light’s pulse

    A rainbow path to more precise measurements of visible-light frequencies may become an express lane to unprecedented accuracy in everyday measurements for all the sciences.

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  5. Physics

    Cold War Conductor: Ultracold plutonium compound shows no resistance

    Researchers studying the crystalline properties of radioactive plutonium have discovered the first plutonium-based superconductor.

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  6. Physics

    Quantum quirks quicken thorny searches

    A researcher has come up with a quantum algorithm for identifying one or more items in a large, unsorted database when complete information about the search target is unavailable.

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  7. Physics

    Speedy impacts send microwave distress calls

    Laboratory smash-ups mimicking those between fast-moving space debris and satellites appear to emit microwave bursts, suggesting that microwave detectors might someday prove useful for monitoring the health of spacecraft.

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  8. Materials Science

    Worm’s teeth conceal odd mineral material

    A worm's teeth contain a copper mineral that could serve as a model for new materials.

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  9. Physics

    Laser links segue to chemical bonds

    Light can knit matter together until other bonds take over, providing a potentially useful approach to building nanometer-scale structures and materials.

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  10. Physics

    Electron cycling in quantum confines

    A lone electron zips around in the tightest circle allowed by quantum mechanics in an extraordinarily small, frigid cyclotron, potentially allowing scientists to nail down some fundamental constants of physics more precisely than ever before.

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  11. Physics

    Motor design flouts physical law

    A proposed silicon device the size of a red blood cell would transform random thermal motion into useful mechanical power in violation of the second law of thermodynamics, its designers claim.

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  12. Materials Science

    Knitting with nanotubes

    Researchers can draw fine yarns of carbon nanotubes from a reservoir of the microscopic cylinders.

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