Physics
We summarize the week's science breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Entanglement loophole closed
A long-distance experiment rejects a challenge to quantum physics.
- Tech
Trading places
As the pace of financial transactions accelerates, researchers look forward to a time when the only limiting factor is the speed of light.
- Tech
Robots can use coffee as a picker-upper
A gripper made of a bag of loose grains has advantages over grasping devices that use individual digits.
- Animals
Doing the wet-dog wiggle
Hairy animals have evolved to shed water quickly by shaking at the optimal speed for their size.
- Physics
Sailing toward the island of stability
The creation of six new superheavy isotopes has encouraged researchers who hope to find long-lived elements of even greater mass.
- Physics
Holy moley
Adding more decimal places to Avogadro constant could produce a better definition of the kilogram.
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- Physics
Physics Nobel goes to graphene
Discovered only six years ago, the 2-D carbon sheets have spun off a new field of research.
- Physics
Glacier found to be deeply cracked
A new study finds deep fissures in Alaska ice that could affect future responses to melting.
- Physics
Being single a real drag for spores
Launching thousands of gametes at once helps a fungus waft its offspring farther.
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- Math
Potato chips: A symptom of the U.S. R&D problem
Last year, U.S. consumers spent $7.1 billion on potato chips — $2 billion more than the federal government’s total 2009 investment on research and development. There’s something wrong, here, when Americans are more willing to empty their wallets for the junk food that will swell their waistlines than for investments in the engine driving the creation of jobs, economic growth and national security.
