Physics
- Materials Science
Infection, kill thyself
Scientists devise wound dressings that trick bacteria into suicide.
- Physics
Lasing Beyond Light
Laser physicists have set their sights on new types of waves — manufacturing beams of sound, creating plasma swells and looking for ripples in spacetime.
- Physics
Inventing the Light Fantastic
The history of the laser: An idea that began with Albert Einstein inspired a race to create a special beam of light that has since infiltrated numerous aspects of everyday life.
- Physics
Laser pioneer reflects on making Einstein’s idea real
Science News reporter Ron Cowen's Q&A with Nobel laureate and laser-technology pioneer Charles Townes.
- Materials Science
Physicists untangle the geometry of rope
Equations explain why winding fibers together does the job, no matter what they’re made of.
- Physics
The backstory behind a new element
Science News contributing editor Alexandra Witze describes what it took to synthesize ununseptium, element number 117.
- Physics
Colliding dust grains charge each other up
Physicists propose a way that cloud particles can electrify themselves.
- Life
Fruit flies turn on autopilot
High-speed video reveals the aerodynamics behind the insects’ maneuverability.
- Chemistry
Superheavy element 117 makes debut
An international team of researchers fill a gap in the periodic table, and lay another stepping stone along the path to the “island of stability.”
- Physics
LHC revs up
The world’s most powerful atom smasher achieves its most energetic collisions yet.
- Physics
Bar codes could be next to check out
New radio frequency tags would use nanotechnology to identify and track products.
- Chemistry
Building a cheaper catalyst
Using perovskite instead of platinum in catalytic converters could shave many hundreds of dollars off the cost of a diesel car.
