Physics

  1. Chemistry

    Naming an atomic heavyweight

    More than a decade after its debut in a German lab, element 112 is officially named copernicium.

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  2. Tech

    Leasing car batteries to the power company

    Most people, on average, drive their cars only an hour or two a day. The rest of the time, those pricey vehicles sit parked on the street or in some garage. But if those cars had a big bank of batteries – typical of today’s gasoline hybrids or soon-to-hit-the-road plug-in hybrids – they could be earning their owners money while sitting parked. Maybe $5 to $10 a day, just by serving as a back-up energy-storage system for the electric-utility grid.

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  3. Quantum Physics

    Higgs and his particle prove elusive

    Peter Higgs and colleagues receive particle theory prize; scientists still hunting the proposed boson

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  4. Physics

    Hot and heavy matter runs a 4 trillion degree fever

    Protons and neutrons melted in collisions of gold atoms have created the hottest matter ever made in a lab

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  5. Materials Science

    A charge for freezing water at different temperatures

    Experiments use positive and negative forces to control ice formation at temperatures well below the normal freezing point.

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  6. Physics

    Algae use quantum trick to harvest light

    A new study finds that proteins used in photosynthesis take advantage of electrons’ wavelike properties

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  7. Chemistry

    Self-stirring liquids

    Chemistry, not force, leads to fluid flow, mixes solution.

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  8. Physics

    Quantum computer simulates hydrogen molecule just right

    Team builds device that uses two photons to calculate electron energies.

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  9. Earth

    Tsunamis could telegraph their imminent arrival

    Telecommunication cables could give early warnings of giant waves.

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  10. Materials Science

    Breakup doesn’t keep hydrogel down

    Scientists create a new material that is strong, soft and self-healing.

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  11. Physics

    Just a stone’s throw forms a supersonic jet

    Objects hitting water can move air at the speed of sound.

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  12. Physics

    Liquid light bender proposed

    Tiny nanoparticles dispersed in fluid may hide objects.

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