Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Probe bares heart of X-ray inferno
Physicists have snapped the first real-time pictures of the exploding core of the world's most powerful X-ray source other than a nuclear bomb.
- Materials Science
Sweet Glow: Nanotube sensor brightens path to glucose detection
An implantable glucose sensor based on carbon nanotubes could allow patients with diabetes to monitor their blood sugar levels without the need for daily pinprick tests.
- Materials Science
Concrete Nation
From ultrahigh-performance concrete that bends like metal to concrete blocks that transmit light, scientists are pushing the physical and architectural limits of this ubiquitous construction material.
- Materials Science
Mussel glue inspires coating for medical implants
An antifouling coating inspired by the sticky adhesive secreted by mussels could protect future medical implants from failure.
- Materials Science
Glass materials let Venetian art shine
Sixteenth-century Venetian painters mixed glassy materials with their paints to expand their palettes and enhance the vibrancy of their colors.
- Materials Science
Bonelike polymer supports stem cells
A polymer scaffold that mimics the environment in which natural bone grows provides stem cells with the right cues to lay down new bone.
- Materials Science
Buckyballs store 1s and 0s in new memory device
Scientists have created a material that stores bits of data in the soccer ball-shaped carbon molecules known as buckyballs.
- Materials Science
A light wrap?
Materials scientists have created fabrics that can both detect light and conduct electricity.
- Physics
An Electron Runs through It
Now that physicists can observe electrons beneath the surface of microchips, they have uncovered electron-flow patterns that are both surprising and visually startling, as well as new details of electron behavior that may lead to faster electronics and quantum computing.
- Materials Science
Color Collective: Polymer self-assembles into light-emitting film
Stacks of sheets of light-emitting organic molecules that assemble into nanoscale structures could be more efficient and luminescent than existing display materials based on organic substances.
- Physics
Swift Lift: Birds may get a rise out of swirling air
The wings of airborne birds may generate whirlpools of air to produce lift for flying, just as insects do.
- Materials Science
Transparent Transistor: See-through component for flexible displays
Transparent transistors deposited on flexible sheets of plastic could find their way into computer displays embedded in car windshields and other curved surfaces.
