Physics

  1. Materials Science

    Miniature Motor: Nanotubes central to new rotating device

    Researchers have used miniature, nested cylinders, called multiwalled carbon nanotubes, to make a motor only 300 nanometers long.

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  2. Physics

    Mastering the Mixer

    Almost anything can happen when a batch of grains or powders is mixed—including striking, swirling patterns and spontaneous, total separation—so researchers are playing with beads, salt, sand, and other particles in simple tumblers to find out what's going on.

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  3. Materials Science

    Tiny Labs: Polymers on silicon chip catch, release proteins

    In a step toward a new laboratory-on-a-chip technology, researchers have grown a dense polymer film on a silicon wafer that takes up and releases proteins on command.

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  4. Materials Science

    Gas sensor uses nanotube parts

    New sensors use carbon nanotubes to analyze gas.

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  5. Physics

    Magnetic current flows solo

    By exploiting quantum mechanical interactions, physicists have generated glows of the magnetic fields of electrons without corresponding flows of their electric charges.

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  6. Physics

    Monitoring radiation with Britney Spears?

    Compact disks can serve as home radon detectors.

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  7. Physics

    Wild Bunch: First five-quark particle turns up

    Physicists have uncovered strong evidence for a family of five-quark particles after decades of finding no subatomic particles with more than three of the fundamental building blocks known as quarks.

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  8. Materials Science

    Microbial Materials

    Microorganisms can be coaxed into producing high-tech components and can themselves serve as valuable ingredients in new classes of materials.

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  9. Physics

    Through the Looking Glass

    A proposed universe of unseen material, where every ordinary particle has a shadowy counterpart, could explain several conundrums in cosmology.

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  10. Materials Science

    Cathedral has weathered London’s acid rain

    A decrease in acid rain seems to be responsible for newly reported reduced deterioration rates of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

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  11. Materials Science

    Easy Repair: Novel structural model heals with heat

    The vertebrate spine has provided inspiration for making new structures that heal when heated.

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  12. Materials Science

    Lithium Sees the Light: Images of tiny ion may help battery designers

    An electron microscope has captured images of tiny lithium ions for the first time.

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