Physics
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Materials Science
Zeolites get an organic makeover
Scientists can now incorporate organic groups into the framework of zeolites, a kind of inorganic crystal.
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Materials Science
Nanofluid Flow: Detergents may benefit from new insight
Fluids containing nanoscale particles spread and readily lift oil droplets off a surface.
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Physics
Crystal Bash: Shocking changes to light’s properties
Prized, light-manipulating microstructures known as photonic crystals may transform light in new and technologically tantalizing ways when jolted by shock waves.
By Peter Weiss -
Physics
Seeking the Mother of All Matter
World's mightiest particle collider may transform less-than-nothing into a primordial something.
By Peter Weiss -
Materials Science
Apollo attire needs care
Advanced spacesuits protected astronauts far from Earth just 30 years ago, but the materials have already deteriorated.
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Physics
Soap Bubbles in Space
While aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Don Pettit took some time off to experiment with soap bubbles and films. This NASA Web page presents the surprising and startling results of his soapy ventures in a zero-g environment. Go to: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/25feb_nosoap.htm
By Science News -
Physics
Not even bismuth-209 lasts forever
Touted in textbooks as the heaviest stable, naturally occurring isotope, bismuth-209 actually does decay but with an astonishingly long half-life of 19 billion billion years.
By Peter Weiss -
Physics
To pack a strand tight, make it a helix
The optimal way to pack long strings into small spaces is to coil them into helices—particularly the types of helices found in proteins and perhaps DNA.
By Peter Weiss -
Materials Science
Blunt Answer: Cracking the puzzle of elastic solids’ toughness
Rubbery materials prove tougher than theory predicts because cracks trying to penetrate those stretchy materials grow blunt at their tips.
By Peter Weiss -
Materials Science
Bone Fix: New material responds to growing tissue
A new scaffolding material stimulates bone regeneration.
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Physics
Answer blows in wind, swirls in soap
A swirling soap film gives new clues to how turbulent flows, such as the circulation of Earth's atmosphere, squander their energy.
By Peter Weiss