Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Materials Science
Charging cartilage
A hybrid material made of biodegradable polymers and carbon nanotubes yields an optimal scaffold for growing cartilage.
- Materials Science
Soft spheres yield photonic structures
A novel technique for patterning light-guiding channels through photonic crystals made of hydrogel nanoparticles may lead to faster, all-optical telecommunications technologies.
- Materials Science
Molecular Memory: Carbon-nanotube device stores data in molecules
Scientists have created a memory device in which data are encoded in switching molecules called catenanes that are attached to a carbon nanotube.
- Physics
One-Atom Laser: Trapped atom shoots steady light beam
A single, ultracold cesium atom sandwiched between two mirrors yields the most orderly beam of laser light ever.
- Physics
Particle decays hint at new matter
A surprising disagreement between particle-physics theory and a Japan-based research team's measurement of decay rates of matter and antimatter hints that unknown, heavy subatomic particles may exist.
- Physics
Fusion Boost: Promising path to heavy nuclei
By using radioactive nuclei as projectiles in accelerator-based nuclear collisions, scientists may be able to produce more readily than expected many exotic heavy nuclei that are impossible to make today but are crucial for future advances in nuclear physics.
- Materials Science
Sopping Up Heavy Metal: Hybrid material removes mercury from water
A hybrid material consisting of a bacterial protein and a temperature-sensitive polymer proves efficient at removing mercury from contaminated water.
- Materials Science
Plastic Chips: New materials boost organic electronics
A new class of electrically conducting organic molecules provides researchers with improved materials with which to fabricate plastic electronic devices.
- Physics
Icy telescope spots hot neutrinos
The first sky map from an innovative neutrino telescope indicates that the instrument works properly and is poised to find never-before-seen signals from the universe's most violent events.
- Physics
Electric Foam: Scientists uncover basis of material oddball
Specially treated polypropylene foam can mimic the defining behavior and other desirable properties of ceramic piezoelectric materials, which generate electric signals when squeezed.
- Physics
Gluing building blocks with geometry
Using blocks with simple shapes, researchers have found ways to construct strong panels with no fasteners securing most of the blocks.
- Materials Science
Layered Approach
A decade-old method for creating thin coatings is poised to move from the lab to countless low- and high-tech products.
