Physics
- Physics
Law and Disorder: Chance fluctuations can rule the nanorealm
A tug-of-war in a water droplet demonstrates that random fluctuations wield more than enough muscle to give nanoscale machines trouble.
- Physics
Heavy Suspicion: Elemental discoveries trace to fake data
A prominent physicist has lost his job following allegations that he fabricated the evidence underpinning his team's now-discredited discovery of elements 116 and 118.
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- Physics
Sandcastle Physics
Just about anyone can build a sandcastle out of wet sand. Why sand behaves as it does–on the beach, during earthquakes, at low pressures–isn’t yet fully understood. A NASA space shuttle experiment is now slated to tackle details of what happens when sand is compressed. Go to: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/11jul_mgm.htm
- Materials Science
In glass, fast crowds boogie to brittle end
New experiments suggest that a coordinated dance involving more and more molecules may help explain the puzzling transformation from liquid to the molecular gridlock of solid glass.
- Materials Science
Healing Wounds: Interactive dressing speeds the process
A new, easily prepared hydrogel material promotes more rapid wound healing in laboratory animals than do conventional dressings.
- Materials Science
Molecular template makes nanoscale helix
Using ribbons made of organic molecules as minuscule templates, researchers have coaxed a semiconductor material into tiny helical coils.
- Physics
Heightened Resistance: Sharper shaft points to smaller bits
Scientists have exploited a method for detecting the orientations of magnetic fields to achieve a remarkable leap in detector sensitivity.
- Materials Science
X Rays to Go: Carbon nanotubes could shrink machines
A new type of X-ray machine operates at room temperature by producing X-ray-generating electrons with carbon nanotubes instead of traditional heated metal filaments.
- Physics
Twice-charmed particles spotted?
Exotic cousins of protons and neutrons known as doubly-charmed baryons may have made their laboratory debut.
- Materials Science
Spring in your step? The forces in cartilage
Researchers are uncovering the role of molecular forces in cartilage's ability to resist compression.
- Physics
Double or Nothing
The hunt for a rare, hypothetical nuclear transformation known as neutrinoless double-beta decay may answer one of the most urgent questions in physics today: How much do elementary particles called neutrinos weigh?
