Physics
- Earth
Here’s how ice needles sculpt patterns into cold, rocky landscapes
Striking stone patterns decorate remote, frigid landscapes. The recipe for these naturally forming stripes and swirls: Freeze, thaw, repeat.
- Physics
Here’s the physics of why ducklings swim in a row behind their mother
By paddling in just the right spots, ducklings save energy by surfing their mom’s waves, and pass along the benefit to siblings down the line.
- Physics
An atomic clock measured how general relativity warps time across a millimeter
A record-breaking result reveals the precision achievable by atomic clocks, letting researchers detect slightly faster ticking over a tiny height change.
- Physics
Work on complex systems, including Earth’s climate, wins the physics Nobel Prize
Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann pioneered work on computer simulations of Earth’s climate. Giorgio Parisi found hidden patterns in disordered complex materials.
- Quantum Physics
Scientists are one step closer to error-correcting quantum computers
In a quantum computer made with trapped ions, multiple quantum bits were combined into one to detect mistakes.
- Materials Science
These colorful butterflies were created using transparent ink
See-through printer ink can create a whole spectrum of colors when printed in precise, microscale patterns.
- Physics
Whirling maple seeds inspired these tiny flying sensors
Scientists envision that small objects modeled after maple tree whirligigs could be used to monitor the environment.
- Quantum Physics
One of nature’s key constants is much larger in a quantum material
The fine-structure constant is 10 times its normal value in the material, giving a peek into what physics in an alternate universe could look like.
- Science & Society
The Top 10 scientific surprises of Science News’ first 100 years
In the 100 years since Science News started reporting on it, science has offered up plenty of unexpected discoveries.
- Agriculture
Cold plasma could transform the sustainable farms of the future
Physicists have been working on ways to use the power of plasma to boost plant growth and kill pathogens.
- Physics
New ‘vortex beams’ of atoms and molecules are the first of their kind
Twisted beams of atoms and molecules join other types of corkscrew beams made of light or electrons.
- Physics
Physicists caught protons ‘surfing’ on shock waves
A laser experiment could help scientists understand how protons reach high energies traveling through the cosmos.
