Physics

  1. Neuroscience

    Zipping to Mars could badly zap brain nerve cells

    Charged particles like the ones astronauts might encounter wallop the brain, mouse study suggests.

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  2. Physics

    Tiny particles propel themselves upstream

    Light-activated, human-made particles can align themselves with the flow of a fluid and swim upstream.

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  3. Physics

    Explanation for G’s imprecision stumbles

    A surprising new result seems to suggest that subtle changes in Earth’s rotation rate could account for physicists’ difficulty in measuring Newton’s gravitational constant. But some confusion with dates appears to derail the finding.

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  4. Earth

    Cosmic rays illuminate lightning

    Radio waves emitted by particles zipping through thunderstorms allow physicists to probe thunderclouds and, perhaps eventually, learn what triggers lightning strikes.

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  5. Particle Physics

    Particle hunting in space, life in the urban jungle and more reader feedback

    Readers discuss wheat's journey to England, share stories about urban wildlife and more.

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  6. Quantum Physics

    Atomic clock will keep precise time for 15 billion years

    The world’s most precise atomic clock will not lose or gain a second in roughly 15 billion years.

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  7. Physics

    An even more precise atomic clock

    An atomic clock described April 21 in Nature Communications is about three times as precise as its record-setting predecessor.

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  8. Astronomy

    Cosmic rays misbehave in space station experiment

    A puzzling feature in a new cosmic ray census may force physicists to rethink which cosmic objects send these speedy particles hurtling across the galaxy.

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  9. Physics

    Rubidium atoms used to record coldest temperature — ever

    A swarm of rubidium atoms has been cooled to about 50 trillionths of a kelvin, making it the coldest substance ever measured.

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  10. Particle Physics

    Exotic particle turns out to be quark molecule

    Subatomic particles made of quarks can bind together to form molecules, according to a computer simulation of a long-studied mysterious particle.

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  11. Materials Science

    A new spin on guiding sound waves along a one-way route

    A proposed acoustic topological insulator made of an array of spinning metal rods would channel sound waves in one direction along its edge, preventing any sound from bouncing away.

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  12. Materials Science

    Suds turn silver nanoparticles in clothes into duds

    Bleach-containing detergents destroy antibacterial silver nanoparticles that coat clothes.

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