Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Materials Science
Like a balloon, peculiar magnet grows and shrinks
A recently discovered alloy of iron and gallium can expand and contract like a balloon when exposed to a magnetic field.
- Paleontology
Suds versus nanoparticles and more reader feedback
Readers discuss the posture of an ancient reptile and why washing machines and nanoparticles don't mix.
- Materials Science
Spiders spin stronger threads with nanotubes
Spiders sprayed with carbon nanotubes spin supertough strands of silk.
- Physics
Electron pairs can take the heat
Electrons have been found pairing up for the first time in a solid that is not in a superconducting state.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum experiment dissects wave-particle mash-up
A modified version of a landmark quantum physics experiment has shown that a single parcel of light can be a particle and a wave simultaneously.
- Astronomy
‘Black Hole’ traces 100 years of a transformative idea
Implied by general relativity and proven by astronomical discoveries, black holes’ existence took decades for physicists to accept.
- Physics
Scientists take first picture of thunder
Scientists precisely capture thunder sound waves radiating from artificially triggered lightning.
- Physics
Nobel laureate foresees mind-expanding future of physics
A Nobel laureate forecasts deeper understanding of physics and new powers for the human mind in the century to come.
- Neuroscience
Zipping to Mars could badly zap brain nerve cells
Charged particles like the ones astronauts might encounter wallop the brain, mouse study suggests.
- Physics
Tiny particles propel themselves upstream
Light-activated, human-made particles can align themselves with the flow of a fluid and swim upstream.
- 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.
- 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.
