Physical Sciences
Researchers at JILA have for the first time used an atomic clock as a quantum simulator, mimicking the behavior of a different, more complex quantum system.
| 3 min read
A recently discovered mineral appears to be clear but may have a tinge of light blue. No matter its color, you won't be able to make earrings from it.
| 3 min read
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology want to put your signature up in lights – tiny lights, that is. Using thousands of nanometer-scale wires, the researchers have developed a sensor device that converts mechanical pressure – from a signature or a fingerprint – directly into light signals that can be captured and processed optically.
| 4 min read
Spiders weave amazing creations from self-made materials human engineers envy. Witness a delicate web covered in rain droplets. How does the arachnid build a structure that’s simultaneously feather-light, incredibly strong, more elastic than nylon and moisture-proof?
| 3 min read
Backed by a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation, a Lehigh research team is working to create a promising new method of producing renewable fuel.
| 3 min read
Atomic absorption (AA) has been known since the 19th century, but it was not until the 1950s, thanks to efforts by Alan Walsh at Australia’s CSIRO research center, that use of AA spectrometers became routine for metals analysis.
| 3 min read
Scientists would like to apply the same principles by which baking soda removes food odors from refrigerators or silica powder keeps moisture away from electronic devices to scrub carbon dioxide from the exhaust gases of fossil fuel power plants. An excellent candidate for this task is the class of materials known as multivariate metal organic frameworks or MTV-MOFs.
| 3 min read
High pressures and temperatures cause materials to exhibit unusual properties, some of which can be special. Understanding such new properties is important for developing new materials for desired industrial uses and also for understanding the interior of Earth, where everything is hot and squeezed.
| 2 min read
Researchers have discovered a synthetic, high-performance polymer that behaves differently from other tested materials and could make inexpensive, highly efficient organic solar panels a reality.
| 3 min read
Researchers at North Carolina State University have created a new flexible nano-scaffold for rechargeable lithium ion batteries that could help make cell phone and electric car batteries last longer.
| 2 min read
The Royal Photographic Society, in partnership with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), launches an exhibition of the world’s best scientific photography at the Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle, on Saturday 31 August. The exhibition also forms part of the British Science Festival taking place in Newcastle from 7-12 September, before touring the UK from 1 October.
| 2 min read
One chemical forms two colors of crystals, sheds insight on agostic bonds important in industrial catalysis.
| 3 min read
