The author of a new study of evolutionary convergence argues that the development of life on Earth is predictable, meaning that similar organisms should therefore have appeared on other, Earth-like planets by now. 

New instrument is small enough to function within a smartphone, enabling portable light analysis

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have developed a detailed model of the source of a puzzling limitation on fusion reactions. The findings, published in June in Physics of Plasmas, complete and confirm previous PPPL research and could lead to steps to overcome the barrier if the model proves consistent with experimental data. “We used to have correlation,” said physicist David Gates, first author of the paper. “Now we believe we have causation.” This work was supported by the DOE Office of Science.

10 years after graduating, many have found financially solid and meaningful employment in the private sector, according to a new report from the American Institute of Physics.

Research supports 80-year-old prediction.

Consumers rely too much on sunscreen SPF values, confused by terminology 

Nonphotosynthetic pigments could be biosignatures of life on other worlds.

UNC School of Medicine researchers provide first direct experimental evidence for the rapid synthesis of two classes of proteins necessary to create the first life on Earth.

Acknowledging not only the growing need among scientists and engineers for resources that can help them handle, explore, and analyze big data, but also the complementary strengths of Caltech's Center for Data-Driven Discovery (CD3) and JPL's Center for Data Science and Technology (CDST), the two centers have formally joined forces, creating the Joint Initiative on Data Science and Technology. 

Not a “firewall”—and the nature of the universe depends on it, physicist explains.

Computer simulations exploring the effects of shock waves on crystalline HMX, performed by Ryan Austin, a staff scientist in Engineering’s Computational Engineering Division, and a team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers, are featured on the cover of the May 14 issue of the Journal of Applied Physics.

A space-based system that relies on lasers to generate and deliver energy to spacecraft has won a University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) professor a U.S. patent and could become a first-line defense against asteroids on a collision course with Earth.