Editorials

In 'forty jumps,' scientists model scales of quarks to quasars

23 hours ago | User rating: 3.8 / 5 after 17 vote(s)

Comprehending the smallness of a quark or the hugeness of the observable universe is a challenge that most of us find difficult, yet captivating. Placing vastly different scales side by side to explore their ...

ANSOM Microscope Achieves Sub 10nm Resolution

Physics / Physics

January 18, 2007 | User rating: 4.5 / 5 after 23 vote(s)

The idea behind near-field microscopy is to offer a technique by which extremely small structures (at the nanometer level) can be measured and manipulated. However, 20 nanometers has been the best resolution accomplished. ...

'Mach c'? Scientists observe sound traveling faster than the speed of light

Physics / Physics

January 17, 2007 | User rating: 4 / 5 after 110 vote(s)

For the first time, scientists have experimentally demonstrated that sound pulses can travel at velocities faster than the speed of light, c. William Robertsonï¿½s team from Middle Tennessee State University ...

Is dark matter composed of sterile neutrinos?

Physics / Physics

January 15, 2007 | User rating: 4.2 / 5 after 41 vote(s)

ï¿½If you ask the question, ï¿½What is the content of the universe?ï¿½ the answer is not so simple,ï¿½ says Mikhail Shaposhnikov, a scientist associated with the ï¿½cole Polytechnique Fï¿½dï¿½rale de Lausanne and CERN, both in Switzerland. ...

Nature’s frugal glues provide insight for optimized adhesives

Natureï¿½s frugal glues provide insight for optimized adhesives

Nanotechnology / Materials

January 11, 2007 | User rating: 4.4 / 5 after 34 vote(s)

In trying to create a ï¿½glueï¿½ that would hold right up to the breaking point of the material being glued, scientists have found that such an ideal adhesive already existsï¿½in bone, abalone shells, and spider ...

A New Reflection in the Mirror

Physics / Physics

January 10, 2007 | User rating: 4.4 / 5 after 74 vote(s)

A research group has devised a new type of mirror that reverses the magnetic field of a light wave upon reflection, rather than its electric field, as regular mirrors do. Seems like a minor difference? It's ...

Analogy of cochlea as resonator could lead to artificial copies

General Science / Other

January 09, 2007 | User rating: 4.6 / 5 after 33 vote(s)

In attempting to construct an artificial cochleaï¿½and faced with limited knowledge of how the living chamber worksï¿½scientists might need to look no further than a simple electronic device: a surface acoustic ...

Finding Memory in Nonlinear Ionization

Nanotechnology / Physics

January 08, 2007 | User rating: 4 / 5 after 22 vote(s)

David Rayner and his colleagues at the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada in Ottawa have shown that when transparent solids, such as glass, are ionized with short intense laser pulses the material is subtly changed.

Humanoid avatar plays a competitive game of table tennis

Technology / Computer Sciences

January 04, 2007 | User rating: 4.1 / 5 after 20 vote(s)

Recently, scientists have designed and built an immersive table tennis (or ï¿½ping-pongï¿½) simulation that allows a human to compete against a computer. While most virtual reality environments support slow- or ...

Can Neutrons be Used in Quantum Computers?

Physics / Physics

December 20, 2006 | User rating: 4.1 / 5 after 27 vote(s)

ï¿½In quantum mechanics, you typically have arguments about locality and non-locality,ï¿½ Yuji Hasegawa tells PhysOrg.com. ï¿½But in our experiment we are testing correlation between degrees of freedom.ï¿½

Physics Reveals the Key to a Great Golf Swing

Physics / Physics

December 18, 2006 | User rating: 4.2 / 5 after 49 vote(s)

What happens when a golf-loving researcher injures a shoulder and can't play for three months? Rod White, a metrologist (measurement scientist), used the spare time off the course to undertake an analysis that ...

Alternative theory of gravity explains large structure formation -- without dark matter

Physics / Physics

December 14, 2006 | User rating: 4.5 / 5 after 165 vote(s)

In the standard theory of gravityï¿½general relativityï¿½dark matter plays a vital role, explaining many observations that the standard theory cannot explain by itself. But for 70 years, cosmologists have never ...

Fusion scientist revives magnetic mirror machine with cool new idea

Physics / Physics

December 13, 2006 | User rating: 4.6 / 5 after 110 vote(s)

Since the development of the hydrogen bomb in the ï¿½50s, scientists have speculated that the power of fusion might serve as a renewable energy resource. Research has revealed the challenges of this goal, and ...

Why a hydrogen economy doesn't make sense

Technology / Energy

December 11, 2006 | User rating: 4.2 / 5 after 255 vote(s)

In a recent study, fuel cell expert Ulf Bossel explains that a hydrogen economy is a wasteful economy. The large amount of energy required to isolate hydrogen from natural compounds (water, natural gas, biomass), ...

Using a Superfluid for Dark-State Atomic Cooling

Physics / Physics

December 11, 2006 | User rating: 4.1 / 5 after 15 vote(s)

ï¿½We are reviving key ideas used 15 years ago in the context of laser cooling and quantum optics and putting them in a completely new context,ï¿½ Peter Zoller tells PhysOrg.com. Zoller, a professor at the University of ...

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