All Stories by Emily Conover
- Physics
Wiggling robots reveal the physics of how Hula-Hoops stay up
Newbies should swing their Hula-Hoops fast and in line with their bodies, the new findings suggest.
- Physics
Friction is the key to cozy knits
Friction between loops of yarn give knit fabrics their ability to take on a variety of shapes.
- Physics
Eyelashes help fling water from our eyes
The “micro-ratchet” structure and curvature of eyelashes could help keep eyes clear of rain, sweat and tears.
- Space
Microscopic black holes may be flying through our solar system
These flybys could jostle the orbits of planets and satellites as teeny black holes whiz by us once a decade or so.
- Earth
Thunderstorms churn up a ‘boiling pot’ of high-energy gamma rays
A thunderstorm seen in gamma ray vision plays out as a complex, frenzied lightshow above the clouds.
- Artificial Intelligence
Two AI trailblazers win the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics
John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton used brain-like networks based on principles of physics to jump-start machine learning.
- Physics
Weirdly, mayo can help study conditions ripe for nuclear fusion
Yes, mayo. The texture of the sandwich spread is perfect for mimicking what a fusion fuel capsule goes through when blasted with lasers.
- Physics
Science reveals the reasons behind painful paper cuts
Some types of paper are more likely to cause paper cuts. It’s the paper’s thickness and slicing angle that matter, physicists conclude.
- Chemistry
The periodic table might soon have a new element
A new technique could be used to make the undiscovered element 120.
- Space
The shape of our universe may be complex — like a doughnut
Physicists haven’t yet ruled out the possibility that in our universe, space loops back on itself.
- Materials Science
New lab trick makes diamonds without extreme pressure
The lab-grown diamonds form in a liquid of gallium, iron, nickel and silicon.
- Physics
Forests could help detect ‘ghost particles’ from space
If trees could act as natural antennas, one physicist proposes that they just might pick up signals of hard-to-spot ultra-high energy neutrinos.
