Physics
Explainer: Kinetic and potential energy
Kinetic energy depends on an object’s motion; potential energy hinges on its position. The relationship between the two sits in a special balance.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
Top 10 tips for how Gen Z’ers can get the best online experiences
Emerging data point to how today’s teens can maximize their screen time’s benefits while limiting its risks.
Explainer
Technically Fiction
Animals
Pikmin’s plant-animal mashups don’t exist — but sun-powered animals do
Corals team up with photosynthetic zooxanthellae. Some sea slugs steal chloroplasts. How might animals and plants team up in Nintendo’s Pikmin games?
Profile
Math
This civil engineer turns to math to make energy more affordable
Destenie Nock uses computer algorithms to help identify households struggling to afford utilities.
Features
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Gravity ‘batteries’ might help a weighty renewable-energy problem
To store the energy generated by wind and solar power, researchers are looking at mammoth systems that raise and lower weights.
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Top 10 tips for how Gen Z’ers can get the best online experiences
Emerging data point to how today’s teens can maximize their screen time’s benefits while limiting its risks.
More Stories from the February 1, 2024 issue
- Archaeology
Ötzi the Iceman’s DNA reveals his looks and ancestry
A reanalysis of the ancient guy’s genes shows he was balding and had dark skin. He also had an unusual amount of early farmer ancestry.
- Planets
In a first, astronomers spot the aftermath of an exoplanet smashup
Infrared light from a distant star appears to be leftovers of an impact between a pair of Neptune-sized worlds.
- Humans
Race car drivers usually blink at the same places in each lap
Blinking is usually thought to be somewhat random. But a new study tracking blinks in Formula One drivers shows it can be predictable — and strategic.
- Earth
The sun shines brightest in South America’s Atacama Desert
Solar rays in this high-altitude desert at times rival the light intensity on Venus.
- Physics
Experiment: Where does a bouncing basketball’s energy go?
Let’s explore whether energy loss to heat could explain why a basketball doesn’t bounce back to its original height.
- Tech
A puff of air could deliver vaccines needle-free
A new Nerf gun-like device may make injections safer, faster and easier.
