Physics
- Materials Science
New twist can hush — even cloak — some sounds
Swiss engineers developed clear, spiral structures to make a new sound-dampening system. Those twists block some vibrations and lets others through.
- Animals
Drones might one day capture a dolphin’s breath in midair
High-speed footage of dolphin spray reveals that droplets blast upward at speeds close to 100 kilometers per hour.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Decibel
A decibel is a unit of measurement that describes a sound’s volume. It’s used for sounds that are in the range of human hearing.
- Math
Color-changing fibers help unravel a knotty problem
Experiments with colorful fibers helped scientists discover a few simple rules on why the strength of various types of knots differs.
- Materials Science
Here’s how to hide some objects from heat-sensing cameras
A special coating that conceals temperature information from heat-detecting cameras might someday be used as a privacy shield.
- Materials Science
Self-powered surface may evaluate table-tennis play
Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology built a 'smart' surface on which to play table tennis. It can track the location, speed and direction of the ball.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Quark
These subatomic particles are the building blocks of bigger particles, including the protons and neutrons found in an atom’s nucleus.
- Physics
Giving Notre Dame back her unique voice
A 2019 fire robbed Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral of more than her roof. She also lost her voice. Now scientists are using acoustics to return her unique soundscape.
- Physics
Here’s how quantum mechanics lets heat cross a vacuum
Heat can move across a vacuum if the span is small enough. As in really, really small. In a new experiment, the gap was only a few hundred nanometers.
- Planets
Glass beads help scientists puzzle out how baby planets grow
Researchers have mimicked the first stages of planet formation in the lab. All they needed were glass beads and a catapult.
- Space
NASA’s Parker probe spots rogue waves and magnetic islands on the sun
The Parker probe’s first data is giving scientists a look at what’s to come as the craft moves closer to the sun over the next few years.
- Materials Science
The future of crystal-based solar energy just got brighter
Researchers have upped the efficiency of layered solar cells that could be printed or painted onto surfaces. Now they are working to make them more rugged.