Physics
- Space
Only a small fraction of space has been searched for aliens
In their hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence, SETI searches have only scouted an area the equivalent of a hot tub out of Earth’s oceans, a new calculation indicates.
- Health & Medicine
Teens’ cell phone use linked to memory problems
A new study suggests teens who get more exposure to cell-phone radiation — and hold their phones up to their right ear — do worse on one type of memory test.
- Climate
Hurricane Michael slams into Florida, then speeds north
The 2018 hurricane season just brought Michael, another rapidly strengthening hurricane, to the U.S. coast. This one hit land with surprising power.
- Tech
Soft robots get their power from the skin they’re in
A flexible electronic “skin” embedded with air pouches or coils can wrap around inanimate objects, turning them into handy robots.
- Physics
Doctor Who’s TARDIS is bigger on the inside — but how?
The TARDIS looks like a old police box on the outside. But on the inside, it’s got plenty of space. How does that work? It just takes a wormhole and a tesseract or two.
- Physics
Dazzling laser advances bring physicists a Nobel Prize
The winners of 2018 Nobel Prize in physics helped usher in new laser feats, such as making optical “tweezers” and creating amazingly bright beams of light.
- Physics
The perfect spaghetti snap starts with a twist
A spaghetti-snapping machine helped scientists find the secret to cleanly breaking pasta in half: First, give it a twist.
- Materials Science
Adhesive from trees could make tape more eco-friendly
The stuff that makes your tape sticky comes from fossil fuels. Now scientists have used tree wastes to engineer a “greener” tape adhesive — one kinder to the environment.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Kelvin
Kelvin is a temperature scale. It’s based around the concept of “absolute zero,” a temperature so cold that molecules stop moving.
- Physics
Distant galaxy seems filled with dark matter
If the Cosmic Seagull is a repository for dark matter, it will be the most distant galaxy to be filled with mysterious stuff.
- Climate
Hawaii’s record 2018 rains may foretell wetter times ahead
Another rainfall record was set in Hawaii. But how does this stack up to other rain records across the United States?
- Physics
Analyze This: Can you outrun these geological disasters?
There's one geological disaster you probably can outrun, and a few others that are iffy.
