Physics
- Brain
Magnets may make helmets safer
Magnets in sports helmets could repel players’ heads as they move toward a collision. This should reduce the risk of the hard hits that lead to concussions.
- Physics
New particle may help probe strongest force in the universe
A newfound subatomic particle should allow scientists to better understand the strong force that holds together the nucleus of every atom.
- Physics
Detecting a single proton
Doctors typically use magnetic-resonance imaging, or MRI, to see tissues and organs inside the body. Physicists can harness a similar technology. And they did that to spotlight something even smaller — a single proton. But followup analyses, reported in January 2015, forced a retraction of their original claim.
- Physics
Raindrops break the speed limit
Raindrops shouldn't be able fall faster than what is known as their terminal velocity. But no one told the rain. Researchers have found droplets breaking that speed limit.
- Physics
Escape from a lab-built black hole
In the 1970s, physicist Stephen Hawking suggested that some particles could escape a black hole. An experiment now shows how, using a lab-made black hole ‘made’ from sound.
- Physics
How science saved the Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower was an engineering masterpiece. But Parisians initially thought it too ugly to let stand for more than 20 years. So Eiffel made the tower a bastion of science. And that would soon ensure that the structure was too valuable to tear down.
- Chemistry
Sunlight might have put oxygen in Earth’s early air
High-energy bursts of ultraviolet light can break apart carbon dioxide, yielding oxygen gas. The experiment may mimic what happened on Earth billions of years ago.
- Physics
Nobel goes for creating the ‘nanoscope’
A regular microscope can’t bring into focus the nanoscale molecules from which cells are built. Using lasers and fluorescent molecules, three scientists found a way to view these tiny features. Their reward: the 2014 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
- Physics
Nobel goes for making white LEDs possible
The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to scientists who discovered how to make blue light-emitting diodes. People really wanted white LEDs. The missing ingredient in making them was a building block: the blue LED.
- Tech
Repelling germs with ‘sharkskin’
A biotechnology company has found a way to repel superbugs without toxic chemicals. It mimics the texture of a shark’s skin.
- Climate
Where will lightning strike?
When lightning strikes, the results can be deadly. But nature’s dazzling light show also can provide scientists with insights into when and where the next thunderbolt might strike.
- Tech
Soaking up oil spills — with cotton
Natural, low-grade cotton could help clean up oil spills better than synthetic materials, a new study finds. And unlike synthetics, cotton breaks down naturally.
