Physics
Scientists Say: Discharge
In physics, this release of energy can rebalance electrical charges. In biology, such a release might cool you down on a hot day.
Energy
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- Physics
Energy may seem to disappear, but there’s a law against that
When a ball rolls to stop or a phone battery dies, it’s energy didn't vanish — it just morphed to another form. Energy is always conserved.
- Science & Society
Linking science to dance, culture and more expands who can take part
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- Physics
Scientists Say: Blue whirl
Four types of smaller flames create the perfect firestorm of elegantly efficient combustion.
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New theory may at last explain a swamp’s ghostly will-o’-the-wisps
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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.
- Animals
Weird? These bat toes can glow greenish-blue
Hairy bristles on the toes of Mexican free-tailed bats fluoresce under UV light. The reason is a mystery.
- Earth
As Yellowstone’s supervolcano slumbers, another big danger lurks
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- Materials Science
Scientists Say: Semiconductor
Modern electronics, from cell phones to video games, work thanks to these conductor-insulator hybrids.
- Tech
Artificial intelligence helped design a new type of battery
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