Physics
How to make a pitched ball curve to your will
A range of tricks pitchers use to get curve all come down to the thin layers of air next to the ball — and how a ball’s spin and seams affect them.
Physics
More Stories in Physics
- Tech
Get a sneak peek at the tech you may use in the future
Holograms, 3-D printed clothing, personal robots — these technologies and more might one day transform your daily life.
- Tech
Lasers can eavesdrop on microbes, including viruses
They can sometimes identify not only the types, but also how many there are. One day, lasers might be able to keep track of what germs are around us.
- Physics
This device creates rainbows of sound
A plastic structure separates the pitches in mixed sounds like white noise, much like a rainbow spreads out colors of light.
- Tech
Pickleballs inspire a new way to reduce drag on vehicles
Dimples in a skin can be adjusted on demand to reduce drag or to steer where a vehicle goes.
- Space
Scientists Say: Lagrange point
Between and around a two-body system — such as the Earth and sun — there are five points of prime celestial real estate.
- Physics
How polarized and UV-blocking sunglasses protect our eyes
Their filters can cut glare to help us see more clearly. The best ones also filter out the sun’s UV rays — even on cloudy days — to limit eye damage.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Tauonium
No protons, neutrons or electrons. And yet, based on what scientists know about fundamental particles, this variety of atom just might exist.
- Physics
Here’s why your blood vessels don’t burst under pressure
Cells lining the blood vessels reorganize their inner structures to handle stressful boosts in pressure.
- Physics
Here’s how rainwater might one day power some of your lights
In tests, the electricity that water droplets made was small, but kept a dozen LEDs lit. This tech might one day power clean energy for wet or rainy places.
