Physics
- Earth
The weird sky glow called STEVE is really confusing scientists
Researchers are trying to figure out the recipe of atmospheric conditions that creates this aurora-like light show.
- Physics
Physics explains what happens when a lawn sprinkler sucks in water
Experiments with a floating sprinkler revealed the surprisingly complex physics behind a simple question.
- Physics
Physics explains why poured water burbles the way it does
The loudness of falling water depends on the height of the pour and the thickness of the stream.
- Materials Science
Scientists Say: 2-D Material
Two-dimensional materials such as graphene could improve electronics, carbon capture and more.
- Physics
How much fruit can you pull from a display before it topples?
About 10 percent of the fruit in a tilted market display can be removed before it will crash down, computer models show.
- Materials Science
Let’s learn about graphene
Scientists have been trying to understand and harness this material’s superpowers since its discovery in 2004.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Polarized light
Sunlight, lamplight and other lights are usually unpolarized. But passing light waves through filters can ‘polarize’ them.
- Physics
Neutrons are unveiling hidden secrets of fossils and artifacts
Images made with these particles have revealed details of dinosaur bones, mummies and more.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Coriolis Effect
Because Earth spins, airborne objects traveling far and fast — such as airplanes — experience deflections in their motion.
- Physics
Before the ancient Egyptians, nature may have carved sphinxes
Steady ‘winds’ can carve clay blobs into lion-shaped landforms called yardangs, a new study suggests. One such yardang may have inspired the Great Sphinx of Giza.
- Tech
Balsa wood transistors could usher in ‘greener’ electronics
Researchers in Sweden coaxed wood to conduct electricity, then used it to make a climate-friendlier building block of electronics.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Calorie
These little units help us measure energy transfer in chemistry, nutrition and beyond.
