Physics
- Tech
Teen identifies way to detect failing underground pipes
A teen researcher uses acoustics — here, pipe vibrations — to test whether buried water pipes are about to fail, and leak.
- Materials Science
One day, your sunscreen may be made from DNA
A new approach to sunscreen could use a thin layer of DNA to protect skin cells — and hopefully prevent cancer.
- Physics
You can peel permanent marker, intact, off of glass
The surface tension of water can essentially scrape a thin film of some water-repellent material — such as permanent ink — off of glass.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Gradient
This is a word used to describe the rate that something changes over a distance or time. Examples include the strength of a smell or the steepness of a mountain.
- Materials Science
U.S. Army is developing high-tech underwear
A new fabric could warm the skin of active soldiers in cold climates. At the same time, it could soak away sweat that might otherwise cause chills.
- Physics
Astronomers finally find the cosmic source of gold and silver
After a collision between neutron stars is caught rippling spacetime, telescopes home in on where the ripples came from. The afterglow of light they found provided interesting new science.
- Materials Science
Blue light flexes its chem-building muscle
Scientists found a new way to build a strong but bendable blend of polymers. The trick? Expose the ingredients to a beam of blue light.
- Chemistry
Explainer: What are polymers?
Polymers, whether natural or artificial, are big molecules made by linking up smaller repeating chemical units. The most common “backbones” for polymers are chains of carbon or silicon, each of which can bond to four other atoms.
- Tech
Scientists Say: Radar
This is a system used to detect objects large and small. It works by sending out radio waves and waiting for them to bounce back.
- Chemistry
Specially coated fabric could turn a shirt into a shield
Specially treated fabrics offer a new kind of defense against chemical attacks. It could protect troops — and people living in war-torn nations where chemical weapons may be used.
- Physics
Trio wins physics Nobel for detecting gravity waves
The 2017 Nobel Prize in physics went to three physicists for helping figure out how to search for ripples in spacetime — which launched a new field of astronomy.
- Chemistry
Why onions make us cry
Researchers add another piece to the molecular puzzle biochemists have tried to solve for decades — why onions can make our eyes tear up.
