Physics
- Animals
We are stardust
Everything making up Earth and what’s now living upon it — from trees and people to our pets and their fleas — owes their origins to the elements forged by ancient stars.
- Physics
Closing in on fusion energy
Scientists blasted a tiny capsule of hydrogen with laser beams, setting off a reaction that released more energy than in earlier experiments. Still, scientists remain a long way from creating a reaction that releases more energy than it needs to get started.
- Physics
Building a mirror with light
Scientists proved that lasers can be used to harness materials into a reflective surface. Some scientists ask: Can a space mirror be far away?
- Physics
The ultimate wordfind puzzle
The world’s oldest library has books with hidden texts. Researchers are now using a high-tech approach to reveal their long-masked words.
- Planets
Jupiter’s long-lasting storm
Most studies of Jupiter’s centuries-old Great Red Spot suggest this giant storm should have petered out after a few decades. A new study traces the storm’s staying power to the vertical movement of its gases.
- Health & Medicine
Cool Jobs: Data detectives
Statisticians are experts in seeing the patterns hidden within the raw numbers called data. They especially excel at finding real trends, while eliminating what is actually due to chance. That’s why they offer a good reality check in any field that involves numbers.
- Physics
X-ray ‘eyes’
Movie directors often make “short” subjects, flicks running sometimes just a few minutes or so. But scientists have begun making much quicker “shorts,” essentially nanofilms. Their goal: catching science in action.
- Materials Science
Looking unbelievably cool
Everything above absolute zero gives off some heat. Usually objects radiate more heat — or energy — as their temperature climbs. But engineers now have created a material that sometimes appears to cool even as it is warming.
- Health & Medicine
Veggies: A radiation shield
Here’s another reason to eat broccoli and related veggies: They protect the body’s cells from killer radiation — at least in rats.
- Chemistry
Cyberspace chemistry earns a Nobel
The achievements behind the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry relied on a lot of complex physics. But the computer techniques pioneered by these three men are now saving chemists a lot of work.
- Physics
Higgs brings physicists a Nobel
Anticipating the so-called “god particle” — and its critical role in explaining mass — captured the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics.
- Chemistry
Cool Jobs: Repellent chemistry
Chemistry is just one way to repel water in nature. Structure, or the shape of things, is another. To excel at water repellency, the lotus leaf relies on both.
