Physics
- Climate
Cosmic rays offer clues about lightning
Space particles called cosmic rays pelt Earth. Scientists are using the rain of these particles to probe how lightning forms.
- Tech
Explainer: What are lidar, radar and sonar?
Radar, sonar and lidar and are three similar technologies. Each relies on the echoing of waves — radio, sound or light waves — to detect objects.
- Tech
Cool Jobs: Big future for super small science
Scientists using nanotechnology grow super-small but very useful tubes with walls no more than a few carbon atoms thick. Find out why as we meet three scientists behind this huge new movement in nanoscience.
- Physics
News Brief: As timely as it gets
A newly modified atomic clock won’t lose or gain a second for 15 billion years. This timepiece is about three times more precise than an earlier version.
- Physics
News Brief: Brrrrr — that’s really cold!
These atoms approached — and got oh so very close — to absolute zero.
- Life
How DNA is like a yo-yo
When not in use, DNA coils tightly. But it must uncoil for the cell to ‘read’ its genes. Physical forces affect how easily that happens, new data show.
- Physics
New mirror picky in what it reflects
A new type of mirror is selective in the light it reflects. It allows some wavelengths of radiation to pass through, while others bounce off.
- Animals
Why you’ll never see a dirty gecko
By knowing how a gecko’s skin works, could self-cleaning, water-repelling, antibacterial clothes be far behind?
- Tech
‘Smart’ clothes generate electricity
Scientists in South Korea have developed a fabric that captures energy from its wearer’s motions and turns it into electricity.
- Space
Galaxy cluster creates ‘magnifying glass’ in space
A massive galaxy’s gravity is so strong that it bends light, creating a “lens” in space. This natural magnifying glass is giving astronomers a rare view of a supernova on the other side of the universe.
- Physics
How to pick up messages after they’re gone
By watching for light’s ‘echoes,’ physicists think they can retrieve information being relayed by or as light. It could make it possible for astronomers to view distant objects without having to see the light they cast off.
- Physics
Science in Hollywood
Audiences are getting smarter, so the makers of movies, TV shows and video games are responding by enlisting scientists to make everything on screen appear even more authentic.
