Feature Stories
Renewable Energy Made by Mixing Salt and Fresh Water
Sep 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When a river flows into the sea, the location is more than just a haven for water commerce. The mixing of fresh and salt water that occurs at an estuary also dissipates energy, as the different ...
Researchers Hope to Mass-Produce Tiny Robots
Aug 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Tiny robots the size of a flea could one day be mass-produced, churned out in swarms and programmed for a variety of applications, such as surveillance, micromanufacturing, medicine, cleaning, ...
Physicist Proposes Solution to Arrow-of-Time Paradox
Aug 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Entropy can decrease, according to a new proposal - but the process would destroy any evidence of its existence, and erase any memory an observer might have of it. It sounds like the plot ...
Solving the phase problem in x-ray diffraction
Aug 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Nearly 100 years ago, in 1912, a paper by Max von Laue made it possible to use x-rays to study the structure of different crystalline substances. He won a Nobel Prize in 1914 for his work, but, even so, the ...
Winning While Losing: New Strategy Solves 'Two-Envelope' Paradox
Aug 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from Australia have taken a step toward resolving a seemingly simple yet unsolved paradox known as the "two-envelope" problem. They’ve worked out a new strategy that can enable ...
New Law of Physics Could Explain Quantum Mysteries
Aug 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Since the early days of quantum mechanics, scientists have been trying to understand the many strange implications of the theory: superpositions, wave-particle duality, and the observer’s ...
Liquid-OLED Offers More Light-Emitting Possibilities
Aug 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are poised to go mainstream in the near future, scientists continue to explore new twists on the technology. Recently, researchers have fabricated ...
New interferometer could simplify materials research
Aug 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- “Most current hard x-ray interferometers are based on crystals, which require their high quality and high mechanical stability,” Anatoly Snigirev tells PhysOrg.com. “This can make x-ray interferometry quite ...
Dark Matter May be Easier to Detect than Previously Thought
Aug 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The Milky Way, like many other galaxies, is thought to be embedded in massive, lumpy amounts of dark matter that release gamma rays and other emissions. Although at first these emissions seem ...
New model for social marketing campaigns details why some information 'goes viral'
Aug 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Marketers dream of finding ways to get something to "go viral" on the Internet. Indeed, viral marketing, whether it be through email, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter, has become the Holy Grail ...
Virtual Worlds May Be the Future Setting of Scientific Collaboration
Aug 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Normally, virtual worlds are the setting of many online games and entertainment applications, but now they’re becoming a place for scientific collaboration and outreach, as well. A team of ...
Closing the terahertz gap could lead to better nanodevices
Jul 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- "The terahertz regime has become of particular interest simply because it may allow us to look into materials in a completely new way," Diego Kienle tells PhysOrg.com. "This regime, which lies between microw ...
Physicists Propose a Method to Observe Dirac Monopoles
Jul 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For decades, scientists have been intrigued by the hypothetical existence of magnetic monopoles - particles with only a north or south magnetic pole, thus having a nonzero magnetic charge. ...
Researchers Set New Distance Record for Quantum Key Distribution
Jul 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Quantum key distribution (QKD) could be the next commercial success of quantum physics, and a recent study has taken the field a step closer to this reality. Researchers from the University ...
Ski Robot Could Decipher the Art of Skiing
Jul 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Watching an Olympic skier perform a downhill slalom, turning smoothly around the flags, makes the sport seem just as much an art as a science. Although advanced skiers know how to turn effectively, ...
