Feature Stories
Why Does Water Expand When it Cools? A New Explanation
Jul 17, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (39) |
16
(PhysOrg.com) -- Most of us, when we take our first science classes, learn that when things cool down, they shrink. (When they heat up, we learn, they usually expand.) However, water seems to be the exception ...
OLED Tunes its Colors for Sunlight-Style Illumination
Jul 16, 2009 |
5 / 5 (39) |
15
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have developed a lighting device that can change its color temperature throughout the day, matching the natural daylight chromaticities produced by the sun. Currently, no other ...
Physicists Propose Scheme for Teleporting Light Beams
Jul 14, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (22) |
21
(PhysOrg.com) -- Usually when physicists talk about quantum teleportation, they're referring to the transfer of quantum states from one particle to another without a physical link. Now, physicists have investigated ...
Transform a ball into a rock -- or make it invisible -- using transformation optics
Jul 09, 2009 |
3.2 / 5 (13) |
7
(PhysOrg.com) -- Science fiction and fantasy tales are full of the ability to "cloak" characters with invisibility. Whether it is a spaceship with a cloaking device, or a young wizard with an invisibility ...
Could a quantum motor do work?
Jul 07, 2009 |
4 / 5 (12) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Ever since the idea of a quantum world was discovered, physicists have been trying their best to create applications and uses that mirror the accomplishments of the classical world. However, due to the fact ...
Physicists Demonstrate Quantum Memory with Matter Qubits
Jul 03, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (21) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, scientists have successfully operated a quantum gate between two remote particles of matter, marking an important step toward the development of a quantum computer. In ...
'Holey' Nanosheets for Wastewater Dye Removal
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jul 01, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have discovered that extremely thin sheets of nickel oxide with hexagonally shaped holes can absorb hazardous dyes from wastewater nearly as well as the best traditional methods, but are recyclable. ...
Jellyfish Robot Swims Like its Biological Counterpart
Jun 26, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (9) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- "Jellyfish are one of the most awesome marine animals, doing a spectacular and psychedelic dance in water," explain engineers Sung-Weon Yeom and Il-Kwon Oh from Chonnam National University ...
Could Maxwell's Demon Exist in Nanoscale Systems?
Jun 24, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (18) |
30
(PhysOrg.com) -- Maxwell’s demon may be making a comeback. Physicists know that the demon, an imaginary creature that decreases the entropy of a system, cannot exist in macroscopic systems due to the energy ...
Living Safely with Robots, Beyond Asimov's Laws
Jun 22, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (85) |
40
(PhysOrg.com) -- "In 1981, a 37-year-old factory worker named Kenji Urada entered a restricted safety zone at a Kawasaki manufacturing plant to perform some maintenance on a robot. In his haste, he failed ...
'Look Mom No Electricity': Transmitting Information with Chemistry
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
Jun 19, 2009 |
4 / 5 (13) |
19
(PhysOrg.com) -- While information technology is generally thought to require electrons or photons for transmitting information, scientists have recently demonstrated a third method of transmission: chemical ...
Scientists report significant advances in flexible electronics research
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jun 18, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
1
In work that represents a key step toward bringing bendable, flexible electronic devices into our homes and businesses, Stanford University researchers have created very thin, high-performance transistors using networks of ...
A Polymer Solar Cell with Near-Perfect Internal Efficiency
Jun 17, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (42) |
13
An international group of scientists has developed a polymer-based solar cell with an ability not yet seen in similar cells: almost every single photon it absorbs is converted into a pair of electric-charge carriers, and ...
Working out a timescale for quantum operations
Jun 17, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (9) |
0
One of the issues affecting quantum systems is coherence. Understanding coherence and how it breaks down (decoherence) is one of the keys to putting together a powerful quantum computer. And, because wires made from metal ...
Space Robot Can Autonomously Reconfigure Itself
Jun 15, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (14) |
6
A robot designed to work in space should ideally be a Jack of all trades, with the ability to perform a wide variety of tasks by itself. By having one robot that can handle many jobs, astronauts can cut down ...
