Feature Stories
Carbon Nanotubes Toughen a Common Plastic
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Apr 07, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (19) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- A research group from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel has discovered that adding carbon nanotubes to a widely used commercial plastic can greatly strengthen it. Their work is one ...
Mass Extinctions, Ancient Viruses May Hold Clues to Life’s Origins
Apr 03, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (30) |
16
(PhysOrg.com) -- Mass extinctions occur repeatedly, though irregularly, throughout Earth’s history, and occasionally these extinctions have been devastating to life on our planet - or have they? Extinction ...
'Squeezing' light into quantum dots
Apr 01, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (11) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- “Quantum wells have been instrumental in telecommunications, enabling light amplification,” Patanjali Kambhampati tells PhysOrg.com, “but theory has suggested that a very small - colloidal - quantum dot co ...
Optimized by Evolution, Ants Don't Have Traffic Jams
Mar 30, 2009 |
4 / 5 (21) |
17
(PhysOrg.com) -- As highway traffic increases, you'd probably expect a traffic jam, where vehicles slow down due to the high density. While traffic jams are a common occurrence on our highways, high density ...
Exerting better control over matter waves
Mar 27, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (29) |
15
(PhysOrg.com) -- “The concept of matter waves is at the heart of quantum mechanics,” Oliver Morsch tells PhysOrg.com. “At the beginning of the last century, scientists discovered that solid particles could exhibit proper ...
Possible Fifth Force Would Make Direct Detection of Dark Matter Unlikely
Mar 26, 2009 |
3.9 / 5 (40) |
52
(PhysOrg.com) -- No one knows exactly what a “fifth force” might be, but studies have shown that, if a long-range fifth force does exist, it could have surprising effects on the universe’s structure formation. ...
Spacetime May Have Fractal Properties on a Quantum Scale
Mar 25, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (54) |
40
(PhysOrg.com) -- Usually, we think of spacetime as being four-dimensional, with three dimensions of space and one dimension of time. However, this Euclidean perspective is just one of many possible multi-dimensional ...
What is 'Real'? How Our Brain Differentiates Between Reality and Fantasy
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Mar 23, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (22) |
24
(PhysOrg.com) -- Most people can easily tell the difference between reality and fantasy. We know that characters in novels and movies are fictitious, and we also understand that historical figures - even if ...
Making quantum computing scalable
Mar 20, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (10) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Quantum information processing is one of the hottest areas of science and technology right now. Making quantum information processing scalable is an important part of the efforts involved with regard to practical ...
Latest 3D TV Technology Offers Interactive Control
Technology / Computer Sciences
Mar 19, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (7) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Three-dimensional TV is now closer than ever to becoming a reality for consumers, and the latest research is investigating the full extent of 3D TV’s possibilities. In a recent study, researchers ...
Study Yields Surprising New Insight into High-Temp Superconductors
Mar 17, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (16) |
135
(PhysOrg.com) -- Recently, an international group of researchers discovered that the underlying mechanism producing high-temperature superconductivity in a widely studied class of copper-oxygen-based superconductors may be ...
How Much Energy Goes Into Making a Bottle of Water?
Mar 17, 2009 |
4 / 5 (43) |
39
(PhysOrg.com) -- Most people who buy bottled water have access to clean drinking water virtually for free (in the US, tap water costs less than a penny per gallon, on average). Nevertheless, the consumption ...
New invisibility cloak allows object to 'see' out through the cloak
Mar 13, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (22) |
13
(PhysOrg.com) -- "Many groups have been working devices that make objects invisible," Che Ting Chan tells PhysOrg.com. “Most of these devices, however, encompass the object to be cloaked.” Chan, a scientist at The Hong K ...
HoloTV Images Jump off the Screen, into Tomorrow's Homes (w/Video)
Mar 12, 2009 |
3.9 / 5 (19) |
10
(PhysOrg.com) -- Unlike today’s biggest and most realistic LCD and plasma TVs, 3D TV screens can project images that seem to float in mid-air beyond the screen. That means, for instance, that viewers could ...
Infrared Nanotube Films Offer Advantages for Solar Cells and More
Mar 11, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have already known that carbon nanotube thin films have mechanical and conductive advantages that could make them useful as electrodes in solar cells, solid state lighting, and ...
