All Stories by James R. Riordon
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PhysicsCrowdsourced cell phone data could keep bridges safe and strong
Accelerometers and GPS sensors in smartphones could provide frequent, real-time data on bridge vibrations, and alert engineers to changes in integrity
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ClimateWind turbines could help capture carbon dioxide while providing power
Turbulent wakes from wind turbines can concentrate CO2 from cities and factories, making it easier to remove the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.
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EarthParticles from space provide a new look inside cyclones
Cosmic rays that smash into the atmosphere make muons that are sensitive to changing air pressure inside storms.
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PhysicsProtons may be stretchier than physics predicts
Studying how quarks inside protons move in response to electric fields shows that protons seem to stretch more than theory says they should.
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AstronomyFor the first time, astronomers saw dust in space being pushed by starlight
Images collected over 16 years reveal that dust expelled from a well-known binary star system is hurried on its way by light from those stars.
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Health & MedicineCooperative sperm outrun loners in the mating race
Sperm that swim in clusters travel more directly toward the uterus, while overcoming fluid currents in the reproductive tract.
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PhysicsQuantum experiments with entangled photons win the 2022 Nobel Prize in physics
Three pioneers in quantum information science share this year’s Nobel Prize in physics.
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PhysicsDespite a retraction, a room-temperature superconductor claim isn’t dead yet
A high-profile retraction called a superconductivity result into question. But a new experiment appears to support it.
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Health & MedicineFalse teeth could double as hearing aids
Dental implants can conduct sound through jawbone, making them candidates for discreet, high-quality hearing aids, researchers say.
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Quantum PhysicsThis environmentally friendly quantum sensor runs on sunlight
Quantum sensors often rely on power-hungry lasers to make measurements. A new quantum magnetometer uses sunlight to measure magnetic fields instead.
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PhysicsFalling objects in orbit show Einstein was right — again
For more than two years, a pair of metal cylinders fell at the same rate in space, confirming the equivalence principle, a key tenet of general relativity.
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CosmologyThe Windchime experiment could use gravity to hunt for dark matter ‘wind’
Though decades away, the project hopes to use an array of ultrasensitive sensors as a “wind chime,” jostled by dark matter blowing past Earth.