Physics

Materials Science

Want a ‘Shrinky Dinks’ approach to nano-sized devices? Try hydrogels

Patterning hydrogels with a laser and then shrinking them down with chemicals offers a way to make nanoscopic structures out of many materials.

Chemistry

These chemists cracked the code to long-lasting Roman concrete

Roman concrete has stood the test of time, so scientists searched ruins to unlock the ancient recipe that could help architecture and climate change.

Physics

A powerful laser can redirect lightning strikes

In a mountaintop experiment, a laser beamed into the sky created a virtual lightning rod that snagged several bolts before they hit the ground.

Physics

Rare ‘dark lightning’ might briefly touch passengers when flying

Gamma-ray blasts from thunderstorms might occasionally zap passing airplanes, briefly exposing passengers to unsafe levels of radiation.

Physics

Here’s how to make a fiber-optic cable out of air using a laser

A hollowed-out laser beam heats a tube of air that surrounds cooler air, providing a way to guide light much the way fiber optics do.

Physics

Tiny bubbles that make icicles hazy are filled with water, not air

Like tree rings, layers of itty-bitty water pockets also preserve a record of an icicle’s growth.

Animals

Jumping beans’ random strategy always leads to shade — eventually

Jumping beans use randomness to maximize their chances of getting out of the sun’s heat, a new study finds.

Physics

We could get messages back from spacecraft sent through a wormhole

A simulation of a probe sent to the other side of a wormhole shows it could send speedy messages back before the hole closes and the probe is lost.

Space

Humans haven’t set foot on the moon in 50 years. That may soon change

In 1972, the era of crewed missions to the moon came to an end. Fifty years later, a new one has begun.

Life

These science discoveries from 2022 could be game changers

Gophers that farm, the earliest known hominid, a strange hybrid monkey and the W boson's mass are among the findings awaiting more evidence.

Physics

In a breakthrough experiment, nuclear fusion finally makes more energy than it uses

The sun creates energy through nuclear fusion. Now scientists have too, in a controlled lab experiment, raising hopes for developing clean energy.

Physics

50 years ago, physicists found the speed of light

In the 1970s, scientists set a new maximum speed limit for light. Fifty years later, they continue putting light through its paces.