Energy & Particles : Science World Report

Apr 02, 2012 11:49 AM EDT

MIT Has Us on Our Way to Pre-programable Matter

New algorithms could enable heaps of â€˜smart sandâ€™ that can assume any shape, allowing spontaneous formation of new tools or duplication of broken mechanical parts.

Apr 02, 2012 10:25 AM EDT

South Pole Telescope Hones in on Dark Energy, Neutrinos

Analysis of data from the 10-meter South Pole Telescope is providing new support for the most widely accepted explanation of dark energy - the source of the mysterious force that is responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe.

Mar 30, 2012 07:09 AM EDT

Physicists Explain the Collective Motion of Particles Called Fermions

Some people like company. Others prefer to be alone. The same holds true for the particles that constitute the matter around us: Some, called bosons, like to act in unison with others. Others, called fermions, have a mind of their own.

Mar 29, 2012 04:48 PM EDT

Ultrafast Laser Pulses Shed Light on Elusive Superconducting Mechanism: U of British Columbia

An international team that includes University of British Columbia physicists has used ultra-fast laser pulses to identify the microscopic interactions that drive high-temperature superconductivity.

Mar 29, 2012 03:46 PM EDT

New Understanding of How Materials Change When Rapidly Heated

Collaboration between the University of Southampton and the University of Cambridge has made ground-breaking advances in our understanding of the changes that materials undergo when rapidly heated.

Mar 29, 2012 09:47 AM EDT

U of Toronto Discovery of New Catalyst Promises Cheaper, Greener Drugs

A chemistry team at the University of Toronto has discovered environmentally-friendly iron-based nanoparticle catalysts that work as well as the expensive, toxic, metal-based catalysts that are currently in wide use by the drug, fragrance and food industry.

Mar 29, 2012 09:34 AM EDT

Getting to the Moon on Drops of Fuel

The first prototype of a new, ultra-compact motor that will allow small satellites to journey beyond Earth's orbit is just making its way out of the EPFL laboratories where it was built. The goal of the micro motor: to drastically reduce the cost of space exploration.

Mar 28, 2012 02:00 PM EDT

UCSB Physicists Mix 2 Lasers to Create Light at Many Frequencies

A team of physicists at UC Santa Barbara has seen the light, and it comes in many different colors. By aiming high- and low-frequency laser beams at a semiconductor, the researchers caused electrons to be ripped from their cores, accelerated, and then smashed back into the cores they left behind. Th...

Mar 28, 2012 11:17 AM EDT

Nature: Video Reveals Wave Character of Particles

Quantum theory describes the world of atoms very precisely. Still, it defies our macroscopic conception of everyday's world due to its many anti-intuitive predictions. The wave-particle dualism probably is the best known example and means that matter may spread and interfere like waves. Now, an inte...

Mar 28, 2012 08:18 AM EDT

Nanostarfruits Are Pure Gold for Research

They look like fruit, and indeed the nanoscale stars of new research at Rice University have tasty implications for medical imaging and chemical sensing.

Mar 27, 2012 02:16 PM EDT

UGA Researchers Use Nanoparticles, Magnetic Current to Damage Cancerous Cells in Mice

Using nanoparticles and alternating magnetic fields, University of Georgia scientists have found that head and neck cancerous tumor cells in mice can be killed in half an hour without harming healthy cells.

Mar 27, 2012 12:58 PM EDT

Researchers Discover a New Path for Light Through Metal

Helping bridge the gap between photonics and electronics, researchers from Purdue University have coaxed a thin film of titanium nitride into transporting plasmons, tiny electron excitations coupled to light that can direct and manipulate optical signals on the nanoscale. Titanium nitride's addition...