SciGlow | All Science News In One Place
SciGlow is a newsletter of science stories from the major research labs. Headlines link to in-depth articles and editorials. SciGlow keeps scientists and others up-to-date on current research.
How do weapons inspectors verify that a nuclear bomb has been dismantled? An unsettling answer is: They don’t, for the most part. When countries sign arms reduction pacts, they do not typically grant inspectors complete access to their nuclear technologies, for fear of giving away military secrets. Instead, past U.S.-Russia arms reduction treaties have called … Read more
Researchers have built a new tool to study molecules using a laser, a crystal and light detectors. This new technology will reveal nature’s smallest sculptures – the structures of molecules – with increased detail and specificity. “We live in the molecular world where most things around us are made of molecules: air, foods, drinks, clothes, … Read more
Physicists at the University of Colorado Boulder have gone to creative lengths to earn their scouting merit badges for knot-tying. In a study that will appear Sept. 26 in the journal Science, a team of researchers discovered a new way to tie microscopic knots within a solution of liquid crystals. This type of material is found … Read more
Being able to accurately forecast how much solar energy reaches the surface of the Earth is key to guiding decisions for running solar power plants. While day-ahead forecasts have become more accurate in recent years, the solar community lacks a unified verification procedure, and assessing how one forecast compares to another is difficult. New work … Read more
Graphene is actually a 3D material as well as a 2D material, according to a new study from Queen Mary University of London. Realising that it is a 3D material is important for understanding its mechanical properties and for developing novel graphene-based devices. Often hailed as a ‘wonder material’, graphene has the highest known thermal … Read more
The quantum superposition principle has been tested on a scale as never before in a new study by scientists at the University of Vienna in collaboration with the University of Basel. Hot, complex molecules composed of nearly two thousand atoms were brought into a quantum superposition and made to interfere. By confirming this phenomenon – … Read more
An international research team has observed in real time how football molecules made of carbon atoms burst in the beam of an X-ray laser. The study shows the temporal course of the bursting process, which takes less than a trillionth of a second, and is important for the analysis of sensitive proteins and other biomolecules, … Read more
Quantum mechanics and the general theory of relativity form the bedrock of the current understanding of physics – yet the two theories don’t seem to work together. Physical phenomena rely on relationship of motion between the observed and the observer. Certain rules hold true across types of observed objects and those observing, but those rules … Read more
Two physical theories have been explaining the fundamental relationships of our world for one hundred years. The theory of relativity deals with everything that is influenced by gravity and is as fast as light in four-dimensional space-time. Quantum physics is the comprehensive theory of microscopic matter and its interactions, e.g. with light. Only it can … Read more
In a kaleidoscope, mirrors are placed at angles to create a visual illusion of multiple, symmetric images from one original object. The number of symmetric axes in the kaleidoscope depends on the number of mirrors and angles inside. Drawing inspiration from this multiple-axis symmetry, researchers have discovered a new method for creating mirror-symmetric axes in … Read more