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.
Researchers at The University of Tokyo introduced a new physical model that predicts the dynamics of glassy materials based solely on their local degree of atomic structural order. Using computer simulations, they showed how this theory greatly improves our understanding of how glassy liquids become more viscous on cooling. This work has many potential applications … Read more
Workplaces are full of sound, most of which is not helpful to workers trying to do their jobs. Scientists are using physics to understand how conversation, music and other ambient noise is experienced by individuals in a variety of work situations. Takeshi Akita, of Tokyo Denki University, will present a talk on “Effects of sound … Read more
Music is an art, but it is also a science involving vibrating reeds and strings, sound waves and resonances. The study of acoustics can help scientists produce beautiful music even with musical instruments fashioned with high-tech methods, such as 3D printing. Xiaoyu Niu, from the University of Chinese Academy Sciences, and other researchers studied the … Read more
Imagine being inside Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Collaborative Research Augmented Immersive Virtual Environment Laboratory (CRAIVE Lab), which features a front-projection 360-degree panoramic display to immerse you visually, while 134 loudspeakers render a spatially superb sound. Combined with networks of sensors and controllers, CRAIVE Lab provides its users new modes of interactions between humans and virtual worlds, … Read more
National Park Service scientists analyzed nearly 1 million 10-second audio recording samples from national parks across the country and discovered a small increase in bird sound detection when an aircraft sound is also detected. On average, across all parks monitored, the odds of hearing a bird sound increases by 2% when aircraft sound is detected … Read more
Atom music is a fun new way to explore the atomic world via musical synthesis techniques. Atoms absorb and release energy in the form of photons that we perceive as different colors – think northern lights. These colors can be passed through a grating or prism that reveals the atom’s individual spectrum as a set … Read more
For solar cells to be widely used in the coming decades researchers must resolve two major challenges: increasing efficiency and lowering toxicity. Solar energy works through a process that converts light into energy called the photovoltaic effect. Certain light sensitive materials when packaged together in a “cell” have the ability to convert energy from light … Read more
Whether we decide to take out that insurance policy, buy Bitcoin, or switch jobs, many economic decisions boil down to a fundamental gamble about how to maximize our wealth over time. How we understand these decisions is the subject of a new perspective piece in Nature Physics that aims to correct a foundational mistake in economic theory. According to … Read more
New research from the University of Rochester will enhance the accuracy of computer models used in simulations of laser-driven implosions, and may bring scientists one step closer to achieving fusion. In laser-driven fusion experiments, short, intense pulses of light lasting billionths of a second are used to compress and heat hydrogen fuel to a state … Read more
The new approach to ion exchange membrane design, which is published today in Nature Materials, uses low-cost plastic membranes with many tiny hydrophilic (‘water-attracting’) pores. They improve on current technology that is more expensive and difficult to apply practically. Current ion exchange membranes, known as Nafion, are used to purify water and store renewable energy output … Read more