Browse Physics

A new technique for powering medical implants wirelessly could allow them to shrink to sub-millimeter sizes in the future, according to theory and simulations.

Experimenters guide heat around a two-dimensional object without leaving a trace.

Simulations show that breaking ocean waves contribute most of their energy to the air, rather than the water, which could affect cloud formation and climate evolution.

Firing projectiles at plates of glass or plastic shows that the number of resulting cracks is an indicator of the impact velocity and of material properties.

Dynamical systems that maximize their future possibilities behave in surprisingly “intelligent” ways.

Placing a water molecule inside a 60-carbon-atom cage creates a structure that can be guided by an electric field.

A model for analyzing materials using ultrasound shows that the seemingly random fluctuations in the data may contain information about the microscopic structure.

New theory and experiments explain why the lengthy strands that dangle from a spoon of honey can get so long without breaking up.

New search for hypothetical particle focuses on old rocks where monopole abundance should be higher.

A theoretical model finds that atoms can organize themselves into a regularly spaced row when trapped between a pair of nanosized optical fibers.

Tiny “ball bearings” could drastically reduce the friction between two liquids sliding past one another.

Intense light pulses that can precisely sculpt solid materials also generate dazzling rainbow patterns that reveal information about the surface.

A new technique allows improved acoustic imaging of oil deposits and other underground structures and may also work for medical imaging.

Experiments show that blood plasma has elastic properties that could influence the way blood flows through small vessels.

The 1965 discovery of the isolated waves known as solitons—which appear in many physical systems—was a direct result of the new computer technology available for numerical simulations.

An electric field applied to a soap film induces fluid flow through the film and causes its thickness to increase—a phenomenon that could be useful in microfluidic systems.

A tiny cavity made from two optical fibers—previously used only with neutral atoms—strengthens the interaction between an ion and a photon, an important step toward quantum computers and networks.

An equation that describes a wide array of phenomena can be directly tested by watching the equivalent of a drying coffee drip.

Invisible sheetlike structures, which might pervade space and contribute to dark matter or dark energy, could be revealed as they pass by Earth-based detectors.

The near-uniform leaf size of the tallest trees is set by the requirements of their vascular network.