Browse Physics

Researchers directly imaged the motion of charge carriers in a semiconductor junction, the basic element of a transistor.

Particles containing strange quarks become lighter when embedded within nuclei, according to experiments that confirm an effect seen previously with up and down quarks.

Researchers cooled large dye molecules to one-tenth of a degree Kelvin–the coldest temperature ever for large molecules. The technique could work with protein molecules and allow a new level of precision spectroscopy.

Researchers created the superheavy nucleus hassium-270 for the first time. Its long lifetime of 22 seconds supports the theory of a second ‘island of stability’ for the heaviest elements.

Two experiments in 1946, showing how electromagnetic waves could flip atomic nuclei, eventually led to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

A new technique can detect molecular-scale torques with ten times the sensitivity of previous techniques and might be used on biological nanomotors.

Grooves on the faces of bats act as resonating cavities, affecting the spatial patterns of their sonar and creating different patterns at different frequencies.

A mechanical analysis explains how some vines pull themselves up around a support without sticking to it.

Light entering certain liquids splits into two divergent beams, according to experiments confirming a prediction made almost 200 years ago.

A new technique tracks the motion of water molecules through pores in rocks, which could help in oil prospecting.

The radiation emitted at the edge of a black hole might exist even if the hole doesn’t possess an “event horizon” from which nothing can escape.

In the hope of improving solar panels, researchers have transformed green sunlight into higher-energy blue.

Infrared light boosts electrons during their ejection from a surface. The effect could lead to an ultrafast electron probe.

A geometrical arrangement of tiny calcite crystals appears to protect some algae from ultraviolet light.

Weaving together experimental clues and theoretical insights, three physicists devised in 1957 the first fundamental theory of superconductivity, one of the most successful theories in solid state physics.

Computer simulations show a new way to rapidly generate large, lone ocean waves that have occasionally sunk ships.

A new design for a microwave laser would make the device compact enough to fit on a computer chip.

A laser beam might be 100 million times wider than an atom, but the atom still ‘knows’ the beam isn’t infinite. The effect could be important for some ultraprecise measurements.

Light can pass with high efficiency through a silver film when sandwiched between transparent layers.

A new ‘mirror’ can reflect atoms and should improve control over atomic beams.