Browse Physics

A new technique generates movies of a thermal explosion in progress and may lead to better explosives safety.

Computer simulations suggest that a perfect crystal spontaneously melts when atoms move cooperatively. The process may occur in melting under extreme conditions.

A new technique can detect when electromagnetic waves moving through dense materials exhibit extreme changes in their behavior. It could help with surveying of geological structures or possibly scanning human bodies.

Computer simulations reveal an underlying structure for the disordered state of a large number of spheres dumped into a box.

A theory predicts when a sieve will block particles smaller than its holes and could apply to a variety of natural and artificial filters.

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

Researchers have created spiky ice formations in the lab for the first time. They form naturally on glaciers where they may help preserve the ice.

A magnetic field can sustain a single, isolated hump on the surface of a magnetic fluid–a new type of solitary feature with parallels in heated fluids and shaking beds of sand.

The furniture in a cluttered room allows two wireless signals to be transmitted simultaneously to different locations using the same frequency.

When following a moving object, humans appear to anticipate the object’s motion in the way that best allows for unexpected speed changes.

Shattered eggshells, together with computer simulations, suggest that all shell-like structures break in a similar way.

A flat slab of material focuses sound using ‘negative refraction’.

Computer simulations demonstrate that the forces in a growing plant can lead to spiral patterns with special mathematical relationships.

Researchers verify a 19th-century theory for the oscillations of a sphere using lasers and nanospheres.

A study of friction acting on a disk as it spins and slides across a surface explains why both motions stop at the same time.

Microwaves reveal the structure of soil and suggest a cheap way to assess its likely agricultural productivity.

Condensed matter physics could offer insights into human cooperation.

Exploring a simple model for river motion reveals how bends shrink, grow, and sometimes migrate upstream.

Portfolio techniques borrowed from the world of finance could aid quantum computing.

Computer models of stock markets suggest that the tendency of investors to act identically on the same information leads to more frequent crashes than chance alone would predict.