February 2012 Issue

Paper pyramids hovering in an oscillating air column enlighten us about the stability of flying insects.

A model explains why, during pregnancy, contractions in the uterus exhibit collective behavior.

Interactions between primordial photons and axions may be why the accepted model of nucleosynthesis overestimates the abundance of the isotope lithium-7.

Theorists suggest that the weeks-long flare measured last year from a distant galaxy was probably beamed by a jet of material aligned with the rotational axis of a mammoth black hole.

Helicoidal magnetic order induces a record high electrical polarization.

Ferromagnetic fluctuations drive superconductivity in UCoGe.

Salt crystallizing on walls or old artifacts forms in discrete bunches, rather than coating the surface, because of an unexpected feedback effect, according to experiments and simulations.

An underground neutrino detector has found the first evidence of a nuclear reaction that produces deuterium in the sun.

Transport measurements suggest that a lithium-based metal may be a candidate material for thermomagnetic cooling.