Recent Articles
Memories Become Chaotic before They Are Forgotten
A model for information storage in the brain reveals how memories decay with age. Read More »
The Unimportance of Accurate Financial Knowledge
Simulations of the behavior of individual financial traders show that imperfect market knowledge increases risk but not overall losses. Read More »
Quantum Circuit Tackles “Diabolical” Photochemical Process
A quantum device shows promise for simulating molecular dynamics in a difficult-to-model photochemical process that is relevant to vision. Read More »
How Nature’s Donuts Get Their Wrinkles
A new model explains the wrinkling patterns seen in nature’s donut-shaped objects, such as those found in jellyfish. Read More »
Twinkling of a Shrinking Droplet Reveals Hidden Complexity
Captivating patterns found in the light scattered by an evaporating water droplet could be used to infer the properties of the droplet as it shrinks. Read More »
Air Waveguide from “Donut” Laser Beams
A waveguide sculpted in air with lasers transmits light over a distance of nearly 50 meters, which is 60 times farther than previous air-waveguide schemes. Read More »
A Laser-Based “Lightning Rod”
Experiments on a Swiss mountain demonstrate that a high-powered laser can influence the trajectory of lightning strikes—a step toward laser-based lightning protection. Read More »
Sound Waves Mimic Gravity
A recently discovered acoustic effect allows a hot gas to simulate the gravity-induced convection within a star or giant planet. Read More »
A Salt-Based Laser Color Converter
Artificial salts that are liquid at room temperature can be used to efficiently tune the wavelength of a laser source. Read More »