Friday, 24 May, 2013

Boasting about the boson

“Yes, but…” is the word from the frontiers of physics. The world’s largest atom smasher has blasted protons against each other with such enormous energy that they have — apparently — appeared in the debris of decaying particles. At last, matter can have mass!

Thursday, July 5th, 2012

Pitching the biomechanics The fate of baseball teams valued at hundreds of millions of dollars and followed by millions of rabid fans can come down to the elbow ligaments of a handful of young men who can throw a ball nearly 100 mph. But that doesn’t mean the best science guides their training.
Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Dunewatching, Martian style

New pix from Mars show sand dunes on the move. Mars has been dry for 1.5 billion years; could massive erosion be due to wind? Yes, says a new report that tracked dunes with precise new images. Surprise: dunes move as fast on Mars as on Earth!

Thursday, May 10th, 2012

The importance of being Einstein

Experiment finds Earth “dragging” spacetime, as Einstein predicted. Einstein knew his physics. Bending light, gravity lenses, shifting spacetime, spinning neutron stars: he called them all.

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

Double the bubble!

High-speed movies of popping bubbles show a ring of “daughter” bubbles forming around the edge. A close look reveals a third generation of “granddaughter” bubbles. How does this happen? Does this matter to real-world medicine and climatology? And can we get paid to play with bubbles?

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

Pop goes the super supernova

Titanic explosion shows one of the biggest bangs since the Biggest Bang, spreads useful elements through the universe. Finally revealed: anti-matter is working for you!

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Electric eye learns from animal eye!

Lenses cannot project a perfect image on the flat back of a camera, so images are distorted at the edges. A revolutionary camera solves this problem by curving the light detector.

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

The sounds of sax

New study shows that controlling throat shape helps pro players hit the high notes that elude amateurs.

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

Music and speech

Most music is built on the 12-tone “chromatic” scale. Does this reflect chance, or the basic structure of the human voice? New study finds tight link between pronunciation and musical scale.

Thursday, June 7th, 2007

Star Formation: The Ultimate How-To…

Infrared survey of Milky Way shows massive star formation. How could a supernova cause stars to start?

Thursday, June 24th, 2004

Making of a Racehorse

Scientists work to select and breed first-rate racehorses using biomechanics and computer software. Result? Love that big butt!

Thursday, July 24th, 2003

Tornadoes: Power & Fury

Tornadoes kill 60 Americans each year. How do we predict tornadoes? How do we make houses safer? Where do tornadoes get their energy?

Monday, May 12th, 2003

Skyscrapers: Engineering Challenge

What did the losing World Trade designs look like? What is the significance of a city skyline?

Thursday, January 30th, 2003

T-rex Runs (but Slowly)

Tyrannosaurus rex was no sprinter, new biomechanical study finds.

Thursday, February 28th, 2002

Moon’s Origin: Giant Smash-up!

Moon was formed by impact of Theia with Earth. How do we know this, and why might we care?

Thursday, November 8th, 2001