All Stories by James R. Riordon
- Physics
Muon scanning hints at mysteries within an ancient Chinese wall
Density fluctuations within the ancient rampart encircling the city of Xi’an could be defects or yet-to-be-discovered archaeological finds.
- Astronomy
Lots of Tatooine-like planets around binary stars may be habitable
A new simulation suggests that planets orbiting a pair of stars may be plentiful, and many of those worlds could be suitable for life.
- Materials Science
Want a ‘Shrinky Dinks’ approach to nano-sized devices? Try hydrogels
Patterning hydrogels with a laser and then shrinking them down with chemicals offers a way to make nanoscopic structures out of many materials.
- Planetary Science
Methylated gases could be an unambiguous indicator of alien life
On Earth, methylated gases are produced by organisms cleaning up their environment — and by little else. The same might be true on some exoplanets.
- Physics
Here’s how to make a fiber-optic cable out of air using a laser
A hollowed-out laser beam heats a tube of air that surrounds cooler air, providing a way to guide light much the way fiber optics do.
- Physics
Tiny bubbles that make icicles hazy are filled with water, not air
Like tree rings, layers of itty-bitty water pockets also preserve a record of an icicle’s growth.
- Animals
Jumping beans’ random strategy always leads to shade — eventually
Jumping beans use randomness to maximize their chances of getting out of the sun’s heat, a new study finds.
- Physics
We could get messages back from spacecraft sent through a wormhole
A simulation of a probe sent to the other side of a wormhole shows it could send speedy messages back before the hole closes and the probe is lost.
- Space
Humans haven’t set foot on the moon in 50 years. That may soon change
In 1972, the era of crewed missions to the moon came to an end. Fifty years later, a new one has begun.
- Physics
In a breakthrough experiment, nuclear fusion finally makes more energy than it uses
The sun creates energy through nuclear fusion. Now scientists have too, in a controlled lab experiment, raising hopes for developing clean energy.
- Astronomy
A new supercomputer simulation animates the evolution of the universe
The detailed simulation shows the cosmos changing from a dark, featureless gas to a web of stars and galaxies radiating light.
- Physics
Physicists explain how to execute a nearly splashless dive
A pocket of air lets elite divers pull off the rip entry, breaking through the water without sending it flying.
