Glass breaks, rubber bursts—there are numerous ways in which materials can fail under extreme conditions. Many of the atomic mechanisms of materials failure however still remain a mystery. One such mystery of cracks that propagate faster than speed of sound was recently uncovered by the researchers at the Max Planck Institute.
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories developing ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) recently demonstrated two deep UV semiconductor optical devices that set records for wavelength/power output.
While scientists and aurora spotters marvel at the explosions on the Sun, everyone responsible for the hundreds of satellites that serve human needs, from weather observations to car navigation, wishes that these potentially damaging events were more predictable.
Back in the old days, when doctors looked for tumors, exploratory surgery was the only option. Today they use CAT scans, x-rays, ultrasound, and other non-intrusive methods for checking out what lies beneath the skin’s surface. But how do we determine what is beneath the Earth’s surface?
Observers of the night skies should take delight. Arriving fresh on the heels of the recent total lunar eclipse is the annual Leonid meteor shower. Make plans to watch the show on the night of Tuesday, November 18.
ESA's gamma-ray observatory Integral is making excellent progress, mapping the Galaxy at key gamma-ray wavelengths. It is now poised to give astronomers their truest picture yet of recent changes in the Milky Way's chemical composition. At the same time, it has confirmed an 'antimatter' mystery at the centre of the Galaxy.
Eleven dimensions, parallel universes, and a world made out of strings. It's not science fiction, it's string theory. If you missed the recently aired PBS/NOVA show on the sting theory, 'The Ultimate Universe' with Prof. Brian Greene, don't despair. You can now see this program in full online.
The "dark matter" that comprises a still-undetected one-quarter of the universe is not a uniform cosmic fog, says a University of California, Berkeley, astrophysicist, but instead forms dense clumps that move about like dust motes dancing in a shaft of light.
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is about to make history again as the first spacecraft to enter the solar system's final frontier, a vast expanse where wind from the Sun blows hot against thin gas between the stars: interstellar space.
'A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving…'