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Two teams of physicists have independently confirmed that 15 equals 3 times 5--an arduous task considering that they've done it by manipulating the quantum states of photons. The results are […]

Disclaimer. No particles were harmed in the making of this experiment. Physicists have found a way to count photons as they zip along, without destroying them. The researchers say that […]

Here's good news if you happen to drop something while you're strolling across a sandy section of Mars: You should be able to find what you dropped more easily than […]

Using enzymes commonly found in living cells, a new type of fuel cell produces small amounts of electricity from sugar. If the technology becomes viable for mass production, a few […]

Slightly noisy signals can turn into rare large spikes in an optical fiber's output, in much the same way as unpredictable weather conditions occasionally create monstrous, isolated oceanic waves, researchers […]

Researchers have made the first precise measurements of DNA's ability to conduct electricity laterally, across its double helix structure. The team's newly improved methods confirm that DNA has some properties […]

In many ecosystems, several competing species coexist because none is best at everything. Tobias Reichenbach of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and his colleagues ran computer simulations of three […]

Physicists have created the heaviest isotope yet of magnesium, but in their experiments an unexpected isotope of aluminum also showed up. The findings could help astrophysicists understand occasional X-my emissions […]

To make clay strong, just add glue. Nanotechnology promises to deliver materials that will possess, on a large scale, the exceptional mechanical properties of tiny particles such as carbon nanotubes […]

Many obstacles stand in the way of ditching the internal combustion engine in favor of electric motors feeding off hydrogen fuel cells. Such a change would require new infrastructure for […]

Last year, physicists reported seeing tantalizing experimental traces of the axion, a hypothetical subatomic particle that's been mentioned as a possible constituent of cosmic dark matter. But the axion was […]

The 2007 Nobel prizes in the sciences were announced early this week. Physiology or Medicine The discovery of techniques to identify the roles of genes has earned three scientists the […]

With a combination of existing methods, some new tricks, and a drop of water, researchers have found a way of stamping carbon-nanotube circuits onto virtually any surface. The technique might […]

A new imaging tool could enable researchers to get three-dimensional images of single living cells without resorting to the time-honored procedure of staining their inner structures with chemicals. 'We can […]

Occasionally, science museums can stimulate new science. Inspired by an exhibit on an optical experiment performed by Isaac Newton, physicists have taken the first X-ray snapshot of a microscopic explosion. […]

A thin film wrinkles differently depending on its thickness and elasticity--just as a prune forms wider, deeper wrinkles the thicker or less flexible its skin is. In this image, a […]

Think of a bacteriophage--a bacteria-attacking virus--as a behind-the-lines saboteur. Scientists have now engineered bacteriophages that can penetrate and dissolve the dense films, such as dental plaque, that some bacterial colonies […]

Creating large-scale, regular arrays of nanoscale components is now almost as easy as blowing bubbles. Harvard University chemist Charles Lieber and his collaborators suspended nanocomponents in a liquid polymer and […]

An X-ray experiment has produced the most conclusive evidence yet that carbon can be made into a permanent magnet. Only a few elements are magnetic at room temperature. They are […]

Engineers have proposed a new design for circuits that could process information by using electrons as tiny bar magnets. Such circuits could someday become the building blocks of a new […]

Call them the Hulk bugs. Just as they do for the comic book hero, gamma rays seem to make certain microscopic fungi stronger. Researchers have found hints that melanin--the same […]

By suspending small amounts of solvents in nanoseale droplets, chemists have found an environmentally safer method of cleaning centuries-old frescoes and saving them from the unintended consequences of previous restorations. […]

Is light made of particles or waves? The answer, according to quantum physics, is both. Depending on the situation, particles of light--and particles of matter too--sometimes contradict themselves and act […]

Quantum physics plays a larger role than scientists had expected in plants' capture of light. New findings could explain life's uncannily efficient use of solar energy, researchers say. In organisms […]

Wherever dense crowds gather, an eruption of panic can have deadly consequences, as in the stampede that killed hundreds during a mass pilgrimage to Mecca in 2006. With methods from […]

Harry Potter fans, do not despair! Invisibility cloaks may be a long shot, but last year physicists demonstrated technology that might someday hide you from radar. Now, two groups of […]

Physicists have had their first look at how matter transitions into an exotic state known as a Bose-Einstein condensate--an ultracold fluid that displays quantum behavior. The atoms in a Bose-Einstein […]