“Silicon Valley” may soon be a misnomer. Inside a new microprocessor, the transistors — tiny electronic switches that collectively perform computations — are made with carbon nanotubes, rather than silicon. By devising techniques to overcome the nanoscale defects that often undermine individual nanotube transistors (SN: 7/19/17), researchers have created the first computer chip that uses […] More
Flame retardants are going green. Using compounds from plants, researchers are concocting a new generation of flame retardants, which one day could replace the fire-quenching chemicals added by manufacturers to furniture, electronics and other consumer products. Many traditional synthetic flame retardants have come under fire for being linked to health problems like thyroid disruption and […] More
Regular old quantum teleportation wasn’t enough for scientists. So they’ve kicked it up a notch. Previously, physicists had teleported qubits, or quantum bits of information. Just as a standard bit in a desktop computer has two possible values, 0 or 1, a qubit has two possible states. Now scientists have moved on, reporting in the […] More
It’s a moonless night. The wind howls outside. A door opens slowly, as if pushed by an invisible hand. “Cre-e-e-a-k.” That sound — a horror movie cliché — is the result of friction. A stealthier entrance calls for oiling the door’s hinges. Friction is everywhere — from a violinist bowing a string to children skidding down […] More
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The word “crisis” hung in the air from the very beginning of the meeting. In a room just steps from the ocean in Santa Barbara, astronomers and physicists shifted restlessly in their chairs. Sunshine and sea breezes beckoned, but the scientists had cloistered themselves to debate one of the biggest quandaries […] More
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — It’s one of the most talked-about issues in physics: Two measurements of the universe’s expansion rate disagree. Now, a technique that aimed to resolve the mismatch has produced a third estimate that falls between the previous two. So the controversy endures, scientists report in a study accepted in the Astrophysical Journal. […] More
A geophysicist looks at the science, history and culture of the versatile element ALL ABOUT CARBON Diamond, graphite and calcite (crystals shown) are just three of the hundreds of carbon-bearing minerals found on Earth. Rob Lavinsky and iRocks.com/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) Share this: This article is only available to Science News subscribers. Subscribers, enter […] More
The finding suggests large structures in the cosmic web are magnetized MAGNETIC CONNECTION Two distant galaxy clusters, Abell 0399 (left) and Abell 0401 (right), are connected by magnetic fields containing high-energy electrons. X-rays from the cluster cores are shown in purple, and radio emission from the magnetic bridge forms the blue-toned smear in between. DSS, […] More
