Tag Archives: physics

Walking on water

By Stephen Ornes / July 30, 2012

his cornstarch and water goo looks like a liquid, but put your hand on the surface and pull up, like a researcher here, and the goo sticks and rises with your hand (before gravity takes over and it drops). That's because in motion, this goo becomes thick and heavy like a solid. Credit: University of Chicago

Scientists explain why a liquid can sometimes act like a solid

Posted in Physics | Tagged classification of matter, colloid, fluids, getinvolved, Heinrich M. Jaeger, liquids, matter, non-Newtonian, Phases, physics, science fair, Scott Waitukaitis, solids, solutions/intermolecular forces, states of matter, topstories, University of Chicago, water

A trout’s nose-y magnets

By Stephen Ornes / July 26, 2012

Cells in a fish’s snout respond to magnets

Posted in Animals | Tagged Cell, cell membrane, David Keays, fish, getinvolved, magnet, magnetic field, Magnetic Fields, magnetite, magnetosensation, Michael Winklhofer, physics, Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, trout, University of Munich

Skeeters ride the rain

By Stephen Ornes / June 25, 2012

To a mosquito, being struck by a raindrop is like a midair collision with a bus. But scientists recently discovered that skeeters fare well when they hitch a ride on the raindrop. Credit: Courtesy Tim Nowack, Andrew Dickerson and David Hu/Georgia Tech

Mosquitoes survive collisions with raindrops by going with the flow

Posted in Animals | Tagged biology, David Hu, engineering, flight, getinvolved, insects, mosquitoes, Nathan Burkett-Cadena, physics, topstories

‘Ruler’ to measure space

By Stephen Ornes / April 16, 2012

Scientists study the energetic echoes of the Big Bang to learn more about the size and shape of the universe. Credit: E.M. Huff; SDSS-III; South Pole Telescope. Graphic by Zosia Rostomian.

Study of energy waves formed during the Big Bang supports Einstein’s prediction that a strange, invisible force is pushing the universe apart

Posted in Space | Tagged Albert Einstein, astronomy, BOSS, cosmological constant, dark energy, getinvolved, gravity, physics, space

Too fast to be true

By Stephen Ornes / March 14, 2012

Human error, not new physics, may explain surprising speeds of tiny neutrinos

Posted in Light & Radiation | Tagged getinvolved, human error, motion, Neutrino, particle, physics, Speed

Fish eyes go green

By Stephen Ornes / January 25, 2012

Scientists find a surprise in the lens of a fish that lives in the dark

Posted in Animals | Tagged absorption, color, feature, fluorescence, Lenses, lenses/mirrors/filters, light, physics, reflection

Neutrinos not so fast

By Stephen Ornes / November 9, 2011

Scientists say the particles may not outrace light after all

Posted in Light & Radiation | Tagged getinvolved, modern physics, nuclear particle, physics, speed of light

Dolphin dimples detect electricity

By Stephen Ornes / August 10, 2011

Depressions in a dolphin’s snout sense electric fields, may help find dinner

Posted in Animals | Tagged Communication, Electric, electricity/electric charge, feature, Field, physics, waves

The dark side of the universe

By Stephen Ornes / April 26, 2011

The ghostly blue clouds in the center of the Abell 1689 galaxy cluster show where Dan Coe and his team think dark matter is hiding. Abell 1689 is home to about 1,000 galaxies and trillions of stars. Credit: NASA, ESA, and Dan Coe (NASA JPL/Caltech and STScI)

Most of the cosmos is invisible, but that doesn’t stop scientists from searching for it

Posted in Space | Tagged dark energy, dark matter, feature, gravitation/circular motion, Gravity Gravitation, physics

Planetary paparazzo

By Stephen Ornes / April 20, 2011

Flying circles around Mercury MESSENGER, shown in an artist’s drawing, will spend 12 months in orbit around Mercury. . Credit: NASA

NASA satellite snaps historic photographs of Mercury

Posted in Physics | Tagged forces, getinvolved, gravitation, gravitation/circular motion, gravity, photography, physics

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