Physics
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A new wave way to grow biomaterials
Controlling biofilms opens a world of opportunities.
Australian physicists have developed a way to use waves to manipulate the growth of bacteria biofilms – one of the mo...
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Making water-repellent surfaces toughen up
New approach equips them for the real world.
Superhydrophobic surfaces are smart, but not that tough. They repel water brilliantly but are easy to cut, scratch...
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Snapshot
Watch the art of Roman Hill on film
Fluid dynamics in action can be a visual feast.
Roman Hill’s canvas is eight square millimetres of glass and his media are commonly available: oil, water, ink, paint...
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A laser that could really make waves
Researchers deliver high energy in a trillionth of a second.
Physicists in Australia and the US have developed a new type of laser that can deliver high amounts of energy in very...
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Microwave signal stability gets a boost
Researchers report a 100-fold improvement.
US researchers say they have taken a giant step towards more accurate time dissemination, improved navigation and mor...
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When you cough, how far can it go?
Physics suggests we should be ‘distancing’ further.
Airborne transmission of viruses is not well understood, but a good baseline for study is a deeper understanding of h...
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Scanning with golden ‘bow ties’
Detectors would operate in terahertz region.
Australian and British physicists have unveiled their design for a high-precision detector they say could enable a ne...
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2D materials with a twist
Doing it a scale could release their potential.
Welcome to the world of twistronics – electronics with a twist. There is increasing interest in the potential of t...
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Just how runny can a liquid get?
It seems there’s an equation for that.
You’ve probably never wondered how runny a liquid can get, which is no bad thing because it’s not an easy question to...
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History
Hans Geiger counts particles
His device changed physics and films.
The Geiger counter is fundamental to popular entertainment, especially in sci-fi films in which a scientist carrying ...
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Wiring quantum computers
Researchers propose new ‘simple build’.
Physicists from Japan and Australia have proposed a novel two-dimensional design for a quantum computer that can be c...
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Getting to grips with superconductivity
Energy gap modulations in a cuprate superconductor.
The explanation of this schematic diagram may do your head in if you’re not a physicist, but the work is well worth n...