Science & Society
Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ plan has a major obstacle: Physics
Scientists suggest the missile defense plan will face big hurdles, especially given its projected timeline and cost.
Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Physics
- Quantum Physics
As quantum mechanics turns 100, a new revolution is under way
With greater control over the quantum realm, physicists are poised to make major leaps in quantum computing, quantum gravity and more.
- Tech
New audio tech could let you listen privately without headphones
Private listening out in the open is possible thanks to acoustic metasurfaces that precisely bend and direct sound waves.
- Plants
A leaf’s geometry determines whether it falls far from its tree
Shape and symmetry help determine where a leaf lands — and if the tree it came from can recoup the leaf’s carbon as it decomposes.
- Health & Medicine
Lining medical stents with hairlike fuzz could fend off infections
Implanted tubes that transport bodily fluids can get gross. A lab prototype suggests a new vibration-based way to keep them clean and prevent infection.
- Physics
Physicists explain how cheese rosettes form
Rosettes made by scraping Tête de Moine, or “monk’s head,” cheese result from variations in the friction between the blade and the cheese.
- Physics
Here’s how we might generate electricity from rain
Water drops produce electricity when dripped through a small tube. That power might be harnessed as renewable energy in rainy places.
- Physics
Imitation dark matter axions have arrived. They could reveal the real thing
A long-elusive, hypothetical subatomic particle called the axion can be simulated and potentially detected in a type of thin material.
- Particle Physics
Neutrinos’ maximum possible mass shrinks further
The KATRIN experiment in Germany nearly halved the maximum possible mass for neutrinos, setting it at 0.45 electron volts.
- Particle Physics
Physicists have confirmed a new mismatch between matter and antimatter
Charge-parity violation is thought to explain why there’s more matter than antimatter in the universe. Scientists just spotted it in a new place.
