Glasperlenspiel: Scientists propose new test for gravity

A new experiment proposed* by physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology may allow researchers to test the effects of gravity with unprecedented precision at very short distances -- a scale at which ...

Friction almost vanishes in microscale graphite

(Phys.org) -- In the phenomenon of superlubricity, two solid surfaces can slide past each other with almost no friction. The effect occurs when the solid surfaces have crystalline structures and their lattices are rotated ...

Magnetic fields can send particles to infinity

Researchers from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM, Spain) have mathematically shown that particles charged in a magnetic field can escape into infinity without ever stopping. One of the conditions is that the field ...

Synchrotrons help bring superconductors out of the cold

(Phys.org) -- The longstanding search for a room temperature superconductor is fueled by a tantalizing set of possible applications that sound like science fiction: infinitely long power lines that never lose energy, magnetically ...

Fingerprints do not improve grip friction

Fingerprints mark us out as individuals and leave telltale signs of our presence on every object that we touch, but what are fingerprints really for? According to Roland Ennos, from the University of Manchester, other primates ...

page 4 from 25