(Phys.org) -- The word “cochlea” comes from the Latin for “snail shell.” While this inner ear component has a clear spiral shape, it’s currently unclear why that is. In the 1980s, ...
Jun 14, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When an optical fiber is bent by 90° or more, the light begins to leak away, posing a problem for fiber optics communications. But by using special lenses that can bend light by not only ...
Apr 02, 2012
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Second sound is a quantum mechanical phenomenon, which has been observed only in superfluid helium. Physicists from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, in collaboration with colleagues from the University ...
May 15, 2013
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Throughout decades of research on solar cells, one formula has been considered an absolute limit to the efficiency of such devices in converting sunlight into electricity: Called the Shockley-Queisser efficiency ...
Apr 18, 2013
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(Phys.org) —The mammalian auditory system is one of the most sensitive detectors found in nature. Two kinds of cells, the inner and outer hair cells, work together to transduce mechanical vibrations into ...
Apr 10, 2013
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(Phys.org)—Japanese film maker Fujifilm has unveiled a new kind of bendable speaker at this year's Nanotech 2013 tradeshow, currently running in Tokyo. It's based on a thin bendable diaphragm the company ...
Feb 05, 2013
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An MIT researcher has developed a technique that provides a new way of manipulating heat, allowing it to be controlled much as light waves can be manipulated by lenses and mirrors.
Jan 11, 2013
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(Phys.org)—High-speed video of projectiles slamming into a bed of disks has given scientists a new microscopic picture of the way a meteorite or missile transfers the energy of its impact to sand and dirt ...
Dec 11, 2012
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The discovery of a previously unidentified hearing organ in the South American bushcrickets' ear could pave the way for technological advancements in bio-inspired acoustic sensors research, including medical ...
Nov 15, 2012
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(Phys.org)—Physicists in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT have developed a new theory derived from calculations that suggest it should be possible to construct an electron cloaking device, ...
Oct 03, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Some six billion light years distant, almost halfway from now back to the big bang, the universe was undergoing an elemental change. Held back until then by the mutual gravitational attraction ...
Mar 30, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- While physicists at the Large Hadron Collider smash together thousands of protons and other particles to see what matter is made of, they're never going to hurl electrons at each other. No ...
Jan 12, 2012
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The composition of the Earth's core remains a mystery. Scientists know that the liquid outer core consists mainly of iron, but it is believed that small amounts of some other elements are present as well. Oxygen ...
Nov 23, 2011
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In a show of just how far Smartphone technology has come, a new group funded by the Pepsi Refresh Project, has put together various technologies that allow blind people to play football using ...
Nov 11, 2011
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Most earthquakes that are seen, heard, and felt around the world are caused by fast slip on faults. While the earthquake rupture itself can travel on a fault as fast as the speed of sound or better, the fault ...
Oct 13, 2011
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