Tiny tool measures heat at the nanoscale

How heat flows at the nanoscale can be very different than at larger scales. Understanding how surfaces affect the transport of the fundamental units of heat, called phonons, could impact everything from thermoelectric materials ...

Cosmic turbulences result in star and black hole formation

Just how stars and black holes in the Universe are able to form from rotating matter is one of the big questions of astrophysics. What we do know is that magnetic fields figure prominently into the picture. However, our current ...

Blackening copper opens new applications

(Phys.org)—Copper is one of the world's most widely used metals. Now researchers at the University of Dundee have found that blackening copper using industry-standard lasers could make it even more adaptable and efficient.

Networks in motion

A new article by a Northwestern University complex networks expert discusses how networks governing processes in nature and society are becoming increasingly amenable to modeling, forecast and control.

NASA engineers push limits of physics to focus light

A pair of precision-orbiting small satellites will attempt to capture the first views ever of small-scale features near the surface of the sun that scientists believe drive the heating and acceleration of solar wind.

Blocking the sun to control global warming

It sounds like something out of a bad science fiction movie—artificially blocking sunlight to keep global warming from overheating the Earth. Nevertheless, a small cadre of researchers is studying the option—so that if ...

How the U.S. hydrogen bomb secrets disappeared

Given a choice of items to lose on a train, a top-secret document detailing the newly developed hydrogen bomb should be on the bottom of the list. In January 1953, amid the Red Scare and the Korean War, that's exactly what ...

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