When you plug in an appliance or flip on a light switch, electricity seems to flow instantly through wires in the wall. But in fact, the electricity is carried by tiny particles called electrons that slowly drift through ...
Superconductivity
Apr 7, 2018
3
1406
Making a giant leap in the 'tiny' field of nanoscience, a multi-institutional team of researchers is the first to create nanoscale particles composed of up to eight distinct elements generally known to be immiscible, or incapable ...
Nanophysics
Mar 29, 2018
1
581
Across North America, streams and rivers are becoming saltier, thanks to road deicers, fertilizers and other salty compounds that humans indirectly release into waterways. At the same time, freshwater supplies are becoming ...
Environment
Jan 8, 2018
0
887
UMD-led study finds that worms that fertilize themselves lost one-fourth of their genome, including genes that make sperm competitive.
Evolution
Jan 4, 2018
0
243
A mountaintop observatory in Mexico, built and operated by an international team of scientists, has captured the first wide-angle view of gamma rays emanating from two rapidly spinning stars. The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov ...
Astronomy
Nov 16, 2017
2
393
Earth's mantle is made of solid rock that nonetheless circulates slowly over millions of years. Some geologists assume that this slow circulation would have wiped away any geochemical traces of Earth's early history long ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 6, 2017
3
241
A study published March 21, 2017 in the journal Science summarizes the types of surface changes observed during the two years that the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft spent investigating comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. ...
Space Exploration
Mar 21, 2017
10
217
More than 2.4 billion years ago, Earth's atmosphere was inhospitable, filled with toxic gases that drove wildly fluctuating surface temperatures. Understanding how today's world of mild climates and breathable air took shape ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 13, 2017
8
680
Gas outflows are common features of active supermassive black holes that reside in the center of large galaxies. Millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun, these black holes feed on the large disks of gas that swirl ...
Astronomy
Mar 1, 2017
5
427
Today's Earth is a dynamic planet with an outer layer composed of giant plates that grind together, sliding past or dipping beneath one another, giving rise to earthquakes and volcanoes. Others separate at undersea mountain ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 27, 2017
5
905
