Evergreen needles act as air quality monitors

Every tree, even an evergreen, can be an air quality monitor. That's the conclusion of researchers at the University of Utah who measured the magnetism of particulate matter on the needles of evergreen trees on the U campus. ...

Researchers measure puncture performance of viper fangs

A team that studies how biological structures such as cactus spines and mantis shrimp appendages puncture living tissue has turned its attention to viper fangs. Specifically, the scientists wanted to know, what physical characteristics ...

A compass pointing west

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and ETH Zurich have discovered a special phenomenon of magnetism in the nano range. It enables magnets to be assembled in unusual configurations. This could be used to build ...

A thermo-sensor for magnetic bits

Scientists of the Department of Physics at the University of Hamburg, Germany, detected the magnetic states of atoms on a surface using only heat. The respective study is published in a recent volume of Science. A magnetic ...

Team introduces novel method to grow elastic diamonds

Diamond is the strongest naturally occurring material on Earth. It is also renowned for its high stiffness, exceptional thermal conductivity, high chemical resistance, and high optical transparency. Although these remarkable ...

Human fear of spiders draws scientific focus

A fear of spiders, arachnophobia, is in our DNA. You don't learn to freeze at the site of these creatures; you're born with the fear. Even the sight of hypodermic needles and houseflies does not trigger a similar response. ...

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