Scientists Investigate Cause of 'Singing Dunes'

(PhysOrg.com) -- In more than 30 locations around the world, the phenomenon of singing sand dunes has intrigued explorers, tourists, and scientists. When an avalanche occurs or even when the sand is pushed by hand, it emits ...

Granular model explains unusual behavior in sand

From a mechanical perspective, granular materials are stuck between a rock and a fluid place, with behavior resembling neither a solid nor a liquid. Think of sand through an hourglass: As grains funnel through, they appear ...

Earth's oldest fossils boost hopes for life on Mars

(PhysOrg.com) -- Microfossils found in Australia show that more than 3.4 billion years ago, bacteria thrived on an Earth that had no oxygen, a finding that boosts hopes life has existed on Mars, a study published Sunday says.

Why the sandfish lizard wriggles as it does (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- The sandfish lizard (Scincus scincus) lives in the desert sands of North Africa and burrows through the sand by wriggling. Now scientists in the US have created a computer model that emulates the physics ...

Cassini Maps Global Pattern of Titan's Dunes

(PhysOrg.com) -- Titan's vast dune fields, which may act like weather vanes to determine general wind direction on Saturn's biggest moon, have been mapped by scientists who compiled four years of radar data collected by the ...

Mimicking termites to generate new materials

Inspired by the way termites build their nests, researchers at Caltech have developed a framework to design new materials that mimic the fundamental rules hidden in nature's growth patterns. The researchers showed that, using ...

Nanoparticles can save historic buildings made from porous rock

Many historical buildings were built of sandstone, including Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral. Sandstone is easy to work with, but does not withstand weathering. It consists of sand grains that are relatively weakly bonded ...

A new explanation for why Jupiter's moon has splendid dunes

Scientists have long wondered how Jupiter's innermost moon, Io, has meandering ridges as grand as any that can be seen in movies like "Dune." Now, a Rutgers research study has provided a new explanation of how dunes can form ...

page 1 from 5