Next time you spot an earthworm sliding through fresh dirt, take a closer look. What you're seeing is an organic movement called peristaltic locomotion that has been meticulously refined by nature.
Polymers
May 31, 2014
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(Phys.org) —Autumn is usually not such a great time for big special effects movies as the summer blockbusters have faded and those for the holiday season have not yet opened. Fall is more often the time for thoughtful films ...
Nanophysics
Oct 3, 2013
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(Phys.org) —Two planetary researches, one from Hampton University and the National Institute of Aerospace, the other from Louisiana State University, have published a paper in the journal Nature suggesting that for a period ...
(Phys.org) —Imagine an electronic display nearly as clear as a window, or a curtain that illuminates a room, or a smartphone screen that doubles in size, stretching like rubber. Now imagine all of these being made from ...
Optics & Photonics
Sep 23, 2013
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(Phys.org) —A team of chemical researchers at the University of Melbourne in Australia has discovered a simple coating technique that uses nothing but tannic acid and iron ions. In their paper published in the journal Science, ...
Introductory chemistry students learn that oil and water repel each other. So do other hydrophobic substances, which carry no electric charge, and hydrophilic substances, which carry an electric charge that allows them to ...
Materials Science
Jul 9, 2013
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In microsystems, metallic components are increasingly replaced by components made of inexpensive polymers. As polymers yield when they are subjected to pressure, the layer thicknesses cannot be measured with sufficient accuracy ...
General Physics
Jun 24, 2013
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(Phys.org) —A team of researchers headed by Professor Raffaele Mezzenga has created a hybrid material out of gold and milk proteins that looks like a wafer-thin gold leaf. Thanks to its properties, it could be used in a ...
Nanomaterials
Jun 18, 2013
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Many solids are produced from melting. Depending on how quickly they cool off, invariably, internal tensile stresses begin to build up. One example are Prince Rupert's Drops, or Dutch tears: you can hit their thick end with ...
Condensed Matter
May 28, 2013
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(Phys.org) —A class of water-loving, jelly-like materials with uses ranges ranging from the mundane, such as superabsorbent diaper liners, to the sophisticated, such as soft contact lenses, could be tapped for a new line ...
Bio & Medicine
May 15, 2013
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