Physics
- Chemistry
Turning jeans blue with sunlight might help the environment
When dipped in indican and exposed to sunlight, yarn turns a deep blue. This process is more eco-friendly than the current denim dyeing method.
- Space
Explainer: What is the solar cycle?
Here’s what causes the sun’s 11-year cycle of activity and what it means for us on Earth.
- Physics
Forests could help detect ‘ghost particles’ from space
If trees could act as natural antennas, one physicist proposes that they just might pick up signals of hard-to-spot ultra-high energy neutrinos.
- Earth
Explainer: Sprites, jets, ELVES and other storm-powered lights
Fleeting glows collectively known as “transient luminous events” flash in the skies above powerful lightning storms.
- Physics
Here’s why blueberries aren’t blue — but appear to be
Blueberries actually have dark red pigments — no blue ones — in their skin. Tiny structures in the fruits’ waxy coat are what make them seem blue.
- Earth
The weird sky glow called STEVE is really confusing scientists
Researchers are trying to figure out the recipe of atmospheric conditions that creates this aurora-like light show.
- Physics
Physics explains what happens when a lawn sprinkler sucks in water
Experiments with a floating sprinkler revealed the surprisingly complex physics behind a simple question.
- Physics
Physics explains why poured water burbles the way it does
The loudness of falling water depends on the height of the pour and the thickness of the stream.
- Materials Science
Scientists Say: 2-D Material
Two-dimensional materials such as graphene could improve electronics, carbon capture and more.
- Physics
How much fruit can you pull from a display before it topples?
About 10 percent of the fruit in a tilted market display can be removed before it will crash down, computer models show.
- Materials Science
Let’s learn about graphene
Scientists have been trying to understand and harness this material’s superpowers since its discovery in 2004.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Polarized light
Sunlight, lamplight and other lights are usually unpolarized. But passing light waves through filters can ‘polarize’ them.
