Probing Venus’ mountains — Science News, February 12, 1972 Venus’ perpetually cloud-shrouded surface remains penetrable only by radio waves. A planetary radar group now reports results of an extended series…
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Earth has a second known ‘Trojan asteroid’ that shares its orbit
A recently found space rock is schlepping along with Earth around the sun. This “Trojan asteroid” is only the second one discovered that belongs to our planet. And it’s probably…
50 years ago, scientists were genetically modifying mosquitoes
Sterility gene for mosquito control — Science News, December 18, 1971 Scientists are working hard to find a substitute for DDT in the control of malaria vector mosquitoes.… Two experiments…
Some deep-sea octopuses aren’t the long-haul moms scientists thought they were
Octopuses living in the deep sea off the coast of California are breeding far faster than expected. The animals lay their eggs near geothermal springs, and the warmer water speeds…
A new gravity sensor used atoms’ weird quantum behavior to peer underground
The best way to find buried treasure may be with a quantum gravity sensor. In these devices, free-falling atoms reveal subtle variations in Earth’s gravitational pull at different places. Those…
‘From Data to Quanta’ defends Niels Bohr’s view of quantum mechanics
From Data to QuantaSlobodan PerovićUniv. of Chicago, $45 Ever since Max Planck introduced the idea of the quantum to the world, physicists have argued about whether reality is more like…
The quantum ‘boomerang’ effect has been seen for the first time
Some quantum particles gotta get right back to where they started from. Physicists have confirmed a theoretically predicted phenomenon called the quantum boomerang effect. An experiment reveals that, after being…
Quantum particles can feel the influence of gravitational fields they never touch
If you’re superstitious, a black cat in your path is bad luck, even if you keep your distance. Likewise, in quantum physics, particles can feel the influence of magnetic fields…
A century of quantum mechanics questions the fundamental nature of reality
Scientists are like prospectors, excavating the natural world seeking gems of knowledge about physical reality. And in the century just past, scientists have dug deep enough to discover that reality’s…
A supernova’s delayed reappearance could pin down how fast the universe expands
A meandering trek taken by light from a remote supernova in the constellation Cetus may help researchers pin down how fast the universe expands — in another couple of decades.…