A new robotic grabber is ripped straight from the plant world. The device, made with a severed piece of a Venus flytrap, can grasp tiny, delicate objects, researchers report January…
Author: ID
The diabolical ironclad beetle can survive getting run over by a car. Here’s how
The diabolical ironclad beetle is like a tiny tank on six legs. This insect’s rugged exoskeleton is so tough that the beetle can survive getting run over by cars, and…
The first room-temperature superconductor has finally been found
It’s here: Scientists have reported the discovery of the first room-temperature superconductor, after more than a century of waiting. The discovery evokes daydreams of futuristic technologies that could reshape electronics…
Fundamental constants place a new speed limit on sound
Sound has a speed limit. Under normal circumstances, its waves can travel no faster than about 36 kilometers per second, physicists propose October 9 in Science Advances. Sound zips along…
Red giant stars that eat planets might shine less brightly
When giant stars eat giant planets, their starlight may shine a bit less brightly. That dimming could affect how astronomers measure distances across the universe — and possibly even put…
How slime mold helped scientists map out the cosmic web
Creeping tendrils of slime seem to mirror the structure of the universe’s enormous filaments. That superficial similarity, in an organism called a slime mold, helped scientists map out the cosmic…
Physics Nobel awarded for discoveries about the universe’s evolution and exoplanets
Two sets of cosmic discoveries have garnered the 2019 Nobel Prize in physics. Half of the prize of 9 million Swedish kronor (about $900,000) goes to James Peebles of Princeton…
A new book explores how the concept of the multiverse has evolved
The Number of the HeavensTom SiegfriedHarvard Univ., $29.95 There is no bigger question than whether the universe is all there is. Scientists are juggling several ideas for what a multiverse,…
Debate over the universe’s expansion rate may unravel physics. Is it a crisis?
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The word “crisis” hung in the air from the very beginning of the meeting. In a room just steps from the ocean in Santa Barbara, astronomers…
5 cool things to know about NASA’s Lucy mission to the Trojan asteroids
For the first time, a spacecraft is headed to Jupiter’s odd Trojan asteroids. What Lucy finds there could provide a fresh peek into the history of the solar system. “Lucy…
