Cheaper refrigerators? Stronger hip implants? A better understanding of human disease? All of these could be possible — ScienceDaily

Cheaper refrigerators? Stronger hip implants? A better understanding of human disease? All of these could be possible and more, someday, thanks to an ambitious new project underway at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST researchers are in the early stages of a massive undertaking to design and build a fleet of tiny […]
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 at different rates in different materials — moving faster in water than in air for example. But under conditions found naturally on Earth, no material […]
50 years ago, scientists were looking for ways to predict earthquakes

Warnings from the wells — Science News, October 10, 1970 Seismologists are studying ways to predict the occurrence of earthquakes…. One possibility … is to monitor subterranean fluid pressures.… Fluctuations in the production rates of oil, gas and water wells are often associated with earthquakes, and sometimes precede them soon enough to provide some warning. […]
Nanomaterials for enhanced fiberoptic cables

New hybrid optical fibers contain 2D materials that enhance light-matter interactions and open doors for a range of new technological advancements. Image credit: Jens Meyer (University of Jena) The interaction between light and matter has led to numerous, ground-breaking scientific advances in the past several years from enhanced optical communications — faster internet and data […]