General Physics

New Form of Helium(May 28, 2008)
An experiment in Italy has for the first time observed directly nuclear-fragments consisting of two protons.

Xenon Ketchup(May 15, 2008)
Data recovered from the wreck of the Space Shuttle Columbia helps scientists understand how the viscosity of fluids can change dramatically

Carbon Dioxide in Collision(April 23, 2008)
A new study provides the best understanding yet of how carbon dioxide molecules absorb infrared radiation even in the act of colliding other molecules

Carbon Dioxide in Collision(April 24, 2008)
A new study provides the best understanding yet of how carbon dioxide molecules absorb infrared radiation even in the act of colliding other melecules

Carbon Dioxide in Collision(April 23, 2008)
A new study provides the best understanding yet of how carbon dioxide molecules absorb infrared radiation even in the act of colliding other molecules

Fractal Plant Tumor(February 28, 2008)
A new study looks at fractals in time and space

Mesons inside Nuclei(January 22, 2008)
A new calculation shows why carbon-14's halflife is so long, permitting archeologists to use for carbon dating

Mesons inside Nuclei(January 22, 2008)
A new calculation shows why carbon-14's halflife is so long, permitting archeologists to use for carbon dating

Acoustic Cloaking(January 11, 2008)
Physicists imagine an object invisible to sound waves.

Spontaneous Separation of Charged Grains(July 10, 2007)
A new experiment shows how two populations of charged grains can unmix themselves through electrostatic forces

Polonium Structure(June 12, 2007)
A new theory explains why polonium possesses a simple cubic structure, the only element to do so.

Ripping Fluids(May 16, 2007)
Some fluids, if you slice them quickly enough, act like a solid

The APS March Meeting of 1987 - The "Woodstock of Physics"(February 26, 2007)
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity

High School Physics Enrollment Hits Record High(January 10, 2007)
U.S. high school students are taking physics in record numbers, the AIP Statistical Research Center reports.

X-Ray Rainbow(December 11, 2006)
For the first time an X-ray beam has been spread out into a rainbow of X-ray "colors"

Submersible Hologram Microscope(March 28, 2006)
Micron-resolution pictures of marine organisms recorded in the ocean using a holographic microscope.

Hostile Takeover of Small Fluid Vortices(February 27, 2006)
Scientists have determined that large circulation patterns such as hurricanes drain the energy of smaller vortices to sustain themselves.

Art in Crystallography(December 29, 2005)
A new annual competition showcases visual-art works dealing with the science of crystals.

Optical Vortex(November 22, 2005)
A new device will help astronomers to observe extrasolar planets directly.

Skunk Cabbage Controls Its Internal Temperature(November 8, 2005)
A species of lily can maintain its internal temperature even below the freezing point.

Cheerios Effect(Sept. 15, 2005)
A drawing pin floating upturned on water. The deformation of the interface in this case is opposite to that around a bubble or near a wall that has been wetted.

Light With Orbital Angular Momentum(February 23, 2005)
Light with a property called "orbital angular momentum" has unique and very useful properties.

An MRI Wind Tunnel(October 4, 2004)
Researchers have introduced a technique for using magnetic resonance imaging to measure high-speed fluid flows.

Braiding Patterns in Flowing Streams(July 14, 2004)
Researchers have explained how a beautiful pattern in water streams can sometimes form.

Ultra-intense Light Filaments(July 8, 2003)
Intense laser light has been successfully sent through laboratory "fog" that approximates atmospheric conditions.

Physics Olympiad, US Team 2003(May 21, 2003)
Twenty-four physics olympians visit the Air and Space Museum and their congressional representatives.

Solar Surgery(September 25, 2002)
Sunlight can be collected outdoors and transported to an indoor operating room and used for surgical purposes

Negative Heat Capacity (7 February, 2001)
The temperature of a cluster of sodium atoms can actually go down when energy is added.

Vortices Within Vortices (12 December, 2000)
Vortices within vortices spawn yet more vortices.

Braided Light (August 31, 2000)
A new theory predicts that two beams of light can twine around each other in a plasma environment.

Two-Dimensional Turbulent Flows Leak Significant Energy (July 31, 2000)
To better understand the atmosphere, the Great Red Spot of Jupiter, and other "two-dimensional" fluids, researchers have studied how energy gets dissipated in a turbulent soap film.

Physics Olympiad, US Team 2000 (May 24, 2000)
Photographs from the training camp and from a breakfast meeting on Capitol Hill, where members of the US team for the 2000 International Physics Olympiad met with their congressional representatives.

The First "Left-Handed" Material (March 21, 2000)
A new composite material made from rods and copper washers has bizarre optical properties.

Formation of a Net-Negatively Charged Liquid Spray (February 22, 2000)
Instantaneous realization of an electrically charged mist emerging from an orifice.

Competing Arrows of Time (December 17, 1999)
A new theory suggests that in some regions of space time might run backwards.

Sand as Maxwell's Demon (December 10, 1999)
Sand, agitated within a two-chambered vessel, with a small hole allowing passage between the chambers, sorts itself into a hot granular gas on the one side and a cool granular gas on the other side.

Swirled Sphere Magic Numbers (November 24, 1999)
For certain "magic" numbers of spheres swirled in a dish, the spheres congregate into solid-like shell structures with stable rings.

Award-Winning Fluids Figures (November 10, 1999)
We select three of the figures chosen as winners of a competition sponsored by the journal Physics of Fluids.

US Physics Olympiad Team (June 9, 1999)
A group of 24 high school Physics students constitute the US team for the International Physics Olympiad.

Genealogical Trees (May 14, 1999)
The statistical properties of genealogical trees are not unlike those of granular materials.

Photos From The APS Centennial (April 27, 1999)
A gallery of photographs from the largest physics meeting of all time.

The Neolithic Transition in Europe (December 23, 1998)
Migrating farmers at the time of the Neolithic diffused into Europe much as salt diffuses through water.

Misjudgment in a Bird Flock (September 24, 1998)
Physicists have been studying the remarkable process of how a flock of birds moves flawlessly as an organized group, even if the individual birds make frequent misjudgments.

Rotating Bacteria (September 24, 1998)
Certain kinds of bacteria line themselves up and move in a circular pattern.

Turbulence in Soap Films (August 14, 1998)
False-color image of turbulence in a soap film.

Using atom waves to measure gravity gradients (July 28, 1998)
Dual atom interferometers are used to measure gravity gradients.

The Persistence of Weather (July 15, 1998)
The way weather on one day is related to weather, days or even years later is similar in many places around the world.

Flutter and Tumble: The Physics of Falling Paper (June 18, 1998)
Tackling a problem that is too difficult even for physics to explain fully, scientists have performed the first rigorous experimental tests of how paper falls in two dimensions.

Three-Body System of Charged Particles (May 20, 1998)
Learn about a "three-body system" of three interacting charged particles.

Liquid Magnetic Froths (September 25, 1997)
Liquid magnetic froths create patterns that are reversible with magnetic fields.

Frost Heaving (September 2, 1997)
Learn about the process of frost heaving, a poorly understood phenomenon in which ice columns grow upward against the force of gravity.

Oscillons (September 12, 1996)
Oscillons are stable clumps of particles which bob up and down in granular materials such as sand.