Hydrogen, as any materials scientist will tell you, is a tough nut to crack. It is the simplest of the atoms, but in its molecular, or solid state it is incredibly complex. The long-sought goal of turning the element into a metal, it has been predicted, would require pressure close to that found at the center of the Earth.
ATLANTA -- Something really shocking is going on in a microquasar, or black hole, dubbed "Old Faithful," some 40,000 light years from Earth. It seems to be behaving like a giant particle collider, with massive shock waves generating eruptions every 45 to 90 minutes. This is the second time that Old Faithful, the first known microquasar in our galaxy, the Milky Way, has been observed to be acting strangely. Two years ago astronomers presented evidence, from X-ray and infrared observations, that the microquasar is sending out jets of hot gas at close to regular half-hour intervals.
Butter made from milk containing increased levels of a natural fatty acid reduced the risk of breast cancer in laboratory animals, according to new research published today
Researchers are using nanotechnology to build microscopic silicon devices with features comparable in size to DNA, proteins and other biological molecules – to count molecules, analyze them, separate them, perhaps even work with them one at a time.
Cornell materials scientists have come up with a novel technique that could vastly improve the performance and yield of silicon microelectronic and optical devices, which are used in semiconductor integrated circuits that power everything from computers to telephones.
Cornell chemists have created the world's smallest wires and encased them in a plastic polymer, an accomplishment that could lead to a host of new electrical or optical uses at the nanometer scale.
Although expensive and complicated to adjust, a split keyboard mounted onto the arms of a worker's chair can help reduce a typist's risk of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and other cumulative trauma disorders, according to a new Cornell study.
The computer-modeling accomplishment - which is expected to aid the future design of tiny insect-like flying machines and should dispel the longstanding myth that "bumblebees cannot fly.
It doesn't have a brain or a heart, and its walk is a little like the scarecrow's, but a little headless, armless, trunkless two-legged robot, developed at Cornell University, can walk, wobble, hobble, limp, stride and stagger. But it can't stand still in any position without falling over. (April 7, 1998)
Twenty-five years ago next week, humanity sent its first and only deliberate radio message to extraterrestrials. Nobody has called back yet, but that's OK -- we weren't really expecting an answer. (November 12, 1999)