Applied Physics

DC Versus AC

Direct current (DC) In a DC (direct current) circuit where the electricity flows in one direction, we can think of a battery as a storage tank like the water tower in your neighborhood. If nobody turned on their faucet, the water in the tower would just s ...

Article - Steve Schuler - May 20 2013 - 5:47pm

Magnetism Makes Archaeological Sourcing 'High Definition'

Sourcing of ancient artifacts has gotten a new advance. While at the University of Sheffield in the years 1965–1972, Professor Lord Colin Renfrew developed a technique that matched stone tools made of obsidian, naturally occurring glass, to their volcanic ...

Article - News Staff - May 22 2013 - 9:19am

Colon Simulation Is A Crappy Job

Dr. Ian Marcus, recent Ph.D. from the U.C. Riverside Bourns College of Engineering, wanted to better understand how bacteria impact the environment. So he spent nearly a year building a system that replicates a human colon, septic tank and groundwater and ...

Article - News Staff - May 28 2013 - 9:21am

Discovery: Skyrmions Lead To Artificial Magnetic Monopoles

When a magnet is divided, a new magnet with north and south poles is always created. A monopole, i.e. a north pole without a south pole or a south pole without a north pole has not yet been discovered but in Science researchers describe the discovery of ne ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 1 2013 - 11:18am

Wendelstein 7-X Fusion Device Will Be Operational In 2014

The last open seam on the steel outer cover of the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device was closed last week, which means the core of fusion device and the installation stage has been completed and it can go into operation at the Greifswald branch institute of Ma ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 4 2013 - 1:00pm

Whispering Gallery Goes Nanoscale

If you've been to a whispering gallery, a quiet, circular space often underneath a dome or vault that captures and amplifies sounds as quiet as a whisper, you have witnessed parabolics in action. The sound waves are efficiently propagated by the conc ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 7 2013 - 12:06pm

Toward Metamaterials: Printing Artificial Bone

If you want to design new materials that are durable, lightweight and environmentally sustainable, it makes sense to look at old kinds: Natural composites, such as bone. Bone is strong and tough because its two constituent materials, soft collagen protein ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 17 2013 - 10:12am

Vital Heat For 2013- At The Cellular Level

To our forefathers, distinguishing the living from the dead centered on calidum innatum- vital heat. Aristotle showed that when the heart turns cold, compared to other organs, a person dies and postulated that the vital heat produced in the heart caused b ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 28 2013 - 12:50pm

“Printing” Tiny Batteries The Size Of A Grain Of Sand

Miniaturization is in- but often the batteries that power them are as large or larger than the devices themselves, which defeats the purpose of building small. Nowm a team of researchers has shown that 3D printing can be used to print lithium-ion microbat ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 7 2013 - 10:20pm

How That Works: Blowing up cars in Movies

About once a week I use some specialized chemistry and physics to blow up cars for movies.  Here's a little video revealing how that works, that I shot while creating a scene for Rooster Teeth... How That Works: Movie Car Explosions from Steve Wolf on ...

Blog Post - Steve Wolf - Jul 10 2013 - 11:17am