Applied Physics

Mystery Of Modeling Sand- Part Fluid, Part Solid

Sand is so fundamental it seems simple- like a magnetic field, just because an industry is built around something doesn't mean we understand it- but granular material like sand is actually tricky to model. From a distance, flowing sand resembles a liq ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 6 2012 - 12:58pm

Solid-State Laser Weapons- Because America Is Not Far Enough Ahead Of The Rest Of The World

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) wants to develop a solid-state laser weapon prototype that will demonstrate multi-mission capabilities aboard a Navy ship, officials announced May 8. In case you were worried that America was only 25 years ahead of the re ...

Article - News Staff - May 9 2012 - 4:31am

New Atomic Structure Found In Metallic Glasses

Researchers have discovered a new nanometer-scale atomic structure in solid metallic materials known as metallic glasses, filling a gap in understanding of this atomic structure. Glasses include all solid materials that have a non-crystalline atomic struc ...

Article - News Staff - May 13 2012 - 8:40am

Build Your Own G-Force Test Rig

Rockets are powerful stuff, and satellites and astronauts experience tremendous G-forces pushing down on them during launch.  For picosatellite work, it is necessary that your design be able to withstand forces equivalent to perhaps 10 times Earth gravity ...

Article - Project Calliope - May 18 2012 - 10:41am

True Cloud Storage: Movie Saved And Played Back In Atoms

'The cloud' is so cliché Microsoft even has housewives using it in commercials.  All it basically means is that you can have a new way for your data to be hacked and stolen.  Unless the company storing it goes out of business and you made no back ...

Article - News Staff - May 29 2012 - 6:37pm

The Lotus Leaf And A Lab In A Drop

Diagnostic tools are getting small, small enough to fit in a person's pocket, and one huge benefit for medical researchers would be a way to easily move and even mix small samples of a liquid.  A newly patented surface moves drops along certain paths- ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 2 2012 - 9:00pm

The Sounds Of The Northern Lights- Pinpointed

When you think of the northern lights (aurora borealis) you don't think of sounds. The famous blues, greens and reds rippling in the sky have been described by visitors and also handed down in stories as long as people have been visiting. Astronomers ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 9 2012 - 10:17am

Physics Students Take Time To Debunk New Batman Movie Science

If you watched the new "Star Trek" reboot, you had to chuckle when two heroes were plummeting toward terra firma at terminal velocity and were beamed aboard the Enterprise in the nick of time, suffering barely a bump.  And that business about hid ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Jul 9 2012 - 3:02pm

New Bionic Material Even Sticks To Surfaces Underwater

Everyone knows insects have adhesion on dry surfaces- the liquid surface tension between air, liquids and solids known as the capillary force. In order to stick to dry surfaces insects use  capillary forces with the aid of their oil-covered adhesive setae. ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 8 2012 - 6:00pm

Bionic Future Wars: Armor That Mimics Snake Skin

Snake Pliskin, the anti-hero of "Escape From New York", didn't get that name because of his armor, but one day there could be a lot of snake-like soldiers running around. Soldiers, and certainly civilians that can be be helped in the medical ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 15 2012 - 2:06pm