Why Spiderman Can’t Exist, but a Gecko Can
Want to climb walls like Spiderman or a gecko? Not today, but maybe some day. There is a size limit on who or what can stick to walls.
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Spying on the Atomic Structure of Perovskites
By Jonathan Trinastic, @jptrinastic Spying on the Atomic Structure of Perovskites Perovskites are darling materials in the world of solar cells but still somewhat of a mystery to scientists. Perovskite-based photovoltaics boast a combination of high performance and cheap production that makes them an ideal candidate to lead the next solar energy revolution. Like many young and talented upstarts, however, they don’t always perform consistently, and they burn out quickly. Scientists do not yet completely understand why, but they have taken an important step by creating the first images of individual…
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Using Cycling to Teach Physics
Working together, scientists and teachers have developed a method to teach teens about aerodynamic drag. Are you using cycling to teach physics, yet? “Usually, describing a realistic motion including aerodynamic drag would be beyond the scope of a secondary physics course. However, I realized that this could be done fairly easily for a bike slowing down by aerodynamic drag,” explains Florian Theilmann from the Weingarten University of Education in Germany. From Textbook to Real-Life Physics “In a common physics class, physics seems to be presented in a very simplified way,”…
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Ruminations on Flight
By Rosalind Rude I have a friend who pilots his own aircraft. He’s been away from it for a while so now he is boning up, re-sharpening his skills to get back in the saddle, or back in the cockpit. As he recently explained to me, piloting an aircraft is nothing like driving a car or riding a bike. Yaw, Pitch, and Roll There are three axes in play during flight: The airplane turns left and right (yaw). The airplane’s nose goes up and down (pitch). The body of…
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Nuclear Magnetic Resonance: A Dynamic View of Life
By Florian Celli Florian Celli is a PhD student of biophysics in the Center for Atomic Energy (CEA of Saclay) and the Synchrotron SOLEIL in Paris. He uses nuclear magnetic resonance to study protein dynamics in order to understand their biological role. He co-writes 2 Steps From Science, a website of general science in French and English for students and science fans. Follow on Twitter and Facebook. I am going to talk about architecture, but I am not an architect. I am going to talk about movement, but I am not a dancer. As a…
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Small Step for Batteries, Giant Leap for Electric Cars
By Jonathan Trinastic @jptrinastic Solving the Silicon Swelling Problem in Batteries The dream of an electric transportation revolution—recharging stations dotting rural highways, noiseless sedans gliding across pavement—lives in the minds of many who hope to move beyond oil dependence. But the reality of this transformation will elude us until battery technology improves. Expensive and overweight, current lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology cannot support long car trips and would require lower costs to be commercially viable. Now, the ignition for such a revolution may be arriving in the form of silicon. New…
Read More![Sunsets: Sunset seen at the coast in Novigrad, Croatia. Thin clouds turn a normal sunset into a sci-fi worthy sunset. [EOS 7DmkII: 400mm, f5.6, ISO 100, 1/2000 sec]](https://magazine.scienceconnected.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/3A4A2828-down-cropped-2058-1146-e1443210710946.jpg)
Sunsets are Illusions
What are sunsets? To human eyes, they are very cool optical illusions. Learn about light scattering, and how to photograph sunsets.
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Solar Energy that Doesn’t Block the View
A company is making completely see-through solar energy panels for our phones and tablets. Next, for our car and home windows. By Kate Stone A team of researchers at Michigan State University has developed a new type of solar concentrator that, when placed over a window, creates solar energy while still allowing people to see through the window. It is called a “transparent luminescent solar concentrator” and it can be used on buildings, cell phones, and anything else that has a clear surface. According to Richard Lunt of MSU’s College…
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Cooling Electronics with Graphene-based Film
Cooling electronics with new graphene-based film is much more efficient than cooling with fans or liquid pumps. Cooler electronics means less energy use.
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Can We Turn Evaporation into Cheap Electricity?
The power of water has long been harnessed by humanity, but another part of the water cycle is being used to turn evaporation into electricity.
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