Archive

Space elevator climbs closer to being reality

Earlier this month a laser-powered robotic climber won $900,000 in a NASA's Centennial Challenges competition to develop a space elevator that would require anchoring a cable to the ground near Earth's equator and attaching the other end to a large mass thousands of miles above the surface.


More than simply air, vapor has many uses

Water vapor is the gaseous form of water that exists in the atmosphere along with nitrogen, oxygen and other minor gases such as argon and carbon dioxide.


Science of forecasting tsunamis has improved

The tsunami in Samoa Tuesday was a disaster that could have been much worse were it not for the tsunami warning system that forecast the timing and size of the waves with great accuracy.


Flow regime plays key but hazy role in world

Werner Heisenberg, who revolutionized quantum theory with his famous uncertainty principle, said, "When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first."


Liquid crystals act as polarizing filters

"Liquid crystal" ought to be an oxymoron, but technology has rendered it sensible instead.


Get enlightened on how bulbs brighten your day

Light bulbs are rated in terms of their luminous efficacy, which describes how much illumination a source provides in visible light from a given amount of electricity. It is visible light output per unit of electrical power measured in lumens per watt.


Measuring equilibrium often a matter of scale

Equilibrium is a state of balance of opposing actions that is central in virtually everything that happens, from basic physics to dance and the arts, economics and social ideologies.


Global climate change a complex of unknowns

It is human nature to jump to conclusions based on sparse evidence. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors did not have time to analyze data before deciding whether an onrushing lion had honorable intentions.


Bright, efficient LEDs taking bulb limelight

The hottest lights on the market today are cool light-emitting diodes, or LEDs.


Disasters easy to track but still hard to predict

The swine flu has been spreading around the world, and there has been much discussion about whether the threat was exaggerated.