The researchers used eight ceramic tips that were connected via a cantilever array to an atomic-force microscope. The tips were coated with a molecular ink such as 1-octadecanethiol that diffused from the tip onto the gold substrate. The ink reacts with the gold to produce a stable monolayer structure on the substrate. A pattern can […]
The geometry of the universe is Euclidean and space is flat. This has now been confirmed from detailed measurements of the cosmic microwave background – the radiation left over from the big bang – by an international team of astronomers from Italy, the UK, the US, Canada and France. The Boomerang collaboration, led jointly by […]
Read article: Boomerang backs flat universe
“Science is more controversial than art can ever be.” Strange words for an artist, perhaps, but Cornelia Parker has been inspired by science for many years. Indeed, Parker’s “Cold, dark matter” – the suspended remains of a garden shed that the army blew up on her behalf – is currently on show at the recently […]
The unique mechanical and electronic properties of multiwall nanotubes are proving to be a rich source of new physics and could also lead to new applications in materials and devices
Read article: Multiwall carbon nanotubes
The new Buyer’s Guide contains information on a wide range of physics equipment: cryogenics, lab electronics, lasers, magnets, microscopy, power supplies, test & measurement and vacuum are just some of the categories included in the Buyer’s Guide. More than 2000 companies are listed in the guide, and a sophisticated search facility makes it easy to […]
In 1960 von Bekesy published the results of his classic measurements on the cochlea, which suggested that the ear was essentially a linear device. However, von Bekesy conducted his experiments on cadavers, and more recent experiments on live cochleas suggest that hearing is essentially nonlinear. The nonlinearity is thought to arise from a biological power […]
The remarkable properties of carbon nanotubes may allow them to play a crucial role in the relentless drive towards miniaturization at the nanometre scale
Read article: Carbon nanotubes roll on
Interdisciplinary research is currently in fashion, and no interface is more in vogue than that between physics and biology. But whereas the subject matter of, say, chemical physics or materials physics is relatively well defined, there is no such agreement on what constitutes biological physics, and no broad research programme to follow. Even the name […]
Read article: Biological lessons for physicists
There is no doubt that quantum theory has been remarkably successful and has passed every experimental test it has been subject to. But the interpretation of quantum theory – in particular the meaning of the wavefunction, the role of observers, and the question of what happens to the state of a system during a measurement […]
Berndt and co-workers prepared gold, silver and copper surfaces with standard techniques and then used a scanning tunnelling microscope with a specially prepared tungsten tip to identify regions on the surface that were free from defects. The advantage of this technique over others, such as photoelectron spectroscopy, is that the same instrument that is used […]
