Highlights of the year
This year saw many advances in physics. PhysicsWeb has compiled a list of ten highlights (in no particular order) of 1997
Author archive
Holes in a final theory?
Reviewed by Bernard Carr. There are a some ideas in science – usually those that try to extend it in unorthodox directions, or which trespass too far into the domain of metaphysics – that seem to produce very extreme reactions. Depending on their philosophical propensities, people either passionately embrace or vehemently reject them, but they […]
Bone breakthrough
One of the holy grails of medicine is the production of a compound that help speeds up the regeneration of bone. Toshiyuki Ohnishi and Nobuhiro Moriyama, have patented a material they claim can do so. The bone inducing material comprising a piezoelectric porous membrane. It has been known for sometime that bone has piezoelectric properties, […]
Climate summit agrees to greenhouse gas cuts
Industrialized countries have agreed to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide by 5.2% below 1990 levels
Still moving images
When we walk across a room, our eyes automatically adjust to keep objects in focus. The eyeballs swivel in their sockets to compensate for the movement. Professional camera operators use a harness containing a bulky set of counter-weights to achieve the same effect. In aircraft, a series of spinning mirrors or mechanical scanning devices are […]
European defence companies asked to merge
In an effort to compete against US defence companies, the UK, French and German governments have called on European defence companies to merge into a single company
Carbon-based electronics
In addition to being very strong and flexible, carbon nanotubes also have unusual electronic properties. Nanotubes are described by two numbers, conventionally m and n, and a specific nanotube can be metallic or semiconducting, depending on these numbers. Nanotubes are made by rolling up two-dimensional sheets of carbon atoms. The atoms are arranged in hexagons […]
Read article: Neutrons for the future
Neutrons for the future
If plans to build the European Spallation Source are successful it will be the world's most powerful neutron source and will revolutionize many areas of experimental science
Austrian hopes dashed by ESF
Austrian hopes to build either a crystal-growth facility or a pulsed neutron source have been given a frosty reception by the European Science Foundation
Clouds over Kyoto
Even if levels had increased over the previous two years, it was surely not beyond the wit of the world’s most technologically advanced countries to reduce them by the end of the decade. The difficult part was going to be cutting emissions below existing levels. Five years later even that soft target has proved too […]
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