Benefits of informal education
Delacôte suggests there are several lessons that can be applied to science popularisation in general: the emphasis must be on a ‘active experience’; the best techniques work for all a...
ESA demands new money
Antonio Rodota, ESA’s director general, has been campaigning to increase the amount of industrial involvement in the space agency. However it has been clear for many months that there would be s...
Gamma-ray bursts could test quantum gravity
Gamma-ray bursts appear to be related to the deaths of massive stars. Amelino-Camelia and colleagues claim that if the difference in the arrival times of photons with different energies can be measure...
Why earthquakes stop
The barriers found on fault lines are usually regions in which a strong pinning force reduces the movement of the plates. However geologists cannot define the position of these barriers around the fau...
Clinton nominates energy secretary
The move surprised observers. Most people expected Elizabeth Moler, Peña’s deputy, to get the position because of her experience in a number of important issues. Over the next few months th...
Fallout from nuclear tests continues
Under the CTBT, a network of seismic stations around the world is being set up to monitor the treaty and automatically send information to an International Data Centre (IDC) in Vienna, Austria. A prot...
Holographic storage sees light
Their technique works by using a process called two-colour holography. One wavelength of light records information on the crystal and another is used to read the data. Their method fires two light sou...
Light makes insulator conduct
The researchers cooled the manganese oxide compound (Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3) to below 200 K in a zero magnetic field. At this temperature the electrons drop into a low energy state, which minimizes their natu...
Nanotubes for the Mass Market
Carbon nanotubes – which can be thought of as a rolled-up graphite sheet – were discovered in 1991. One way to produce large quantities of nanotubes is to place two water-cooled carbon ele...
Computer heal thyself
Researchers are investigating new ways to make computer chips in an effort to increase processing speed. It is likely that these new methods, such as chemical fabrication and assembly, will produce la...
