Mechanics and thermodynamics are two of the main pillars of physics. Mechanics, the branch of physics that studies movement, is considered to be well established since the publication of Isaac Newton’s Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687). Thermodynamics, the science dealing with heat and temperature, enjoyed its golden age in the 19th century, and was the […]
One of the main features of a F1 car is aerodynamics. How the car minimizes the drag imposed by the fact it is moving through a fluid, air, and how it takes advantage of the forces this movement generates to keep it stuck to the track, are most important for its performance. Even though the […]
True empathy is considered by most researchers to be an exclusive ability of primates, particularly humans and apes, the result of complex reasoning and abstract thought. However, empathy may be a phylogenetically continuous ability with particular types such as «emotional contagion» present in all classes of mammals. In fact, it has been shown that empathy […]
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Graphene, carbon nanotubes help spiders spin stronger webs Several spiders sprayed with mixtures of water and either graphene particles or carbon nanotubes went on to weave markedly stronger webs, according to researchers at the University of Trento in Italy. The scientists found that webs made by spiders sprayed with the nanotubes produced the strongest silk […]
Enantiomers are any two molecules that are mirror images of each other, in the same way that, within a same person, left and right hands are: both hands look exactly the same but indeed they are not, as they cannot be superimposed. This is very easily seen when we try to put the wrong glove […]
Imagine that you enter a room full of a poisonous gas wearing a mask that is not good enough to prevent the gas reaching your lungs and killing you. The mask is not good enough because it would allow the gas to diffuse through the fabric it is made of, eventually reaching your nose and […]
This is first of a series of notes on the geometry of String Theory compactifications. The space-time in String Theory is often described by means of a mathematical object called manifold . Manifolds are very important objects from the mathematical and the physics point of view, not only in String Theory. For example, differential geometry […]
The term epigenetics refers to heritable changes in gene expression (active vs. inactive genes) that does not involve changes to the underlying DNA sequence. It results in change in phenotype without a change in genotype. An easily comprehensible example are identical twins: since they develop from a single fertilized egg, they have the same genome […]
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Cosmic Rays as Thunderstorm Probes Radio waves generated by cosmic rays provide an unprecedented view of the elusive electric fields in thunderstorms. Physics U.S. agencies to develop organs-on-chips The NIH, FDA and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will collaborate on the development of 3D miniature models of organs and tissues on microchips that will be […]
It is widely accepted that low carbon technologies will contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mostly those coming from carbon dioxide, and thus slow down the global warming. That’s why most of the largest economies in the world have committed to reduce their gas emissions by supporting an unprecedented transition from the current fossil-fuel based […]