A tiny levitating bead records the kicks delivered by impacts from individual gas atoms. Its jitters could become the basis for precision measurements—and searches for dark matter.

The thermodynamic and quantum mechanical properties of topological insulators provide a path toward scalable energy storage ...

This issue of PT explores the relationships and larger forces that help forge the professional paths of scientists. Drawing ...

In physics, you learn how to work with incomplete information, question assumptions, develop hypotheses, and keep moving ...

In 1994, after he had completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, ...

Science’s endless frontier is a changing frontier. It requires a dynamic approach to governance, collaboration, and ...

On the cover Do you want to inspire younger generations to care about science? Persuade someone to fund your work? Fight the deluge of mis- and disinformation in society? If so, you might consider ...

I N THE LONG HISTORY of scientific investigation of musical instruments the flute has been given particular attention, primarily because of its apparent simplicity. Yet many of the physical factors ...

In 1794 the London printer J. Cooper published an essay by a woman writing under the name Mrs. Fulhame. Elizabeth Fulhame’s An Essay on Combustion, with a view to a new art of dy[e]ing and painting: ...

Vodka for sale at a liquor store. Great thinkers in science often become associated with myths about their work and discoveries. Take Isaac Newton. The average person might not be able to recall his ...

The angstrom-scale hexagonal voids in a sheet of graphene resemble the holes in chicken wire. But despite the material’s appearance, studies have shown that defect-free graphene is nearly impermeable.

Skilled researchers using specialized equipment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory produce the targets needed to forge tennessine and other superheavy elements. Inside the glove box, the technician’s ...