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It doesn't happen often, but structures like bridges, airplanes and buildings do fail, sometimes catastrophically. What are the odds, and how can it be prevented

Most people attempt to reduce the little uncertainties of life by carrying umbrellas on cloudy days, purchasing automobile insurance or hiring inspectors to evaluate homes they might consider purchasing. For scientists, reducing uncertainty is a no less important goal, though in the weird realm of quantum physics, the term has a more specific meaning.

In the crash-car derby between heavy and light isotopes vying for the coolest spots as magma turns to solid rock, weightier isotopes have an edge, research led by Case Western Reserve University shows.

Ironing increases the humidity of a piece of cloth by injecting water vapor in the form of steam. But how does the vapor affect the fabric? Until now, it was thought that its only effect was to soften the fibers

Neither births nor deaths stop the flocking of organisms. They just keep moving, says theoretical physicist John J

An article published in Physical Review E and conducted by Spanish researchers at the universities of Granada and Barcelona might lead to a revolutionary change in water desalination and filtration methods.

In this video Dr Sungjune Jung shows us the fluid structures produced by the impact of two liquid jets.

(PhysOrg.com) -- In trying to understand how everything came to be as it appears today, astrophysicists have put together theories that seek to explain how events transpired from the time of the Big Bang, till now. In so doing, they have come up with some ideas that cannot yet be proven.

(PhysOrg.com) -- The past decade has seen the emergence of the field of spintronics, aimed at increasing the efficiency of information processing and computer memories. The idea behind spintronics is to harness the magnetic property of the electron, referred to as its spin. This property can then be used, in addition to the electron charge, for increasing the functionality of the semiconductor computer chip, in terms of its capacity to store and process information.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Just as firemen use different methods to narrow the location of a person trapped in a building, scientists employ two techniques to find the hiding place of the theorized Higgs particle: direct searches for Higgs interactions and precision measurements of other particles and forces.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on the nanoscale and the ever-elusive quantum computer are among the advancements edging closer toward the realm of possibility, and a new study co-authored by a UC Santa Barbara researcher may give both an extra nudge. The findings appear today in Science Express, an online version of the journal Science.

(PhysOrg.com) -- University at Buffalo engineers have developed a one-step, low-cost method to fabricate a polymer with extraordinary properties: When viewed from a single perspective, the polymer is rainbow-colored, reflecting many different wavelengths of light.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered a way to make a low-cost material that might accomplish negative refraction of light and other radiation – a goal first theorized in 1861 by a giant of science, Scottish physicist James Maxwell, that has still eluded wide practical use.

The ability to manufacture photonic interconnect components -- modulators, detectors, waveguides, and filters -- on silicon substrates has finally been realized, and these optical interconnect structures show great potential for intrachip and interchip applications. HP Labs is studying how this shift to light-based interconnects may revolutionize the way computers are built. Moray McLaren of HP will present his findings at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference, March 4-8 in Los Angeles.

Scientists who last year found particles that appeared to break the Universe's speed limit are looking at two technical issues that could have skewed the controversial finding, CERN said Thursday.