PhysicsCentral: Podcasts

Light noise can make it difficult for Astronomers to see the objects they want to study. To help this, engineers have created a material that absorbs 99.8% of incoming light.

There is an enormous portion of our universe that we can't see. Some scientists wonder if this so-called dark sector is bigger than we once thought.  Are there any other dark forces out there?

Jesse Silverberg is a physicists studying the way plant roots curl. His research contributes to a larger effort to understand how plants live and grow in unusual environments, like sandy or depleted soil. With the booming global population and the rising demand for food, this kind of research could find its way to your refrigerator very soon.

Ever wonder how Argon got it's name? Calla Cofield explores how the elements came to be named some very strange names.

Scientists have strong evidence that there is a black hole at the
center of our galaxy. But to be totally sure, scientists need to image
the black hole. How soon can we hope to do this? That's today on the
physics buzz podcast.

Some of the world's greatest chefs have been lecturing at Harvard to share the science of food with the world.

Soft robots are robots controlled by humans but made of materials that are soft.  These robots are so gentle, they can even pick up a mouse.

Calla and Mike pay a visit to the APS March Meeting to learn about scientists studying slithering snakes and to discuss how magnetic fields are leading to better bomb detection.

Did you know that there is a lot of physics that goes into making
animated hair look realistic? Today we chat with MIT graduate student
Jay Miller who studies how a single hair curls. But this research goes
way beyond animation; it turns out you can apply these same principles
to a whole bunch of stuff, like the flagella on bacteria and very long
steel pipes.

You can never bring the temperature down to absolute zero, but the quest to get as close as possible to the coldest of the cold has spurred other discoveries such as superconductivity.