This Week in Physics Magazine, April 25, 2022
Renewable Energy’s Intermittency is Not a Showstopper
The intermittency of renewable energy has raised concerns over potential supply shortages, but technological solutions exist to keep the electricity grid stable.
Laughlin’s Charge Pump Realized
Using atomic spin to represent a synthetic dimension, researchers have experimentally verified the predictions of a long-unrealized thought experiment.
Liquid-Metal Flows Show Surprising Heat Transport Behavior
Liquid-metal convection experiments reveal an unexpected transition in the heat transport efficiency of the system at high turbulence.
Floating Particle Clump Mimics Asteroids and Nuclei
A disk of plastic particles levitated by sound waves could provide a model for other examples of particle clumps in the physical world.
The Answer is Blowing in the Turbine
Wind turbines have the potential to generate all the world’s electricity once researchers answer open questions on how these towering structures interact with the atmosphere.
Serenading a Troubled Ocean
A musical composition based on traditional Filipino poetry communicates the impact of climate change on coastal communities.
The Lure of Cement
Physicist Ankita Gangotra pours over innovative technologies and policy initiatives to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of the US cement industry.
Scientific Dimensions of the Ukraine Crisis
At the APS April Meeting, physicists discussed ways to support Ukrainian scientists while keeping contact with Russian scientists.
The Two Structures of Hot Dense Ice
Experiments indicate that superionic ice can exist in two stable crystal structures.
Elusive Superconducting Superhydride Synthesized
A decade after it was theorized, scientists in China have synthesized a new type of superconductor, the superhydride CaH6.
Quantum Field Theory Boosts Brain Model
Scientists have applied a technique called renormalization—often used in quantum field theory—to investigate how the brain stores and processes information.