Stellarators, twisty machines that house fusion reactions, rely on complex magnetic coils that are challenging to design and build. Now, a physicist has developed a mathematical technique to help simplify... more

The research explains how random fluctuations affect the operation of microscopic machines like this tiny motor. In the future, such devices could be incorporated into other technologies to recycle waste heat and thus improve energy efficiency. more

Stellarators, twisty machines that house fusion reactions, rely on complex magnetic coils that are challenging to design and build. Now, a physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton... more

Such machines may be decades away, but the United States is pushing now for encryption method that they can’t crack more

The research explains how random fluctuations affect the operation of microscopic machines like this tiny motor. In the future, such devices could be incorporated into other technologies to recycle waste heat and thus improve energy efficiency. more

Such machines may be decades away, but the United States is pushing now for encryption method that they can’t crack more

With billions of years of practice, nature has created the most energy efficient machines. One, [Ne-Fi] hydrogenase, is the oldest in microorganisms and is used for hydrogen metabolism. Using Fourier transform infrared... more

Machine learning algorithms can sometimes do a better job with a little help from human expertise, at least in the field of materials science. more

Proteins are biological high-performance machines. They can be found in every cell and play an important role in human blood coagulation or as main constituents of hairs or muscles. more

How do researchers explore nature on its most fundamental level? They build "supermicroscopes" that can resolve atomic and subatomic details. This won't... more

Robots need to know the reason why they are doing a job if they are to effectively and safely work alongside people in the near future. In simple terms, this... more

Researchers have figured out how to reliably create questions that challenge computers and reflect the complexity of human language through a human-computer collaboration, developing... more

Inspired by the flashing Brownian ratchet, Parrondo's paradox is a counter-intuitive phenomenon in which two losing games, when played in a specific order, can surprisingly end up winning. For example, slot machines... more

How often do we hear that libraries aren't just about books anymore? They are makerspaces with 3-D printers, scanners, laser vinyl cutters and routers. They provide... more

When animal welfare campaigner Ruth Harrison published a book in 1964 called Animal Machines, there was a public outcry. Her... more

Numerical simulations have pinpointed the source of acoustic signals emitted by stressed faults in laboratory earthquake machines. The work further unpacks the physics driving geologic faults, knowledge that... more

Numerical simulations have pinpointed the source of acoustic signals emitted by stressed faults in laboratory earthquake machines. The work further unpacks the physics driving geologic faults, knowledge that could one... more

Subatomic particles zip around fusion machines known as tokamaks and sometimes merge, releasing large amounts of energy. Now, physicists have confirmed that an updated... more

Subatomic particles zip around ring-shaped fusion machines known as tokamaks and sometimes merge, releasing large amounts of energy. But these particles—a soup of charged... more

A team of chemists built the first artificial assembler, which uses light as the energy source. These molecular machines are performing synthesis in a similar way as biological nanomachines. Advantages are fewer side products, enantioselectivity, and... more

Scientists built the first artificial assembler, which uses light as the energy source. These molecular machines are performing synthesis in a similar way as biological nanomachines. more