When you tension a guitar string, you change its resonant frequencies and tune the pitch of the notes you can play on it. Similarly, a nanoscale string will perform faster oscillations (in the radiofrequency, megahertz band) by increasing the tension. However, when the aspect ratio... click to read more

Levitation of objects sounds like magic, but it is precisely what Arthur Ashkin's optical tweezer won the Nobel Prize for in 2018. An optical tweezer amounts to an intense laser that focuses down to a very small point. Optical tweezers trap an object put at... click to read more

To a classical physicist, there is no fundamental limit to how well you can measure something. A classical object, for example, always exists in a well-defined position; if you want to know that position with better accuracy, you simply build a better microscope. The story... click to read more

Fighter jet aircrafts need to be fast. It therefore appears intuitive to make their turbines spin at the highest rotation rates possible. Following this approach, one will encounter an unpleasant surprise. At rotation rates around 1000 revolutions per second, the turbine blades start to disintegrate,... click to read more