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Diamonds exist in all sizes, from the Hope Diamond to minuscule crystals only a few atoms across. The smallest of these diamonds are created naturally by the same processes that make petroleum. Recently, researchers discovered that these "diamondoids" are formed...

Glaciers are shrinking, gas prices are rising - so is our energy-hungry way of life doomed? We believe, no. Every day our sun provides us with more than enough energy, if only we can catch it and make it available...

What is the Universe made of? This question has been asked as long as humans have been questioning, and astronomers and physicists are finally converging on an answer. The picture which has emerged from numerous complementary observations over the past...

In this public lecture we will explore the mystery of antimatter: Where did it go? Why is the universe made up of only matter, with no observable antimatter? And why does the universe have any matter left in it anyway...

Accelerators are huge, expensive tubes sometimes miles long that produce high energies for smashing protons or making intense X-ray light. 21st-century technology has taken us from the room-sized ENIAC to microprocessors that fit in your pocket. Can the same be...

The masterpieces of Henri Matisse, Vincent Van Gogh, Georges Seurat and many of their contemporaries are currently undergoing catastrophic changes, including paint discoloration and loss. This damage, which threatens many works of art of our cultural heritage, is associated with...

As our dependence on foreign oil increases and concerns about global climate change rise, the need to develop sustainable energy technologies is becoming increasingly significant. Worldwide energy consumption is expected to double by the year 2050, as will carbon emissions...

For over 40 years, physicists have been trying to track down a hypothetical particle called the Higgs boson. This particle could explain how known elementary particles like the electron can have mass, and also why one of the basic forces...

UPDATE -  In the time following this lecture, aspects of the research featured here have been disproven or come into question. See this article from Chemical & Engineering News for important context before viewing this archival SLAC public lecture. -------...

We humans interact with our physical environment through our senses of touch, sight, smell, taste, and hearing. One of the great challenges in developing artificial intelligence and natural interfaces between humans and machines is finding ways to emulate those senses...

Among the many beautiful, unexpected and sometimes revolutionary discoveries to emerge from subatomic physics, probably none is more bizarre than an elementary particle known as the "neutrino". More than a trillion of these microscopic phantoms pass unnoticed through our bodies...