James R. Riordon

James Riordon is a freelance science writer who covers physics, math and astronomy, and coauthor of the book Ghost Particle – In Search of the Elusive and Mysterious Neutrino.

All Stories by James R. Riordon

  1. A microscopic image of columns of black particles. The top row has gold dots in the center
    Physics

    Videos of gold nanoparticles snapping together show how some crystals grow

    Real-time electron microscopy shows gold nanoparticles tumbling and sliding in a fluid before snapping together in crystalline structures.

  2. A photo from the ATLAS experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider.
    Physics

    The W boson might not be heavier than expected after all

    A new and improved look at the mass of the W boson is in close alignment with theory, but it doesn’t negate an earlier, controversial measurement.

  3. An overhead photo of blotchy vegetation taking up the entire frame.
    Math

    Chia seedlings verify Alan Turing’s ideas about patterns in nature

    New experiments confirm that complex patterns in plants emerge from a model proposed by mathematician Alan Turing.

  4. A black and white image of a fruit surrounded by white lines that show the leaps of roundworms.
    Physics

    Static electricity helps parasitic nematodes glom onto victims

    The small electric charge generated by a moving insect is enough to affect the trajectory of a parasitic nematode’s leap so it lands right on its host.

  5. An up close image of two diamond anvils.
    Physics

    Is this the superconductor of scientists’ dreams? A new claim faces scrutiny

    It’s big, if true: transmitting electricity with no resistance at room temperature and moderate pressure. But controversy dogs the team making the claim.

  6. A blue spiral that coalesces into a white ball of light against a black background
    Physics

    Physicists stored data in quantum holograms made of twisted light

    Light that travels in corkscrew-like paths provides a way to make holograms that store large amounts of data in ultrasecure packages.

  7. A photo of the Xi'an fortress wall with the city skyline visible in the background.
    Physics

    Muon scanning hints at mysteries within an ancient Chinese wall

    Density fluctuations within the ancient rampart encircling the city of Xi’an could be defects or yet-to-be-discovered archaeological finds.

  8. An illustration of the Kepler-35 system with a planet in the foreground and two stars in the background.
    Astronomy

    Lots of Tatooine-like planets around binary stars may be habitable

    A new simulation suggests that planets orbiting a pair of stars may be plentiful, and many of those worlds could be suitable for life.

  9. tiny animals from the Chinese zodiac, made in hydrogels of different colors. Top row from left: purple monkey, yellow and purple pig, yellow and purple snake, bluish gray dog, green rabbit. Bottom row from left: green tiger, yellow goat, orange horse, purple rooster, teal rat.
    Materials Science

    Want a ‘Shrinky Dinks’ approach to nano-sized devices? Try hydrogels

    Patterning hydrogels with a laser and then shrinking them down with chemicals offers a way to make nanoscopic structures out of many materials.

  10. An illustration of an exoplanet passing in front of a star.
    Planetary Science

    Methylated gases could be an unambiguous indicator of alien life

    On Earth, methylated gases are produced by organisms cleaning up their environment — and by little else. The same might be true on some exoplanets.

  11. A green laser beam travels through a lens and creates a 90 degree turn
    Physics

    Here’s how to make a fiber-optic cable out of air using a laser

    A hollowed-out laser beam heats a tube of air that surrounds cooler air, providing a way to guide light much the way fiber optics do.

  12. In this image of an icicle, turned on its side, fluorescent green dye reveals where the contamination ends up.
    Physics

    Tiny bubbles that make icicles hazy are filled with water, not air

    Like tree rings, layers of itty-bitty water pockets also preserve a record of an icicle’s growth.