Brilliant 10: Chiara Daraio, the Sound Magician
Chiara Daraio John B. CarnettShe manipulates simple laws of physics to create "bullets" made of sound waves Chiara Daraio loves the pick and roll. As a former member of Italy's junior national basketball team, she knows that although the effect of the play is complex and devastating, its parts are simple. It goes like this: Daraio blocks a defender's path, her teammate darts past, Daraio rotates away from the pursuing defender and waits, unguarded, for her teammate's quick pass and an open shot. Pick. Roll. Pass. Shoot. It's a straightforward process with a sophisticated result. Daraio, an applied physicist, still prefers the basics. She studies the elastic properties of nanofibers to develop impact-absorbing foams. She identifies ancient rocks by analyzing their carbon deposits. And she based her nonlinear acoustic lens, a device that fires "sound bullets," on the principles of a simple toy. The lens works like Newton's cradle, the click-clack desktop...