Physics
Theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg said, "not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think." That doesn't mean some very smart people will stop seeking answers as to how the Universe behaves. Here is where we try to make sense of their discoveries.
Random related stories from our 25-year archives
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To find black holes we usually have to look thousands of light-years away. But a new study suggests we could find evidence of them right here on Earth, as tiny tunnels they’ve carved out in rocks or old buildings. -
University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers claim to have constructed a nanoscale device that can emit light as powerfully as an object 10,000 times its size. It could find use in applications such as high-efficiency solar cells. -
With elusive dark matter continuing to evade detection, scientists are having to search in stranger and stranger places. In a new study, physicists at MIT have studied the spins of black holes for signs of drag from dark matter slowing them down. -
With properties that seemingly defy normal physics, Helium-4 superfluid has long defied practical demonstrations of its theorized quasiparticle structure. Now physicists claim to have synthesized this structure in a laser latticed, super-cold superfluid by giving the whole thing a good shake. -
The weak gravitational pull on a particle just half the mass of a grain of sand has been measured for the first time. This most precise measurement of its kind is a breakthrough towards the quantum realm and a potential Theory of Everything. -
The detection of the Higgs boson at CERN in 2012 is one of the biggest scientific discoveries of the decade. Now the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations have made the most precise measurement of its mass to date.
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A new study shows that a material's “thermal history” is critical in shaping how its chemistry evolves in complex systems such as nuclear debris. -
If you happen to have an uncharged black hole handy, you may be able to power your house with it. Just set it spinning. But since most of us won't, it’s a little hard to test. That is, until these researchers found a way to do it in the lab. -
Why does the "poop emoji" look the way it does? Physics has the answer: as most animals defecate downward, each new coil falls a shorter distance, naturally forming the familiar tapered swirl. -
Light could put the brakes on material diffusing through a solution, and the reason why touches on some of the stranger corners of quantum mechanics. -
Just what causes things to “not all happen at once” remains an open question. So University of Birmingham physicist Giovanni Barontini decided to go back to basics and build a whole new universe to watch time unfold from scratch. -
Two research teams have independently delivered working versions of a radical new kind of timekeeping device based on the jitter of an atom’s nucleus, realizing a goal decades in the making. -
By starting with the fewest assumptions possible, a team of researchers formed a “bootstrap” rationale suggesting that the properties of a grand theory of everything are likely to look suspiciously string-like. -
A recently published experiment has found that photons traveling through traffic consisting of cold rubidium atoms can leave late and still make it in before the boss decides to dock their pay. -
To assess the plausibility of alien visitors, it’s necessary to understand the obstacles that an extraterrestrial vessel would need to overcome to reach Earth. -
Earth’s outer core reversed direction in 2010 and scientists may finally know whyA recent analysis reveals that a perplexing reversal in the outer core, more than 1,400 miles beneath the surface, began in 2010, and is now weakening once again. The findings point to events afoot deep within the very heart of our planet. -
A new study of the pyramid’s vibrations by Egyptian geophysicist Asem Salama and colleagues provides insight into its performance during earthquakes and identifies some interesting features. -
Like the spin of a cosmic coin, a unique set of particle oscillations could ultimately decide the fate of the Universe’s biggest suns. These new findings suggest that current descriptions of core-collapse supernovae may actually be incomplete. -
For centuries, one of the most important numbers in physics has evaded accurate identification. The results of a recent experiment by NIST researchers could help bring us closer to a satisfying answer. -
We think of ice as just frozen water. It is simple, solid. But water is a master of disguise. With just two atoms, hydrogen and oxygen, it can freeze into more than 20 different types of ice. Now, scientists have discovered a new, stranger type of ice. -
For all our telescopes and colliders, dark matter has remained an elusive ghost for the better part of a century. Now, a team has turned to a nuclear clock with the hope of revealing the faint fingerprints of this hidden matter.
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