All Stories by Emily Conover
- Quantum Physics
Galileo’s famous gravity experiment holds up, even with individual atoms
When dropped, two types of atoms accelerate at the same rate despite their differences, much like objects in Galileo’s leaning Tower of Pisa experiment.
- Math
A documentary and a Bollywood film highlight two disparate paths in mathematics
An unlikely pair of films recount tales of two very different mathematical women, Maryam Mirzakhani and Shakuntala Devi.
- Physics
The first room-temperature superconductor has finally been found
A compound of carbon, hydrogen and sulfur conducts electricity without resistance up to 15° C, but there’s a catch: It works only under high pressure.
- Physics
Fundamental constants place a new speed limit on sound
Physicists propose a new maximum rate that sound waves can travel under conditions normally found on Earth — 36 kilometers per second.
- Physics
Black hole revelations win the 2020 Nobel Prize in physics
The Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to a trio of scientists for their work on the most mysterious objects in the universe: black holes.
- Physics
A stop-motion experiment reveals supercooled water’s dual nature
Scientists found signs that water cooled well below freezing consists of two different arrangements of molecules.
- Physics
Record-breaking gravitational waves reveal that midsize black holes do exist
The biggest merger of two black holes so far raises questions about how the pair of objects came to be.
- Quantum Physics
A measurement of positronium’s energy levels confounds scientists
A gap in the energy levels of positronium seems to be substantially larger than predicted, and physicists don’t know why.
- Physics
Four types of flames join forces to make this eerie ‘blue whirl’
Pinning down the structure of the “amazingly complex” blaze could help scientists control it.
- Cosmology
Scientists can’t agree on how clumpy the universe is
A measurement of 21 million galaxies finds a level of clumpiness that disagrees with estimates based on the oldest light in the universe.
- Physics
A new experiment hints at how hot water can freeze faster than cold
A study of tiny glass beads suggests that the Mpemba effect is real.
- Astronomy
50 years ago, Mauna Kea opened for astronomy. Controversy continues
Current plans to build a new telescope on the volcano sparked the latest conflict.
