All Stories by Emily Conover
- Astronomy
The first picture of a black hole opens a new era of astrophysics
Astronomers used a network of telescopes around the world to take a picture of the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87.
- Math
Mathematicians may have found the fastest way to multiply huge numbers
A new theoretical method for multiplying enormous figures appears to achieve a speed first predicted decades ago.
- Physics
The LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors are back on
Souped-up instruments could spot never-before-seen sources of gravitational waves.
- Quantum Physics
A new quantum engine packs more power than its standard counterparts
A new type of tiny machine harnesses quantum physics to produce more power than a normal engine, under certain conditions.
- Particle Physics
How a proton gets its spin is surprisingly complicated
Pinning down the source of protons’ spin is surprisingly hard to do.
- Astronomy
X-ray ‘chimneys’ connect the Milky Way to mysterious gamma-ray bubbles
Two columns of X-rays that are hundreds of light-years long could explain the existence of giant bubbles of energetic light that sandwich the galaxy.
- Life
Some shrimp make plasma with their claws. Now a 3-D printed claw can too
Scientists used a replica of a shrimp claw to re-create the extreme pressures and temperatures that the animals produce underwater.
- Physics
Ultraprecise atomic clocks put Einstein’s special relativity to the test
Physics obeys the same rules no matter what direction you’re facing, a new experiment confirms.
- Physics
Scientists have chilled tiny electronics to a record low temperature
In a first, electronic chip temperatures dip below a thousandth of a degree kelvin.
- Physics
Microwaved grapes make fireballs, and scientists now know why
Electromagnetic waves bounce back and forth inside a grape, creating plasma.
- Life
This spider slingshots itself at extreme speeds to catch prey
By winding up its web like a slingshot, the slingshot spider achieves an acceleration rate far faster than a cheetah’s.
- Cosmology
Hidden ancient neutrinos may shape the patterns of galaxies
The gravitational pull of subatomic particles born in the universe’s first second seem to influence how galaxies cluster into rings.
