All Stories by Emily Conover
- Physics
Laser light can contain intricate, beautiful fractals
Fractals show up in cauliflower, seashells and now — lasers.
- Physics
Lasers could send messages right to a listener’s ear
Communication in noisy environments or dangerous situations could one day rely on lasers.
- Physics
Physicists aim to outdo the LHC with this wish list of particle colliders
Proposed new accelerators could solve mysteries of the Higgs boson.
- Physics
A new gravitational wave detector is almost ready to join the search
Buried deep underground, Japan’s KAGRA detector relies on components cooled to just 20 degrees above absolute zero.
- Physics
A weird type of zirconium soaks up neutrons like a sponge
Zirconium-88 captures neutrons with extreme efficiency, and scientists don’t yet know why.
- Physics
High-speed video reveals physics tricks for shooting a rubber band
To fire a rubber band flawlessly, use a wide band and don’t pull too hard, physicists suggest.
- Physics
The physics of fluids explains how crowds of marathon runners move
A new liquid-inspired theory can predict the movements of marathoners lining up for a race.
- Particle Physics
Neutrino discovery launched a new type of astronomy
Particles associated with a blazar kick-start the field of neutrino astronomy.
- Physics
A satellite screw-up reaffirms Einstein’s theory of gravity
Two spacecraft confirm that time passes more slowly closer to Earth’s surface.
- Particle Physics
A controversial sighting of dark matter is looking even shakier
Two dark matter experiments disagree despite using the same type of detector material.
- Physics
Scientists’ collection of gravitational waves just got a lot bigger
The biggest black hole merger yet seen created one set of the spacetime ripples.
- Life
How some sap-sucking insects fling their pee
Sharpshooters hurl their pee with structure called a stylus, which sends droplets flying at 20 times the acceleration of Earth’s gravity.
