All Stories by Emily Conover
- Physics
How ravens caused a LIGO data glitch
Ravens pecking at frosty pipes caused a glitch in gravitational wave data.
- Science & Society
Here’s why putting a missile defense system in space could be a bad idea
Expanding missile defense capabilities could put the world on a slippery slope to space warfare.
- Physics
A key constant’s new measurement hints ‘dark photons’ don’t exist
New measurement of the fine-structure constant is the most precise yet.
- Physics
Einstein’s general relativity reveals new quirk of Mercury’s orbit
A tiny effect of general relativity on Mercury’s orbit has been calculated for the first time.
- Particle Physics
The search for mysterious dark matter underdogs steps up
Dark matter particles called axions are finally being put to the test.
- Physics
How physicists will remember Stephen Hawking
Researchers reflect on Stephen Hawking's contributions to the field and the cosmological puzzles he left behind.
- Cosmology
Why the Nobel Prize might need a makeover
In Losing the Nobel Prize, astrophysicist Brian Keating discusses the downsides of science’s top honor.
- Life
Why cracking your knuckles can be so noisy
Knuckles crack due to the partial collapse of bubbles in joint fluid, a new study suggests.
- Astronomy
Dark matter is MIA in this strange galaxy
A galaxy without dark matter bolsters the case that the invisible substance really exists.
- Physics
A single atom can gauge teensy electromagnetic forces
The force of scattering particles of light was measured in zeptonewtons, a billionth of a trillionth of a newton.
- Physics
STEVE the aurora makes its debut in mauve
A newly discovered type of aurora is a visible version of usually invisible charged particles drifting in the upper atmosphere.
- Math
Forget Pi Day. We should be celebrating Tau Day
Pi Day may be fun, but it’s based on a flawed mathematical constant.
