Physics
- Astronomy
Record-breaking light has more than a quadrillion electron volts of energy
Hundreds of newly detected gamma rays hint at cosmic environments that accelerate particles to extremes.
- Physics
A newfound quasicrystal formed in the first atomic bomb test
Material formed in the wake of the first atomic bomb test contains a strange material that is ordered but that is not a standard crystal.
- Astronomy
A study of Earth’s crust hints that supernovas aren’t gold mines
Supernovas aren’t the main source of gold, silver and other heavy elements, a study of deep-sea crust suggests.
- Materials Science
Morphing noodles start flat but bend into curly pasta shapes as they’re cooked
Shape-shifting pasta could potentially cut down on packaging and save space during shipping.
- Physics
A clock’s accuracy may be tied to the entropy it creates
A clock made from a thin, wiggling membrane releases more entropy, or disorder, as it becomes more accurate.
- Particle Physics
The thickness of lead’s neutron ‘skin’ has been precisely measured
At 0.28 trillionths of a millimeter thick, the shell of neutrons around the nucleus of an atom of lead is a bit thicker than physicists had predicted.
- Space
Stars made of antimatter could lurk in the Milky Way
Fourteen celestial sources of gamma rays provide preliminary hints of matter colliding with “antistars” in our galaxy.
- Health & Medicine
Capturing the sense of touch could upgrade prosthetics and our digital lives
Haptics researchers are working on ways to add touch to virtual reality, online shopping, telemedicine and advanced artificial limbs.
- Physics
X-ray scans explain how the ‘Brazil nut effect’ works
X-ray CT scans of a box of mixed nuts explain the orientations that let large, oblong Brazil nuts rise to the top.
- Particle Physics
The already tiny neutrino’s maximum possible mass has shrunk even further
At less than an electron volt, neutrinos are by far the most lightweight massive particles known, a new measurement confirms.
- Astronomy
Neutron stars may not be as squishy as some scientists thought
NASA’s NICER X-ray telescope finds that the most massive known neutron star has an unexpectedly large diameter.
- Particle Physics
How matter’s hidden complexity unleashed the power of nuclear physics
In the last century, physicists learned to split atomic nuclei and revealed a complex world of fundamental particles.
