Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- 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
Readers inquire about a Neptune-sized moon, nuclear pasta and more
Readers had questions about a Neptune-sized moon, nuclear pasta and the search for extraterrestrial life.
- 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.
- Particle Physics
The Large Hadron Collider is shutting down for 2 years
The world’s largest particle accelerator will restart in 2021 at higher energy.
- Particle Physics
Physicists finally calculated where the proton’s mass comes from
New study indicates that the proton is much more than just the sum of its parts.
- Particle Physics
Why a chemistry teacher started a science board game company
Subatomic is the latest game from John Coveyou, whose company Genius Games wants people to find the joy in science.
- Tech
A new airplane uses charged molecules, not propellers or turbines, to fly
A small aircraft prototype is powered by ionic wind flowing in one direction and pushing the plane in the other.
- Particle Physics
Nuclear ‘knots’ could unravel the mysteries of atoms
Skyrmions might help loosen scientific snarls in studies of atomic nuclei.
- Math
It’s official: We’re redefining the kilogram
In May 2019, the system of measurement will be upgraded to rely on fundamental constants.
- Quantum Physics
Physicists wrangled electrons into a quantum fractal
The tiny, repeating structure could reveal weird behavior of electrons in fractional dimensions.
- Physics
Bizarre metals may help unlock mysteries of how Earth’s magnetic field forms
Weyl metals could simulate the dynamo effect that generates the planet’s magnetism, a new study suggests.
- Particle Physics
Physicists measured Earth’s mass using neutrinos for the first time
Counting tiny particles that can zip straight through the Earth reveals what the planet is like on the inside.
