Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
Strange gamma rays from the sun may help decipher its magnetic fields
The sun spits out more and weirder gamma rays than anyone expected, which could give a new view of the sun’s magnetic fields.
- Quantum Physics
A new quantum device defies the concepts of ‘before’ and ‘after’
Two events can happen in different orders at the same time, thanks to quantum physics.
- Particle Physics
Ghostly antineutrinos could help ferret out nuclear tests
Antineutrino detectors could one day help reveal stealthy nuclear blasts.
- Materials Science
A filter that turns saltwater into freshwater just got an upgrade
Smoothing out a material used in desalination filters could help combat worldwide water shortages.
- Astronomy
A faint glow found between galaxies could be a beacon for dark matter
Intracluster light may help reveal where dark matter resides within galaxy clusters.
- Climate
Readers question dark fusion, Antarctic ice melting and more
Readers had questions about Antarctic ice melting, dark fusion and greenhouse gas emissions.
- Astronomy
Hopes dim that gamma rays can reveal dark matter
A mysterious glow of gamma rays coming from the center of the Milky Way probably isn’t a sign of dark matter.
- Physics
Strange metals are even weirder than scientists thought
Some strange metals are odd in more ways than one, and that could help scientists understand high-temperature superconductors.
- Particle Physics
In a first, physicists accelerate atoms in the Large Hadron Collider
Ionized lead atoms took a spin around the world’s biggest particle accelerator.
- Particle Physics
A new quasiparticle lurks in semiconductors
Strange entities called collexons hint at undiscovered physics among interacting subatomic particles in a semiconductor.
- Physics
A star orbiting a black hole shows Einstein got gravity right — again
For the first time, general relativity has been confirmed in the region near a supermassive black hole.
- Tech
Readers share their experiences with DNA ancestry tests
Readers delighted in learning about Emmy Noether, and asked about autonomous taxis and how the first Americans may have arrived via coastal routes.
