Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Particle Physics
New data give clearer picture of Higgs boson
Scientists are carefully measuring the Higgs boson’s properties.
- Earth
General relativity has readers feeling upside down
Readers respond to the June 25, 2016, issue of Science News with questions on Earth's age, moaning whales, plate tectonics and more.
- Physics
The pressure is on to make metallic hydrogen
Scientists are getting close to turning hydrogen into a metal — both in liquid form and maybe even solid form. The rewards, if they pull it off, are worth the effort.
- Environment
New desalination tech could help quench global thirst
Designed with better, more energy-efficient materials, next-generation desalination plants may offer a way to meet the world’s growing need for freshwater.
- Particle Physics
Cooling stars hint at dark matter particles
Stars that cool faster than expected can be explained by hypothetical particles called axions.
- Particle Physics
Bottom quarks misbehave in LHC experiment
Bottom quarks fly off at an angle more often than expected in new data from the LHC.
- Physics
LIGO’s black holes may be dark matter
Two analyses indicate that LIGO could have detected black holes that formed just after the Big Bang.
- Particle Physics
Upon further review, suspected new particle vanishes
Hints of a new particle at the LHC have disappeared.
- Cosmology
Debate accelerates on universe’s expansion speed
A puzzling mismatch is plaguing two methods for measuring how fast the universe is expanding.
- Particle Physics
Latest search for dark matter comes up empty
Scientists continue to come up empty-handed in the search for dark matter. The latest effort from the LUX experiment found no evidence for dark matter.
- Physics
Electrons have potential for mutual attraction
Electrons usually repel each other, but new research shows pairs of electrons can be attracted due to their repulsion from other electrons.
- Physics
Scientists throw a curve at knuckleball explanation
Wildly swerving pitches may be the result of a phenomenon known as a “drag crisis”
