Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Nobel laureate foresees mind-expanding future of physics
A Nobel laureate forecasts deeper understanding of physics and new powers for the human mind in the century to come.
- Neuroscience
Zipping to Mars could badly zap brain nerve cells
Charged particles like the ones astronauts might encounter wallop the brain, mouse study suggests.
- Physics
Tiny particles propel themselves upstream
Light-activated, human-made particles can align themselves with the flow of a fluid and swim upstream.
- Physics
Explanation for G’s imprecision stumbles
A surprising new result seems to suggest that subtle changes in Earth’s rotation rate could account for physicists’ difficulty in measuring Newton’s gravitational constant. But some confusion with dates appears to derail the finding.
- Earth
Cosmic rays illuminate lightning
Radio waves emitted by particles zipping through thunderstorms allow physicists to probe thunderclouds and, perhaps eventually, learn what triggers lightning strikes.
- Particle Physics
Particle hunting in space, life in the urban jungle and more reader feedback
Readers discuss wheat's journey to England, share stories about urban wildlife and more.
- Quantum Physics
Atomic clock will keep precise time for 15 billion years
The world’s most precise atomic clock will not lose or gain a second in roughly 15 billion years.
- Physics
An even more precise atomic clock
An atomic clock described April 21 in Nature Communications is about three times as precise as its record-setting predecessor.
- Astronomy
Cosmic rays misbehave in space station experiment
A puzzling feature in a new cosmic ray census may force physicists to rethink which cosmic objects send these speedy particles hurtling across the galaxy.
- Physics
Rubidium atoms used to record coldest temperature — ever
A swarm of rubidium atoms has been cooled to about 50 trillionths of a kelvin, making it the coldest substance ever measured.
- Particle Physics
Exotic particle turns out to be quark molecule
Subatomic particles made of quarks can bind together to form molecules, according to a computer simulation of a long-studied mysterious particle.
- Materials Science
A new spin on guiding sound waves along a one-way route
A proposed acoustic topological insulator made of an array of spinning metal rods would channel sound waves in one direction along its edge, preventing any sound from bouncing away.
