Physics

superconducting material magnetic levitation
Recent claims put LK-99 as the first room temperature, ambient pressure superconductor ever. Has the game changed, or is it merely hype?
A collection of different colored minerals on a black background.
Rocks and minerals don’t simply reflect light. They play with it and interact with light as both a wave and a particle.
An artist's rendering of a neutron star in space.
Ultracold gases in the lab could help scientists better understand the universe.
pink floyd's dark side with a touch of light.
Invisible cloaks. Ghost imaging. Scientists are manipulating light in ways that were once only science fiction.
The concept of the warp drive is currently at odds with everything we know to be true about physics.
quantum tunneling instantaneous
Some processes, like quantum tunneling, have been shown to occur instantaneously. But the ultimate cosmic speed limit remains unavoidable.
The biggest nuclear blast in history came courtesy of Tsar Bomba. We could make something at least 100 times more powerful.
faraday set stage for relativity
Michael Faraday's 1834 law of induction was the key experiment behind the eventual discovery of relativity. Einstein admitted it himself.
blue marble not 24 hours apollo 17
As the Earth spins and wobbles on its axis and revolves elliptically around the Sun, each day changes from the last. "24 hours" isn't right.
a drawing of a spiral with a space in the background.
The multiverse pushes beyond the limits of the scientific method. From our vantage point in the Universe, we cannot know if it's real.
periodic table
Up until 2002, we thought that the heaviest stable element was bismuth: #83 on the periodic table. That's absolutely no longer the case.
warm-hot intergalactic medium sculptor wall
Just by observing the tiny amount of deuterium left over from the Big Bang, we can determine that dark matter and dark energy must exist.
zeeman splitting
If light can't be bent by electric or magnetic fields (and it can't), then how do the Zeeman and Stark effects split atomic energy levels?
Two breathtaking pictures of a galaxy and a star taken by the Hubble telescope, highlighting the beauty and cosmic magnitude that fuels the Hubble tension.
There are two methods to measure the expansion rate of the Universe. The results do not agree with each other, and this is a big problem.
warp field stars
The concept of ‘relativistic mass’ has been around almost as long as relativity has. But is it a reasonable way to make sense of things?
A diagram of a galaxy with blue arrows suggesting the past hypothesis.
How do physicists solve a problem like entropy?
atom
Quantum uncertainty and wave-particle duality are big features of quantum physics. But without Pauli's rule, our Universe wouldn't exist.
anti-gravity mirror
If you look into a mirror, you'll notice that left-and-right are reversed, but up-and-down is preserved. The reason isn't what you think.
a silhouette of a person with a rainbow in the background.
You are an energy field — but not the “chakras” or “auras” kind.
quantum superposition
With a massive, charged nucleus orbited by tiny electrons, atoms are such simple objects. Miraculously, they make up everything we know.
a blurry photo of a city street at night.
Time gets a little strange as you approach the speed of light.
a star burst in the middle of the night sky.
We are about to learn a lot more about the most elusive of cosmic particles.
Magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor, cooled with liquid nitrogen.
So far, two papers have been retracted, and a third is under investigation. Accusations of plagiarism appear convincing.
pi day cover image
It's the best-known transcendental number of all-time, and March 14 (3/14 in many countries) is the perfect time to celebrate Pi (π) Day!
hypermassive neutron star
Somewhere out there in the Universe is the heaviest neutron star, and elsewhere lies the lightest black hole. Where's the line between them?
time crystal entangled electron spin
Even with quantum teleportation and the existence of entangled quantum states, faster-than-light communication still remains impossible.
Not even Einstein immediately knew the power of the equations he gave us.
planetary nebulae infrared spitzer
What kind of object will you form? What will its fate be? How long will a star live? Almost everything is determined by mass alone.
5mins
Is science close to explaining everything about our Universe? Physicist Sabine Hossenfelder reacts.
universe bulk volume brane dimension
Unless you confront your theory with what's actually out there in the Universe, you're playing in the sandbox, not engaging in science.