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Physics
Practically all of the matter we see and interact with is made of atoms, which are mostly empty space. Then why is reality so... solid?
"Even with my training, I still got insights from the book’s descriptions. That’s how good Carroll is at explaining physics."
Holograms preserve all of an object's 3D information, but on a 2D surface. Could the holographic Universe idea lead us to higher dimensions?
Over the past 50 years, 27 leap seconds have been added to our time.
Uncertainty is inherent to our Universe.
Sooner or later, Earth is going to be hit by a large enough space object to cause significant damage to humanity. Stopping them isn't easy.
An average undergraduate student in physics is better than the AI.
In our common experience, you can't get something for nothing. In the quantum realm, something really can emerge from nothing.
If you can model anything in the Universe with an equation, mathematics is how you get the solution(s). Physics must go a step further.
Einstein's "happiest thought" led to General Relativity's formulation. Would a different profound insight have led us forever astray?
If you want a medication to kick in faster, lean right.
At their cores, stars can reach many millions or even billions of degrees. But even that doesn't touch the hottest of all.
The key problem with the dark matter hypothesis is that nobody knows what form dark matter might take.
What we call "basic research" is actually the most cutting-edge. It underpins knowledge, and without it, technology does not come into being.
The surface of asteroid Bennu is more like a plastic ball pit than the Moon.
Lasers are all around you. This ubiquitous technology came from our understanding of quantum physics.
Searching for dark matter, the XENON collaboration found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Here's why that's an extraordinary feat.
The length of a day oscillates slightly every six years. This was a surprising discovery made last decade. We might now know why.
Scientists have found three new examples of a very exotic form of matter made of quarks. They can yield insights into the early Universe.
The neutrino is the most ghostly, rarely-interacting particle in all the Standard Model. How well can we truly make "beams" out of them?
From the explosions themselves to their unique and vibrant colors, the fireworks displays we adore require quantum physics.
On July 4, we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the discovery of the Higgs boson, the missing piece of the Standard Model of particle physics.
The Standard Model of elementary particles has three nearly identical copies of particles: generations. And nobody knows why.
The spooky world of quantum mechanics might reach out and touch you — by mutating your DNA. Welcome to the weird world of quantum biology.
The hyperloop would be a great idea for a completely flat planet. With topography and infrastructure, it's a very different story.
"The pulsar sort of consumes the thing that recycled it, just as the spider eats its mate.”
Popular media often frame scientists as having a cold, sterile view of the world. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
John Templeton Foundation
The Standard Model may or may not be in trouble, but particle physics definitely needs saving. Here's what the new LHC can do.
Could we finally detect the elusive Unruh effect?
