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Physics
In 2015, Ed Witten, the greatest living string theorist, wrote a piece on why. Here’s the version for everyone. It’s one of the most brilliant, controversial and unproven ideas in […]
If dark energy were stronger or weaker, everything would be pretty much the same. And that’s a puzzle. After the Big Bang, the Universe was full of matter and radiation. It […]
Just one equation relates the expansion of space to all the matter and energy we have. If you know this, you can know the fate of the Universe. Last week, […]
If it can stretch the Universe from the size of a subatomic particle to billions of light years in a fraction of a second, why doesn’t Einstein’s relativity forbid it? When […]
If everything was hot, dense, and super close-together at the Big Bang, what kept us from collapsing into a singularity? The Big Bang is one of the most counterintuitive ideas […]
For every planet that orbits a star like our own, there are likely thousands of ‘orphan planets’ wandering the galaxy alone. Here in the Solar System, we can watch our star’s […]
The medal-winning Norwegian team had a most unusual explanation for why their speed skaters wore blue. Is there any science to back it up? Every four years, the Olympics come around, […]
Did you hear the story about how a 100 petawatt laser will finally ‘break the quantum vacuum’? Get the facts. Empty space, as it turns out, isn’t so empty. The fluctuations […]
It’s so much more than mass-energy equivalence; it’s the key to unlocking the quantum Universe. For hundreds of years, there was an immutable law of physics that was never challenged: […]
If December’s best natural sky show seems to get better every year, it isn’t your imagination. It’s science, and it’s spectacular! Every year, the Earth travels some 940 million kilometers […]
If you can’t explain the astrophysical signal that you see and cry ‘dark matter,’ chances are you’re not thinking hard enough. Despite our knowledge of the laws of physics, and the […]
All sorts of futuristic technologies have come true. So why are astronauts all still weightless? Put a human being up in space, away from the gravitational bonds of the surface […]
If your favorite theory made the list, you might want to consider a new favorite to bet on. “Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great […]
It’s a fascinating idea, but how does it fare as a scientific theory? “Something is happening here and this is going to have an impact.” –Robert Dijkgraaf, on Verlinde’s work The […]
Why the 2017 Nobel Prize isn’t the end, but the start, of something really, really big. “Wormholes are a gravitational phenomena. Or imaginary gravitational phenomena, as the case may be.” –Jonathan […]
A well-deserved award for the discovery over a century in the making. “Well, I walked into Building 20 and looked in at the various little labs. There was a bunch of […]
Why not just put your detectors in place of a giant mirror? “Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera.” –Yousuf […]
From what it’s expanding into to whether things are moving faster-than-light, this clears up some of our greatest misconceptions. “The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders […]
Gravitational waves and spacetime ripples have so much more to do with the Universe than just merging black holes. “The years of searching in the dark for a truth that one […]
If you know when, where and how to look, the show will still be spectacular. “My dad took me out to see a meteor shower when I was a little […]
The speed of light is a universal constant, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that light always travels at that speed, does it? “There was a young lady named Bright,Whose speed was […]
On August 21st, 2017, a total eclipse will hit 14 states. Here’s your guide to everything you need to know. “…and the Sun has perished out of heaven, and an […]
The greatest advances in human history have come from science and scientific knowledge. Don’t stop now. “Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.” […]
Did they perform their analysis sub-optimally? Maybe. But gravitational waves were seen no matter what. “We hope that interested people will repeat our calculations and will make up their own minds […]
Meet LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. Yes, it’s giant LIGO, in space, and it’s happening! “Einstein’s gravitational theory, which is said to be the greatest single achievement of theoretical […]
A new podcast, to cover an incredible story of why we can exist at all. “Already in my original paper I stressed the circumstance that I was unable to give a […]
The smart money is still on LIGO, but there sure looks like something funny is happening if the new group is correct. This article was contributed by Sabine Hossenfelder. Sabine […]
Gravitational waves and electromagnetic ones don’t need to go together. But physics says it’s possible; what do the observations say? “The black holes collide in complete darkness. None of the […]
Did you guess ‘resonance’? Guess again. “At least six lamp posts were snapped off while I watched. A few minutes later, I saw a side girder bulge out. But, though the […]
If the LHC can’t produce new fundamental particles, the collisions coming from it still a chance to teach us something incredible. “It was quite the most incredible event that has […]