-
+5 +1
What No New Particles Means for Physics
Physicists are confronting their “nightmare scenario.” What does the absence of new particles suggest about how nature works? By Natalie Wolchover.
-
+15 +1
Researchers orbit a muon around an atom, confirm physics is broken
"…the result suggested that there might be something wrong with our understanding of some basic physics. Theorists, naturally, responded with enthusiasm…"
-
+28 +1
Massive holes ‘punched’ through a trail of stars likely caused by dark matter
The discovery of two massive holes punched through a stream of stars could help answer questions about the nature of dark matter, the mysterious substance holding galaxies together. While we do not yet understand what dark matter is formed of, we know that it is everywhere. Researchers have detected two massive holes which have been ‘punched’ through a stream of stars just outside the Milky Way...
-
+16 +1
This Sonic Tractor Beam Costs Less Than $10
This device can push, pull, and manipulate objects through air or water using only the power of sound. It's like having a pair of acoustic tweezers, and it costs less than $10 to make. Engineers led by Kai Melde at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany just developed a fascinating new way to use sound to manipulate matter. As Melde and his colleagues explain in a paper in the journal Nature, their device is almost absurdly simple. It's made out of three parts; a thin brass plate, a cheap speaker (the kind in a watch alarm), and a 3D-printed plastic disk.
-
+20 +1
Physicists Recover From a Summer’s Particle ‘Hangover’
The history of science has shown that setbacks, like the exotic new particle that wasn’t, give way to renewed quests, and theorists lean on experimenters. By George Johnson.
-
+9 +1
This new hypothesis claims to solve 5 of the biggest problems in physics
Physicists have come up with a new model that they say solves five of the biggest unanswered questions in modern physics, explaining the weirdness of dark matter, neutrino oscillations, baryogenesis, cosmic inflation, and the strong CP problem all...
-
+17 +1
The origins of dark matter
Transitions are everywhere we look. Water freezes, melts, or boils; chemical bonds break and form to make new substances out of different arrangements of atoms. The universe itself went through major transitions in early times. New particles were created and destroyed continually until things cooled enough to let them survive. Those particles include ones we know about, such as the Higgs boson or the top quark. But they could also include dark matter, invisible particles which we presently know only because of their gravitational effects.
-
+4 +1
Scientists present the most accurate time measurements of quantum jumps to date
When a quantum system changes its state, this is called a quantum jump. Usually, these quantum jumps are considered to be instantaneous. Now, new methods for high-precision measurements allow us to study the time evolution of these quantum jumps. On a time scale of attoseconds, their time structure becomes visible. It is the most accurate time measurement of quantum jumps to date.
-
+26 +1
Physicists Uncover Strange Numbers in Particle Collisions
An unexpected connection has emerged between the results of physics experiments and an important, seemingly unrelated set of numbers in pure mathematics. By Kevin Hartnett.
-
+22 +1
Shadows of two failed searches loom over physics
Physicists are facing two failures this year with no detections of dark matter particles and no signs of supersymmetry from the Large Hadron Collider. By Tom Siegfried.
-
+18 +1
Physicists Pin Down Antimatter in Milestone Laser Test
For the first time, researchers have measured how antimatter absorbs light. By Davide Castelvecchi.
-
+28 +1
Antimatter breakthrough sheds light on matter's shadowy twin
One of the great mysteries of the universe is why there is so much more matter than antimatter. Now a new experiment is helping us understand the nature of antimatter better than ever before.
-
+5 +1
Antihydrogen spectrum indistinguishable from that of hydrogen
It's a new, impressive experiment, but the results are exactly what we expected.
-
+12 +1
Make your own sonic tractor beam
Ever wanted to move an object with sound? Now you can. After building the first single-sided acoustic tractor beam that can trap and pull an object using sound waves, Asier Marzo has now created a version that can be made using a 3-D printer. In addition to publishing the paper in Applied Physics Letters, Marzo has released a step-by-step YouTube video to help you get started. We spoke to Marzo about his work.
-
+4 +1
Physicists detect exotic looped trajectories of light in three-slit experiment
Physicists have performed a variation of the famous 200-year-old double-slit experiment that, for the first time, involves “exotic looped trajectories” of photons.
-
+32 +1
Physicists Have Detected a Friction-Like Force in a Perfect Vacuum
One of the most fundamental tenets of modern physics is that in a perfect vacuum - a place entirely devoid of matter - no friction can possibly exist, because empty space cannot exert a force on objects travelling through it. But despite the conventional wisdom, physicists in the UK discovered that a decaying atom travelling through a complete vacuum would experience a friction-like force, and now they've figured out how this reinforces - rather than breaks - Einstein's theory of general relativity.
-
+19 +1
Physicists Catch Antimatter and Matter Misbehaving
Experiments at the Large Hadron Collider reveal subtle distinctions in how matter and antimatter decay. By Jesse Emspak.
-
+40 +1
The Universe Is as Spooky as Einstein Thought
In a brilliant new experiment, physicists have confirmed one of the most mysterious laws of the cosmos.
-
+16 +1
Quantum Fields: The Real Building Blocks of the Universe - with David Tong
According to our best theories of physics, the fundamental building blocks of matter are not particles, but continuous fluid-like substances known as 'quantum fields'. David Tong explains what we know about these fields, and how they fit into our understanding of the Universe.
-
+2 +1
The Fifth Force of Physics Is Hanging by a Thread
As scientists chase tantalizing hints of a new force, modern physics hangs in the balance. By Philip Ball.
Submit a link
Start a discussion