All Stories by Andrew Grant
- Particle Physics
LHC reports pentaquark sightings
Two particles discovered at the Large Hadron Collider are composed of five quarks, not two or three like nearly every other known quark-based particle.
- Astronomy
Source of blazars’ super brightness comes into focus
Astronomers take a close look at a blazar, a galaxy whose central black hole emits gamma rays and other high-energy material toward Earth.
- Physics
Swimming bacteria remove resistance to flow
The collective motion of swimming bacteria can virtually eliminate a water-based solution’s resistance to flow.
- Physics
The arrow of time
Gravity may explain how time always runs forward, even though the laws of physics should permit it to run backward.
- Physics
Magnetic test boosts case for record-setting superconductor
New measurements bolster the case that hydrogen sulfide is superconducting at about 200 kelvins, roughly 40 kelvins higher than any other known material.
- Animals
Silver ant hairs reflect sunlight, keeping Sahara dweller cool
The shiny hairs of the Saharan silver ant simultaneously reflect sunlight and permit the release of body heat, keeping the insects just cool enough to scavenge in the extreme summer sun.
- Life
Aging: Nature’s way of reducing competition for resources
Aging may have developed in many species as a genetic mechanism to conserve future resources. If the controversial proposal is true, then scientists may be able to greatly extend life span by deactivating the machinery for aging embedded in our DNA.
- Physics
Rogue waves don’t always appear unannounced
Scientists may be able to forecast the arrival of anomalously large ocean swells, suggest scientists who analyzed the moments before rogue water waves and freak light flashes.
- Particle Physics
LHC set to see beyond Higgs
Physicists hope a revamped Large Hadron Collider will discover new particles and forces that could help explain dark matter and other mysteries of the universe.
- Science & Society
Here’s what game theory says about how to win in semifinals
Game theory informs competitors facing off in a semifinal whether to go all out or save energy for the final.
- Materials Science
Like a balloon, peculiar magnet grows and shrinks
A recently discovered alloy of iron and gallium can expand and contract like a balloon when exposed to a magnetic field.
- Physics
Electron pairs can take the heat
Electrons have been found pairing up for the first time in a solid that is not in a superconducting state.
