All Stories by Emily Conover
- Physics
Mathematician J. Ernest Wilkins Jr. was a Manhattan Project standout despite racism
Black scientist J. Ernest Wilkins Jr. made nuclear physics calculations that helped build an atomic bomb.
- Quantum Physics
Physicists used LIGO’s mirrors to approach a quantum limit
Using LIGO’s laser beams to reduce jiggling rather than detect gravitational waves, scientists have gotten closer to the realm of quantum mechanics.
- Physics
Gravitational waves confirm a black hole law predicted by Stephen Hawking
The first black hole merger detected by LIGO affirms that the surface area of a black hole can increase over time, but not decrease.
- Particle Physics
Physicists dream big with an idea for a particle collider on the moon
A lunar particle collider that dwarfs any such facility on Earth might not be impossible, according to new calculations.
- Physics
Nuclear clocks could outdo atomic clocks as the most precise timepieces
Better clocks could improve technologies that depend on them, such as GPS navigation, and help test fundamental ideas of physics.
- Planetary Science
Laser experiments suggest helium rain falls on Jupiter
Compressing a hydrogen and helium mixture with lasers shows that the two elements separate at pressures found within gas giant planets.
- Particle Physics
In a first, neutrinos were caught interacting at the Large Hadron Collider
Despite the LHC’s fame, all its detectors were oblivious to neutrinos. But not anymore.
- Astronomy
Record-breaking light has more than a quadrillion electron volts of energy
Hundreds of newly detected gamma rays hint at cosmic environments that accelerate particles to extremes.
- Physics
A newfound quasicrystal formed in the first atomic bomb test
Material formed in the wake of the first atomic bomb test contains a strange material that is ordered but that is not a standard crystal.
- Astronomy
A study of Earth’s crust hints that supernovas aren’t gold mines
Supernovas aren’t the main source of gold, silver and other heavy elements, a study of deep-sea crust suggests.
- Materials Science
Morphing noodles start flat but bend into curly pasta shapes as they’re cooked
Shape-shifting pasta could potentially cut down on packaging and save space during shipping.
- Physics
A clock’s accuracy may be tied to the entropy it creates
A clock made from a thin, wiggling membrane releases more entropy, or disorder, as it becomes more accurate.
