All Stories by Emily Conover
- Materials Science
Lead becomes stronger than steel under extreme pressures
Lead is a soft metal, easily scratched with a fingernail. But that changes dramatically when the metal is compressed under high pressures.
- Quantum Physics
Google officially lays claim to quantum supremacy
The quantum computer Sycamore reportedly performed a calculation that even the most powerful supercomputers available can’t reproduce.
- Physics
Physicists have found quasiparticles that mimic hypothetical dark matter axions
These subatomic particles could make up dark matter in the cosmos. A mathematically similar phenomenon occurs in a solid material.
- Materials Science
A new cooling technique relies on untwisting coiled fibers
A “twist fridge” operates via twistocaloric cooling, a technique that generates cooling by unraveling twisted strands.
- Physics
Physics Nobel awarded for discoveries about the universe’s evolution and exoplanets
Three scientists share the 2019 Nobel Prize in physics for revealing what makes up our cosmos and for finding the first planet orbiting a sunlike star.
- Space
A new image reveals the structure of the cosmic web
Newly spotted tendrils of gas within a forming cluster of galaxies support scientists’ theory of the cosmos.
- Physics
Andrea Young uncovers the strange physics of 2-D materials
Physicist Andrea Young has set his sights on the strange ways electrons behave in flat, layered structures.
- Quantum Physics
Rumors hint that Google has accomplished quantum supremacy
Reports suggest a quantum computer has bested standard computers on one type of calculation, but practical applications are still a distant goal.
- Physics
A new experiment slashes the maximum possible mass of tiny neutrinos
The KATRIN experiment suggests that the tiny subatomic particles have masses a minuscule fraction of an electron’s.
- Space
The Milky Way’s supermassive black hole reached record brightness this year
The big black hole at the center of the galaxy recently flared twice as bright as ever seen before in near-infrared wavelengths.
- Physics
Gravitational waves from a ringing black hole support the no-hair theorem
A new study of gravitational waves from merging black holes agrees with the predictions of the general theory of relativity.
- Astronomy
Giant radio bubbles spew from near the Milky Way’s central black hole
New structures found at the heart of our galaxy join other bubbles, chimneys and filaments that hint at a turbulent past.
