All Stories by Emily Conover
- Physics
The pressure is on to make metallic hydrogen
Scientists are getting close to turning hydrogen into a metal — both in liquid form and maybe even solid form. The rewards, if they pull it off, are worth the effort.
- Particle Physics
Cooling stars hint at dark matter particles
Stars that cool faster than expected can be explained by hypothetical particles called axions.
- Particle Physics
Bottom quarks misbehave in LHC experiment
Bottom quarks fly off at an angle more often than expected in new data from the LHC.
- Physics
LIGO’s black holes may be dark matter
Two analyses indicate that LIGO could have detected black holes that formed just after the Big Bang.
- Particle Physics
Upon further review, suspected new particle vanishes
Hints of a new particle at the LHC have disappeared.
- Life
Human eye spots single photons
Human eyes are sensitive enough to detect individual particles of light.
- Planetary Science
Rosetta spacecraft has stopped listening for Philae lander
Rosetta is no longer listening for communications from the comet lander Philae.
- Math
Website tests predictive powers of the hive mind
Metaculus.com asks people to make predictions about the likelihood of future events.
- Cosmology
Debate accelerates on universe’s expansion speed
A puzzling mismatch is plaguing two methods for measuring how fast the universe is expanding.
- Particle Physics
Latest search for dark matter comes up empty
Scientists continue to come up empty-handed in the search for dark matter. The latest effort from the LUX experiment found no evidence for dark matter.
- Physics
Electrons have potential for mutual attraction
Electrons usually repel each other, but new research shows pairs of electrons can be attracted due to their repulsion from other electrons.
- Physics
Scientists throw a curve at knuckleball explanation
Wildly swerving pitches may be the result of a phenomenon known as a “drag crisis”
