Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Microwaved, hard-boiled eggs can explode. But the bang isn’t the worst part.
Microwaved eggs can explode with a loud, but probably not ear-splitting, bang when pierced.
- Physics
How freezing a soap bubble turns it into a ‘snow globe’
Frigid air makes soap bubbles shimmering orbs thanks to surface tension.
- Physics
In a first, Galileo’s gravity experiment is re-created in space
A key principle of general relativity holds up in a new space-based test.
- Materials Science
New 3-D printed materials harness the power of bacteria
The three-dimensional materials contain live bacteria and could generate wound dressings or clean up pollutants.
- Physics
Collision illuminates the mysterious makeup of neutron stars
Scientists size up neutron stars using gravitational waves and light.
- Quantum Physics
‘Arrow of time’ reversed in quantum experiment
In quantum systems, heat can flow “backward,” from cold to hot.
- Materials Science
This material does weird things under pressure
A new metamaterial has a seemingly impossible property: It swells when squeezed.
- Particle Physics
Excess antielectrons aren’t from nearby dead stars, study says
Pulsars might not be behind excess antimatter, gamma-ray observations suggest.
- Physics
Colliding black holes are reported for a fifth time
LIGO spots another merger, this time with less fanfare.
- Physics
Why the wiggle in a crowd’s walk can put a wobble in a bridge
New simulations can better predict when pedestrians cause a bridge to shimmy.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum computing steps forward with 50-qubit prototype
Bit by qubit, scientists are edging closer to the realm where quantum computers will reign supreme.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum computers take a step forward with a 50-qubit prototype
Race to build ever-more-powerful processors edges the technology closer to being able to best traditional machines.
