Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
Scientists ‘strummed’ a molecule’s chemical bonds like guitar strings
Scientists dragged an atomic force microscope tip, with a single carbon monoxide molecule dangling from it, across a chemical bond.
- Physics
Gravitational waves have revealed the first unevenly sized black hole pair
For the first time, LIGO and Virgo scientists spotted gravitational waves produced when one big black hole merged with a smaller one.
- Physics
A star orbiting the Milky Way’s giant black hole confirms Einstein was right
An oddity previously seen in Mercury’s orbit has been spotted in a star circling the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way’s center.
- Quantum Physics
New quantum computers can operate at higher temperatures
Silicon chips operate at higher temperatures than many others, raising hopes for building quantum integrated circuits.
- Physics
Stephen Wolfram’s hypergraph project aims for a fundamental theory of physics
Simple rules generating complicated networks may be how to build the universe.
- Physics
Here’s how the periodic table gets new elements
Today’s scientists keep adding to the periodic table. But an element has to earn its spot.
- Math
To cook a perfect steak, use math
As a steak cooks in an oven, movement of liquid within the meat causes it to become extra juicy in the center in a way that can be predicted by mathematics.
- Science & Society
How materials science has changed humankind — for better and worse
As people began wielding new materials, the technologies fundamentally changed humankind, the new book ‘The Alchemy of Us’ argues.
- Physics
A year after the first black hole image, the EHT has been stymied by the coronavirus
With this year’s observing run canceled due to the coronavirus, the Event Horizon Telescope team is analyzing data from 2017 and 2018.
- Physics
Collisions reveal new evidence of ‘anyon’ quasiparticles’ existence
Scientists report evidence that a class of particle called an anyon appears in two-dimensional materials.
- Space
Red giant stars that eat planets might shine less brightly
Some stars may shine less brightly after ingesting a planet. That finding, if confirmed, could have implications for calculating cosmic distances.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum mechanics means some black hole orbits are impossible to predict
Computer simulations reveal that foreseeing the paths of three orbiting objects sometimes requires precision better than the quantum limit.
