Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- 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.
- Science & Society
This year’s SN 10 enjoy the journey, not just the discovery
Meet 10 young researchers who combine persistence and passion to make headway on science’s big questions.
- 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.
- Physics
Monika Schleier-Smith leads elaborate quantum conversations
Monika Schleier-Smith forces atoms to interact in ways that could offer insights into quantum computing, precision timekeeping and perhaps black holes.
- Quantum Physics
Sean Carroll’s new book argues quantum physics leads to many worlds
‘Something Deeply Hidden’ offers a defense of The Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics.
- 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
CO2 from champagne bottles can form shock waves like those seen in rocket exhaust
Popping a bottle of bubbly releases a plume of dry ice that bears a visible type of shock wave called a Mach disk.
- Physics
Can time travel survive a theory of everything?
It’s not yet clear whether a theory that unites general relativity and quantum mechanics would permit time travel.
- 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.
- Astronomy
How an astrophysicist chased a star from the Halo games to real life
Julián Alvarado Gómez has devoted his career to a star called Iota Horologii. His former life as a Halo video gamer helps fuel that devotion.
