Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
A computer model explains how to make perfectly smooth crepes
Here’s how to prepare thin pancakes that are perfectly smooth, according to science.
- Particle Physics
Diamond detectors could aid the search for dark matter
Elusive dark matter particles could be spotted when they slam into electrons or atomic nuclei within diamond, scientists say.
- Astronomy
Readers boggled by black hole behemoth
Readers had questions about the first image of a black hole and a chytrid fungus.
- Particle Physics
Physicists have finally figured out how pentaquarks are built
The particles are made of up two smaller particles, stuck together like atoms in a molecule.
- Physics
This tabletop device turns the quantum definition of a kilogram into a real mass
The mini Kibble balance will measure 10 grams to an accuracy of a few ten-thousandths of a percent.
- Physics
In a first, scientists took the temperature of a sonic black hole
A lab-made black hole that traps sound, not light, emits radiation at a certain temperature, as Stephen Hawking first predicted.
- Physics
100 years ago, an eclipse proved Einstein right. Today, black holes do too — for now
In 1919, an eclipse affirmed Einstein’s famous general theory of relativity. Now scientists hope to use black holes to poke holes in that idea.
- Physics
A new optical atomic clock’s heart is as small as a coffee bean
Optical atomic clocks are extremely good at keeping time, and they’re on their way to becoming pocket watches.
- Science & Society
Murray Gell-Mann gave structure to the subatomic world
Best known for his quarks, the preeminent theoretical physicist was also a complexity pioneer
- Physics
Big black holes can settle in the outskirts of small galaxies
Astronomers have found dozens of surprisingly massive black holes far from the centers of their host dwarf galaxies.
- Physics
Spherical flames in space could solve the mystery of soot-free fires
In microgravity, flames are sphere-shaped. Tests of fire on the International Space Station are helping show how gases flow within flames.
- Physics
The kilogram just got a revamp. A unit of time might be next
After years of preparation, new definitions for the basic units of mass, temperature and more have now gone into effect.
