Physics

  1. Materials Science

    This ‘thermal cloak’ keeps spaces from getting either too hot or cold

    A new thermal fabric prototype could help keep cars, buildings and other spaces a comfortable temperature during heat waves while reducing CO₂ emissions.

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  2. Chemistry

    Tear-resistant rubbery materials could pave the way for tougher tires

    Adding easy-to-break molecular connectors surprisingly makes materials harder to tear and could one day reduce microplastic pollution from car tires.

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  3. Physics

    Electrons are extremely round, a new measurement confirms

    The near-perfect roundness deepens the mystery behind how the universe came to be filled with matter as opposed to antimatter.

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  4. Physics

    Neutrinos offer a new view of the Milky Way

    Physicists turned to AI to help map out the newfound origins of ghostly neutrino particles coming from deep in the Milky Way.

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  5. Astronomy

    A newfound gravitational wave ‘hum’ may be from the universe’s biggest black holes

    Scientists reported evidence for a new class of gravitational waves, likely created by merging supermassive black holes.

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  6. Quantum Physics

    Quantum computers could break the internet. Here’s how to save it

    Today's encryption schemes will be vulnerable to future quantum computers, but new algorithms and a quantum internet could help.

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  7. Physics

    Julian Muñoz has a ‘ruler’ that could size up the early universe

    The measurement tool could lay out a distance scale for cosmic dawn —and offer clues to the nature of dark matter.

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  8. Physics

    Physicists split bits of sound using quantum mechanics

    New experiments put phonons — the tiniest bits of sound — into quantum mechanical superpositions and show they are as weird as other quantum entities.

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  9. Chemistry

    One photon is all it takes to kick off photosynthesis

    A single particle of light is the spark that begins the process of turning light to chemical energy in photosynthetic bacteria, a new study confirms.

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  10. Astronomy

    The Parker Solar Probe may have spotted the origin of high-speed solar winds

    Kinks in the magnetic fields near the surface of the sun appear to be the cause of fast-moving flows in the solar wind.

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  11. Astronomy

    Weird black holes may hold secrets of the early universe

    Big black holes in little galaxies, rogue black holes and other behemoths could offer clues to cosmic evolution.

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  12. Physics

    Measurements of a key radioactive decay nudge a nuclear clock closer to reality

    In a step toward building a nuclear clock, scientists measured light emitted when a special type of thorium nucleus decayed.

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