Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Physics
LIGO’s black holes may be dark matter
Two analyses indicate that LIGO could have detected black holes that formed just after the Big Bang.
- Particle Physics
Upon further review, suspected new particle vanishes
Hints of a new particle at the LHC have disappeared.
- Cosmology
Debate accelerates on universe’s expansion speed
A puzzling mismatch is plaguing two methods for measuring how fast the universe is expanding.
- Particle Physics
Latest search for dark matter comes up empty
Scientists continue to come up empty-handed in the search for dark matter. The latest effort from the LUX experiment found no evidence for dark matter.
- Physics
Electrons have potential for mutual attraction
Electrons usually repel each other, but new research shows pairs of electrons can be attracted due to their repulsion from other electrons.
- Physics
Scientists throw a curve at knuckleball explanation
Wildly swerving pitches may be the result of a phenomenon known as a “drag crisis”
- Particle Physics
Three cousins join family of four-quark particles
Scientists with the Large Hadron Collider’s LHCb experiment report three new particles and confirm a fourth.
- Physics
Sounds from gunshots may help solve crimes
Sound wave analysis may help forensic scientists figure out what types of guns were fired at a crime scene.
- Physics
Falling through the Earth would be a drag
Scientists study how friction affects a hypothetical jump through the center of the Earth.
- Materials Science
Shark jelly is strong proton conductor
A jelly found in sharks and skates, which helps them sense electric fields, is a strong proton conductor.
- Health & Medicine
Tight spaces cause spreading cancer cells to divide improperly
Researchers are using rolled-up transparent nanomembranes to mimic tiny blood vessels and study how cancer cells divide in these tight spaces.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum fragility may help birds navigate
Birds’ internal compasses may rely on the delicate nature of the quantum world.
