Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Cosmology
Einstein’s gravity endures despite a dark energy puzzle
The DESI project previously reported that dark energy — long thought to be constant — changes over time. A new analysis reaffirms that claim.
- Particle Physics
Accelerated muons bring next-gen particle colliders closer to reality
Muon colliders could slam the subatomic particles together in hopes of unlocking physics secrets. Giving muons a speed boost is a crucial step.
- Particle Physics
Antimatter could travel by truck, a test with protons shows
A special particle trap designed to fit in a truck let researchers haul 70 protons across the CERN campus. Antiprotons may be next.
- Astronomy
A star winked out of sight. Could it be a ‘failed supernova’?
The dramatic dimming of a star in the nearby Andromeda galaxy could mark the birth of a black hole.
- Tech
Feather-inspired airplane flaps could boost flight performance
Rows of flaps inspired by bird wing feathers improve airfoil performance by boosting lift, reducing drag and mitigating stall.
- Space
A near-Earth asteroid offers clues to one dark matter theory
Data from the OSIRIS-REx mission to Bennu place a ceiling on the strength of a hypothetical fifth force that could explain dark matter’s origins.
- Tech
Tech companies want small nuclear reactors. Here’s how they’d work
To fuel AI’s insatiable energy appetite, tech companies are going big on small nuclear reactors.
- Physics
Radioactive beams give a real-time view of cancer treatment in mice
This first successful treatment of tumors with radioactive ion beams could one day lead to treating human patients’ tumors with millimeter precision.
- Health & Medicine
New electrical stitches use muscle movement to speed up healing
In rats, the sutures hastened recovery and reduced the risk of infection.
- Artificial Intelligence
The discovery of tools key to machine learning wins the 2024 physics Nobel
John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton used tools from physics to develop data analysis methods that underlie machine learning.
- Physics
Thunderstorms churn up a ‘boiling pot’ of gamma rays
A thunderstorm seen in gamma-ray vision is a complex, frenetic lightshow when viewed from above the clouds.
- Particle Physics
Physicists just discovered the rarest particle decay ever
The “golden channel” decay of subatomic particles called kaons could break or confirm the standard model of particle physics.
