Physics
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Science & Society
Centennial books illuminate Einstein’s greatest triumph
Scholars mark general relativity 100ths anniversary with books on history, biography, science.
- Astronomy
Einstein’s genius changed science’s perception of gravity
Einstein struggled for years to solve the puzzle of general relativity. The pieces all fell into place in November 1915.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum choice can be counterproductive
In a puzzling paradox, delivering quantum messages becomes more difficult if the intended recipient offers the sender multiple options for the time and place of delivery.
- Particle Physics
William Detmold: Looking deep into atoms’ hearts
MIT theoretical physicist William Detmold probes the fundamental bits of matter that combine to form the nuclei of atoms.
- Quantum Physics
Shinsei Ryu: Error-free quantum calculations
Physicist Shinsei Ryu navigates the confusing border between the quantum and everyday realms.
- Particle Physics
Map captures Earth’s antineutrino glow
Tiny subatomic particles called antineutrinos stream away from Earth at different concentrations across the globe, a new map illustrates.
- Physics
Raw chicken, ingenuity make a time-reversal mirror
A new phase-conjugation mirror sends light waves back where they came from, allowing physicists to reconstruct images even if the original light was severely scrambled.
- Physics
Invisibility cloaks slim down
An ultrathin invisibility cloak called a skin cloak offers more stealth in a thinner package.
- Materials Science
Invisibility cloaks slim down
A new invisibility cloak offers more stealth in a thinner package.
- Materials Science
Electron waves refract negatively
Waves of electrons have been bent backward in a sheet of graphene, allowing physicists to focus electrons the way a lens focuses light.
- Physics
Nobel laureate finds beauty in science and science in beauty
In ‘A Beautiful Question,’ Frank Wilczek explores links between math and art
- Materials Science
Graphene shows signs of superconductivity
Ultrathin sheets of carbon can conduct electrical current with no resistance at low temperatures.
