Physics
Turing Patterns Turn Up in a Tiny Crystal
The mechanism behind leopard spots and zebra stripes also appears to explain the patterned growth of a bismuth crystal, extending Alan Turing’s 1952 idea to the atomic scale.
The ‘Weirdest’ Matter, Made of Partial Particles, Defies Description
Theorists are in a frenzy over “fractons,” bizarre, but potentially useful, hypothetical particles that can only move in combination with one another.
Is the Universe Open-Ended?
An intriguing proposal about what makes reality tick under the surface.
Our Little Life Is Rounded with Possibility
Science expressed only in terms of what happens is getting in the way of progress.
The Country Gentleman of Physics
Julian Barbour’s ideas about time and the universe have always roamed free of academia.
The Near-Magical Mystery of Quasiparticles
The zoo of spontaneously emerging particlelike entities known as quasiparticles has grown quickly and become more and more exotic. Here are a few of the most curious and potentially useful examples.
This Tenet Shows Time Travel May Be Possible
Director Christopher Nolan could take a tip from new research into “closed timelike curves.”
The Charmed Life of Frank Wilczek
A novelist gets a physicist to explain his scientific breakthroughs.
The Joy of Condensed Matter
Hard times in fundamental physics got you down? Let’s talk excitons.