Physics
387 articles-
The Astrophysicist Who Loves the Things We Cannot Know
A conversation with “rational mystic,” physicist Marcelo Gleiser. -
The Uncanny Sight of Waves Breaking on a Star
Something remarkable happens when this small sun zooms past its larger companion. -
Scientists Watch Broken Metal Heal Itself
Time to rewrite our understanding of structural engineering. -
Have We Gotten Dark Matter All Wrong?
Physicists have yet to pinpoint the hypothetical matter that keeps galaxies from flying apart. Now they have a new focus. -
Venmo, Meet Quantum Mechanics
A better way to secure digital payments. -
The Day Oppenheimer Feared He Might Blow Up the World
The story behind the scare that an atomic bomb would ignite the atmosphere into a fireball. -
Probing the Mysteries of Neutron Stars With a Surprising Earthly Analog
Ultracold gases in the lab could help scientists better understand the universe. -
5 Amazing New Discoveries About Light
Invisible cloaks. Ghost imaging. Scientists are manipulating light in ways that were once only science fiction. -
A New Experiment Casts Doubt on the Leading Theory of the Nucleus
By measuring inflated helium nuclei, physicists have challenged our best understanding of the force that binds protons and neutrons. -
Winning By a Hair
For cyclists, it’s a drag when you don’t shave your legs.
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Why Materialists Don’t Have to Be Atheists
Physicist Alan Lightman on evolution and atheism, creativity and spirituality.
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A Supermassive Test for Einstein’s Famous Theory
How a gravitational wave background re-opens the book on general relativity.
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Tiny Jets on the Sun Power the Colossal Solar Wind
A new analysis argues that ubiquitous eruptions in the sun’s corona explain the vast flow of charged particles seen streaming out through the solar system.
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The Electron Is So Round That It’s Ruling Out Potential New Particles
If the electron’s charge wasn’t perfectly round, it could reveal the existence of hidden particles. A new measurement approaches perfection.
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How Our Reality May Be a Sum of All Possible Realities
Richard Feynman’s path integral is both a powerful prediction machine and a philosophy about how the world is. But physicists are still struggling to figure out how to use it, and what it means.
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Giant Zombie Atoms of the Cosmos
In neutron stars, astrophysicists see a form of matter like none other.
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What Is Scientific Discovery Worth?
The quest to detect neutrinos has physicists—and society—asking hard questions. -
Original Minds
From the first cells to unique minds, in the editor’s note from Print Issue 46. -
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Uncertainty
I now realize Heisenberg and Schrödinger are less like physicists and more like therapists. -
They Probed Quantum Entanglement While Everyone Shrugged
This year’s winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics were driven by curiosity, skill, and tenacity. -
Are We Getting the Real Stuff in Popular Science?
When it comes to physics, says Sean Carroll, you need the math.
