Physics
The Mind-Bending Mathematics Behind Quantum Computers
And if you've had your coffee, maybe you can even understand half of it.<p>Quantum computing is a lot to wrap your mind around. To put things very simply (as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did recently, with surprising eloquence) regular computers are made up of bits—ones and zeros—which are …
Quantum MechanicsA Physicist Explains Why Humans Probably Didn't Pop Into Existence Last Tuesday
Whaa... ?<p>The history of cosmology has its fair share of whacky ideas, but one of the strangest has to be the Boltzmann brain hypothesis – which …
CosmologyThe Universe Has A Lithium Problem
Over the past decades, scientists have wrestled with a problem involving the Big Bang Theory. The Big Bang Theory suggests that there should be three …
CosmologyLight-Based Computers Will Run at Least 20 Times Faster Than Your Laptop
But how close are we?<p>For the past four decades, the electronics industry has been driven by what is called Moore's Law, which is not a law but more …
Quantum MechanicsResearchers Uncover New Black Hole that’s Around 36 Times Bigger Than the Sun!
There are estimated to be around 100 million black holes or more within the Milky Way galaxy. Even though only a few have been identified so far, …
AstronomySearching for God at the Center of the Big Bang
What quantum mechanics can tell us about the possibility of life after death and resurrection. Peter Woit reviews “A Big Bang in a Little Room: The Quest to Create New Universes” by Zeeya Merali.<p>Most Popular Videos<p>Most Popular Articles
CosmologyThis Video Explains the Bizarre Reason Our Sun Is Slowing Down
What can put the brakes on a star?<p>It may not look like it from here on Earth, but the burning ball of plasma in our sky rotates on its axis roughly …
PhotonsThe Best of the Physics arXiv (week ending February 18, 2017)
This week’s most thought-provoking papers from the Physics arXiv.<p>Tech Obsessive?<br>Become an Insider to get the story behind the story — and before …
ScienceChewing triggers "sound rage". NHL vs Concussion Science, and more - Home | Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald
You might have misophonia, which is the result of a misfire in the brain.<p>The NHL is questioning what is known about concussions and chronic traumatic …
QuarksDesigning new materials from 'small' data
Finding new functional materials is always tricky. But searching for very specific properties among a relatively small family of known materials is …
Machine LearningJ.Robert Oppenheimer, Atom Bomb Pioneer, Dies; Physicist Cancer Victim Censured and Later Honored by the A.E.C. Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, 'Father of the Atomic Bomb,' Dies in Princeton FAMED PHYSICIST WAS LONG AILING Career Had Been Marked With Controversy Since Hearings of 1953
ARTICLES ARE CLICKABLE Click on an article to see information related to the article. The full text of articles is available as a PDF.<p>DRAG AND ZOOM TO EXPLORE TimesMachine works like an online map. Click, drag and zoom the paper to focus on interesting areas.<p>CHANGE THE DATE Click on the date to …
ScienceWhat Is The Universe's Third Most Common Element?
In the earliest stages of the Universe, it was too hot to form neutral atoms or even atomic nuclei, as they’d immediately be blasted apart by a collision. By time the Universe had expanded and cooled enough that we could form stable nuclei, things were sparse enough that we wound up with 75% …
AstronomyWhy science will never know everything about our Universe
There is so much we’ve discovered and so far that we’ve come. But there’s a limit to knowledge we’ll never be able to overcome.<p><i>“To know that we know</i> …
CosmologyScientists Are About to Switch on a Telescope That Could Photograph a Black Hole's Event Horizon
We're about to peer into the abyss.<p>Black holes are among the most fascinating objects in the known Universe. But despite the fact that they're …
AstrophysicsHeat flow method can levitate just about anything
Levitation may look like magic, but there are a number of scientific tricks behind it. Magnetic systems are usually behind gimmicky consumer products …
Quantum MechanicsBlack Holes are Even Stranger Than You Can Imagine
<i>This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.</i><p>Our …
AstrophysicsBreakthrough in understanding heat transport with a chain of gold atoms
The precise control of electron transport in microelectronics makes complex logic circuits possible that are in daily use in smartphones and laptops. …
Quantum MechanicsCeramic Pottery Reveals an Ancient Geomagnetic Field Spike
More than 2,500 years ago in the ancient Near East, the Earth's geomagnetic field was going gangbusters. During the late eighth century B.C., a new …
Ancient HistoryVanadium Dioxide Defies Our Understanding Of Physics In Very Useful Ways
There's a law in physics that says anything that's a good conductor of electricity will be an equally good conductor of heat. Well, sorry physics: …
Particle PhysicsWe Are Closer Than Ever to Unlimited Clean Energy
For centuries, humans have dreamed of harnessing the power of the sun to energize our lives here on Earth. But we want to go beyond collecting solar …
Nuclear EnergyThese tiny robots may bring big change to cancer care
Magnetically controlled swarms of microscopic robots might one day help fight cancer inside the body, new research suggests.<p>Over the past decade, scientists have shown they can manipulate magnetic forces to guide medical devices within the human body, as these fields can apply forces to remotely …
Quantum MechanicsCode for firefly protein makes mouse glow in the dark
A new way of using firefly proteins to make glow-in-the-dark mice could lead to improved vaccines and cancer therapies.
Dark MatterAnother Gravitational Wave Detector Will Help Revolutionize Astronomy
Last year, the pair of LIGO experiments announced a discovery a hundred years in the making: gravitational waves, tiny ripples in space time from a …
Gravitational WavesIs Space Real, or Just Something We Misunderstand?
Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road …
Quantum MechanicsDigital journalism and string theory
In the move from the technological revolution, the field of journalism is one of the most affected because today everybody has the power to communicate, and their most precious good, the information, seems a commodity because of its abundance.<p>Moreover, with the advent of new digital technologies …
String TheoryFocus: Video—Liquid Drop Bursts into Thousands of Pieces
February 17, 2017• <i>Physics</i> 10, 19<p>A drop of water-alcohol mixture on a layer of oil was caught on video bursting into thousands of tiny droplets.<p>…
ScienceParticles from outer space are wreaking low-grade havoc on personal electronics
You may not realize it but alien subatomic particles raining down from outer space are wreaking low-grade havoc on your smartphones, computers and …
Vanderbilt UniversityThe Magnetic Fields – “’81 How To Play The Synthesizer” Video
The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt is releasing his latest ambitious experiment, <i>50 Song Memoir</i>, next month, and so far we’ve heard six tracks from …
MagnetismSpatially selective remote magnetic actuation of identical helical micromachines
Magnetic micromachines can be controlled remotely inside the human body by application of external magnetic fields, making them promising candidates …
ScienceSpontaneous Currents in Superconducting Systems with Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling
We show that Rashba spin-orbit coupling at the interface between a superconductor and a ferromagnet should produce a spontaneous current in the …
Quantum Mechanics