Abstractions blog

By considering simple symmetries, physicists working on the “bootstrap” have rederived the four known forces. “There’s just no freedom in the laws of physics,” said one.

For the first time, physicists have calculated exactly what kind of singularity lies at the center of a realistic black hole.

Physicists have long searched for hypothesized dark matter particles called WIMPs. Now, focus may be shifting to the axion — an ultra-lightweight particle whose existence would solve two mysteries at once.

Calculations involving a higher dimension are guiding physicists toward a misstep in Stephen Hawking’s legendary black hole analysis.

Mathematicians have figured out exactly how many moves it takes to randomize a 15 puzzle.

Most every cosmologist believes the universe is flat. A new analysis argues that it’s closed.

Singing experiments with residents of the Bolivian rainforest demonstrate how biology and experience shape the way we hear music.

How do magnetars get so magnetic? A study of stellar explosions shows that the long-accepted theory might be wrong.

Today Google announced that it achieved “quantum supremacy.” Its chief quantum computing rival, IBM, said it hasn’t. The disagreement hinges on what the term really means.