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No Dark Energy? No Chance, Cosmologists Contend
A study challenged the evidence for the mysterious antigravitational force known as dark energy. Then cosmologists shot back.
Sleeping Brain Waves Draw a Healthy Bath for Neurons
An organized tide of brain waves, blood and spinal fluid pulsing through a sleeping brain may flush away neural toxins that cause Alzheimer’s and other diseases.
Why the Laws of Physics Are Inevitable
By considering simple symmetries, physicists working on the “bootstrap” can rediscover the basic form of the known forces that shape the universe.
Black Hole Singularities Are as Inescapable as Expected
For the first time, physicists have calculated exactly what kind of singularity lies at the center of a realistic black hole.
Top Dark Matter Candidate Loses Ground to Tiniest Competitor
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.
Hologram Within a Hologram Hints at Fate of Black Holes
Calculations involving a higher dimension are guiding physicists toward a misstep in Stephen Hawking’s legendary black hole analysis.
Mathematicians Calculate How Randomness Creeps In
Mathematicians have figured out exactly how many moves it takes to randomize a 15 puzzle.
What Shape Is the Universe? A New Study Suggests We’ve Got It All Wrong
Most every cosmologist believes the universe is flat. A new analysis argues that it’s closed.
Perceptions of Musical Octaves Are Learned, Not Wired in the Brain
Singing experiments with residents of the Bolivian rainforest demonstrate how biology and experience shape the way we hear music.