A smiling man with brown hair

Charlie Wood

Staff Writer

Latest Articles

In Hilbert Space, All Things Are Quantumly Possible

August 26, 2026

To explore quantum phenomena, we must leave the familiar world and enter the abstract realm of Hilbert space.

Theory of Fluids Enters the 21st Century

August 17, 2026

From the 1800s to the early 2000s, physicists used the same theory to understand the behavior of fluids. Now, using a modern insight, they have redefined fluids from the bottom up.

Entanglement Builds Space-Time. Now “Magic” Gives It Gravity.

June 3, 2026

In holographic theories, physicists may have traced the pliability of space-time to its quantum roots: a measure of quantumness known as “magic.”

What Causes Lightning? The Answer Keeps Getting More Interesting.

May 6, 2026

Armed with a slew of new instruments, physicists are closing in on one of nature’s oldest mysteries — and finding that storm clouds are seething with violent and unexpected phenomena.

Experiments Ring the ‘Death Knell’ for Sterile Neutrinos

April 8, 2026

Decades of weird experimental results appeared to support the existence of the sterile neutrino, a hypothetical particle that would solve multiple mysteries. But recent experiments have killed hope of finding these phantoms, leaving physicists to wonder what might explain their anomalies.

New Advances Bring the Era of Quantum Computers Closer Than Ever

April 3, 2026

Two research groups say they have significantly reduced the amount of qubits and time required to crack common online security technologies.

Q&A

Where Some See Strings, She Sees a Space-Time Made of Fractals

March 11, 2026

Pushed down to a certain scale, the laws of physics seem to fall apart. Astrid Eichhorn, a leader in an area of study called asymptotic safety, thinks we just need to push a little further.

Climate Physicists Face the Ghosts in Their Machines: Clouds

February 20, 2026

The planet is getting hotter, but one factor in particular makes it hard to tell just how hot it will get. Physicists and computer scientists are racing to solve the problem of clouds.

Physicists Make Electrons Flow Like Water

February 11, 2026

We describe electricity as a flow, but that’s not what happens in a typical wire. Physicists have begun to induce electrons to act like fluids, an effort that could illuminate new ways of thinking about quantum systems.