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Thomas Lewton

Thomas Lewton

Contributing Writer

Latest Articles

astronomy

Quantum Double-Slit Experiment Offers Hope for Earth-Size Telescope

By Thomas Lewton
May 5, 2021
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A new proposal would use quantum hard drives to combine the light of multiple telescopes, letting astronomers create incredibly high-resolution optical images.

Orange hills (polaritons) against a black background. Below each hill, an arrow points to an angular position on a circle.
explainers

The Near-Magical Mystery of Quasiparticles

By Thomas Lewton
March 24, 2021
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The zoo of spontaneously emerging particlelike entities known as quasiparticles has grown quickly and become more and more exotic. Here are a few of the most curious and potentially useful examples.

Black holes on a blue swirly background.
Abstractions blog

Growing Inventory of Black Holes Offers a Radical Probe of the Cosmos

By Thomas Lewton
February 17, 2021
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One black hole is nice, but astrophysicists can do a lot more science with 50 of them.

Abstractions blog

Secret Ingredient Found to Power Supernovas

By Thomas Lewton
January 21, 2021
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Three-dimensional supernova simulations have solved the mystery of why they explode at all.

A pink beam at the center of a metallic experimental apparatus.
Abstractions blog

Physicists Pin Down Nuclear Reaction From Moments After the Big Bang

By Thomas Lewton
November 11, 2020
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The newly-measured rate of a key nuclear fusion process from the Big Bang matches the picture of the universe 380,000 years later.

Stringy filaments wiggling against a black background.
Abstractions blog

Some Physicists See Signs of Cosmic Strings From the Big Bang

By Thomas Lewton
September 29, 2020
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Subtle aberrations in the clockwork blinking of stars could become “the result of the century.” That’s if the distortions are produced by a network of giant filaments left over from the birth of the universe.

Claudia de Rham portrait
Q&A

The Physicist Who Slayed Gravity’s Ghosts

By Thomas Lewton
August 18, 2020
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Claudia de Rham showed how theories of “massive gravity” could potentially get rid of the need for dark energy.

An apple being jostled by gravitons
gravitational waves

How the Bits of Quantum Gravity Can Buzz

By Thomas Lewton
July 23, 2020
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New calculations show how hypothetical particles called gravitons would give rise to a special kind of noise.

An image of space with lines emanating from a central point, as if the viewer is traveling at warp speed.
Abstractions blog

What Might Be Speeding Up the Universe’s Expansion?

By Thomas Lewton
April 27, 2020
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Physicists have proposed extra cosmic ingredients that could explain the faster-than-expected expansion of space.


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