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Natalie Wolchover

Columnist

Latest Articles

What No New Particles Means for Physics

August 9, 2016

Physicists are confronting their “nightmare scenario.” What does the absence of new particles suggest about how nature works?

Q&A

Moonshine Master Toys With String Theory

August 4, 2016

The physicist-mathematician Miranda Cheng is working to harness a mysterious connection between string theory, algebra and number theory.

Neutrinos Hint of Matter-Antimatter Rift

July 28, 2016

A hint that neutrinos behave differently than antineutrinos suggests an answer to one the biggest questions in physics.

A Bird’s-Eye View of Nature’s Hidden Order

July 12, 2016

Scientists are exploring a mysterious pattern, found in birds’ eyes, boxes of marbles and other surprising places, that is neither regular nor random.

A Quasicrystal’s Shocking Origin

July 8, 2016

By blasting a stack of minerals with a four-meter-long gun, scientists have found a new clue about the backstory of a very strange rock.

Rumors Cast Doubt on Diphoton Bump

June 24, 2016

Rampant rumors and a new analysis undercut hopes of a major discovery at the Large Hadron Collider.

The Universe Is Not a Snowflake

June 22, 2016

Nature’s laws are beautiful because they strike a compromise between boring symmetry and confusing asymmetry, physicists say.

LIGO Reports Second Black-Hole Merger

June 15, 2016

The spokesperson for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory called it “a promising start to mapping the populations of black holes in our universe.”

A Glimpse Through a Cosmic Keyhole

June 14, 2016

What could cause galaxies millions of light years apart to all spew material in the same direction?