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mathematical physics

A Century Later, New Math Smooths Out General Relativity

By Steve Nadis
November 30, 2023
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Mathematicians prove a theorem that illuminates the geometry of universes with tiny amounts of mass.

An illustration of electric current flowing through two types of materials. In the normal wire, current is represented by discrete electrons. In the unusual material, it is transformed into a psychedelic swirl of colors.
condensed matter physics

Meet Strange Metals: Where Electricity May Flow Without Electrons

By Charlie Wood
November 27, 2023
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For 50 years, physicists have understood current as a flow of charged particles. But a new experiment has found that in at least one strange material, this understanding falls apart.

An illustration of a hand holding a pair of orange, planetlike objects that orbit one another. Behind it is a box full of reddish planets and green stars. There are two slots at the top of the box. One is shaped like a star, and the other is round, like a planet. The pair of planets doesn’t fit into either slot.
astrophysics

Rogue Worlds Throw Planetary Ideas Out of Orbit

By Charlie Wood
November 13, 2023
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Scientists have recently discovered scores of free-floating worlds that defy classification. The new observations have forced them to rethink their theories of star and planet formation.

Q&A

The Scientist Who Decodes the Songs of Undersea Volcanoes

By Robin George Andrews
November 8, 2023
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In the rumbles and groans of underwater volcanoes, Jackie Caplan-Auerbach finds her favorite harmonies — and clues to the Earth’s interior.

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A composite of five images of Enceladus, seen in infrared light. The moon is mostly blue and cool, but warm red stripes — the sites of the moon’s geysers — are carved into its south pole.
planetary science

These Moons Are Dark and Frozen. So How Can They Have Oceans?

By Robin George Andrews
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The moons orbiting Jupiter and Saturn appear to have subsurface oceans — tantalizing targets in the search for life beyond Earth. But it’s not clear why these seas exist at all.

An illustration of a sheet of cells, each with sixfold rotational symmetry. Markings outline that symmetry in a handful of individual cells. Within the tissue, cells also exhibit a higher-order twofold symmetry that emerges at more zoomed-out scales and is indicated by different colors.
biophysics

Biophysicists Uncover Powerful Symmetries in Living Tissue

By Elise Cutts
October 25, 2023
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After identifying interlocking symmetries in mammalian cells, scientists can describe some tissues as liquid crystals — an observation that lays the groundwork for a fluid-dynamic theory of how tissues move.

An illustration of calipers, a tape measure and a protractor attempting to measure the properties of three spherical qubits.
quantum computing

The Quest to Quantify Quantumness

By Charlie Wood
October 19, 2023
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What makes a quantum computer more powerful than a classical computer? It’s a surprisingly subtle question that physicists are still grappling with, decades into the quantum age.

obituary

The Mathematician Who Sculpted the Shape of Space

By Steve Nadis
October 16, 2023
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Eugenio Calabi, who died on September 25, conceived of novel geometric objects that later became fundamental to string theory.

Langlands program

Echoes of Electromagnetism Found in Number Theory

By Kevin Hartnett
October 12, 2023
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A new magnum opus posits the existence of a hidden mathematical link akin to the connection between electricity and magnetism.


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