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Physics
mathematical physics
New Black Hole Math Closes Cosmic Blind Spot
A mathematical shortcut for analyzing black hole collisions works even in cases where it shouldn’t. As astronomers use it to search for new classes of hidden black holes, others wonder: Why?
astronomy
Quantum Double-Slit Experiment Offers Hope for Earth-Size Telescope
A new proposal would use quantum hard drives to combine the light of multiple telescopes, letting astronomers create incredibly high-resolution optical images.
quantum gravity
How Gravity Is a Double Copy of Other Forces
An enigmatic connection between the forces of nature is allowing physicists to explore gravity’s quantum side.
Q&A
How to Rewrite the Laws of Physics in the Language of Impossibility
Chiara Marletto is trying to build a master theory — a set of ideas so fundamental that all other theories would spring from it. Her first step: Invoke the impossible.
astrophysics
Cosmic Map of Ultrahigh-Energy Particles Points to Long-Hidden Treasures
Ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays twist and turn on their way to Earth, which has made it nearly impossible to identify the colossal monsters that create them.
explainers
How Maxwell’s Demon Continues to Startle Scientists
The thorny thought experiment has been turned into a real experiment — one that physicists use to probe the physics of information.
Q&A
The New Historian of the Smash That Made the Himalayas
About 60 million years ago, India plowed into Eurasia and pushed up the Himalayas. But when Lucía Pérez-Díaz reconstructed the event in detail, she found that its central mystery depended on a broken geological clock.
Quantized Columns
How Radio Astronomy Reveals the Universe
Radio waves, longer and less energetic than visible light, give astronomers access to some of the most obscure physics in the cosmos.
particle physics
‘Last Hope’ Experiment Finds Evidence for Unknown Particles
Today’s long-anticipated announcement by Fermilab’s Muon g-2 team appears to solidify a tantalizing conflict between nature and theory. But a separate calculation, published at the same time, has clouded the picture.