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The Year in Physics

December 21, 2023

From the smallest scales to the largest, the physical world provided no shortage of surprises this year.

New Clues for What Will Happen When the Sun Eats the Earth

December 20, 2023

Recent observations of an aging, alien planetary system are helping to answer the question: What will happen to our planet when the sun dies?

Extra-Long Blasts Challenge Our Theories of Cosmic Cataclysms

December 11, 2023

Astronomers thought they had solved the mystery of gamma-ray bursts. A few recent events suggest otherwise.

The (Often) Overlooked Experiment That Revealed the Quantum World

December 5, 2023

A century ago, the Stern-Gerlach experiment established the truth of quantum mechanics. Now it’s being used to probe the clash of quantum theory and gravity.

A Century Later, New Math Smooths Out General Relativity

November 30, 2023

Mathematicians prove a theorem that illuminates the geometry of universes with tiny amounts of mass.

Meet Strange Metals: Where Electricity May Flow Without Electrons

November 27, 2023

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.

Rogue Worlds Throw Planetary Ideas Out of Orbit

November 13, 2023

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

November 8, 2023

In the rumbles and groans of underwater volcanoes, Jackie Caplan-Auerbach finds her favorite harmonies — and clues to the Earth’s interior.

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

November 2, 2023

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.

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