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How to Think About Relativity
Albert Einstein’s ideas about space-time aren’t exactly intuitive, and they aren’t exactly Einstein’s, either. In Newtonian physics, space and time had their independent identities, and nobody ever got them mixed...
Neutron Lifetime Puzzle Deepens, but No Dark Matter Seen
...will soon appear in the journal Science, reinforces the discrepancy with beam experiments and increases the chance that it reflects new physics rather than mere experimental error. But what new...
Janet Conrad, Seeker of Neutrinos and Other Curiosities
...accounted for in the Standard Model of particle physics. They would point a way forward for theoretical physics in the 21st century. And as a bonus, they may even account...
Squishy or Solid? A Neutron Star’s Insides Open to Debate
...edge of modern physics. A centimeter or two of normal atoms — iron and silicon, mostly — encrusts the surface like the shiny red veneer on the universe’s densest Gobstopper....
Scientists Unveil New Inventory of Universe’s Dark Contents
...— dark energy and dark matter — are mental place holders for unknown physics. “Dark energy” refers to whatever is causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate, as astronomers...
Major Quantum Computing Strategy Suffers Serious Setbacks
...Nature in April. Yet despite this problem, even the field’s critics find the science too promising to ignore. “The physics behind the creation of Majoranas is well understood theoretically,” said...
How Many Elementary Particles Are There, Really?
Plausible answers range from 17 to — in all seriousness — 995.5. Every time I write about particle physics, I encounter a moment of uncertainty about a quantity that, at...
Neutrinos Hint of Matter-Antimatter Rift
An early sign that neutrinos behave differently than antineutrinos suggests an answer to one of the biggest questions in physics. As neutrinos and antineutrinos change flavors they may illuminate the...
Particle Physicists Puzzle Over a New Duality
A hidden link has been found between two seemingly unrelated particle collision outcomes. It’s the latest example of a mysterious web of mathematical connections between disparate theories of physics. Last...