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How Space and Time Could Be a Quantum Error-Correcting Code
The same codes needed to thwart errors in quantum computers may also give the fabric of space-time its intrinsic robustness.
New Studies Rescue Gravitational-Wave Signal From the Noise
Two independent papers vanquish lingering doubts about LIGO’s historic discovery of gravitational waves.
Why Black Hole Interiors Grow (Almost) Forever
The renowned physicist Leonard Susskind has identified a possible quantum origin for the ever-growing volume of black holes.
Galactic Beacons Get Snuffed Out in a Cosmic Eyeblink
Quasars powered by supermassive black holes have been unexpectedly vanishing. Scientists have started to figure out why.
How Holography Could Help Solve Quantum Gravity
In the latest campaign to reconcile Einstein’s theory of gravity with quantum mechanics, many physicists are studying how a higher dimensional space that includes gravity arises like a hologram from a lower dimensional particle theory.
Astronomers Creep Up to the Edge of the Milky Way’s Black Hole
Hot spots have been discovered orbiting just outside the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center. Their motions have given us the closest look at that violent environment.
The End of Theoretical Physics as We Know It
Computer simulations and custom-built quantum analogues are changing what it means to search for the laws of nature.
Black Hole Firewalls Could Be Too Tepid to Burn
String theorists elide a paradox about black holes by extinguishing the walls of fire feared to surround them.
Star-Swallowing Black Holes Reveal Secrets in Exotic Light Shows
Black holes occasionally reveal themselves when passing stars get ripped apart by their gravity. These tidal disruption events have created a new way for astronomers to map the hidden cosmos.