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The Fuzzball Fix for a Black Hole Paradox
By replacing black holes with fuzzballs — dense, star-like objects from string theory — researchers think they can avoid some knotty paradoxes at the edge of physics.
A Private View of Quantum Reality
Quantum theorist Christopher Fuchs explains how to solve the paradoxes of quantum mechanics. His price: physics gets personal.
A New Theory to Explain the Higgs Mass
Three physicists have proposed a new solution to one of the deepest mysteries in particle physics: why the Higgs boson has such a tiny mass.
‘Penguin’ Anomaly Hints at Missing Particles
A statistical anomaly in the signal from rare particle decays at the Large Hadron Collider offers hope that new discoveries might be around the corner.
In Fake Universes, Evidence for String Theory
If string theorists can show that their framework is the only consistent theory of quantum gravity, does that make it true even without tangible evidence?
Multiverse Collisions May Dot the Sky
Early in cosmic history, our universe may have bumped into another — a primordial clash that could have left traces in the Big Bang’s afterglow.
In a Multiverse, What Are the Odds?
Testing the multiverse hypothesis requires measuring whether our universe is statistically typical among the infinite variety of universes. But infinity does a number on statistics.
Quark Quartet Fuels Quantum Feud
Newly discovered particles are forcing physicists to extend their simple picture of subatomic interactions or replace it with a more nuanced understanding.
At Multiverse Impasse, a New Theory of Scale
Physicists have begun to explore the idea that mass and length may not be fundamental properties of nature. The hypothesis could help to avoid the conclusion that our world is just a weird bubble in an endlessly foaming multiverse.