Mystery over Universe’s Expansion Deepens with Fresh Data
A long-awaited map of the big bang’s afterglow fails to settle a debate over how fast the universe is expanding
Stories by Davide Castelvecchi
Welcome Anyons! Physicists Find Best Evidence Yet for Long-Sought 2D Structures
The ‘quasiparticles’ defy the categories of ordinary particles and herald a potential way to build quantum computers
Neutrinos Reveal Final Secret of Sun’s Nuclear Fusion
The detection of particles produced in the sun’s core supports long-held theory about how our star is powered
CERN Makes Bold Push to Build $23-Billion Super Collider
European particle-physics lab will pursue a 100-kilometer machine to uncover the Higgs boson’s secrets — but it doesn’t yet have the funds
Pluto Probe Offers Eye-Popping View of Neighboring Star Proxima Centauri
NASA’s New Horizons mission measures the distances of two stars from the outer reaches of the Solar System
This Black-Hole Collision Just Made Gravitational Waves Even More Interesting
An unprecedented signal from unevenly sized objects gives astronomers rare insight into how black holes spin
Mathematical Proof That Rocked Number Theory Will Be Published
But some experts say author Shinichi Mochizuki failed to fix a fatal flaw in the solution of a major arithmetic problem
Coronavirus Fears Cancel World’s Biggest Physics Meeting
Physicists who were set to attend the American Physical Society’s Denver conference are using virtual platforms to share their talks
Mysterious Faded Star Betelgeuse Has Started to Brighten Again
“Orion’s shoulder” had reached unprecedented dimness in mid-February, leaving astronomers befuddled
How Quickly Can Iran Make a Nuclear Bomb?
With an international deal in serious jeopardy, Iran is not racing to build nuclear weapons—but its capabilities are growing
Watch Out for These Science Events in 2020
A Mars invasion, a climate meeting and human–animal hybrids are set to shape the research agenda
Japan Will Build the World’s Largest Neutrino Detector
Cabinet greenlights $600-million Hyper-Kamiokande experiment, which scientists hope will bring revolutionary discoveries
How Big Is the Proton? Particle-Size Puzzle Leaps Closer to Resolution
Precise measurement affirms that the particle’s radius is smaller than physicists once thought
The Quest to Unlock the Secrets of the Baby Universe
Radio astronomers look to hydrogen for insights into the universe’s first billion years
Giant “Bubbles” Spotted around the Milky Way’s Black Hole
First major result from South Africa’s pioneering MeerKAT radio telescope reveals remnants of energetic explosions at the galaxy’s center
New Space Telescope Will Map the Universe in High-Energy X-rays
A German-Russian mission called SRG will detect millions of supermassive black holes, many new to science, and hundreds of thousands of stars
Gravitational Waves Hint at a Black Hole Eating a Neutron Star
LIGO and Virgo observatories have spotted ripples from what could be the first-ever detection of this long-sought event
Japanese Space Probe Drops Explosive on Asteroid Ryugu
Hayabusa2 released the projectile to make a crater on the asteroid's surface
Gravitational-Wave Hunt Restarts—with a Quantum Boost
Detailed data on space-time ripples are set to pour in from LIGO and Virgo’s upgraded detectors
Soap-Bubble Pioneer Is First Woman to Win Prestigious Math Prize
Abel-prize winner Karen Keskulla Uhlenbeck built bridges between analysis, geometry and physics
