Light-based Quantum Computer Exceeds Fastest Classical Supercomputers
The setup of lasers and mirrors effectively “solved” a problem far too complicated for even the largest traditional computer system
Physics5216 articles archived since 1845
Inventing Us: How Inventions Shaped Humanity
Materials scientist and science writer Ainissa Ramirez talks about her latest book The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another.
Are We Real? And Other Questions of Physics
Do we live in a higher being’s computer? Advanced research may tell us
Ultracold Molecule Mystery Solved
Lasers slow molecules for a glimpse of the quantum world—and a strange heating is uncovered
Undersea Earthquakes Reveal Sound Warming Info
Travel time differences for sound waves produced by undersea earthquakes in the same place at different times can provide details about ocean warming.
Legendary Arecibo Telescope Will Close Forever, and Scientists Are Reeling
A new satellite image reveals the damage that shut down the facility, ending an era in astronomical observation
Stellar Smashups May Fuel Planetary Habitability, Study Suggests
Radioactive elements produced by colliding neutron stars could make the difference between living and lifeless worlds
Zebra Coloration Messes With Fly Eyes
Horseflies misjudge landings on zebra patterns, compared with solid gray or black surfaces, which provides evidence for why evolution came up with the black-and-white pattern.
Black Holes Are Finally Trending
A Nobel Prize is just the latest proof that a concept rejected by Einstein in 1939 has become one of the hottest topics in physics
Will the Universe Remember Us after We’re Gone?
Physicists insist that information never vanishes, not even in black holes, but this “law” reflects wishful thinking
‘Magnetic Star’ Radio Waves Could Solve the Mystery of Fast Radio Bursts
The surprise detection of a radio burst from a neutron star in our galaxy might reveal the origin of a bigger cosmological phenomenon
What 50 Gravitational-Wave Events Reveal about the Universe
Astrophysicists now have enough black-hole mergers to map their frequency over the cosmos’s history
Quantum Time Twist Offers a Way to Create Schrödinger’s Clock
Physicists describe a way to merge quantum theory with Einstein’s special theory of relativity—and even a method to test it experimentally
Apple-Sized Stars, a Potato-Shaped Earth and the Force That Creates Our Reality
Life’s up and downs may seem as inevitable as gravity, but somehow 2020 feels worse than usual. Just as a thought experiment, what if this year actually did get so weird that it even ushered in a change in how gravity affects our material universe?...
Dissolving Candy Gives Mathematicians Insight into How Some Landscapes Form
Researchers observed a sugary treat underwater to understand the origin of spiky rock forests
First Room-Temperature Superconductor Excites and Baffles Scientists
A compound of hydrogen, carbon and sulfur has broken a symbolic barrier—but its high-pressure conditions make it difficult to analyze
Science Pinpoints Global Metal Deposit Locations
Miners can find new deposits with less effort
Do We Live in a Simulation? Chances Are about 50–50
Gauging whether or not we dwell inside someone else’s computer may come down to advanced AI research—or measurements at the frontiers of cosmology
In Memoriam: John D. Barrow
Remembering the maverick physicist who pioneered an “anthropic” approach to cosmology
Last Chance for WIMPs: Physicists Launch All-Out Hunt for Dark Matter Candidate
Researchers have spent decades searching for the elusive particles. A final generation of detectors should leave them no place to hide
