Is Our Universe a Hologram? Physicists Debate Famous Idea on Its 25th Anniversary
The Ads/CFT duality conjecture suggests our universe is a hologram, enabling significant discoveries in the 25 years since it was first proposed
Invisible Numbers Are the Most Beautiful Part of Every ‘Space’ Image
We are drawn to breathtaking images of the heavens, but there is beauty in the numbers those images hold
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Life on Mars May Have Been Its Own Worst Enemy
A new study suggests that billions of years ago microbes may have thrived on Mars before succumbing to freezing temperatures of their own making
Dazzling New JWST Image Shows Dusty Stellar Spirals
A new JWST image of a star surrounded by strange, rippling spirals reveals a hidden chapter in the story of how dust spreads across the cosmos
Researchers Use Quantum ‘Telepathy’ to Win an ‘Impossible’ Game
A new playful demonstration of quantum pseudotelepathy could lead to advances in communication and computation
The Brightest Gamma-Ray Burst Ever Recorded Rattled Earth’s Atmosphere
The death of a massive star far across the universe affected lightning on our planet and could teach us about the Milky Way
The Universe Is Not Locally Real, and the Physics Nobel Prize Winners Proved It
Elegant experiments with entangled light have laid bare a profound mystery at the heart of reality
Frank Drake’s Courageous Questions Live On
Drake’s curiosity and ambition turned the search for extraterrestrial intelligence into the scientific venture it is today
JWST’s First Glimpses of Early Galaxies Could Break Cosmology
The James Webb Space Telescope’s first images of the distant universe shocked astronomers. Is the discovery of unimaginably distant galaxies a mirage or a revolution?
Physicists Struggle to Unite around Future Plans
Over 10 days, researchers participating in the once-a-decade “Snowmass process” attempted to build a unified scientific vision for the future of particle physics
Astronomers Reveal New Details of How Stars Devour Planets
Surprisingly, some worlds can survive being engulfed by a sunlike star when it swells to become a red giant
Watch JWST Scientists Discuss the Space Telescope’s Stunning Debut
Scientific American co-presents a discussion about the past, present and future of the James Webb Space Telescope