Give it up for 1/137.
The Swiss physicist Nicolas Gisin is using an old form of math to rethink the very basics of what we know about time.
Your bedroom mirror does the trick in the morning, but for scientists studying gravitational waves, even the tiniest of imperfections can make a huge difference.
AI excels at following human commands. That may be a problem.
Describing neutrino oscillations is notoriously tricky. The search for a shortcut led to unexpected places.
The object might be as massive as 100 suns—if it even exists.
The universe is expanding, but no one can agree on exactly how fast.
Black holes are somehow able to grow constantly without changing their size. Physics might finally be able to explain why.
“When you see that, you know you’re touching on something very, very deep and fundamental.”
H2O is older than the sun, and could play a key role in helping planets grow.
After a century of debate, an alternative theory that favored classical reality has finally met its ruin.
A new analysis could put the question of cosmic expansion to rest once and for all.
By picking up on patterns too subtle for humans to notice, non-line-of-sight imaging can see around corners and through walls.
A new conjecture in physics challenges the leading “theory of everything.”
The concentration of metals in our star will determine when it dies, but scientists struggle to settle on an estimate.
When Victoria Meadows needs to ponder life on distant planets, she surrounds herself with earthly vegetation.
The Milky Way's deep past is beginning to come into view.
For two decades, one research team has detected collisions between dark and ordinary matter—but no one else can replicate their findings.
Using the wrong method to analyze a data set can yield misleading results. So one researcher is championing an approach that works for nearly everything.
Physicists have long grappled with the perplexingly small weight of empty space.