Video inside centrifuge shows we don’t fully understand fluid physics
The first footage from inside a centrifuge has uncovered unexpected swirls and vortices inside shower gel and other fluids
View ArticleSnowflakes fall to the ground according to a universal pattern
After analysing the way half a million snowflakes fell during mountain storms in Utah, researchers found surprising similarities
View ArticleFamous quantum experiment could be shrunk to the size of a single atom
A single, extremely cold atom could play the role of two slits in the classic double-slit experiment from quantum physics, something that was previously thought to be impossible
View ArticleThe laws of physics were broken in 2023 - by sperm
New Scientist's most popular story of the year was about the discovery that sperm break Isaac Newton's third law of motion
View ArticleQuantum physicists just got more certain about quantum uncertainty
An extension of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which places limits on how precisely you can measure the properties of quantum objects, has found that it really isn't possible to cheat the laws of...
View ArticleDark stars may be waiting in a mirror universe for us to discover them
Physicists have proposed that a mirror universe alongside our own might explain dark matter – and we might be able to see traces of its stars
View ArticleSprings made from rusty metallic glass could power nanorobots
Most metals oxidise, or rust, when exposed to air, which normally weakens them, but a kind of metallic glass instead gets more springy
View ArticleHuman cells have a resonant frequency – and it’s just barely audible
Like a tuning fork, living human cells have frequencies at which they naturally vibrate – and now we have estimates for what some of them are
View ArticleQuantum state of matter made with 'dipolar' molecules for first time
A quantum state of matter comprising molecules with opposite charges at each end has been made for the first time. It could help probe our understanding of the quantum properties of exotic materials
View ArticleCocktail science: Mix these drinks and learn about fluid dynamics
Josh Howgego explores four cocktails that demonstrate the weird physics of fluids, and how you can try them at home
View Article5 must-see time travel movies reviewed by a metaphysicist
From Back to the Future to Tenet and Interstellar, cinema can explore time travel in many imaginative ways. Metaphysicist, Kristie Miller reviews five of her favourites
View ArticleSupernova neutrinos could break physics – if we can make sense of them
Neutrinos produced inside an exploding star could betray exotic particles that would lead to a deeper theory of physics. Will our detectors be ready in time for the next nearby supernova?
View ArticleFirst working graphene semiconductor could lead to faster computers
Researchers have created a functional semiconductor from graphene for the first time, creating the possibility of computer chips with greater performance and efficiency
View ArticleWhy we should all be concerned about the shortage of science teachers
From Australia to the UK, the global shortage of science teachers will have a damaging effect on diversity and equity in science, says physics teacher Alom Shaha
View ArticleScientists created a ‘giant quantum vortex’ that mimics a black hole
Black holes can be difficult to study, so researchers have made a powerful quantum vortex in a tank of superfluid helium that acts as a simulation of a black hole
View ArticleHeating and cooling seem to be fundamentally different, not opposites
Conventional thermodynamics says that heating and cooling are essentially mirror images of each other, but an experiment with a tiny silica sphere suggests otherwise
View ArticleRecord broken for the coldest temperature reached by large molecules
Four-atom molecules glued together by microwaves have broken the record for being the most complicated molecule to reach temperatures just billionths of a degree away from absolute zero
View ArticleA bold new take on quantum theory could reveal how reality emerges
At the smallest scales, everything is made out of a cloud of quantum possibilities. A new idea attempts to explain how our everyday world comes from this, using the laws of thermodynamics
View ArticleNuclear fusion reaction releases almost twice the energy put in
The US National Ignition Facility has achieved even higher energy yields since breaking even for the first time in 2022, but a practical fusion reactor is still a long way off
View ArticleWhy physicists are rethinking the route to a theory of everything
Physicists’ search for a theory that explains all reality in one framework appeared to have stalled. But now they are reinvigorating the hunt by exploring a wild landscape of abstract geometry
View ArticleUK nuclear fusion reactor sets new world record for energy output
In its final experiments before being shut down for good last year, the UK's JET reactor set a world record for the energy output of a fusion reaction
View ArticleEinstein may be wrong about how mirrors travelling at light speed work
In 1905, Einstein discovered a paradox in the predicted behaviour of mirrors travelling at impossible speeds, but it may now have been resolved
View ArticleQuantum Cheshire Cat effect may separate a particle from its momentum
A quantum experiment that could separate a particle’s properties from its mass has physicists arguing over how reality works in the quantum world
View ArticleWhy string theory has been unfairly maligned - and how to test it
String theory is widely considered beyond empirical investigation. But we could conceivably test it thanks to ancient particles called moduli, which might appear in astronomical observations, says...
View ArticleQuantum quirk explains why carbon dioxide causes global warming
A phenomenon called the Fermi resonance, which affects how molecules vibrate, is responsible for a large part of carbon dioxide’s planet-warming effect
View ArticleThe existence of a new kind of magnetism has been confirmed
Altermagnets, theorised to exist but never before seen, have been measured for the first time and they could help us make new types of magnetic computers
View ArticleA single atom could drive a piston in a quantum engine
In a quantum engine, a single atom can emit radiation that bounces around a reflective cavity and creates enough pressure to push down a piston
View ArticleOdd quantum property may let us chill things closer to absolute zero
We can already cool objects with fridges and with lasers. Now there is a third cooling technique involving special quantum states – and it could, in theory, allow us to reach the lowest temperatures yet
View ArticleTiny magnet could help measure gravity on the quantum scale
A device that measures minuscule gravitational forces could help us understand how gravity works on the quantum scale
View ArticleHow do you recycle a nuclear fusion reactor? We're about to find out
The UK's JET nuclear fusion reactor has been shut down after 40 years, and now researchers hope to repurpose many of its components in a world-first attempt at recycling a tokamak reactor
View ArticleUK spurns European invitation to join ITER nuclear fusion project
Since Brexit, the UK no longer has access to ITER, the world's largest nuclear fusion experiment, through the European Union. After an invitation to rejoin this week, the UK government has confirmed it...
View ArticleA tale of two mysteries: ghostly neutrinos and the proton decay puzzle
Searching for the true nature of neutrino particles also provides the perfect experimental conditions to seek evidence of another slippery customer – proton decay, says Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
View ArticleJupiter’s stormy surface replicated in lab
By rotating a tank of water at 75 revolutions per minute, it’s possible to replicate some of the stunning, swirling patterns on Jupiter’s surface
View ArticleHow one theory ties together everything we know about the universe
All known natural phenomena fit into just a few categories and unifying them all is quantum field theory, says physicist Matt Strassler
View ArticleRethinking space and time could let us do away with dark matter
Most physicists believe that only a quantum theory of gravity can fully explain mysteries of the universe like dark matter, but now an idea called "post-quantum gravity" is demonstrating an alternative...
View Article‘Sound laser’ is the most powerful ever made
A new device uses a reflective cavity, a tiny bead and an electrode to create a laser beam of sound particles ten times more powerful and much narrower than other “phonon lasers”
View Article‘Running of the bulls’ festival crowds move like charged particles
Researchers have studied the movements of thousands of people waiting for the opening of the San Fermín festival and found they behave like electrons circling in a magnetic field
View ArticleHow to wrap your head around the most mind-bending theories of reality
From the many worlds interpretation to panpsychism, theories of reality often sound absurd. Here’s how you can figure out which ones to take seriously
View ArticleWhy we need to invoke philosophy to judge bizarre concepts in science
Theories of mind and cosmos are inevitably preposterous - knowing how to weigh competing implausibilities can help us decide which we should back
View ArticleThe physicist searching for quantum gravity in gravitational rainbows
Claudia de Rham thinks that gravitons, hypothetical particles thought to carry gravity, have mass. If she’s right, we can expect to see “rainbows” in ripples in space-time
View ArticleMost accurate clock ever can tick for 40 billion years without error
The record for the most accurate clock has been broken in an experiment with strontium atoms almost as cold as absolute zero, and it is twice as accurate as any predecessor
View ArticleWe've glimpsed something that behaves like a particle of gravity
Gravitons, the particles thought to carry gravity, have never been seen in space – but something very similar has been detected in a semiconductor
View ArticleClaudia de Rham: In search of the true nature of gravity
Claudia de Rham has spent much of her life dedicated to unravelling the true nature of gravity, thinking deeply about gravitons, the hypothetical carrier of this enigmatic force
View ArticleHyperelastic gel is one of the stretchiest materials known to science
A super-stretchy hydrogel can stretch to 15 times its original length and return to its initial shape, and could be used to make soft inflatable robots
View ArticlePhysicists have worked out how to melt any material
A new equation shows a surprisingly simple relationship between pressure and the temperature needed to melt any solid substance into a liquid
View ArticlePeter Higgs, physicist who theorised the Higgs boson, has died aged 94
Nobel prizewinning theoretical physicist Peter Higgs has died aged 94. He proposed the particle that gives other particles mass – now named the Higgs boson and discovered by the Large Hadron Collider...
View ArticleHow Peter Higgs revealed the forces that hold the universe together
The physicist Peter Higgs quietly revolutionised quantum field theory, then lived long enough to see the discovery of the Higgs boson he theorised. Despite receiving a Nobel prize, he remained in some...
View ArticleQuantum 'supersolid' matter stirred using magnets
We can’t stir ordinary solids, but one research team now claims to have stirred an extraordinary quantum “supersolid”, generating tiny vortices
View ArticleBizarre crystal made only of electrons revealed in astonishing detail
To capture the clearest and most direct images of a “Wigner crystal”, a structure made entirely of electrons, researchers used a special kind of microscope and two pieces of graphene unusually free of...
View ArticlePhysicists created an imaginary magnetic field in real life
Researchers have used quantum light to create a magnetic field with a strength that is measured in imaginary numbers
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