A great many cosmic puzzles still remain unsolved. By embracing a broad and varied approach, particle physics heads toward a bright future.
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In the early stages of the hot Big Bang, there were only free protons and neutrons: no atomic nuclei. How did the first elements form from them?
The concept of the warp drive is currently at odds with everything we know to be true about physics.
By probing the Universe on atomic scales and smaller, we can reveal the entirety of the Standard Model, and with it, the quantum Universe.
Capturing energy from clubbers could help power homes and buildings.
Light can be turned into heat, which can then be turned into motion, and the effect of that motion can be turned into a big squeeze.
Symmetries aren't just about folding or rotating a piece of paper, but have a profound array of applications when it comes to physics.
From the Big Bang to black holes, singularities are hard to avoid. The math definitely predicts them, but are they truly, physically real?
Once the initial blaze of heat dissipated, the constituent particles of atoms were free to bind.
From unexplained tracks in a balloon-borne experiment to cosmic rays on Earth, the unstable muon was particle physics' biggest surprise.
Is the Universe finite or infinite? Does it go on forever or loop back on itself? Here's what would happen if you traveled forever.
If we waited long enough, would even protons themselves decay? The far future stability of the Universe depends on it.
Yes, dark energy is real. Yes, distant galaxies recede faster and faster as time goes on. But the expansion rate isn't accelerating at all.
Most electric car charging is done at night. A grid powered mostly by renewable energy might not be able to meet demand, but there is a solution.
A team of scientists hopes deep-earth lithium could sustain America's vast demand for batteries. But extracting it won't be easy.
Scientists will be able to make detailed "Claymation-like" movies of chemical reactions.
Empty space itself, the quantum vacuum, could be in either a true, stable state or a false, unstable state. Our fate depends on the answer.
In 1974, Stephen Hawking showed that even black holes don't live forever, but emit radiation and eventually evaporate. Here's how.
The first stars took tens or even hundreds of millions of years to form, and then died in the cosmic blink of an eye. Here's how.
“I thought, why not direct these high-power beams, instead of into fusion plasma, down into rock and vaporize the hole?”
Nobel Laureate Roger Penrose, famed for his work on black holes, claims we've seen evidence from a prior Universe. Only, we haven't.
Long thought a pipe dream, scientists have discovered a drug that mimics the effects of exercise.
Is information intrinsic in our universe? NASA’s Michelle Thaller explains.
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The war in Ukraine is unlikely to trigger a catastrophic nuclear meltdown. Physics and smart engineering are the reasons why.
A deep dive into the chaotic journey of star formation.
The new material may make marine uranium extraction economically feasible.
Gamma-ray bursts are among the most energetic cosmic events of all. On October 9, 2022, a remarkable one occurred: the brightest ever seen.
It could perform a speech recognition task with 78% accuracy.
The Universe didn't begin with a bang, but with an inflationary "whoosh" that came before. Here are the biggest questions that still remain.