Surprising Science — May 18, 2010

Matter Matters

According to Einstein, the universe should be equal parts matter and anti-matter; in other words, we shouldn’t exist, so why do we? Some physicists in Chicago may have the answer.

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A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

According to Einstein, the universe should be equal parts matter and anti-matter; in other words, we shouldn’t exist, so why do we? Some physicists in Chicago may have the answer. “In a mathematically perfect universe, we would be less than dead; we would never have existed…And yet we exist, and physicists (among others) would dearly like to know why.”

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Diagram of atomic orbitals showing various shapes and labels, including s, p, d, and f orbitals, organized in a triangular structure with coordinate axes x, y, z.

Starts With A Bang

Why the number “1/137” appears everywhere in nature

One of the fundamental constants of nature, the fine-structure constant, determines so much about our Universe. Here’s why it matters.

Starts With A Bang

Could dark matter be the same thing as dark energy?

Two parts of our Universe that seem to be unavoidable are dark matter and dark energy. Could they really be two aspects of the same thing?

Global geoid map with colorful variations representing differences in Earth's gravity field. The scale ranges from -100 (low) to 100 (high). Europe's position is central.

Starts With A Bang

Scalar fields: the secret sauce of theoretical physics

Scalars, vectors, and tensors come up all the time in physics. They’re more than mathematical structures. They help describe the Universe.

Starts With A Bang

How to make peace with the weirdness of quantum mechanics

Our classical intuition is no good in a quantum Universe. To make sense of it, we need to learn, and apply, an entirely novel set of rules.

A green and abstract background with connected molecular diagrams and labeled sections: "Building block" and "Assembly pool," with an "Assembly index: 8.

13.8

The pre-life puzzle: Tracing the rise of complexity in a lifeless world

We need a “theory that explains the evolution of evolution,” argues theoretical physicist Sara Imari Walker.

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Culture & Religion

The Shudder

Frank Kermode tries to suss out what Eliot meant by having “a shudder” while reading, a standard by which Eliot defined good poetry and prose, such as in Tennyson’s In Memoriam.