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Quantum Mechanics
The term "zero-point energy" has at least two meanings, one that is innocuous and one that is a great deal sexier (and scammier).
All matter particles can act as waves, and massless light waves show particle-like behavior. Can gravitational waves also be particle-like?
The combined intellectual heft of multiple “big thinkers” delivered arguably the most successful scientific theory in history.
There's a quantum limit to how precisely anything can be measured. By squeezing light, LIGO has now surpassed all previous limitations.
From the Big Bang to black holes, singularities are hard to avoid. The math definitely predicts them, but are they truly, physically real?
The question of why the Universe is the way it is is an ancient one, and none of the answers we have come up with are satisfying.
The perfectly accessible, perfectly knowable Universe of classical physics is gone forever, no matter what interpretation you choose.
Is it like a tiny ball — or what?
When it comes to predicting the energy of empty space, the two leading theories disagree by a factor of 100 googol quintillion.
Three fundamental forces matter inside an atom, but gravity is mind-bogglingly weak on those scales. Could extra dimensions explain why?
A relatively new interpretation of quantum mechanics asks us to reimagine the process of science itself.
A new book envisions an encounter of minds between the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, the physicist Werner Heisenberg, and the philosopher Immanuel Kant.
Can quantum computers do things that standard, classical computers can't? No. But if they can calculate faster, that's quantum supremacy.
When the average person has a "theory," they're just guessing. But for a scientist, a theory is the pinnacle of what we can achieve.
Some constants, like the speed of light, exist with no underlying explanation. How many "fundamental constants" does our Universe require?
Nature may not allow us full access to the weirdness of quantum mechanics.
LK-99, almost certainly, isn't a room-temperature superconductor. The underlying physics of the phenomenon helps us understand why.
There may be unknown particles lurking inside the quantum foam.
Ultracold gases in the lab could help scientists better understand the universe.
Invisible cloaks. Ghost imaging. Scientists are manipulating light in ways that were once only science fiction.
Scientists can make substantial progress without fully understanding exactly what they're doing.
Some processes, like quantum tunneling, have been shown to occur instantaneously. But the ultimate cosmic speed limit remains unavoidable.
Is mathematics woven into the very fabric of reality? Or is it merely a product of the human mind?
If we waited long enough, would even protons themselves decay? The far future stability of the Universe depends on it.
Neuroscientist and author Bobby Azarian explores the idea that the Universe is a self-organizing system that evolves and learns.
If light can't be bent by electric or magnetic fields (and it can't), then how do the Zeeman and Stark effects split atomic energy levels?
The concept of ‘relativistic mass’ has been around almost as long as relativity has. But is it a reasonable way to make sense of things?
Plants at room temperature show properties we had only seen near absolute zero.
Perhaps the whole Universe is the result of a vacuum fluctuation, originating from what we could call quantum nothingness.
Einstein's relativity overthrew the notion of absolute space and time, replacing them with a spacetime fabric. But is spacetime truly real?