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Vacuum Energy
Contrary to common experience, not everything needs a medium to travel through. Overcoming that assumption removes the need for an aether.
It's not about particle-antiparticle pairs falling into or escaping from a black hole. A deeper explanation alters our view of reality.
All of the matter that we measure today originated in the hot Big Bang. But even before that, and far into the future, it'll never be empty.
Throughout history, "free energy" has been a scammer's game, such as perpetual motion. But with zero-point energy, is it actually possible?
The measured value of the cosmological constant is 120 orders of magnitude smaller than what's predicted. How can this paradox be resolved?
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.
The Multiverse isn't just a staple of science fiction; there's real-life science behind it, too. Here are 10 facts to expand your mind.
For nearly 25 years, we thought we knew how the Universe would end. Now, new measurements point to a profoundly different conclusion.
The Multiverse fuels some of the 21st century's best fiction stories. But its supporting pillars are on extremely stable scientific footing.
Bang bang all over the Universe.
When it comes to predicting the energy of empty space, the two leading theories disagree by a factor of 100 googol quintillion.
There is no such thing as a void in the Universe.
Perhaps the whole Universe is the result of a vacuum fluctuation, originating from what we could call quantum nothingness.
When you combine the Uncertainty Principle with Einstein's famous equation, you get a mind-blowing result: Particles can come from nothing.
Are quantum fields real, or are they simply calculational tools? These 3 experiments show that if energy is real, so are quantum fields.
Quantum mechanics has taught us that even empty space contains energy. "Negative energy" is the state of having less energy than empty space.
All the things that surround and compose us didn't always exist. But describing their origin depends on what 'nothing' means.
In our common experience, you can't get something for nothing. In the quantum realm, something really can emerge from nothing.
It started with a bang, but won't end with one. Instead, it will "rage against the dying of the light" like nothing you've ever imagined.
The same (former) NASA engineer who previously claimed to violate Newton's laws is now claiming to have made a warp bubble. He didn't.
There's a big difference between the notions of 'false vacuum' and 'true vacuum' states. Here's why we don't want to live in the former.
It could evolve, strengthen, decay, or not be alone. Our known Universe contains matter, radiation, and dark energy. While matter (both normal and dark) and radiation become less dense as […]
Do they have real, observable effects, or are they merely calculational tools?
Enough mass in one location will always create a black hole. But not all masses are possible. If you take enough mass and compress it into a small enough volume […]
Even before the Big Bang, energetic radiation was always present. When it comes to the physical Universe, the notion of “nothing” may truly be possible only in theory, not in […]
Our ultimate fate depends on something we’ve barely begun to measure. One of the biggest mysteries in all of physics is dark energy. According to our best observations, the Universe cannot […]
The theoretical reasons to expect it are compelling, but the technology required to detect it is unfathomable. All throughout our galaxy, millions of black holes of a variety of masses […]
All the things that surround us and make us up weren’t always here. But where did it all come from? The Universe, as we see it today, sure is full of […]
Just because an idea is fashionable doesn’t mean it’s relevant for our Universe. One of the greatest unsolved puzzles in all of science is dark energy. The Universe isn’t just […]
The quest for the ultimate vacuum just got taken to the next level thanks to a new technique: the quantum squeezer. One of the most understated frontiers in all of […]